The Development of Industrial Structure in Southern New England

The postwar economy of Japan returned to life like a phoenix from the abysmal defeat in the war and has shown remarkable growth. The average rate of annual growth for the more than 60 years from 1873 (revision of the land tax) to 1941 (immediately before World War II) was 4%. The average rate of annual growth from 1926 to 1939, the period of the most dynamic sustained prosperity of Japanese capitalism, was as high as 4.6%, which was an extremely high growth rate for any country. The postwar growth was even more extraordinary. The average rate of annual growth in the 10 years after the war topped 8% or twice the prewar rate. As a result, the real gross national product increased approximately three times in the 15 postwar years. For one thing, this was due to special circumstances in the postwar rehabilitation period, but that does not explain all aspects of this growth, because, in the period from 1946 to 1952, the rate was 11%, which was certainly high. However, the average rate of annual growth from 1952 to 1958, the period after the rehabilitation had come to an end, remained at a high rate of 7%. Therefore, even if the special circumstances in the postwar rehabilitation period are disregarded for the moment, it cannot be denied that the postwar growth rate is higher than that prior to the war.

Prior to World War II, labor's share in the U.S. manufacturing and agricultural sectors was relatively constant. Keynes called this “a bit of a miracle.” Several studies have shown that labor's share in the U.S. manufacturing sector has increased in the post-war period. The opposite appears to have been the case for U.S. agriculture. Two studies indicate that labor's relative share in the U.S. agricultural sector has declined in the post-war period.There has been a substantial substitution of capital for labor in both the manufacturing and agricultural sectors in the post-war period. The secular increase in the wage-rental ratio has encouraged substitution of capital for labor. However, while this argument alone might explain the observed decline in labor's share in the agricultural sector, it does not explain what has occurred in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, this argument excludes another important characteristic of both sectors in the post-war period: technological change.

THE adoption of a written constitution for Rhode Island in 1842 is a landmark in the evolution of Rhode Island democracy because it abandoned the old freehold qualification for the suffrage.l Nevertheless it did not provide either a satisfactory or permanent solution to an issue in part responsible for the arresting phenomenon of the Dorr War. As a matter of fact, from about 1850 to 1928 suffrage issues were always in the background of Rhode Island politics. On at least two occasions they dominated the foreground. The survival of the spirit of Dorrism into the twentieth century was due to aggravated tensions in Rhode Island, present it is true in other New England states but not in so acute a form. Hostility of country for city, of Protestant for Catholic, of the older stock for the newer, of conservative for liberal traditions have characterized Rhode Island politics to a greater degree probably than the politics of other New England states.

A summary and discussion of new state records from a recently assembled checklist of Coleoptera species known from the state of Rhode Island (270,660 hectares), USA, is presented. The checklist includes 2,208 species, is available on the World Wide Web, and will be published as a book by the Rhode Island Natural History Survey in 2003. The current status of the taxonomic and faunistic knowledge of southern New England Coleoptera is discussed. Six hundred and fifty six apparent new state species records for Rhode Island are presented, which constitute 30% of the total state beetle fauna. Three hundred and ninety of these records were collected during 1890–1930, and 266 additional new state records were added by collections made during 1995–2000. Two hundred and forty four of these new state records are not listed from any New England state in Downie and Arnett‘s Beetles of Northeastern North America (1996). The following 13 new state family records are herein reported from Rhode Island: Clambidae, Dryopidae, Heteroceridae, Artematopodidae, Phengodidae, Derodontidae, Nosodendridae, Endecatomidae, Colydiidae, Synchroidae, Stenotrachelidae, Salpingidae, and Nemonychidae. The beetle fauna of Rhode Island is far less well known than would be generally expected, particularly in comparison to our knowledge of the subequally speciose flora, and the faunal composition may have changed markedly during the last century. No strong evidence is found for changes in the beetle fauna due to climate change. It is concluded that if our prior knowledge of the beetle fauna of Rhode Island is at all typical, then our inventory of North American biodiversity is far from complete.

The thrust of this study is to curb unemployment rate through job creation using some key sectors of the economy specifically the manufacturing, agricultural and industrial sectors as the basis for attaining an inclusive growth in Nigeria particularly with the increasing rate of youth unemployment booming the Country. This is demonstrated by the agricultural, manufacturing and industrial policies, programmes and strategies initiated, designed and executed to retard the alarming unemployment rate. The short-run and long-run dynamics streaming from inclusive growth proxied by real gross domestic product per capita, agricultural sector proxied by real agricultural output, manufacturing sector proxied by real manufacturing output, industrial sector proxied by real industrial output and openness measured by export as percentage of real gross domestic product to unemployment rate were evaluated using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds test approach for the period 1970 to 2014. The Estimated results from the study reveals that, improvement in the agricultural, manufacturing and industrial sectors will significantly aid in reducing the problems of unemployment and poverty in Nigeria. Even though the manufacturing sector shows no contribution to reducing unemployment, this could be as a result of the use of some equipment which has taken the place of labour thereby making it redundant. Though, if the teeming unemployed populace is adequately trained in the right direction, the manufacturing sector can still absorbed them. To this effect, the study recommended Government to give utmost priority to the key indicators that are needful at a given period of time in order to ascertain the right combination of the sectors in which these scarce resources should be directed to with the intention of enhancing inclusive growth.

In this brief, author Kenneth Johnson reports that New England’s population grew by 310,000 between the 2020 Census in April 2020 and July 2025 and now stands at 15,432,000, according to new Census Bureau estimates. International immigration accounted for the entire population gain, offsetting an excess of deaths over births and an outflow of domestic migrants to other U.S. destinations from New England. All six New England states have gained population since 2020, but the source of growth varied. Maine and New Hampshire had the largest population gains in the region. Most of their gains were due to an influx of domestic migrants from other states, but each state also benefited from international immigration. Vermont’s modest population gain came from both domestic migration and immigration. Deaths exceeded births in all three northern New England states. The demographic story was different in southern New England. The population gains in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were due to a substantial influx of immigrants. This offset a continuing net outflow of domestic migrants to other U.S. destinations. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, births exceeded deaths by a narrow margin. Immigration is the only likely source of significant population increase for New England. States in the region have among the lowest birth rates in the country and the oldest populations. So, births are likely to barely exceed deaths. New England also continues to lose migrants to other U.S. destinations. With immigration policies and practices now in flux, New England’s demographic future remains in question.

This paper estimates the linkage between the manufacturing sector and other sectors of the Nigerian economy with the aid of a more dynamic estimating tool. The paper departs from the static Leontief’s input-output framework used by earlier studies and adopts the Granger causality test and the vector auto regression method, to determine the impact of changes in manufacturing output on the output of the other sectors and the effects of changes in output of other sectors on the manufacturing sector. Using quarterly time series data over the periods 1986 to 2010 the result shows a weak linkage between the manufacturing sector and other sectors of the Nigerian economy. The manufacturing sector output showed no causal relationship with real economic activities as measured by the real gross domestic product. It also had no causal relationship with the financial sector output. Only two major sectors building and construction and hotel and restaurant seems to be driving the manufacturing sector with the later exhibiting a bi-directional relationship with the manufacturing sector. Specifically, it takes approximately four to six quarters for most sectors to respond to the impact of shocks emanating from the other sectors the economy.

Lynx rufus (Bobcat) is a wide-ranging and highly adaptable predator whose populations are increasing throughout much of its natural range including in the New England states, yet there are only limited empirical ecological studies there. How Bobcats are responding to the unique modern landscape of southern New England with its highly forested landscape coupled with high density of humans is unknown. This lack of spatial and population ecological information impedes evaluating recovery and management objectives and identifying necessary management actions. Our objectives were to better understand the spatial and population structure of Bobcats in Rhode Island. We specifically examined space use, resource selection, and population genetics. We trapped Bobcats across 5 field seasons from April 2015 to March 2019, totaling 2232 trap nights. We captured 8 Bobcats, equipped GPS collars to a subset (n = 3), and collected locations for 4 to 9 months. We used GPS locations to estimate annual and seasonal home-range size and individual-level seasonal resource selection within the home range for each individual. Further, we used tissue samples collected from trapped individuals and opportunistically collected roadkill (n = 30) to examine the population genetic structure and effective population size of Bobcats in the state. We found the mean winter and summer home-range sizes were 219.3 km2 and 51.7 km2, respectively. Bobcats selected for forested wetland habitats and were associated with areas closer to wetlands and young forests, according to resource-selection models. They also selected for areas with higher road densities, yet avoided developed areas. We found that Bobcats in Rhode Island are part of 1 genetic population and estimated their effective population size to be 82 individuals (95% CI: 44–329). Our study highlights the importance of examining a widely distributed species at a local scale in order to employ evidence-based management practices.

The heavily populated states of southern New England—Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island—are primarily forested, providing forest-related services and timber and nontimber forest products. Despite reported challenges to the region's forestry sector, including a shortage of logging capacity, there has been a lack of systematically gathered data about the region's logging community. A mailed survey, informed by focus groups, key informant interviews, and previous research, was used to develop baseline information about the region's logging business owners and to explore challenges to the region's logging businesses. There were few significant differences among logging businesses and logging business owners from the three southern New England states for the attributes studied. Although some mechanized felling was reported, most logging businesses in the region used chain saw felling and 46% of the businesses reported a logging equipment value of less than $100,000. Logging business owners cited several challenges to maintaining or expanding their businesses, including day-to-day operating costs, equipment and insurance costs, the price of stumpage, a shrinking forestland base, and harvest regulations. In addition, there was a general perception of the public's lack of respect for loggers and logging, as well as a perceived disconnect between forest products that the public consumes and the work that loggers perform. Loggers in the region appeared to have less familial attachment to logging, more nonlogging employment opportunity, and a diminished sense of occupational prestige compared with other logging business owners in the northeast. As with similar studies of the logging communities in other states in the northeast, this study represents a reference point from which future studies of the region's logging workforce may be more clearly understood.

Mark B. Smith, Property of Communists: The Urban Housing Program from Stalin to Khrushchev. 240 pp. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2010. ISBN-13 978-0875804231. $40.00. Paul Stronski, Tashkent: Forging a Soviet City, 1930-1966. 350 pp. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010. ISBN-13 978-0822943945, $65.00 (cloth); 978-0822961130, $27.95 (paper). The general character of the postwar and post-Stalin period in Soviet history has become a topic of much debate in recent The chronology and labeling based on commonly accepted subdivisions--postwar years, late Stalinism, thaw (Khrushchev period), and stagnation (Brezhnev period)--do not necessarily provide an adequate frame for the most recent research and have indeed been openly challenged. The period of late Stalinism for example, had previously been seen as a period of re's: reconstruction and recovery from the war losses followed by the reestablishment of the Stalinist repressive system. More recent contributions show a more nuanced picture of a dynamic society in search of new identities, including such contradictory phenomena as emerging youth cultures and an obsession with control. (1) Concerning the thaw period, nowadays often labeled de-Stalinization, the general narrative is moving away from concentrating on Khrushchev's dipsydoodling reform policies. Rather, scholars are now examining the emergence of new types of public spheres--albeit limited ones, forums of communication, and new forms of interaction between regime representatives and the broad population. (2) One of the more recent approaches to the postwar years and the Khrushchev period is the analysis of citizens' voices as expressed in letters. As Christine Varga-Harris and others have shown, a new discourse appeared at this time. Soviet citizens called for adequate compensation from the state in exchange for the efforts and sacrifices they had made during and after the war. They insisted on their rights to food, adequate housing, and other material provisions, in many cases appealing to the state's own promises. (3) Citizens acted more self-consciously than they had in the 1930s, due to the abating of terror and the new source of legitimacy provided by victory in World War II. Here the two studies considered in this review overlap. Both provide new insights into the postwar period with reference to the relationship between individual citizens and the state, especially in regard to housing. Neither limits the scope of its research to the 1940s and 1950s, though, reaching well beyond it. They thus make it possible to see the immediate postwar period in a broader chronological perspective. Yet the two authors use different strategies in creating a wider historical narrative. For good reasons, Mark B. Smith challenges the well-established chronology for the study of the postwar period, while Paul Stronski inscribes Uzbekistan into it. Both monographs treat aspects of urbanization, urban planning, housing policies, and housing construction. While Smith addresses the entire Soviet Union, concentrating on the categories of ownership and the welfare state, Stronski's book is devoted specifically to the history of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Both authors place their findings in broader comparative contexts: Smith draws on the development of housing construction and property rights in Western Europe, and he tries to show that the Soviet experience did not stand apart from European-wide trends but developed out of them. Stronski presents the history of Tashkent and Uzbekistan as an integral part of the Soviet modernizing project with many parallels to other parts of the Soviet Union. Smith departs from the well-known phenomenon of the urban housing construction boom in 1956-63 in stressing that the Soviet construction rate was the highest in Europe. The author seeks to account for the forerunners and historical background of this project, which is usually connected to only Khrushchev's name. …

The aggregate labor productivity in Pakistan has deteriorated during the last three decades. The study examines the causes of the slowdown in aggregate labor productivity. By examining the role of structural change in productivity slowdown, the study develops a novel shift-share methodology and decomposes aggregate productivity into within-sector productivity and structured components. The results revealed that within-sector, along with structural labor productivity in the manufacturing and construction sectors has deteriorated over time. Furthermore, within sector productivity growth in the agriculture sector has also declined. Whereas structural productivity level and growth have positively contributed to aggregate agricultural productivity growth. The core findings of the study demonstrate that within-sector productivity of agriculture, manufacturing and construction, along with structural labor productivity of the manufacturing and construction sectors, has deteriorated over time and played a considerable role in the reduction of aggregate productivity. This study also offered evidence for the validity of the novel decomposition, and the results indicate that the novel structural decomposition is more reliable for the identification of the sources of aggregate productivity growth.

“POLST” is a national movement, implemented at the state level, that supports seriously ill patients' autonomy by translating their preferences into actionable medical orders. Having practiced for most of my career in Oregon, which founded the first POLST program around 1991 and has a robust, effective, and innovative program, I moved to Massachusetts, whose program was in a much less mature state. I recently fielded a question about a patient who lived in Maine but was receiving cancer care in Massachusetts. My colleague wanted to know – could he complete a MA MOLST form, or should he try to find a Maine POLST form? The answer to that question is unnecessarily complicated and illustrates a problem that should be fixed as soon as possible. First, every state's form is different. Some of that variety is based on their state's advance care planning statutes, some is related to cultural differences, while many differences reflect the personal sensibilities or beliefs of the states' POLST programs. All six New England states – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut – have significant differences between their forms. Second, each state's laws regulating (or not regulating) advance care planning documents are different, and some states will explicitly honor other states' documents (called reciprocity), some will explicitly not, while others exist in a gray area. Rhode Island and Vermont have state statutes allowing health professionals to honor out-of-state POLST forms, the others do not. The answer to my colleague's question is that his patient should have two POLST forms – one for his home in Maine, and one for the 2–3 days every month they spend in Massachusetts for treatment. If they wanted to be absolutely correct, they could complete a third form to cover them when they pass through the state of New Hampshire, or they could detour through Vermont, which honors other states' forms. While farcical, this “answer” points to a very real problem – that while patients and clinicians have made great strides in advance care planning and helping patients and their families clarify and document their values and preferences, our healthcare systems are lagging behind in their ability to honor them. Much of the valuable work that clinicians, patients, and families invest in advance care planning can be lost during transitions of care when they encounter different clinicians and health systems that are poorly prepared to care for them. Done right, POLST is the most promising tool to ensure that patients get treatments they want and need and avoid treatments that are not consistent with their goals and values.1 Done wrong, POLST can add confusion to already complex and emotionally fraught care transitions. I would argue that more than any other region of the United States, New England would benefit from consistency and reciprocity in POLST. Table 1 below shows the wide variation that currently exists in terminology, extent of use, and reciprocity. To point out the obvious, New England packs a lot of people (14.8 million) into a relatively small geographic area (72,000 square miles – smaller than the state of Oregon). This magnifies the border and reciprocity issues illustrated in the case. Furthermore, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont have unnecessarily complicated home-grown forms that do not reflect 30 years of POLST learning, innovation, and research. Looking at each state's websites, each state has created its own educational, policy, and implementation materials. In most states, POLST is a minimally funded initiative that relies on volunteers and health professionals who strongly wish to do the right thing. We work together to create shared resources – POLST education would particularly benefit. I call on Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut to join Maine, New Hampshire, and (eventually) Massachusetts in adopting the National POLST form. It is not perfect, and I'm certain each state has its own barriers, but the benefits of getting this right make it very worthwhile. I am well aware this is not a small undertaking – it is why this letter is not directed at all 50 states, yet. But it is necessary if POLST is to realize its potential – that patients living with a serious illness can trust that their wishes will be respected. The author gratefully acknowledges critical review by Amy Vandenbroucke, JD, and Ellen DiPaola, JD. I am the Chair, National POLST Research and Quality Assurance Committee and Co-Chair, Massachusetts MOLST to POLST Advisory Committee. The sponsor did not participate in any aspect of this work.

A Fisherman's Perspective

BEGINNING with triumphs in the cities half a century ago, the Democratic party has now become the dominant political organization of Rhode Island. Today the Democrats usually control all state-wide elective offices. In the General Assembly, only the Senate is normally Republican, and then by the smallest of margins. Of great importance is the fact that the political trend in Rhode Island has been reflected (but by no means duplicated) in the other New England states. While less Democratic in presidential elections than Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut have increasingly turned from the Republican party. New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont have, in general, given an increasing percentage of the two-party vote in presidential elections to Democratic candidates since 1896. An explanation of the reasons for this long-term trend in Rhode Island may, therefore, throw light on the causes of similar tendencies in the other New England states. Like the rest of New England, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as it is officially called, had a long tradition of Republicanism. Some idea of the magnitude of the change during the last generation can be gained from a glance at presidential elections. From the period of national party realignment following the era of good feeling until the Civil War, Rhode Island went Democratic only twice. These occasions were the elections of 1836 and 1852, when the state supported Van Buren and Pierce, respectively. In 1912 the voters gave Wilson a plurality of the vote. It was not until 1928 that the state again supported a Democratic presidential candidate. From 1928 through 1948 the Democrats have enjoyed, in general, increasing majorities. After the election of 1920, the Democrats-the second major

MANY CHANGES HAVE taken place in the structure of banking in New England since 1945. The most significant of these changes have been those associated with the increased number of bank mergers and the spread of branch banking. This study sets out to investigate the extent of these changes, to ascertain their causes, and to evaluate the desirability (or lack of it) of the continuation of these trends. Detailed data are presented on the extent of the postwar changes in the New England banking structure. Some of the reasons for bank mergers and the spread of branch banking are presented and analyzed. The principal reasons for bank mergers seem to be connected with management problems, loan limits, and the desire for branches. The latter, in turn, is based on the great postwar movement of families and firms to the suburbs. The arguments that have figured in professional and political debate concerning branch banking are examined in detail. One of the most frequently used arguments for branch banking is that it can better provide banking facilities for small towns. It was found that among the rural northern New England states a higher proportion of small towns had banking facilities in Maine and Vermont, which permit branch banking, than was the case in New Hampshire, which does not.' Among the industrialized southern New England states, a higher proportion of small towns in Rhode Island and Connecticut, which permit state-wide branch banking, had facilities than did Massachusetts, which restricts branch banking. Another argument in favor of branch banking is that the cost of operating a banking office as a branch is less than the cost of running the same office as a unit bank. Data were obtained on the operation of several New England banking offices which functioned as unit banks until a merger converted them to branches. Their operations as unit banks and as branches were compared. It was found that the cost advantages of operating a banking facility as a branch rather than as a unit bank were small or nonexistent.