World coffee markets and national coffee parastatals since 1989: A comparative study of Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire

The International Coffee Agreements (ICA) involved the majority of nations producing and consuming coffee and provided relative economic stability to the coffee sectors of the exporting Third World countries. This study focuses on the serious impact of the 1989 collapse of the ICA on the domestic coffee sectors of Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire. In particular, the dissertation examines the role of the Colombian and Ivoirian coffee parastatals, the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia and the Caisse de Stabilisation et Soutien des Prix des Produits Agricoles, during the crisis and their transformation by it. ^ The theoretical framework employed in this study is borrowed from the literature on state-society relations. The methodology includes: in-depth analysis of the historical roles of the parastatal agencies in coffee production, state-society relations and economic development in Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire; interviews with parastatal administrators, producers and other knowledgeable informants in both countries; and a comprehensive review of newspaper articles and official statements of coffee policy published in Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire. prior to, during, and after the crisis. ^ The Colombian and Ivoirian coffee sectors and their producers faced serious economic and social problems following the drop in coffee prices. The coffee parastatals in Colombia and Côte d'lvoire first lost some of their responsibilities following the world coffee crisis. The Caisse was in the end eliminated while FEDECAFE struggled to remain in existence. Along the way, both entities faced protests from disgruntled coffee producers, who organized politically for the first time in their nations' histories. I argue that the outcome for the parastatals depended in part on the conditions of their formation, particularly the level of societal involvement in their creation. I also posit that the country's dependence on foreign aid played a key role in the fate of the parastatals. ^ This dissertation concludes that developments in the Colombian and Ivoirian coffee sectors have significantly contributed to the creation of the difficult political and economic conditions of both countries today. ^

Contemporary aspects of dividends: Before and during the financial crisis

The number of dividend paying firms has been on the decline since the popularity of stock repurchases in the 1980s, and the recent financial crisis has brought about a wave of dividend reductions and omissions. This dissertation examined the U.S. firms and American Depository Receipts that are listed on the U.S. equity exchanges according to their dividend paying history in the previous twelve quarters. While accounting for the state of the economy, the firm’s size, profitability, earned equity, and growth opportunities, it determines whether or not the firm will pay a dividend in the next quarter. It also examined the likelihood of a dividend change. Further, returns of firms were examined according to their dividend paying history and the state of the economy using the Fama-French three-factor model. Using forward, backward, and step-wise selection logistic regressions, the results show that firms with a history of regular and uninterrupted dividend payments are likely to continue to pay dividends, while firms that do not have a history of regular dividend payments are not likely to begin to pay dividends or continue to do so. The results of a set of generalized polytomous logistic regressions imply that dividend paying firms are more likely to reduce dividend payments during economic expansions, as opposed to recessions. Also the analysis of returns using the Fama-French three factor model reveals that dividend paying firms are earning significant abnormal positive returns. As a special case, a similar analysis of dividend payment and dividend change was applied to American Depository Receipts that trade on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX exchanges and are issued by the Bank of New York Mellon. Returns of American Depository Receipts were examined using the Fama-French two-factor model for international firms. The results of the generalized polytomous logistic regression analyses indicate that dividend paying status and economic conditions are also important for dividend level change of American Depository Receipts, and Fama-French two-factor regressions alone do not adequately explain returns for these securities.

Changing Guest Preferences and Marketing Challenges In the Resort Industry

Resorts in the future will be feeling the effect of a number of changes in the industry. Changing demographics, economic conditions and the changing priorities of resort guests will play major roles in the future success of resort properties. The authors stress that future resort marketing should emphasize the expansion of current market segments, the creation of new market segments, and hte expansion of qualirty services.

Relationship between Changes in Cash Flow and Investments in Publicy Traded Restaurant Firms in the United States

This research investigated the relationship between investments in fixed assets and free cash flows of U.S. restaurant firms while controlling for future investment opportunities and financial constraints. It also investigated investment and cash-flow sensitivity in the context of economic conditions. Results suggested that investments in small firms (with higher financial constraints) had relatively weaker sensitivity to cash flows than investments in large firms (with higher sensitivity). Controlling for economic conditions did not significantly change results. While the debate over sensitivity of investments to cash flows remains unresolved, it has not been explored widely in industry contexts, especially in services such as the restaurant industry. In addition to its contribution to this literature, this paper provides implications for cash-flow management in publicly traded restaurant companies.

Timeshare Owner Preferences - An Analysis of Program and Service Relationships during Recessionary Times

Since the 1970s various industry studies have indicated that the vacation ownership industry has enjoyed unprecedented growth in unit sales, resort growth, and the number of owners (American Resort Devleopment Association [ARDA], 2007; ARDA, 2009a; ARDA, 2009b). However, due to the recent economic downturn these growth metrics are no longer obtainable. This external impact has caused developers to retrench and therefore reflect upon their existing product and service offerings, financial metrics, and consumer markets (ARDA, 2010a; ARDA 2010b). The crux of these findings indicates that the industry has shifted to maintaining and enhancing product and service offerings as a reaction to changing economic conditions. The findings reported in the body of this manuscript represent product and service preferences as collected from a random data pull of their existing ownership base. The study also revealed current preferences of timeshare owners with relation to services provided and products/amenities offered. Management implications and limitations of the current study are discussed.

Democracy promotion and Turkey

The dissertation documented the degree of Turkey's involvement in the promotion of democracy in the Arab Middle East (ME). Initially, I investigated why and under what conditions Turkey promotes democracy in the ME, and then I explained strategies through which Turkey promotes democracy in the region. I applied the neo-classical realist theoretical framework and a mixed methodology in the research, and I provided evidence from two sources: face-to-face interviews with the Turkish and foreign officials and common citizens, and the statistical data from institutions, such as the OECD, Turkish Statistical Institute, and World Bank.^ My research indicates that Turkey promotes democracy through seven channels. These channels are official development assistance (ODA), mentoring, demonstrative effect, normative pressure, conditionality, military power, enlargement, and civil society organizations. Turkey promotes democracy in the ME for three substantial reasons: first, to advance its security and economic interests; second, to improve the political, social, and economic conditions of people living in the region; and third, to create long-term regional stability, crucial for cooperation in economic and security realms.^ I attempted to engage in debates with two distinct, but interrelated fields of comparative politics and international relations. My most important contribution to the field is that I documented Turkey's case of democracy promotion regarding the degree of Turkey's involvement in this endeavor, its strategies, specificities, and effectiveness in the region. I also contribute to the field as I explained the difference between democracy promotion policies of a regional power, such as Turkey, and global powers, such as the US. I further engaged in discussions that illuminate some aspects of the interplay between the identity and strategic interests in states' foreign policy decisions.^

Matrifocality and child shifting among the low income earners in Jamaica

Jamaican family structures have long felt the impact of unstable internal economic conditions and high volume of labor demands originating from England, Canada, the United States, and other larger societies. In response to the economic conditions and labor demands, increasing numbers of Jamaican women have migrated away from home, both within Jamaica and to other countries. Subsequently, many Jamaicans' households are restructured using a method called child shifting. This refers to "the relocation of children between households." Using three major theoretical paradigms: cultural diffusion, social pathology, and structural functionalism, this study explores the literature of child shifting to understand how economic conditions influence matrifocal families and in particular their child rearing practices. This study employs the structural functionalism paradigm's focus on "adaptive responses" to find plausible explanations for child shifting patterns. The primary premise of the "adaptive responses" approach is that economic marginality leads to certain adaptive responses in residential, kinship, and child rearing patterns. This study finds certain adjustment problems associated with child shifting. These include shifted children developing feelings of abandonment, of anxiety, of loss, and having difficulty trusting after the shifting occurs. These costs may outweigh the benefits of child shifting.

World coffee markets and national coffee parastatals since 1989: a comparative study of Colombia and Cote D'ivoire

The International Coffee Agreements (ICA) involved the majority of nations producing and consuming coffee and provided relative economic stability to the coffee sectors of the exporting Third World countries. This study focuses on the serious impact of the 1989 collapse of the ICA on the domestic coffee sectors of Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire. In particular, the dissertation examines the role of the Colombian and Ivoirian coffee parastatals, the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia and the Caisse de Stabilisation et Soutien des Prix des Produits Agricoles, during the crisis and their transformation by it. The theoretical framework employed in this study is borrowed from the literature on state-society relations. The methodology includes: in-depth analysis of the historical roles of the parastatal agencies in coffee production, state-society relations and economic development in Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire; interviews with parastatal administrators, producers and other knowledgeable informants in both countries; and a comprehensive review of newspaper articles and official statements of coffee policy published in Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire prior to, during, and after the crisis. The Colombian and Ivoirian coffee sectors and their producers faced serious economic and social problems following the drop in coffee prices. The coffee parastatals in Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire first lost some of their responsibilities following the world coffee crisis. The Caisse was in the end eliminated while FEDECAFE struggled to remain in existence. Along the way, both entities faced protests from disgruntled coffee producers, who organized politically for the first time in their nations' histories. I argue that the outcome for the parastatals depended in part on the conditions of their formation, particularly the level of societal involvement in their creation. I also posit that the country's dependence on foreign aid played a key role in the fate of the parastatals. This dissertation concludes that developments in the Colombian and Ivoirian coffee sectors have significantly contributed to the creation of the difficult political and economic conditions of both countries today.

Avaliação de impactos não esperados: estudo de caso sobre o uso alternativo de crédito no Pronaf B

This Doctoral Dissertation deals with the evaluation of impacts, through the Case Study on deviations or redirects present in contracts Pronaf B, at Governador Mangabeira - BA , from 2011 to 2013. From the questioning about the expected impacts not contribute to the effectiveness of the program ? It was possible the measurement of the hypothesis that the effectiveness of unexpected impacts stems from the logic of family farming, unique socio-economic conditions of individuals and family units. The methodology is structured in the theoretical framework regarding the impact assessment and family farming, data collection, questionnaires among redirected contracting credit in PRONAF B and interviews with institutional actors involved . The results confirmed the existence of a logic family farm, able to take own decisions their mode of reproduction of life. As for the impact assessment, we added the importance of the unexpected in the evaluation of public policy impacts , while study of effectiveness with the beneficiaries and the significant contribution of their views.

Generosidade e cooperação de crianças monitoradas e não monitoradas: a interação entre a condição socioeconômica e o ambiente escolar

Studies have shown that a person's socioeconomic status (SES) and the environment in which they are inserted modulate their pro-sociality. While children studying in schools with a more affluent student body tend to be more generous, adults with high SES in both real and experimental situations tend to be more selfish, greedy and individualistic. Another factor that influences pro-sociality is monitoring. When we do something under the supervision of another person, we tend to be more generous and cooperative, compared to situations in which no one is watching, even if the "observer" is a drawing of eyes. This monitoring effect occurs in both adults and children. To date, no studies have investigated whether the SES and the environment influence the pro-sociality of the children. There have also been no studies on how the monitoring effect might be influenced by SES and the environment (in this case, whether the environment is a public or private school). Given this context, our main objective was to investigate whether the generosity and cooperation of monitored and unmonitored kids is modulated by these factors. To this end, we did eight matches of the public goods, under monitoring and control conditions, with 249 children from the ages of 7 to 10 years enrolled in public and private schools in Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil). The SES of each child's family was assessed according to the Economic Classification Criterion of Brazil (2013). Contrary to our predictions, SES, school environment and experimental conditions did not significantly influence cooperation and generosity behavior when analyzed separately. We discuss whether the influences of resource and experimental design adopted for the current study and the historical and economic conditions of Brazil might explain these observations. Interestingly, when SES and school environment were analyzed together, an effect of monitoring on generosity and cooperation was detected. More specifically, monitoring had the effect of decreasing generosity among children with greater SES in private schools; and increased cooperation among children with greater SES in public schools. These results suggest that there is an influence of monitoring on the pro-sociality of children in relation to their SES and acquaintanceship environments. We argue that these observations may be explained by different preoccupations with reputation, according to the environment in which a child is inserted.

A desigualdade espacial do Baixo Peso ao Nascer no Brasil

Low birth weight (LBW) is a risk factor for neonatal and infant morbidity and mortality. In Brazil the highest percentages of low birth weight occur in regions of higher socio-economic status. The scope of this article is to ascertain the spatial distribution of low birth weight rates and the correlation with social and service indicators. The scale is ecological taking all the Brazilian states as units of analysis. The spatial analysis technique is the methodology used together with data from SINASC, IPEA and IBGE for 2009. Higher rates of low birth weight are found in the south/southeastern states (Global Moran: 0.267, p = 0.02). Clusters of the high-high type in the Southeast and of the low-low variety in states in the Amazon region are detected. The spatial inequality of low birth weight reflects the socio-economic conditions of the states. More developed regions have higher rates of low birth weight, therefore, the presence of the service and its use decrease infant mortality and increase LBW.

A pedagogia industrial da FIEMG: um estudo sobre o pensamento empresarial a partir da revista vida industrial (1961-1974)

The present research results of the studies and debates inherent in PhD in Education at the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Uberlândia, belonging to the Research Line "Politics and Knowledge in Education." This thesis aims to analyze the contradictory meaning of education as training human history, specifically educational representative under the logic of the industrial business associated FIEMG (Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais) in the context 1961-1974. This definition is justified by the historical fact that it was a period marked by the cyclical crises of capital and their impacts in the final phase of the industrialization process in Brazil: it starts with one of the apexes of economic growth in the country , driven by national developmental , continues with a severe political crisis in 1966 , also impacting the economic sphere, and finally, with the constant quest for economic stability even under high prices, hatch the factors that led to the Brazilian economy to the context of the "Economic Miracle". For this, it was necessary to link the debate between education and work from the perspective of historical materialism and dialectical their subsidies theoretical-methodological and epistemological. In the first chapter, we designed a "State of the art" category "human formation", conceived as a process of education and history, from the Marxist assumptions, aiming at the reconstruction of concepts and meanings of which is the formation of workers in contradictory logic, the bias of comprehensive training and the prospect of capital accumulation. Then, in the second chapter, we present a review about industrialization, the industrial business and its development perspective 1961-1974. The third chapter was established on a contextualization of the state and its peculiarities, the industrial business and its proposed development both nationally and at the state (Minas Gerais). Finally, in the fourth chapter, was organized dialogue with the sources, from a historical survey of the shares of the industrial business with an emphasis on education, which converged in a pedagogy industrial consolidation in line with the political and economic conditions specific period from 1961 to 1974. It has mailing bibliographic reference business thinking expressed in the concreteness of training workers and industry of Minas Gerais, in agreement with the demands of work and training of mining companies. The thesis of this study is the defense that the corporate actions which constituted pedagogy industrial concepts were articulated to political and economic development in Brazil, since the discipline to work imposed by such conceptions met the human worker training geared to the accumulation the general capital and industrial capital in particular. Establish, therefore, different logics, the state level, the scope of private foreign capital and domestic private capital, which came up the process of capital accumulation, loading, contradictorily, the possibilities of building the human beyond capital, or a teaching job.

Punishing Local Incumbents for the Local Economy

After decennia of research on economic voting, it is now established that the state of the economy affects voting behaviour. Nevertheless, this conclusion is the result of a focus on predominantly national-level economies and national-level elections. In this paper, we show that at a local level as well, mechanisms of accountability linked to the economy are at work. The local economic context affected voting behaviour in the 2012 Belgian municipal elections, with a stronger increase of unemployment rates in their municipality significantly decreasing the probability that voters choose an incumbent party. Additionally, we observe that voters are not opportunistically voting for incumbents who lower tax rates. Instead, voters seem to be holding local incumbents accountable for local economic conditions. We hence conclude that voters care about economic outcomes, not about what specific policies are implemented to reach these outcomes.

The Interaction Between Monetary and Fiscal Policies (Working Paper 30)

One can view the period since 1970 as one in which the authorities struggled to establish appropriate medium-term anchors for both monetary and fiscal policies. During this time, they learned about the appropriate interaction between those two policies in the context of economic stabilization and growth under a flexible exchange rate regime. This lecture deals with four interrelated topics: the appropriate goals for fiscal and monetary policy, building policy credibility, the appropriate stabilization role for the two policies, and policy cooperation. The transparent medium term frameworks that have been established by the authorities will be extremely helpful in meeting the challenges that the future is sure to bring. These frameworks mean that the required adjustments in the economy will take place against a relatively stable background. Thank you for the invitation to give the Gow Lecture for 2002. Donald Gow had a great interest in public administration and in budgetary reform in the federal government (Gow 1973). He was one in a long line of

Inclusión digital de los estudiantes adultos que acceden a la universidad: análisis de sus actitudes y competencias digitales

Esta investigación se propone identificar las actitudes y competencias de los estudiantes adultos en relación con el uso de las TIC, con especial atención al uso de plataformas digitales de aprendizaje y redes sociales (Web 2.0). Asimismo, evalúa la incidencia de algunas variables sociodemográficas (género y edad) en el uso estas herramientas y en la autopercepción de los estudiantes sobre sus competencias digitales. Se ha realizado un estudio tipo encuesta con una muestra de 382 estudiantes que acceden a la Universidad de Sevilla a través de las vías establecidas para mayores de 25, de 40 y 45 años. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto una actitud generalmente positiva ante las TIC que puede calificarse como de pragmática, ya que estas herramientas se valoran positivamente en función de sus potenciales beneficios en los procesos de aprendizaje. Se constata a la vez que no han recibido formación específica en el uso de las TIC. El nivel de competencia que este alumnado percibe tener en el uso de estos recursos es medio-bajo. Además, el grupo de estudiantes mayores de 45 años se considera menos competente que los mayores de 25 y de 40 años. En consecuencia, se realizan algunas propuestas para mejorar la participación de los estudiantes maduros en la enseñanza universitaria.