Literacy, technology and the economics of attention

This article is based on a project aimed at generating practical suggestions based on research findings about how new technologies might be used to enhance L1 literacy attainment in disadvantagedsettings. The project involved designing,implementing and researching an innovative approach to curriculum and pedagogy using new digital technologies in language and literacy education within classroom settings involving small groups of "disadvantaged'' learners. The paper reports activity and findings from one of four study sites. It focuses on four Grade 9 boys seen by their teachers as troublemakers and at risk of failing in English. The researchers draw on current conceptual and theoretical work associated with the emergence of an Attention Economy theory to design a collaborative activity around constructing a website, and to identify and analyse positive literacy learning outcomes associated with the pedagogical approach taken. The authors show how this new perspective on attention informs a critique of conventional approaches to school organization and classroom learning, and how it can be used to envisage alternative approaches to understanding and teaching students who display literacy learning difficulties at school.

Towards a market oriented approach: employer requirements and implications for undergraduate economics programs

The decline in enrolments in economics degrees and majors has been the focus of much concern in recent times. In 2001, two of the current researchers published a paper outlining a framework with which future investigation into this issue could be conducted. Essentially this paper argued that a market oriented approach, which takes into account the value students and employers place on economics studies may point the way to a solution to the problem. As a first step in developing such an approach it is necessary to determine what employers require of the economics graduates they hire. A survey was conducted in 2002. This paper presents the results of this survey and discusses some of the ramifications for the teaching of undergraduate economics.

Analysis of the potential and problems of new institutional economics for third world development

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a critical evaluation of the potential of new institutional economics (NIE) in third world development.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews various theories under NIE from both conceptual and empirical perspectives. It then reviews the various definitions of institutions and show that institutions are essential to overcome problems of information and uncertainty.

Findings – The review finds that weak institutions can undermine development and hence governments in developing countries should strengthen their institutions to provide greater scope for efficient functioning of markets. Where the market does not work owing to high transactions costs, traditional institutions of collective action and group decision making can work and hence need to be recognised.

Research limitations/implications – The major implications of the paper is that in developing countries, a clear understanding of various institutions such as user groups, inter-linked credit markets, rotational irrigation etc. is needed before they are replaced or modified by other institutions. The main limitations of NIE are that there can be capture by elites of various institutional innovations in rural areas, and that it does not explicitly consider income distribution and uncertainty which are glossed over and hence remain areas for future research.

Originality/value – This paper critically reviews the various institutional environments that developing countries face in addressing development issues.

Sustainable development and environmental accounting: the challenge to the economics and accounting profession

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of natural resources accounting in sustainable development. Natural resource accounting is important because the welfare of a nation measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) has several weaknesses. Design/methodology/approach – This paper achieves this objective by identifying the present status, the constraints and the challenges for the economics and accounting professions. Findings – The main weakness of GDP as a measure of development is that it does not take into account damages to environmental resources. However, the improvement of the concept to include environmental resource use is made difficult because of the difficulties of measuring environmental damage. The challenge to the economics and accounting profession is to ensure interdisciplinary collaboration, development of a framework to explicitly include the environment, development of credible valuation procedures for the environment, and inclusion of the various ethical positions advanced by various groups on the value of the environment. Practical implications – Some headway has been made on these issues during the last decade but a major challenge still lies ahead in further improving these approaches so that sustainable development becomes an achievable goal. Originality/value – This paper brings together diverse views and fusing them together providing a future path for research in environmental accounting to achieve sustainable development.

New institutional economics: it's nature, potential and the future

It is generally accepted that institutional problems have severely constrained development in many countries regardless of significant achievements in technology and other reforms. Both the Old and New Institutional Economics have relevance in understanding the lack of progress in many countries in Asia and Africa. Institutions generally refer to the "framework within which human interactions take place. Two major strands of NIE are the transaction costs and the collective action approach. The NIE implies that traditional rural institutions such as user groups, rotating credit and irrigation associations, interlinked credit etc. are institutions that have emerged in place of the market due to lower transactions costs. The successful management of common property resources such as water, forests, wetlands etc using local arrangements imply that institutions need to be interpreted in broader terms and the simple dichotomy of market or the government is too limited to understand the development process. New thinking is required in developing institutions that are structurally suited for management at the local level. Such an approach will have better chance to succeed compared to a process based upon the market.

Students` perceptions of workshop based introductory macro-economics tutorials: a survey

The declining popularity of Economics courses, evident in the last decade, has fuelled a debate on the nature of Economics units and the way in which they are taught in tertiary institutions. The effectiveness of traditional teaching methods has been questioned as lecturers search for alternative ways of presenting material and engaging students. In recent times, workshop-based/cooperative tutorials have become more popular in promoting deeper learning. This paper assesses the application of such an approach at a large tertiary institution. It evaluates student perceptions of this tutorial method in an Introductory Macroeconomics first-year unit. An anonymous questionnaire was used. Whilst the sample size is small (n = 56), the results are important in that this is the first such study in Macroeconomics. Students found workshop-based tutorials useful, preferred them over lecture style tutorials, and found that they fostered inclusivity. The importance of tutorials per se, is reiterated. Students state that tutorials are an important adjunct to lectures. This study also looks at students' study habits: finding that on average they spend less than one hour per week studying Economics and most prepare only occasionally for tutorials. The sample studied indicates that there are notable differences in the perceptions of tutorials and teaching methods between the genders and between local and international students. This may impact on the way in which tutorials are conducted effectively.

The economics and politics of wilderness conservation in Australia

Wilderness conservation has a checkered history in Australian politics. Initially, wilderness was protected in national parks, and specific areas or legislation did not exist. In the 1960s, wilderness conservation became an important issue in Australian politics. Pressure from environmental groups and the general public created several conflicts. Several successes were scored by the joint efforts of interest groups, the public, charismatic individuals, the media, and support of governments and politicians. A number of areas were declared wilderness areas and several states now have wilderness protected through legislation. The 1990s have not been as good as the previous decades for wilderness. Large forest areas are still being cleared and bias toward consumptive use of forest by governments is emerging. Clearly, wilderness protection in Australia is intensely political. It is important that interest groups maintain pressure to protect future wilderness. Efforts to obtain national legislation for wilderness and to couch wilderness in terms of other aspects such as biodiversity and ecosystems values may prove necessary.

Employer requirements of economics graduates and the implications for undergraduate economics programs

In recent years there has been considerable debate about the general decline in the number of students undertaking bachelor degrees and majors in economics. The discussion has stemmed mainly from a supply-side perspective of the economics education market. The goal of this paper is to add another dimension to the debate and report the results of a survey of employers of economics graduates. Drawing on the extensive customer services literature it is argued that a market oriented, or demand-side analysis is also an important component in redressing low student enrolments and retention. A first step in adopting a market oriented approach is to determine the skills required of the economics graduates entering the jobs market. With the support of The Economics Society of Au~tralia, twenty-nine public and private sector employers were surveyed in 2002. The aim of the survey was to establish the demand for economics graduates with bachelor and honours degrees, the skills and knowledge required of these graduates, and the performance of such graduates. The study found that economic knowledge and skill were important to employers. However, the skills rated most important by employers were the more general or 'generic' skills of clear writing, data analysis, interpersonal skills and a practical problem-solving orientation. While graduates generally performed satisfactorily in relation to the economic skills required by employers, this was not the case for generic skills. The result of the survey findings have some significant implications for the content and teaching of undergraduate economics programs. This paper outlines these implications and also discusses areas for future research It is argued that such research should aim to utilize both the demand and supplyside perspectives with the development of more precise definitions and measurement of the economic skills required by the various stakeholders in the economics education market.

Securing participation : experiments in a one-day introduction to economics

Classroom experiments and exercises served as a one-day introduction to economics for students who felt insecure about taking first-year business classes. The first experiment addresses demand in isolation, while the second addresses supply. Supply, demand and equilibrium are integrated in a pit market in which all students have equal expected profits. A monopoly pricing exercise addresses market failure. Exercises use many incremental questions to reveal principles of microeconomics. Evaluations show that at the end of the program, students were familiar with economic results and concepts, and were more comfortable with talking economics.

Institutional economics approach to irrigation management with special reference to developing countries

Neoclassical economics has failed to address irrigation management issues in developing countries successfully. Institutions are at the heart some of these failures. Many academics in various disciplines in the social sciences now emphasize the need to pay attention to the multitude of informal institutions such as rotational irrigation in developing countries and not to treat them as irrelevant for development. Water user associations have been initiated for irrigation management in many countries. These have shown much promise although many problems still constrain the full adoption of this institutional mode. Water pricing is still at its infancy and significant problems remain in the use of the market system for improved management of irrigation water.

The welfare economics of measuring sustainability: a new approach based on social choice theory and systems analysis

This paper presents a new measure of sustainability within a welfare economics framework. Gross domestic product (GDP) can be used as an indicator of sustainability if the GDP estimates are undertaken within a cost-benefit analysis framework based on social choice perspectives. Sustainability is dependent on a healthy and functioning socio-economic and environmental (SEE) system. Economic development can damage the SEE system through resource degradation, over-harvesting and pollution. This paper addresses the tensions between economic development and sustainability by undertaking a number of SEE-based adjustments to GDP based on social choice perspectives in order to measure sustainability. These adjustments include the environmental and social costs caused by economic development such as water pollution, the depletion of non-renewable resources, and deforestation. Thailand is used as a case study for a 25 year period (1975-1999). The results show a divergence in terms of GDP per capita and the SEE-adjusted GDP per capita figure. The paper concludes that, with increasing environmental and social costs of economic development, pursuing such extreme high growth objectives without due environmental and social considerations can threaten present social welfare and future sustainability. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.