Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social and economic change'

Changes are afoot in the nonprofit sector of the economy (James, 2003). Nonprofit leaders are adopting entrepreneurial business models to sustain or expand the scope of their mission work. This change is part of a counter-hegemonic shift toward a new economic paradigm in which blended business models create both social and financial value (Sabeti, 2009; Sahakian & Dunand, 2013). The current study explored how nonprofit leaders understand the shift toward a more enterprising and entrepreneurial nonprofit sector. Qualitative methods, along with a grounded theory framework were used to elicit leaders' perspectives on the emergence of social enterprise in nonprofits and the characteristics of successful nonprofit social enterprise. Findings include five themes of social enterprise understanding that offer structure for further research and professional discourse on the subject, including: 1) Social enterprise as a necessary and inevitable evolution of the nonprofit organization; 2) Social enterprise as a means of achieving a social mission; 3) Social enterprise as a true blending of business and social impact models; 4) Social enterprise as a business principle applied to a social mission context; and 5) Social enterprise as a market-driven approach to financial and social value creation. A secondary analysis points to the emergence of a social enterprise synergy effect in which the social and financial value generated by nonprofit social enterprises yield a third effect that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The implications of these findings are limited to nonprofit social enterprises, but contribute to our understanding of this nascent field.

This study is mainly focussed on the analysis of social and economic changes as an outcome of technological change introduced in twentieth century agriculture in Khairpur. These changes led to the emergence of a middle class in Khairpur. Chapter 1 introduces Sind and summarises the conditions of Khairpur state in the mid-twentieth century and concludes the key points regarding the socio-economic and administrative status of the state. Chapter 2 deals with Green Revolution debate. The next three chapters describe the main sources of agricultural revolution which created social, cultural and political changes in Khairpur. These sources included the improvement of irrigation, the introduction of mechanisation in agriculture and the adoption of new high-yielding varieties technology. Chapter 6 examines the process of commercialisation of agriculture and growth of urban culture as an impact of agricultural change. It analyses consumer culture as a new middle class life was created by technological change. The chapter demonstrates how the cultural way of life underwent a remarkable transformation in Khairpur through the consumption of new products. This argument at one level examines the tools of marketing used by advertisers and it indicates at another level the thrust of consumers for their desired identities in a society where they were marginalised by the way that the economic and social order had developed in colonial times. Chapter 7 demonstrates that shopping and leisure became increasingly important for the middle class. It was by such means that they expressed their new identities and new social positions. They also came to express themselves politically. Thus, they were able to assert themselves against the attempts of the landlords and bureaucrats to keep them down. But they were not able to do so to the extent that they took power. Nevertheless, there were changes in the economic and social structure which portended future political change. Chapter 8 deals with conclusion of the study.

Economia
Doctoral Programme in Economics
O presente trabalho tem como objectivo principal contribuir para um maior conhecimento do processo de crescimento económico Português ocorrido nas últimas três décadas, considerando explicitamente a relação entre mudanças ocorridas ao nível sectorial e transformações de natureza macroeconómica. Embora este assunto tenha sido objecto de análise em trabalhos anteriores, várias questões relevantes relacionadas com a interacção entre progresso tecnológico, mudança estrutural e crescimento económico permaneceram em aberto. Estas questões são abordadas neste trabalho, que tem na teoria neo-Schumpeteriana a sua fundamentação teórica principal. Após uma primeira parte onde é realizada uma revisão da literatura relevante na área de conhecimento em questão, a análise da relação entre tecnologia, mudança estrutural e desempenho macroeconómico é abordada, utilizando a metodologia shift-share. Esta metodologia é aplicada considerando diferentes desagregações da actividade económica e utilizando a produtividade total de factores como medida de produtividade. São também tidos em conta os efeitos de Verdoorn no cômputo da relevância do efeito de mudança estrutural. A consideração explícita do factor capital na mensuração do crescimento da produtividade revela que o desempenho da economia Portuguesa entre 1977 e 2003 foi globalmente medíocre. Os resultados revelam ainda que os reduzidos ganhos de produtividade decorreram sobretudo da transferência de trabalho e de capital entre sectores, mais do que de ganhos de produtividade intra-sectoriais. Os benefícios inerentes à mudança estrutural ocorreram, no entanto, no interior dos grandes grupos de actividade da economia Portuguesa, que sofreram poucas alterações ao longo do período em estudo. De facto, no final deste período, a economia Portuguesa conserva os seus principais traços estruturais, registando um grande relevo de actividades com uso intensivo de mão-de-obra pouco qualificada e com reduzida intensidade tecnológica. A última parte da tese é dedicada à análise da relação entre a importância relativa de actividades tecnologicamente avançadas na estrutura produtiva e o crescimento da produtividade do trabalho. Para este efeito é estimada uma regressão com dados em painel onde, para além de Portugal, são considerados países que no início do período em estudo possuíam características estruturais idênticas ao caso Português, mas que observaram trajectórias de crescimento muito diversas no período em análise. Os resultados sustentam empiricamente a hipótese segundo a qual os países com maior capacidade de proceder a transformações efectivas da sua estrutura produtiva em torno de actividades tecnologicamente mais avançadas beneficiam de um crescimento superior da produtividade do trabalho. Em simultâneo, a evidência obtida confirma o carácter estratégico das actividades directamente relacionadas com as tecnologias de informação e de comunicação, ainda que tal aconteça unicamente para actividades produtoras destas tecnologias. Este facto sublinha o carácter local dos efeitos de spillover decorrentes de actividades económicas tecnologicamente mais avançadas.
The main purpose of the present study is to contribute for a deeper understanding of the growth process of the Portuguese economy over the last three decades, by explicitly taking into account the relationship between changes occurring at the industry level of the economy and overall macroeconomic changes. Although a few studies have already addressed the matter for the Portuguese case, a number of important issues relating structural transformation, technology and economic growth remained unexplored, and it is our purpose to fill this gap by considering the neo-Schumpeterian stream of research as the main theoretical frame of analysis. After comprehensively surveying the relevant literature on the field, a preliminary assessment of the relationship between technology, structural change and the macroeconomic performance of the Portuguese economy is undertaken using shift-share analysis. This technique is applied considering total factor productivity growth, and employing different levels of breakdown of economic activity, which include the division of industries according to their skills and innovativeness potential. The impact of Verdoorn effects is also acknowledged. The inclusion of capital in the measurement of productivity growth reveals that the performance of the Portuguese economy was globally mediocre in the period under scrutiny, which was characterised by very slow rates of TFP growth. The results show furthermore that most of the (low) productivity gains came from the shift of labour and capital resources across sectors, rather than from intra-productivity gains. Structural change gains arose, however, in a context of relatively slow change in the broad Portuguese economic structure, which maintained a strong bias towards traditional and low-skilled activities. The latter part of the thesis is dedicated to the investigation of the benefits in terms of productivity growth arising from an increase in the relative importance of technologically dynamic industries. This is done using panel data regression methods and analysing the Portuguese case with reference to a number of other countries that presented similar structural characteristics in the late 1970s, but which have experienced widely different growth trajectories since then. The results provide empirical support to the hypothesis according to which substantial benefits have accrued to countries that successfully changed their structure towards more technologically advanced industries. Moreover, the results lend some support to the view that ICT-related industries are strategic branches of economic activity, but only when producing industries are considered. This accentuates the fact that most spillovers from advanced industries, and particularly ICT producing industries are local and national in character.

Master of Arts
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work
Laszlo Kulcsar
Environmental, economic and social conditions have changed drastically throughout Great Plains farming communities. In Southwest Kansas, the Ogallala Aquifer supports extensive agricultural industries and family farms through hyper-extraction of groundwater resources. Capitalistic ventures in farming have led to socials changes like declining community populations, out-migration of youth and family farm transformations. The relationship between environmental change, economic development and social changes is explored through a case study of Haskell County Kansas. Interviews were conducted to understand residents' perspectives of declining environmental resources available to achieve continued economic development by way of family farming. Residents also explain social changes that have resulted from evolving economic conditions and increasing use of groundwater resources.

Economia
Doctoral Programme in Economics
O presente trabalho tem como objectivo principal contribuir para um maior conhecimento do processo de crescimento económico Português ocorrido nas últimas três décadas, considerando explicitamente a relação entre mudanças ocorridas ao nível sectorial e transformações de natureza macroeconómica. Embora este assunto tenha sido objecto de análise em trabalhos anteriores, várias questões relevantes relacionadas com a interacção entre progresso tecnológico, mudança estrutural e crescimento económico permaneceram em aberto. Estas questões são abordadas neste trabalho, que tem na teoria neo-Schumpeteriana a sua fundamentação teórica principal. Após uma primeira parte onde é realizada uma revisão da literatura relevante na área de conhecimento em questão, a análise da relação entre tecnologia, mudança estrutural e desempenho macroeconómico é abordada, utilizando a metodologia shift-share. Esta metodologia é aplicada considerando diferentes desagregações da actividade económica e utilizando a produtividade total de factores como medida de produtividade. São também tidos em conta os efeitos de Verdoorn no cômputo da relevância do efeito de mudança estrutural. A consideração explícita do factor capital na mensuração do crescimento da produtividade revela que o desempenho da economia Portuguesa entre 1977 e 2003 foi globalmente medíocre. Os resultados revelam ainda que os reduzidos ganhos de produtividade decorreram sobretudo da transferência de trabalho e de capital entre sectores, mais do que de ganhos de produtividade intra-sectoriais. Os benefícios inerentes à mudança estrutural ocorreram, no entanto, no interior dos grandes grupos de actividade da economia Portuguesa, que sofreram poucas alterações ao longo do período em estudo. De facto, no final deste período, a economia Portuguesa conserva os seus principais traços estruturais, registando um grande relevo de actividades com uso intensivo de mão-de-obra pouco qualificada e com reduzida intensidade tecnológica. A última parte da tese é dedicada à análise da relação entre a importância relativa de actividades tecnologicamente avançadas na estrutura produtiva e o crescimento da produtividade do trabalho. Para este efeito é estimada uma regressão com dados em painel onde, para além de Portugal, são considerados países que no início do período em estudo possuíam características estruturais idênticas ao caso Português, mas que observaram trajectórias de crescimento muito diversas no período em análise. Os resultados sustentam empiricamente a hipótese segundo a qual os países com maior capacidade de proceder a transformações efectivas da sua estrutura produtiva em torno de actividades tecnologicamente mais avançadas beneficiam de um crescimento superior da produtividade do trabalho. Em simultâneo, a evidência obtida confirma o carácter estratégico das actividades directamente relacionadas com as tecnologias de informação e de comunicação, ainda que tal aconteça unicamente para actividades produtoras destas tecnologias. Este facto sublinha o carácter local dos efeitos de spillover decorrentes de actividades económicas tecnologicamente mais avançadas.
The main purpose of the present study is to contribute for a deeper understanding of the growth process of the Portuguese economy over the last three decades, by explicitly taking into account the relationship between changes occurring at the industry level of the economy and overall macroeconomic changes. Although a few studies have already addressed the matter for the Portuguese case, a number of important issues relating structural transformation, technology and economic growth remained unexplored, and it is our purpose to fill this gap by considering the neo-Schumpeterian stream of research as the main theoretical frame of analysis. After comprehensively surveying the relevant literature on the field, a preliminary assessment of the relationship between technology, structural change and the macroeconomic performance of the Portuguese economy is undertaken using shift-share analysis. This technique is applied considering total factor productivity growth, and employing different levels of breakdown of economic activity, which include the division of industries according to their skills and innovativeness potential. The impact of Verdoorn effects is also acknowledged. The inclusion of capital in the measurement of productivity growth reveals that the performance of the Portuguese economy was globally mediocre in the period under scrutiny, which was characterised by very slow rates of TFP growth. The results show furthermore that most of the (low) productivity gains came from the shift of labour and capital resources across sectors, rather than from intra-productivity gains. Structural change gains arose, however, in a context of relatively slow change in the broad Portuguese economic structure, which maintained a strong bias towards traditional and low-skilled activities. The latter part of the thesis is dedicated to the investigation of the benefits in terms of productivity growth arising from an increase in the relative importance of technologically dynamic industries. This is done using panel data regression methods and analysing the Portuguese case with reference to a number of other countries that presented similar structural characteristics in the late 1970s, but which have experienced widely different growth trajectories since then. The results provide empirical support to the hypothesis according to which substantial benefits have accrued to countries that successfully changed their structure towards more technologically advanced industries. Moreover, the results lend some support to the view that ICT-related industries are strategic branches of economic activity, but only when producing industries are considered. This accentuates the fact that most spillovers from advanced industries, and particularly ICT producing industries are local and national in character.

O presente trabalho tem como objectivo principal contribuir para um maior conhecimento do processo de crescimento económico Português ocorrido nas últimas três décadas, considerando explicitamente a relação entre mudanças ocorridas ao nível sectorial e transformações de natureza macroeconómica. Embora este assunto tenha sido objecto de análise em trabalhos anteriores, várias questões relevantes relacionadas com a interacção entre progresso tecnológico, mudança estrutural e crescimento económico permaneceram em aberto. Estas questões são abordadas neste trabalho, que tem na teoria neo-Schumpeteriana a sua fundamentação teórica principal. Após uma primeira parte onde é realizada uma revisão da literatura relevante na área de conhecimento em questão, a análise da relação entre tecnologia, mudança estrutural e desempenho macroeconómico é abordada, utilizando a metodologia shift-share. Esta metodologia é aplicada considerando diferentes desagregações da actividade económica e utilizando a produtividade total de factores como medida de produtividade. São também tidos em conta os efeitos de Verdoorn no cômputo da relevância do efeito de mudança estrutural. A consideração explícita do factor capital na mensuração do crescimento da produtividade revela que o desempenho da economia Portuguesa entre 1977 e 2003 foi globalmente medíocre. Os resultados revelam ainda que os reduzidos ganhos de produtividade decorreram sobretudo da transferência de trabalho e de capital entre sectores, mais do que de ganhos de produtividade intra-sectoriais. Os benefícios inerentes à mudança estrutural ocorreram, no entanto, no interior dos grandes grupos de actividade da economia Portuguesa, que sofreram poucas alterações ao longo do período em estudo. De facto, no final deste período, a economia Portuguesa conserva os seus principais traços estruturais, registando um grande relevo de actividades com uso intensivo de mão-de-obra pouco qualificada e com reduzida intensidade tecnológica. A última parte da tese é dedicada à análise da relação entre a importância relativa de actividades tecnologicamente avançadas na estrutura produtiva e o crescimento da produtividade do trabalho. Para este efeito é estimada uma regressão com dados em painel onde, para além de Portugal, são considerados países que no início do período em estudo possuíam características estruturais idênticas ao caso Português, mas que observaram trajectórias de crescimento muito diversas no período em análise. Os resultados sustentam empiricamente a hipótese segundo a qual os países com maior capacidade de proceder a transformações efectivas da sua estrutura produtiva em torno de actividades tecnologicamente mais avançadas beneficiam de um crescimento superior da produtividade do trabalho. Em simultâneo, a evidência obtida confirma o carácter estratégico das actividades directamente relacionadas com as tecnologias de informação e de comunicação, ainda que tal aconteça unicamente para actividades produtoras destas tecnologias. Este facto sublinha o carácter local dos efeitos de spillover decorrentes de actividades económicas tecnologicamente mais avançadas.

This thesis explores how economic and institutional changes shape social preferences, in particular attitudes of wellbeing and unrest. The first chapter explores whether the welfare of women increased following the extension of women's rights between the 1960s and 1990s in Europe. Using individual-level data on life satisfaction, it shows through differences-in-differences that the extension of birth control rights is strongly linked to an increase in the welfare of women of childbearing age, while mutual consent divorce and maternity benefits proved less beneficial. Birth control rights also increased women's investment in education, probability of working and income. The second chapter investigates whether the same link between individual rights and welfare holds in the context of India. Unlike in Europe, there is no strong evidence that abortion rights increased the wellbeing of women. Some positive association between rights and wellbeing is only found once the income, education and location of individuals are accounted for. The third and fourth chapters examine which political and economic factors lead individuals to revolt against their government, creating conflict and property rights insecurity. Two innovative empirical approaches are introduced. Chapter 3 analyses the revolutionary preferences of over 100,000 people in 61 countries between 1981 and 1997. It uses instrumental variables to control for the possible endogeneity of economic and political variables. It finds that restricting the level of political and civil freedom has a strong impact on revolutionary support, which economic growth can only partly compensate for. Chapter 4 examines the interaction of preferences for revolt and actions combining the analysis of survey data with a laboratory experiment. The findings are consistent with the collective action problem. The feeling by citizens that the government "operates in the interest of the few" increases both revolutionary preferences and actions; political repression increases preferences for revolt but decreases actual opposition.

Foraging is a popular modern pastime, as evidenced by the growing number of books, television programmes and websites dedicated to wild foods. Yet foraging - that quintessential activity of early man - is no longer relevant to our survival, nor is it even of peripheral importance to our social and economic system. It may still hold meaning for our psychosocial wellbeing, but only in ways that illustrate our disassociation from the past, rather than our connection to it. This thesis begins by examining the biological imperatives that once drove foraging behaviours but that now have a negligible effect on most of humanity. It then moves to examine the legal and historical contexts in which the harvests take place and the life experiences of the people who have gathered wild foods. Today, we still cling to the long-established ideal that wild foods are ‘inherently public property,’ or free for all to gather for personal use. The environment in which the process takes place, however, is profoundly changed: the institutional setting is hostile and there has been a wholesale loss of general knowledge as to the location and use of foods that were once core to our diet. Those foraging today - often middle aged, well educated women – continue to gather for a complex array of personal reasons, and do so irrespective of prevailing laws and in spite of conservation issues. This research finds that the wild harvest today is a socially and culturally negotiated symbol tied to perceptions of the self, identity and sense of place. The transformation of the symbolic meaning of foraging is highlighted via an analysis of the social history of the bilberry harvest and through the narratives of bilberry gatherers and heath land wardens, both of which reveal the unravelling of the social nexus in which the harvest once occurred. The thesis concludes with a call for a food culture that suits our landscape and ecology and that reconnects us with the food that sustains us.

Although rural areas share certain common characteristic's, individual districts and their communities exhibit many important differences. This study provides a detailed analysis of economic and social change in the nineteenth century in a specific rural upland area in the north Yorkshire Pennines. It is intended both to add to r the limited body of detailed knowledge which already exists in respect of rural, and specifically upland rural, areas and to test generalizations concerning the economic and social structure of such areas against the individual experience of Wensleydale and Swaledale. The major industries of the two dales in the nineteenth century, agriculture, mining, and textiles, formed the basis of the economy of many upland areas. The development and relative importance of these industries within Wensleydale and Swaledale is closely examined and compared with other areas in order to identify the uniqueness or otherwise of the extent and direction of change within the dales. The influence of local and non-local factors on the demise of two of these industries in the nineteenth century and on the structural changes in the third is also studied. The survival of upland areas in an increasingly industrialized and competitive society was constrained by inaccessibility. The extent to which road and rail transport assisted the two dales to overcome the problems of isolation is, therefore, examined. Although the present work is an economic and social study, it concerns itself primarily with economic change since a healthy economy was essential for the maintenance of a viable local community. The social condition of the community is studied in the context of its response to the rapidly changing economy in the nineteenth century. In particular, a detailed analysis is undertaken of the extent to which population growth and decline, and attendant migration, affected the well-being of the local community.

This thesis is an anthropological study of local understandings of economic development in a small regional town in far North Queensland, Australia. How do preferences regarding lifestyle and social wellbeing impact on those living in the community? The study takes a particular interest in the aspirations, values and choices of the residents and their desires for the future and the future of their town. Throughout this thesis I argue that social wellbeing and lifestyle are important factors in Cardwell residents' choices and feature predominantly in their approaches to economic development. I contextualise this study through a comparative analysis of the effects of economic development on the wellbeing and lifestyle of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the Cardwell region of north Australia. This comparison arises firstly from an anthropological interest in the circumstances of Australian Aboriginal people as a significant minority in regional towns. Explicit attention is directed toward the Aboriginal people of the Cardwell region as they constitute a socially and culturally distinct sector of the local population. Secondly, my study explores ways in which comparative work of this kind may be instructive on cultural issues relevant to economic development. This is a study of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, who live in similar circumstances, and who, I propose, regard factors other than economic development as important. It is argued that while the Cardwell region does not provide ample nor a variety of economic opportunities, outward migration remains undesirable to many residents.

The focus of this thesis is to examine the structure of inequality in Malaysian society. It begins with a class based approach by measuring the class structure for peninsular Malaysia between 1970 and 1990. This time frame is considered crucial in the history of Malaysia's economic progress. It is during this period that Malaysia's New Economic Policy (NEP) was implemented. The NEP aimed to promote rapid economic growth while attempting to correct ethnic imbalance between the Malays and the Chinese in particular, by propagating a policy of positive discrimination in favour of the Malays. This makes the issue of class inequality more complicated and calls forth an examination of the interplay between class and ethnicity in the structuring of inequality. Gender inequality, another issue central in the debate on class and stratification is also brought in. Inequality in this case is defined in terms of access to economic resources which in turn determine the income and social status of individuals. The class structure derived, therefore, represents the distribution of individuals based on differential access to available economic resources. Considering that the majority of Malaysians are wage earners, the class structure is measured using occupational position as a starting point. Employment status, education, job characteristics and definitions are then taken into account. Other supporting evidence is included wherever necessary. Such an approach is arguably not flawless. Nevertheless, given the limitations confronting this study, it has to consider a framework which derives a measure of inequality which incorporates some of the common criteria identified in economic as well as sociological theories in the analysis of social stratification. This framework draws upon the vast theoretical and empirical literature developed in Malaysia and in the West, especially in Britain and the United States. It is premised to some extent on the Marxist and Weberian conception of social classes and guided by the empirical methods used by Goldthorpe for Britain and Wright for the United States.

The main purpose of this research is to investigate and explore aspects of socio-economic life in a village, Assfan, in Saudi Arabia and to see whether there have been changes, after three decades of formal development planning in the country, and how these changes have affected the lives of the population. Three themes were explored from a structural functionalist perspective: the family system, with a special focus on marriage, as an aspect of social life; the economic system; and observance of religious duties. The study was based on questionnaires, interviews and participant observation. Questionnaires were administered to 154 younger inhabitants (aged 18 to 38 years old) and 150 older inhabitants (39 years or older), as heads of households, selected from the records of villagers in the health centre at Assfan. Women's perspectives were obtained via in-depth interviews conducted by a female assistant. In addition, in-depth study of life before 1970 was undertaken through interviews with important and elderly people of the village. Further insights were obtained through participant observation of village life. Descriptive data are presented regarding the background of the sample, followed by the respondents' answers to the three aspects of the study; marriage: labour market and religious performance. Chi square tests were used to investigate significant differences in responses between the older and younger sample groups which would constitute evidence of social change. The findings revealed evidence of change in marriage customs and economic life. There was a trend towards later marriage, related to pursuit of education, and a trend away from polygamy and cross cousin marriage. Celebrations had become more ostentatious and commercialised. In the economic sphere, a move away from agriculture and pastoralism was evident in favour of teaching and government service, as well as entrepreneurial activity providing goods and services for other villages, and for travellers. Despite changes in prosperity, however, there was no fundamental change in the value system. Regard to observance and the related norms of mutuality and reciprocation were still strong.

The trade in bushmeat for human consumption is an important source of income and food for many people in tropical Africa. Yet it also represents one of the most significant threats to the persistence of wildlife. This threat has been exacerbated in recent decades as the trade has become increasingly commercial in nature, and previously pristine habitats have been degraded due to agriculture and extractive industries. These agricultural, production landscapes are increasingly the face of rural Africa, particularly West Africa. Understanding how economic and landscape-level pressures influence hunting behaviour in these production landscapes will be critical to developing effective management policies that are able to address both development and conservation agendas. This study uses a unique 26-year dataset, collected in the Atwemonom market in Kumasi, Ghana, to examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of the bushmeat trade in the region. A multidisciplinary, multi-scale approach is adopted to present a holistic overview of the trade. Four analyses are presented. Firstly, a framework is developed to assess the degree to which the trade is driven by the demands of the consumer, or the behaviour of the hunter. Secondly, an econometric supply and demand model based on available market data is tested and implemented to analyse the drivers of supply and demand in the commercial system. Thirdly, a spatial model is designed to explore how the biophysical characteristics of the landscape influence what is harvested, from where it is harvested and how this has changed over time. Finally, the findings of these three approaches are used to inform a scenario analysis that explores the socioeconomic factors determining a hunter's willingness to adapt their behaviour in light of changing incentives to participate. The findings highlight the importance of the production landscape for supporting the bushmeat trade in the region and present evidence that suggests the trade around Kumasi may be defined more by drivers of supply (hunter behaviour) than demand (consumer preference). This raises concerns about the effectiveness of demand side management. The results emphasise the need for integrated approaches to bushmeat management that consider the full range of social, economic and environmental drivers.

This study explores the relationship between economic development, social mobility, elites, and regime formation. I argue that the genesis of regime formation, in general, and of democratic regimes, in particular, is determined by the type of economic structure a society possesses, on the one hand, and on the degree the to which demands from disfranchised groups do or do not pose a substantial threat to the interests of elites who occupy the upper strata of the social and economic status hierarchy. Second I demonstrate that the dynamics of transition to wider political participation, as the core element of a democratic system of governance, and the survival of such change are different. In what follows I illustrate that some factors that have been found to dampen the chances for wider participation or have been found to be unrelated to onset of a democratic system of governance have considerable impacts on the durability of the democratic regimes. In a nutshell, the analysis points to the positive effects of mineral wealth and income inequality on the prospects of a democratic survival. Using a cross-national time series data set for all countries for the period between 1960 and 1999 I put the hypotheses to the test. I use binary logit, ordered logit, and ordinary least squares (OLS) to delineate the link between socioeconomic changes and the transition to wider participation. Survival analyses are employed to test for what factors account for the durability of a democratic regime.

A study of the effects upon the village community of various areas of social and economic change. Based upon detailed examination of seven villages within the Leicestershire Vale of Belvoir, the thesis considers varied responses to legislative changes. such as those in employment regulation and education, to economic change such as that in agriculture and in the means of transport, and to social pressures for change as in the fields of religious allegiance or public recreation. Census evidence of changing population levels, and of variations in the composition of the population in terms of age, sex, and occupation, is discussed, and causes and effects of such changes suggested. The evidence of migration from and amongst the villages is explored, with an examination of possible motivation for it. Changing class relations are explored; while small-scale land ownership is shown to have been relatively unimportant in creating status or economic stability, the continuing influence of the great landowners, notably the Duke of Rutland, is recognised, but set against evidence of a decline in deferential attitudes and a growing challenge to aristocratic political influence. The village middle class of farmers and tradesmen is shown to have increasingly assumed a leadership role, but it is suggested that the conservatism of the village population helped to preserve elements of traditional village life, and above all, the sense of an integrated community.

Drought events and their consequences pose a considerable problem for governments, businesses and individuals. Superimposed on this risk is the danger of future anthropogenic climate change. Climate models are increasingly being used to understand how climate change may affect future drought regimes. However, methodologies to quantify the type and scale of social and economic effects that could occur under these future scenarios are virtually non-existent. Consequently, this study developed a methodology for projecting and quantifying future drought risk in terms of economic damages and numbers of lives lost and affected. In this study, historic drought events were identified in regional precipitation data using the Standardised Precipitation Index, and their magnitude quantified. Drought magnitude was linked to reported historic data on economic damages and the numbers of lives affected and lost, to create country specific economic and social drought damage functions for Australia, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Spain/Portugal and the USA. Future projections of drought magnitude for 2003-2050 were modelled using the integrated assessment model CIAS (Community Integrated Assessment System), for a range of climate and emission scenarios, and applied to the drought damage functions to estimate future economic and social drought effects. Additionally, a preliminary investigation of indirect economic drought damages was conducted using the Adaptive Regional Input-Output model (ARIO).The analysis identified large variability in the scale and trend of economic and social effects from future drought. Economic benefits projected to occur in some countries were outweighed by negative effects elsewhere, with annual losses to global GDP from drought increasing in the first half of the 21st century. The analysis suggested that severe and extreme SPI-6 and SPI-12 drought events could cause additional losses to global GDP of 0.01% to 0.25% annually. Whilst this effect on global GDP may appear small, this is considered a conservative estimate namely as the analysis is representative of six countries only; the estimates do not incorporate the possibility of successive drought events, or compounding effects on vulnerability from interactions with other extreme events such as floods. Additionally, the global economic estimates exclude indirect economic effects, and social and environmental losses; the possibility of increasing vulnerability due to changing socio-economic conditions; and the possibility of irreversible or systemic collapse of economies as, under future climate change, drought magnitude may exceed current experience and surpass thresholds of social and economic resilience. Yet importantly, even just considering direct economic effects of individual drought events on a handful of countries still resulted in a noticeable effect on global GDP.Stringent mitigation had little effect on the increasing economic and social effects of drought in the first half of the 21st century, so in the short-term adaptation in drought ‘hot spots’ is crucial. However, stringent mitigation will be required to reduce increasingly severe drought events that are projected for the second half of the 21st century. A case study of Spain suggested that indirect economic losses increased non-linearly as a function of direct losses, amplifying total economic damages of drought. Importantly the non-linearity seen between direct and indirect economic costs suggests that the benefits of stringent mitigation policies, in terms of avoided indirect losses, may be more substantial than for direct losses in the second half of the 21st century. The main impact of the research is its contribution to the assessment of economic and social damages from drought events through the creation and application of drought damage functions. The drought damage functions could be incorporated into wider economic assessments of climate change or integrated assessment models that currently exclude extreme weather events. The inclusion of drought related economic and social damages could help to guide appropriate levels of climate change mitigation, help to gauge the vulnerability of communities to future drought events, guide drought risk management, and inform drought adaptation strategies. The application of I-O analysis to estimate indirect economic losses from drought is a relatively new and developing area of research. The research highlights how I-O analysis could be used to provide estimates of economic drought damages under future climate change, which are more comprehensive, and useful for assessing benefits of future mitigation and adaptation strategies. Consequently, there are many gains to be seen from the continued development and application of this research methodology for drought.

This thesis examines social and economic change among Black Creoles in the sugarcane plantation society of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. It begins with slavery and emphasizes the last 40 years. The study area is viewed as a creole society set in the United States. Change and adaptation is analysed from the perspective of those lacking access to, and control over, resources ensuring socio-economic advancement. Factors of race and ethnicity are crucial to the analysis.
Changes in the agricultural economy have cast blacks off the land. In local settlements, they form a surplus labor pool. In today's industrial, neoplantation economy, Civil Rights legislation and alliances beyond the study area have ensured black participation, particularly at a textile mill, resulting in fragile prosperity. Their dual Afro-Creole identity, viewed through language, music, and food, faces a questionable future as alliances external to the creole society are strengthened.

The study of rural history and social unrest in the English countryside has concentrated largely on East Anglia and southern England. Apart from one or two recent studies, the western agricultural counties have been relatively ignored. More importantly, apart from giving some detailed accounts of the lives of rural political activists, many historians have paid less attention to the daily lives of the majority of agricultural labourers. This has led to a general acceptance that most labourers were part of a rural proletariat whose loss of common rights and declining living standards culminated in the Last Labourers’ Revolt of 1830. This thesis seeks to broaden this view by providing a more holistic view of labourers’ lives in Worcestershire in order to determine what social and economic changes had the most impact on rural life in general and on three settlements in particular. The introduction demonstrates how romantic views of the past have influenced some historians’ attitudes. It then determines the empirical basis for this study.

This dissertation explores what it means to be post-socialist for Ismaili Muslims living in the Ishkashim district of Tajik Badakhshan. It examines the legacies of the Soviet era in people’s everyday lives, questioning how people continue to see themselves as socialist notwithstanding the putative end of state socialism. Part of what it means to be socialist has to do with expectations of what the state should provide. Tajik Ishkashimis experienced the Soviet Union as an allocative centre that helped them greatly. The post-Soviet Tajik state is unable to provide for Tajik Ishkashimis in the way of the former Soviet Union. I suggest that Tajik Ishkashimis’ religious leader, the Aga Khan, and his development institutions have gone some way toward filling this gap, making the Imam appear to be the new paternalist centre. I propose that we think through Ishkashimis’ memories of their relations with the Soviet allocative centre through what I call an “economy of grace”. Drawing on Pitt-Rivers’ theorization of “grace” as a morally-driven gift of excess that the receiver is never expected to (be able to) return, I trace the ways in which this economy of grace continues to frame Ishkashimis’ post-Soviet engagement with the Imam and his institutions, if not with the Tajik state. I then explore the moral legacies of Soviet socialism by examining how Ishkashimis try to maintain values that they associate with socialism, most notably the privileging of social relations over the market. Where both the Tajik state and the Imam’s institutions fail to provide for Tajik Ishkashimis in the way of the former Soviet state, Ishkashimis turn to labour migration. I draw on Greenberg’s (2011) and Jansen’s (2011) definition of “normal” as the predictability of daily life to demonstrate that remittances enable those living at home to maintain the rhythms and trajectories of “normal” village life. One of the effects of migration, however, is that the absence of migrants has made villages in Ishkashim no longer feel like home. It is my contention that wedding videos actualize a transnational home by giving hope that migrants who had been present in Ishkashim for when the wedding was taped might one-day return.Many hope that the Imam will create jobs in Ishkashim that will bring home migrants because they see that his development projects in Afghanistan have had this effect. Tajik Ishkashimis want their state to enable such development work on their side too, but they also worry that the work of the Imam and his institutions will force them to negotiate the norms and values of what it means to be Ishkashimi with their cross-border Afghan kin. And so, they look to the Tajik state to firmly enforce the border and keep clear the division between Tajik and Afghan Ishkashim. Ultimately, notwithstanding the incapacity of the Imam and his institutions to provide for Tajik Ishkashimis in the way of the former Soviet state, the Imam continues to garner legitimacy because he is also a spiritual leader. As such, the Imam commands a moral order, motivating people to be good so that they can achieve spiritual enlightenment. I explain that for Tajik Ishkashimis, being good is not (yet) defined by orthopraxy. Instead, Ishkashimis strive to be good in their own ways within the context of the changing socio-economic circumstances. In many ways, even though Tajik Ishkashimis’ present socio-economic situation is ostensibly worse than during the Soviet era, they now have access to the Imam in a way they never had before. Tajik Ishkashimis hold out hope for a better future, one that looks very much like their Soviet past, only better. Better because it has the Imam in it and the spiritual component of his leadership gives him the potential to satisfy them in ways that the former Soviet state could never have.

Aquesta tesi doctoral esta composta per tres capítols independents. Contribueix a una literatura sobre desenvolupament econòmic, la geografia econòmica, el comerç internacional i el canvi climàtic. Al capítol 1, “El poder dels mercats: impacte de les invasions de llagostes del desert sobre la salut infantil”, proporciono proves reduïdes de la importància (accés a) mercats en la transmissió de xocs agrícoles impulsats pel canvi climàtic a l’acumulació de capital humà a economies agrícoles de baixos ingressos. En general, argumenta per la importància d’abordar les reaccions del mercat local a aquest tipus de xoc agrícola a l’hora de dissenyar polítiques públiques. També transmet evidències clares de la vulnerabilitat de les economies agrícoles i de baixos ingressos als xocs a curt termini induïts pel canvi climàtic. Per tant, motiva els capítols posteriors, en què estudio les reaccions econòmiques a llarg termini i les conseqüències del canvi climàtic. Al capítol 2, “Canvi climàtic i migració: el cas d’Àfrica”, estudio els possibles costos econòmics i les respostes migratòries al canvi climàtic en el context de l’Àfrica subsahariana (SSA) durant les properes dècades. Per a això, desenvolupo un marc espacial quantitatiu que recull el paper de les xarxes comercials i la idoneïtat agrícola en la distribució de la població i el PIB (tenint en compte els ajustos endògens de la selecció i el comerç de cultius). El combino amb dades geoespacials detallades de SSA per simular l’impacte del canvi climàtic mitjançant previsions de productivitat agrícola el 2080 de la FAO. Els resultats suggereixen que el canvi climàtic podria conduir a grans fluxos migratoris dins i entre els països de la SSA, amb pèrdues econòmiques substancials. A més, la capacitat d’ajustar la barreja de producció entre diferents sectors (cultius i / o no agrícoles) o l’elevat accés als mercats mitiga parcialment els impactes del canvi climàtic en termes de sortides de població. Finalment, un experiment relacionat amb l’adopció de tecnologia a l’agricultura mostra que l’adopció tecnologia en aquest sector podria revertir considerablement els impactes negatius del canvi climàtic. El capítol 3, “Especialització sectorial local en un món d’escalfament” estudia l’evolució de la distribució geogràfica de l’economia i el clima mundials en un entorn on tots dos elements són endògens entre si. En particular, incorporo un enllaç entre l’activitat econòmica, les emissions de carboni i l’escalfament global en un model d’equilibri espacial general dinàmic on la innovació espacial impulsa la dinàmica de l’evolució de la productivitat i el creixement. Simulant l’evolució de l’economia mundial durant els propers segles, trobo una concentració d’activitat agrícola molt més gran a les latituds del nord (per exemple, Sibèria) si es compara amb un escenari sense escalfament global. En termes agregats, el canvi climàtic condueix a diferents patrons d’evolució de la productivitat sectorial, el creixement econòmic i l’especialització en sectors agrícoles i urbans, en línia amb alguns dels resultats del capítol 2. Un experiment relacionat amb els costos comercials mostra que friccions més altes en el comerç distribueix la producció i els factors propers a la demanda, reduint l’avantatge comparatiu en regions més perifèriques del món. En general, la meva tesi doctoral proporciona evidències clares de les diferències espacials en les reaccions (i les conseqüències) del canvi climàtic a tot el món. També argumenta fermament per la importància del comerç com a mecanisme econòmic clau darrere de la transmissió d’aquest tipus de xoc als resultats econòmics. En els temps actuals de globalització ràpida, integració de mercats i expansió de xarxes comercials, la meva tesi mostra que apropar els mercats més aïllats a les xarxes comercials globals pot tenir un paper clau en la mitigació de les conseqüències futures del canvi climàtic.
En el capítulo 1, “El poder de los mercados: impacto de las invasiones de langostas del desierto sobre la salud infantil”, proporciono pruebas reducidas de la importancia (acceso a) mercados en la transmisión de choques agrícolas impulsados por el cambio climático a la acumulación de capital humano a economías agrícolas de bajos ingresos. En general, argumenta por la importancia de abordar las reacciones del mercado local en este tipo de choque agrícola a la hora de diseñar políticas públicas. También transmite evidencias claras de la vulnerabilidad de las economías agrícolas y de bajos ingresos a los choques a corto plazo inducidos por el cambio climático. Por lo tanto, motiva a los capítulos posteriores, en que estudio las reacciones económicas a largo plazo y las consecuencias del cambio climático. En el capítulo 2, “Cambio climático y migración: el caso de África”, estudio los posibles costes económicos y las respuestas migratorias al cambio climático en el contexto del África subsahariana (SSA) durante las próximas décadas. Para ello, desarrollo un marco espacial cuantitativo que recoge el papel de las redes comerciales y la idoneidad agrícola en la distribución de la población y el PIB (teniendo en cuenta los ajustes endógenos de la selección y el comercio de cultivos). Lo combino con datos geoespaciales detalladas para simular el impacto del cambio climático mediante previsiones de productividad agrícola en el 2080 de la FAO. Los resultados sugieren que el cambio climático podría conducir a grandes flujos migratorios dentro y entre los países de la SSA, con pérdidas económicas sustanciales. Además, la capacidad de ajustar la mezcla de producción entre diferentes sectores (cultivos y / o no agrícolas) o el elevado acceso a los mercados mitiga parcialmente los impactos del cambio climático en términos de salidas de población. Finalmente, un experimento relacionado con la adopción de tecnología a la agricultura muestra que la adopción tecnología en este sector podría revertir considerablemente los impactos negativos del cambio climático. El capítulo 3, “Especialización sectorial local en un mundo de calentamiento” estudia la evolución de la distribución geográfica de la economía y el clima mundiales en un entorno donde ambos elementos son endógenos entre sí. En particular, incorporo un enlace entre la actividad económica, las emisiones de carbono y el calentamiento global en un modelo de equilibrio espacial general dinámico donde la innovación espacial impulsa la dinámica de la evolución de la productividad y el crecimiento. Simulando la evolución de la economía mundial durante los próximos siglos, encuentro una concentración de actividad agrícola mucho mayor en las latitudes del norte (por ejemplo, Siberia) si se compara con un escenario sin calentamiento global. En términos agregados, el cambio climático conduce a diferentes patrones de evolución de la productividad sectorial, el crecimiento económico y la especialización en sectores agrícolas y urbanos, en línea con algunos de los resultados del capítulo 2. Un experimento relacionado con los costes comerciales muestra que fricciones más altas en el comercio distribuye la producción y los factores cercanos a la demanda, reduciendo la ventaja comparativa en regiones más periféricas del mundo. En general, mi tesis doctoral proporciona evidencias claras de las diferencias espaciales en las reacciones (y las consecuencias) del cambio climático en todo el mundo. También argumenta firmemente por la importancia del comercio como mecanismo económico clave detrás de la transmisión de este tipo de choque a los resultados económicos. En los tiempos actuales de globalización rápida, integración de mercados y expansión de redes comerciales, mi tesis muestra que acercar los mercados más aislados en las redes comerciales globales puede tener un papel clave en la mitigación de las consecuencias futuras del cambio climático.
This doctoral thesis answer questions related to the spatial impacts of climate change on economic outcomes. Composed by three independent chapters, it contributes to a literature at the intersection of economic development, economic geography, international trade, and climate change. In Chapter 1, “The Power of Markets: Impact of Desert Locust Invasions on Child Health”, I provide reduced-form evidence of the importance of (access to) markets on the transmission of climate change-led agricultural shocks to human capital accumulation in low-income agricultural economies. Overall, it argues for the importance of addressing local market reactions to this type of agricultural shock when designing public policy. It also conveys clear evidence of the vulnerability of agricultural, low-income economies, to short-term shocks induced by climate change. Hence, it motivates the subsequent chapters, in which I study the long-run economic reactions to and consequences of climate change. In particular, in Chapter 2, “Climate Change and Migration: the case of Africa”, I study the potential economic costs and migration responses to climate change in the context of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) during the next decades. For that, I develop a quantitative spatial framework that captures the role of trade networks and agricultural suitability on the distribution of population and GDP accounting for endogenous adjustments of crop choice and trade. I combine it with detailed geospatial data from SSA to simulate the impact of climate change using forecasts of agricultural productivity in 2080 from FAO. My results suggest that climate change could lead to major migration flows within and across SSA countries, with substantial economic losses associated with it. Moreover, the capacity of adjusting the production mix across different sectors (crops and/or non-agricultural) or high access to markets partially mitigates the impacts of climate change in terms of population outflows. Finally, a policy experiment related to technology adoption in agriculture shows that the adoption of modern inputs in that sector could reverse considerably the negative impacts of climate change. My thesis is concluded with Chapter 3, “Local Sectoral Specialization in a Warming World”, where I study the evolution of the geographical distribution of the world’s economy and climate in a setup where both elements are endogenous to one another. In particular, I embed a mapping between the evolution of economic activity, carbon emissions, and global warming into a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model where spatial innovation drives the dynamics of the evolution of productivities and growth. By simulating the evolution of the world economy for the next centuries, I find a much higher concentration of agricultural activity in northern latitudes (e.g. Siberia and Northern China) if compared to a scenario without global warming. Moreover, in aggregate terms, climate change leads to different patterns of the evolution of sectoral--productivities, economic growth, and specialization into agriculture and urban sectors, in line with some of the results from Chapter 2. A policy experiment related to trade costs shows that higher frictions to trade reallocate production and factors close to the demand, by reducing the comparative advantage in more peripheral regions of the globe. Overall, my doctoral thesis provides clear evidence of the spatial differences in the reactions to (and consequences of) climate change throughout the globe. It also argues firmly for the importance of trade as a key economic mechanism behind the transmission of this sort of shock to economic outcomes. In the present times of fast globalization, integration of markets, and expansion of trade networks, my thesis shows that bringing the most isolated markets closer to the global trade networks can have a key role in mitigating the future consequences of climate change.

This project investigates how the American musical reflected and engaged with key economic, social and political events and trends in order to sustain itself as a profitable, commercial form, from the late 1950s through to the late 1980s. Beginning with an examination of West Side Story (1957) as a reaction to a changing post-war American society and an entertainment industry in transition, this project positions the musical as an enduring form of popular culture which found continual success by embedding itself in the conditions of its production. The Civil Rights movement, Vietnam War, feminism and globalization are just some of the issues and events which the Broadway musical engaged with to create emotional moments for audiences to experience. This project explores the complexities of these relationships between the musical and its social and political context, to suggest it was by pursuing and navigating the events and issues dominating the United States in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s that the musical was able to maintain its commerciality, continuing to be manufactured for consumption today. Drawing on analysis of songs, libretti, media coverage and advertising, each chapter in this thesis contextualizes a set of landmark musicals within a particular social or political issue to ask how authors, producers and audiences sustained this commercial form. It will conclude with a discussion of the British invasion of Broadway, in particular of the last major musical of the invasion period, Miss Saigon (1991). With its opening and immediate success, the making and marketing of the Broadway musical had clearly shifted into being a global rather than exclusively American commercial venture.

This DPhil thesis discusses how two divergent risk conceptions, a 'social view' and an 'economic view' of risk, are constructed through inter-expert risk communication. Different and sometimes contradictory concepts of risk are mobilised in regulatory practice, but the origins of these divergent risk conceptions are not extensively studied. This thesis seeks to unpack this divergence. Empirically, I analyse risk communication among experts in the European Union (EU) during the creation of two risk regulation standards. The two case studies, one related to the development of the two-degree target of EU climate policies (the climate case) and the other about the negotiation of the excessive deficit criteria of the Maastricht Treaty (the euro case), can shed light on the relations between risk conceptions and inter-expert risk communication. I argue that through risk communication, an initial 'view' of risk can be entrenched and developed into a paradigmatic 'risk conception'. My analysis uses historical and sociological institutionalism, by focusing on path dependence of risk communication and social construction risk conceptions among EU experts. Through the two case studies, I identify four analytical dimensions of inter-expert risk communication: networks (the institutional setting and relationships between different experts), cultures (the mentalities of experts in relation to discussing risks), dynamics (the actual processes of transmitting and receiving risk messages) and strategies (the rationales supporting the decisions of risk regulation standards). My thematic analysis reveals four key distinct 'features' of social/economic views of risk: expertise (the types of knowledge mobilised), normality (characterising risk as either 'special' or 'routine'), probability (considering risk as either uncertain or calculable) and impact (seeing risk as either negative or positive). I argue that these four features can help explain the construction of risk conceptions, and more broadly, provide an analytical framework for studying how views of risk evolve and interact over time.

This thesis is concerned with the social and economic history of the communities of the Akwanga division of Plateau province in central Nigeria from the beginning of formal British administration in 1911 to the end of colonial rule in 1960. The thesis is divided into seven chapters. The first looks at the early history of the peoples of Akwanga with emphasis on their political, religious and economic organisation. It also discusses the effect of the nineteenth-century Sokoto jihad on settlement patterns in the region. Chapter 2 deals with resistance to the colonial conquest, which lasted up to 1925. Chapter 3 discusses the development of the indirect rule system and native administration, focusing on the creation of chiefs, divisional boundaries and the native administrative policies pursued by successive Governors of Nigeria. Chapter 4 looks at taxation and cash crop production and their impact on the peoples of Akwanga. Chapter 5 examines the use of local labour for building the infrastructure of colonial rule and for tin mining, which dominated the economy of Plateau province. Chapter 6 discusses the religious encounter between Islam, Christianity and indigenous belief and how these two world religions shaped the political identity of the people of the region. Chapter 7 focuses on the demise of indirect rule and the emergence party politics in Akwanga with emphasis on minority politics and the role of the educated groups in the politics and process of decolonisation.

This dissertation examines the work of alternative economies activists who have spent the last 18 years constructing barter systems and local currencies in Medellín, Colombia. Through barter, these activists hope to spark an ethical re-evaluation of production, exchange, and consumption, and to create an economy that serves Medellín's middle-class professionals, rural peasants, urban workers, students and the chronically under-employed. They also see barter as an important social and political project to repair a social fabric torn by decades of violence and economic exploitation. For these activists barter is a counter to capitalism, violence, and social fragmentation; it is a new proposal rooted in cooperation, collective well-being, and the development of local capacities. Previous researchers have thoroughly examined the emergence, organization, and impacts of these types of alternative economies, but they have neglected what many activists consider to be the greatest challenge: to cultivate the new social relations and subjectivities necessary to enact and maintain those models. In the words of Colombia's barter organizers, the goal is to "change the chip" and "clean out the cucarachas" of our capitalist mindsets in order to "create a new culture of solidarity." This research is located at precisely that sticking point. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic research, I examine the nature and impacts of barter and the challenges that barter activists face as they try to recreate economies, social relations, and subjectivities. Medellín's barter projects, I conclude, offer extremely important opportunities for cross-class and cross-generational interaction in a city that is violently divided. They also provide material and social supports for traders who are seeking to develop alternative subjectivities, and they help active traders gain control over the means of production and the conditions of their work. However, their counter-hegemonic potential is significantly limited by three tensions within organizers' strategies: a tendency to prioritize socio-cultural forms of activism at the expense of economic ones, a focus on conscious and moral aspects of subjectivity rather than material and embodied aspects, and a stridently anti-capitalist stance that discourages economic articulations and thereby reinforces the material and socio-cultural power of capitalism.

This thesis investigates the history of economic differentiation in a Limbu village in east Nepal. By examining three historically overlapping productive processes - subsistence agriculture, cash crop cardamom cultivation, and international migration - this thesis shows how each productive process has contributed in different ways to the acceleration of economic differentiation. In particular this thesis focuses on cardamom cultivation which first provided a means to transform significantly the lives of a large section of Limbu society. Introduced into the village by a local inhabitant in 1968, and thereafter spread throughout the whole Kabeli river valley and beyond, the cardamom plant has given many households access to considerable cash. This has enabled some households to purchase property in the plains, send their children to English-medium private schools, and send sons abroad for work. Households with little or no cardamom however, have fallen into increasing indebtedness, losing access to land and becoming increasingly dependent on wage labour for survival. The thesis also discusses international labour migration, which has more recently become another important and lucrative productive process for a certain proportion of the village. This has resulted in the rapid growth of a dispersed village in Jhapa in the plains, which has become a hub for international migrants as well as a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of villagers. This has brought about yet further economic differentiation between households that have been able to finance visas for work abroad, and those that continue to struggle day to day. Despite the increased integration of the village with a national and global market, the continued existence of Limbu language and cultural practises emphasizes the active role villagers have played in shaping their current condition.

Tutte le organizzazioni hanno un impatto che riguarda l'economia, la società e l'ambiente naturale. Gli studi accademici di diversi filoni di ricerca (ad business and society studies, accounting, strategic management) propongono diverse definizioni di "impatto sociale" (Latane, 1981; Burdge & Vanclay, 1996;. Emerson et al, 2000;. Clark et al, 2004 ). Tutte queste definizioni descrivono, in modo più o meno esplicito, il concetto di "cambiamento", essendo basati sulla “teoria del cambiamento” (Weiss, 1972; Anderson, 2004) - vale a dire, il cambiamento che un'organizzazione può produrre nel modo di vivere delle persone, nella cultura, personale nelle aspirazioni, ma anche rispetto alla comunità, ai sistemi politici, l'ambiente, la salute e il benessere. La misurazione dell’impatto sociale conduce l'organizzazione a considerare i cambiamenti prodotti sugli stakeholders come risultato di una serie di rapporti causa-effetto proposteidalla teoria del cambiamento. L'obiettivo della misurazione dell’impatto sociale è quindi di capire, in termini sociali, ambientali ed economici, i cambiamenti che si sono verificati nella vita delle parti interessate, a causa di attività di organizzazioni, al fine di comunicarlo (Nicholls et al, 2009). Nonostante il crescente interesse sulla misurazione dell'impatto sociale, la produzione accademica sull'argomento è ancora scarsa. La presente tesi contribuisce alla discussione in corso, concentrandosi sulla teoria, i concetti e strumenti per misurare l'impatto sociale. In particolare, due contesti di analisi sono presi in considerazione: la finanza etica e l'educazione all'imprenditorialità. La tesi si compone di tre articoli. La prima ricerca vuole fornire una revisione della letteratura sul tema della misurazione dell'impatto sociale nel contesto della finanza etica, il secondo articolo è una ricerca-azione su una metodologia per misurare l'impatto sociale delle banche etiche sviluppata attraverso lo studio del caso estremo di Banca Popolare Etica, e la terza ricerca riguarda il contesto della formazione imprenditoriale e mira a studiare l'impatto di un programma MBA sugli antecedenti dell’intenzione all'imprenditorialità di studenti in Ghana. Più in dettaglio, il primo documento è intitolato " Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance ". Questo documento fornisce una rassegna completa della letteratura sulla misurazione dell'impatto sociale nelle banche etiche. In particolare, si discute l'approccio delle banche etiche all’impatto sociale e alla misurazione dell'impatto sociale considerando diversi studi e analisi, poi proponendo un elenco di indicatori e outcomes da utilizzare per evidenziare l'impatto sociale delle attività delle banche etiche. Si segnalano, inoltre, alcune lacune nella letteratura che abbiamo posto come questioni aperte per la ricerca futura. La ricerca è stata portata avanti con due partner: la Fédération Européenne des Banques et Ethiques Alternative (FEBEA) e l’Institute of Social banks (ISB). Il titolo della seconda ricerca è: " Measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica ". Si tratta di una ricerca-azione su una metodologia per misurare l'impatto sociale delle banche etiche, fondata sul caso di studio di Banca Popolare Etica. Usiamo un set di dati composto da 1.385 organizzazioni e 1324 individui, beneficiari dei finanziamenti, per studiare la misurazione dell'impatto sociale dei progetti finanziati. Integrando in un unico processo di valutazione (sia quantitative che qualitative) diverse metodologie generalmente utilizzate singolarmente per la misurazione di impatto sociale (Social Return on Investment (SROI), Impact Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS) e storytelling), il caso mostra come i limiti tradizionali di metodologie per misurare l'impatto sociale possono essere superati. Il terzo e ultimo studio è intitolato " Does entrepreneurial education impact on antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an Entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana". Questo studio ha lo scopo di analizzare gli effetti di un programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità, sugli antecedenti dell'intenzione imprenditoriale di studenti in un paese in via di sviluppo. Lo studio analizza i risultati di una ricerca di impatto eseguita con partecipanti di uno specifico programma di formazione all'imprenditorialità: il "E4impact MBA", tenuto dal l'Istituto Cattolico di Business and Technology - CIBT in Accra, Ghana. Il metodo misto impiegato, era un approccio esplicativo (Creswell, Plano Clark et al, 2003), con un disegno quasi-sperimentale (Cohen e Manion, 1989) con test pre e post e misure di cambiamento auto-percepito. Abbiamo valutato i cambiamenti nelle caratteristiche psicologiche imprenditoriali (Need for achievement, Self-efficacy, Locus of control; Risk taking propensity; Tolerance for ambiguity) e competenze e conoscenze personali (Creatività, Conoscenza, Flessibilità, Networking e analisi) sul modello esteso della Teoria del Comportamento Pianificato. L'analisi mostra che il programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità ha un forte impatto sugli antecedenti psicologici e cognitivi delle intenzioni imprenditoriali. Quindi, la partecipazione al programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità può influenzare positivamente le intenzioni imprenditoriali degli studenti e il controllo comportamentale percepito sostenendo l'idea che le università hanno un ruolo fondamentale nel plasmare e promuovere le intenzioni imprenditoriali e le abilità attraverso programmi di formazione all'imprenditorialità.
All organizations have impacts that affect economy, society and the natural environment. Academics from different streams of research (i.e. business and society studies, accounting, strategic management) propose several definitions of “social impact” (Latané, 1981; Burdge & Vanclay, 1996; Emerson et al., 2000; Clark et al., 2004). All these definitions describe, more or less explicitly, the concept of “change”, being each one based on the Theory of Change (Weiss, 1972; Anderson, 2004) – i.e., the change that an organization can produce in people’s way of life, culture, personal and property rights, fears and aspirations, but also with respect to community, political systems, environment, health and wellbeing. The measurement of social impact leads the organization to consider the changes on stakeholders as a result of the set of cause-effect relations proposed by the theory of change. The objective of social impact measurement thus is to understand, in social, environmental and economic terms, changes that have occurred in stakeholders’ lives because of organizations activities, in order to communicate it (Nicholls et al, 2009). Despite a growing interest on social impact measurement, academic production in the topic is still scarce. The present Ph.D. thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion by focusing on the theory, concepts and tools to measure social impact. In particular, two context of analysis are at issue: ethical finance and entrepreneurship education. The work consists of three papers. The first research wants to provide a review of the literature on the issue of measuring the social impact in the context of ethical finance, the second paper is an action research on a methodology for measuring the social impact of ethical banks developed through the extreme case study of Banca Popolare Etica, and the third research concerns the context of entrepreneurial education and aims at studying the impact of an MBA program on the antecedents of entrepreneurship intention of students in Ghana. More in details, the first paper is entitled “Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance”. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature on measuring the social impact in ethical banks. Specifically, we discuss the approach of ethical banks to social impact and social impact measurement considering several studies and frameworks of analysis, then proposing a list of indicators and outcomes to be used to highlight the social impact of ethical banks’ activities. We also point out some gaps in the literature that we left as questions open for future research. The research was carried on with two partners: the Fédération Européenne des Banques Ethiques et Alternatives (FEBEA) and the Institute of Social banks (ISB). The title of the second paper is: “Measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica”. This is an action research on a methodology for measuring the social impact of ethical banks, grounded on the case study of Banca Popolare Etica. We use a dataset of 1,385 organizations and 1,324 individuals, recipients of funding, to study the measurement of the social impact of the projects funded. Integrating in a single assessment process (both quantitative and qualitative) various methodologies generally singularly used for the measurement of social impact (Social Return on Investment (SROI), Impact Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS) and storytelling), the case shows how the traditional limitations of methodologies to measure social impact can be overcome. The third and last study is entitled “Does entrepreneurial education impact on antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an Entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana”. This study has the aim to analyze the effects of an entrepreneurship education program, on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention of students in a developing country. The study analyzes the results of an impact research conducted with participants to a specific entrepreneurship education program: the “E4impact MBA”, held by the Catholic Institute of Business and Technology – CIBT in Accra, Ghana. The mixed method design employed, was an explanatory approach (Creswell, Plano Clark et al., 2003) with a quasi-experimental design (Cohen and Manion, 1989) featuring both pre-post tests and self-perceived change measures. We assessed changes in entrepreneurial psychological characteristics (Need for achievement, Self-efficacy, Locus of control; Risk taking propensity; Tolerance for ambiguity) and personal skills and knowlwdge (Creativity, Knowledge, Flexibility, Networking and Analysis) following the extended model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The analysis shows that the entrepreneurship education program has a strong impact on psychological and cognitive antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions. That is, participation in entrepreneurship education program can positively influence students’ entrepreneurial intentions and perceived behavioral control supporting the idea that universities have a key role in shaping and fostering entrepreneurial intentions and abilities through entrepreneurship education program.

This study focuses on the wealth stratification system of the Navajo of the Kaibeto Plateau. The Kaibeto Plateau was settled by the Navajo in the mid-nineteenth century. By the 1930s they had developed an economically and socially stratified society rooted in a livestock economy and influenced by institutions of the surrounding society. In the years since livestock activities have been severely constrained by the federal government: Holdings have been radically decreased and pastoralism has ceased to be the main source of income and subsistence. These changes are described and analyzed. Wealth stratification is conceived of as a phenomenon to be explained and one which has implications for the study of social change. In the 1930s a handful of families owned most of the livestock in the region. These families were, uniformly, descendants of the wealthier and more prominent early settlers. Even after federal programs destroyed the economic advantage these wealthy families possessed, the children of the relatively wealthy have, at least until recent years, continued to prosper (relative to their poorer neighbors) in various ways. They have, on average, higher levels of educational attainment and better occupational profiles. The different responses of individuals at different levels in the social hierarchy have effected the composition of the rural population. More descendants of the wealthy have moved away and/or married individuals from distant communities. Social structures which functioned in the livestock economy to integrate families in the region have disintegrated. The chapter has emerged as an important social and political unit. Although the wealthy families seemed to have dominated chapter politics initially, recent elections indicate a declining influence. The historical facts reported here indicate the importance of social variability in the study of social change. It is argued that the Navajo were never a socially homogeneous group. Thus institutional pressures and shifting government policies have not affected all families in the same manner. Such findings have implications not only for the way in which anthropologists theorize about tribal people and social change, but also have implications for those responsible government officials who seek to formulate solutions to perceived problems on contemporary American Indian reservations.

As an overarching theme, this thesis is concerned with investigating the symbolic relationships created between humans and animals during the Eurasian steppe Early Iron Age period. Based on first-hand experience in cooperative zooarchaeological fieldwork with the Russian Academy of Sciences, the thesis critically examines conventional theoretical models of early semi-nomadic and nomadic pastoralist development and associated social, economic and political changes connected with this phenomenon. Further to this, the thesis investigates the symbolic complexity of changing ideological and cognitive frameworks relating to mortuary behaviours and other ritual practices which have been traditionally linked to the appearance of vertically stratified warrior-based societies. These significant issues are evaluated through both a review of traditional theoretical and methodological approaches to the Early Iron Age period of the Eurasian steppe region and the presentation of original zooarchaeological analyses of faunal remains recovered from fortified settlement sites and kurgan (barrow) funerary constructions in the Trans Ural region, Russian Federation. In the early chapters of the thesis, conventional models surrounding the development of warrior nomadic societies are assessed in relation to the traditional use of rigid ethnonymic constructs and static models of neo-evolutionary societal development, which have been problematically connected with a normative view of cultural formation and development. These important concerns are addressed through a review of the development of archaeology during the Soviet and Post-Soviet periods and connected theoretical and methodological developments. It is further argued that the significance of understanding culture as a multivariate formation is crucial for extending current interpretations of the Eurasian Early Iron Age and for understanding changing patterns of material culture relating to ethnicity, ideology and socio-cultural interaction and change. Relating to this, the concept of tribalisation (i.e. interface between state-based and non-state based societies) is explored in relation to the intensification of cultural contact during the Iron Age with subsequent changes in both socio-economic and socio-political organisation.

This thesis explores the philanthropy of economic elites in Brazil and the UK, positing their practice as part of a global elite philanthropic project. It argues that this project serves to further the aims of global capitalism, while attempting to mitigate the negative effects of capitalism’s fallout. Although the historical development of elite philanthropy in Brazil and the UK has been markedly different, accounting for technical differences in contemporary practice in these countries, recent decades have seen attempts to build an institutionalised philanthropic sector in Brazil based on British (and American) models. Today, the conceptual and ideological framework for the design of philanthropy in both countries is remarkably similar. In ethnographic enquiry into this common project, practices under the banners of ‘philanthrocapitalism’ and ‘strategic philanthropy’ emerge as the expression of deeply held ideologies of social change. These relate to the transposition of corporate strategies to philanthropy, to market-based solutions to social problems, and to attempts to eradicate poverty via better incorporation of the poor into existing economic structures. This enquiry, however, reveals how other aspects of elite experience also become entangled in the philanthropic project. In Brazil and the UK, elites use philanthropy to forge positive identities of wealth, and as a tool for managing inheritance. Among Brazilian family businesses, historical family narratives of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility aid business succession processes, in attempts to keep family firms – and family capital – intact with the passing of time. Finally, this thesis explores the work of philanthropic intermediaries, and the central role played by philanthropy advising and donor education programmes in shaping and disseminating philanthropic trends. Ethnography among intermediaries, however, reveals myriad ambiguities in their work. These serve to highlight elite philanthropy’s inability to confront the structures of inequality inherent to global capitalism, and the corresponding limits to its own project.

This report relates to research done in the Keiskammahoek district of the Ciskei (see Map No. l) during 1989 and early 1990, with the financial support of the Programme for Development Research (PRODDER) of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa. The project was designed and conducted against the background of previous research, and has served as a pilot project for a larger project, entitled "Socio- Economic Change and Development Planning in the Keiskammahoek District of the Ciskei". This larger project which is currently in progress, (and which has been funded by the Institute for Research Development of the HSRC, by the Chairman's Fund of Anglo-American and De Beers, and by Johannesburg Consolidated Investments Co Ltd), is intended to give rise to a process of consultation and planning, leading to various local-level development initiatives in the District.
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This study proposes a novel approach to understanding the contribution that consumer action makes to social change, both at the level of conceptual generalisation and when applied to institutionalised practices in particular historical settings. Conceptually, I develop an anthropologically generalisable account of consumption, drawing especially on Marshall Sahlins’ pioneering Culture and practical reason (1976). Against economistic understandings of consumer agency, we do better to defend a more culturally self-aware and ethically articulate mode of explanation. From this perspective, I argue, it is the expressive potential of consumer practices that most fundamentally sets them apart from productive practices. In making this argument I nonetheless avoid the excessive culturalism that arises when ignoring both the effect of economic variables on consumer agency and the manner in which consumption is tied up with relationships of power. When analysing the institutional dimension of consumption, most existing literature approaches it as a form of action limited to the market, while taking the market to be synonymous with the economic domain as such. This way of approaching the subject draws attention to significant forms of consumption but obfuscates the historically specific and contingent complexity of human livelihoods even in societies in which market exchange and capitalist forms of market-oriented production are firmly established. In particular, such approaches tell us very little about how those poor in financial resources consume, both within societies characterised by comparatively high average income and beyond. Consumption is better approached as a form of action exercised within all three institutional spheres of the “human economy” discussed in Karl Polanyi’s later work: not only the market, but also redistribution and reciprocity. Prima facie significant fields of consumption can then be analysed in terms of their ability to create, alter or destroy widespread forms of social integration and political mobilisation, but such analysis must proceed in a manner that is fully alive to the peculiarities of given social formations. Drawing on both political-economic and ethnographic literature, I illustrate this approach by examining three fields of consumption in South Africa from 1948 to the present: clothing, housing and faith healing. These consumer practices have been dynamically bound up with both class and racial power dynamics, while leading to the formation of novel forms of solidarity of the sort commonly discussed in terms of sub-cultures, new social movements and sects or kinship groups. In light of these case studies, it is necessary to challenge three misleading but pervasive claims about consumption that continue to inform contemporary critical social theory. Firstly, the economistic dogma that the market form of integration, and market-oriented production in particular, has the capacity to systematically structure consumer practices offers little purchase on how people really behave when consuming. Secondly, conceptualising consumption as a form of reproduction of an entire social order is a functionalist canard that critical social theory still needs to disown. We encounter this tenet even in the sophisticated work of Pierre Bourdieu, which remains enormously influential throughout the contemporary social sciences and which is invoked in all major studies of consumption. A third problem, also perpetuated by Bourdieu’s thinking on the subject, is the critical tendency to reduce all consumer agency to a form of instrumental domination. This can only be sustained as a valid generalisation by offering a flattened account of consumer motivation that ultimately negates agency and that collapses qualitatively distinct ethical modes of evaluation and action into one another. While such an approach is of some limited use for unmasking the domination that reciprocity can entrench, the price one pays for generalising such claims is, ultimately, an inability to recognise the gift when one sees it.

This dissertation addresses the question of to what extent growing numbers of older people who might have similar preferences regarding public intergenerational transfers (family and pension policies) will limit the scope of future social policy reforms in Germany. We are interested in to what extent the shift in the country's demography will trigger a so-called "gerontocracy." As a theoretical framework, we combine Mannheim's concept of political generations with a demographic life-course approach. According to Mannheim, growing numbers of a societal group, combine with unified preferences within the group, enhance the group's political power. To empirically test this hypothesis, we use three analytical steps: First, we analyse the future age composition of the German population, including familial characteristics, using a micro-simulation approach. The results suggest that the number of older people will grow substantially over the coming decades, particularly the share of older people who will remain childless and who will not be married. Second, we analyse preferences regarding redistributive social policies according to age, parity, and marital status, based on recent survey data. Generalised Linear Models and Generalised Additive Models are applied to examine what the effects of fdemographic indicators are on these preferences. Results show that older people are less in favour of transfers ot the younger generation than their younger counterparts. This is particularly true of childless interviewees. Third, we explore the extent to which these developments are likely to have an impact on the political sphere. How do policy makers perceive ageing and the preferences structures found? How do elderly interest groups define their roles in light of these results? In-depth interviews with these stakeholders provide a mixed picture: whereas most interviewees are convinced that older people have gained more power due to their bigger population share, there is little awareness of differences in policy preferences between various demographic groups. The biggest challenge for social policy makers is, therefore, to find ways to mediate between these two interesrs. if they fail to do so, a conflict of generations might become a realistic scenario for Germany.