Search

Copyright of Demography (Springer Nature) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The large landholder remains an economic and political force in Latin America today. While his once almost absolute power to control and establish the patterns of the Latin American socioeconomic structure must increasingly be shared with other groups—military, industrial and commercial, not to mention foreign—the degree to which he still influences these nations as they strive for development is of major significance. In this paper an attempt is made to study the latifundista's impact upon the economic development of Latin American countries by the examination of the effect of his income and expenditure patterns on the key determinants of national product—investment, consumption, and foreign trade balances. This approach largely ignores such economic questions as the effects of the latifundista, except by investment, on agricultural production and resource allocation, his impact on economic incentives for others engaged in agriculture, as well as crucial social and political concomitants. These questions, undoubtedly as important as those studied, cannot be ignored in an overall assessment of the effect of latifundismo, and should be borne in mind by readers. That those controlling much of the agricultural wealth may also share in the industrial and commercial wealth of the nation is likely ignored, thus understating the total influence which members of this landed aristocracy actually have on the economy. Nonetheless, the aspects being examined are significant and the conclusions should increase our understanding of problems related to income distribution and the availability of domestic financing for economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last several years, considerable attention has been directed to the analysis of interregional and international capital transfers. A few of these studies have been concerned with the persistence of interregional interest rate differentials over time. In this vein, Davis and Brinks have argued that between regions within the United States there have been persistent regional differences in going interest rates over very long periods and a tendency for particular regions to show persistently higher or lower than average rates for a variety of different instruments. Unfortunately, the Davis-Banks argument is based upon casual observation rather than upon formal empirical testing. In analytical terms, it has been elsewhere shown that persistent interregional interest rate differentials, if they in fact do exist, may be entirely compatible with conventional economic theory once it is recognized that there may exist barriers of one form or another to the interregional flow of funds. Using this framework of analysis as a point of departure, this paper examines whether the interregional flow of funds within the United States over time has in fact been insensitive to interest rate differentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the economic growth in the United States. Rise of the productivity residual during the twentieth century; Change in the bias of technological and organizational progress; Rate of return on investments.

Focuses on risk aversion in an expenditure equation. Derivation on the consequences of uncertainty in a one-period investment model; Regulation on the marginal cost of funds; Gap between available funds and planned expenditure.

Discusses public utility pricing. Problem of pricing and investment for decreasing-cost enterprises; Correlation of marginal cost, marginal price and marginal evaluation with average price and average cost; Ways of measuring public utility good.

The differing viewpoints on resource allocation in research and development are reviewed and the criteria for rational planning discussed. The significance of different sets of criteria and their practicability are explored and it is concluded that the application of cost-benefit analysis methods, while imperfect, is the best basis for rational decisionmaking in the present stale of knowledge. Society has as yet no clearly defined goals and this poses problems for the analyst particularly since social attitudes appear to be undergoing a particularly rapid change at the present time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When populations grow rapidly, per capita incomes rise less rapidly, because investment and technology cannot keep pace. Reduced fertility would reduce the ratio of dependent children to work age adults, increasing possible savings. Maximizing future incomes per capita means having completed families smaller than parents usually desire. In the United Slates if parents typically had 2.1 surviving children altogether, the net reproduction rate would fall to unity and a zero population growth might be achieved in A.D. 2060 at 345 millions. The political-social-economic problem is that each couple wants more children for itself than all couples collectively want other couples lo have. The State may need to encourage fewer births per family through (axes and subsidies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]