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The natural and artificial sources of radiation were listed and the inadequate information about the biological effects due to the H-3 (radioisotope discharged by nuclear plants) was emphasized. On the basis of the present information on the environmental radioactivity (natural plus artificial) the effects on the aquatic populations were discussed. The different importance of the genetical and somatic damages was a matter of speculation based on the rich information from laboratory experiments and the scarce ones concerning natural populations. Environmental conditions (e. g. temperature), species, strain, age, sex and behaviour of the organism were taken into account as factors interferring with the radiation effect. The importance of the recovery was related to the physiological properties of the species and, particularly, to the demographic characteristics (e. g. intrinsic rate of natural increase) of the irradiated populations. From the present knowledge it seems that the level of environmental contamination by radioisotopes is too low for producing noticeable effects on aquatic biota.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a feature of demographic growth widely observed in both developed and less-developed countries—the marked differences between the higher rate of natural increase in the lower income groups and the lower rate in the upper income groups. The negative association between rates of natural increase and initial secular income levels poses a major problem if wider inequality in the size distribution of income is to be avoided. This is because lower income levels of parents mean proportionately lower investment in quality of the descendants and, hence, possibly lower growth rates in the per-capita income of the lower income groups and their descendants. The magnitude of the problem and of the necessary compensating offsets is clearly a function of the differential spread in the rates of natural increase and of the initial differences in income levels of parents. If no offsets are provided, all other conditions being equal, the negative association between rates of natural increase and initial income levels would result both in the widening of income inequality and the probable keeping down of the growth rate of aggregate income per unit.

This chapter discusses economic reforms in Bulgaria and Romania prospects for the 1980s. The reforms of Eastern Europe are divided into two categories: (1) an economic reform, which shifts the coordination of the economy from the central planners to markets and (2) an administrative reform, which shifts economic decision making from the central planners to a firm manager or even to a group of employees. The size of a production unit is measured by the number of workers, the value of capital assets, or by land area. The value information for setting the priority of an internal allocation decision comes from prices—planned or not. The labor supply in Bulgaria and Romania is affected more by national policies than by economic reforms. The demographic indicators are similar in both countries—the rate of natural increase is diminishing but positive because birth rates have fallen rapidly and have not offset the death rates that have fallen slowly.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses policy-oriented interregional demographic accounting and a generalization of population flow models. In model of interregional demographic accounts, the birth and death rates have been collapsed into a local rate of natural increase for simplicity. This rate varies widely among regions, from zero to rates typical of developing countries. Local rates of natural increase were projected into later periods proportionately to alternative projections of national natural increase, adjusted for the net migration history of the region. Migration received the most attention in the model, on two grounds. (1) Migration is the form of demographic interaction among regions in the national system, and is thus, the primary reason for thinking in a systems framework. (2) The United States has experienced a sharp decline in birth rates, so that interregional migration assumes the greatest potential for variations in local growth or decline. If such a model is to be used for projection or for policy, all of the variables for each locality must somehow be produced for each period, either endogenously or exogenously.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on protection and growth. The tendency of some private decision-makers to plan on the basis of present rather than future expected prices also provide a case for social intervention in the form of protection. Protection can affect the rate of natural increase of the population and it may increase urbanization, and an urban population is usually more inclined to limit its birth-rate. The effect of protection on capital accumulation is not additional to the static effects of protection rather it is an implication of the static effects. The marginal propensity to save may depend not on the functional type of income but simply on the level of a person's income. Sometimes countries start their industrialization process by protecting only manufactured consumer goods, hence, lowering the relative price of capital goods. If the ratio of investment to national product is inadequate, first-best optimum policy is to directly subsidize or supplement saving or investment.