Community Wealth Research Articles

Benefits flexibility pilots — a chance to put the arguments to the test

The arguments about loosening up the benefits system to allow disabled people to work and retain more of their benefits need testing and evaluation in practice if they are ever to be resolved. The Government's encouragement of area based initiatives to help improve the health and wealth of deprived communities provide an opportunity to do just this. The scheme below is just one idea that is being put forward. A life in the day would welcome news of others.

Growth divergence due to spatial externalities

On using household-level panel data to unpack a regional growth regression for rural China we find that aggregate divergence at the regional level is entirely due to external effects of community wealth at the household level.

Property Rights and Technological Innovation

The economist Armen Alchian said once that ever since the fiasco in the Garden of Eden, we have been living in a world in which what we want exceeds what is available. The desire for more satisfaction is a predictable behavioral implication of the fact of scarcity. In fact, it might have helped mankind to survive against competition from other forms of life. Man's desire for more utility gives rise to two interdependent issues that each and every society has to face: (i) how to increase the value of the community's wealth, and (ii) how to allocate the increment in wealth. We generalize those issues as the demand for economic development.

Links between rural poverty and the environment in developing countries: Asset categories and investment poverty

This paper presents a framework for analyzing the links between poverty and the environment in rural areas of developing countries. It introduces the concept of “investment poverty” and relates it to other measures of poverty in analysis of these links. The notion of poverty is examined in the context of categories of assets and categories of environment change, with particular focus on farm household income generation and investment strategies as determinants of the links. The strength and direction of the poverty-environment links are shown to differ (even invert) depending on the composition of the assets held by the rural poor and the types of environmental problems they face. Policy strategies need to focus on conditioning variables that affect market development, community wealth, infrastructure, household asset distribution, and the affordability and appropriateness of natural resource conservation technologies.

Changing Capitalization of CBD-Oriented Transportation Systems: Evidence from Philadelphia, 1970–1988

This paper presents estimates of how the value of central business district (CBD) accessibility has changed over the period 1970–1988 for the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Using a large data set on suburban Philadelphia house sales, we estimate house value premiums associated with CBD-oriented train service provided by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority for each year in the sample. Additionally, we provide evidence on the changing value of highway access to the CBD. For the Philadelphia metropolitan area, we find strong evidence that accessibility to the CBD is capitalized into suburban house values. The estimated value of CBD accessibility fluctuates with the economic health of the city, indicating that the central city economy is an important factor in the overall wealth of suburban communities. From a policy perspective, these findings suggest that suburban communities may not be able to isolate themselves from the consequences of central city decline, and in fact, that suburban communities may benefit substantially from a growing central city.

Berbers and Blacks: Ibāḍī Slave Traffic in Eighth-Century North Africa

The aim of this article is to illustrate the process whereby certain Berber tribes during the eighth century A.D. substituted slaves from the Bilād al-Sūdān for Berber slaves from North Africa. From the outset, this conversion was influenced strongly, if not instigated, by Ibāḍī merchants until the slave trade became a predominantly Ibāḍī monopoly from the mid-eighth century onwards. The slave trade along the central Sudan route in particular provided the increase in the community's wealth and security, as well as the means for its establishment and expansion as a Muslim sect among diverse Berber tribes and, finally, as the origins for the subsequent, far-flung network of trans-Saharan trade.

The Quality of Family Planning Services in Rural China

This article provides a preliminary analysis of three aspects of service quality in four rural counties in China--the availability of contraceptive methods, information given to users, and provider knowledge about methods. Contraceptive choice and characteristics of contraceptive use by women in the study areas are also examined. The data are derived from a survey carried out by the authors during 1987, under the auspices of China's State Family Planning Commission. The survey was conducted in four rural counties located in Fujian and Heilongjiang provinces. A total of 318 married women of reproductive age were randomly selected and interviewed. All family planning service sites serving the women were visited and a sample of service providers was interviewed. No shortage of contraceptives existed in any of the counties, but variations in community wealth and local procurement practices have resulted in the acquisition of an IUD with high failure rates. Although providers believe they inform women about method choices and side effects, women were poorly informed about the methods they selected. Not all providers who insert IUDs and distribute pills were knowledgeable about contraindications and side effects of the methods. Ever-use of contraception was nearly 100 percent, but most women, especially in Heilongjiang, have only used one method: the IUD or sterilization. Improvements in quality, especially in method mix, providers' level of knowledge, and the quality and quantity of information provided to users will likely improve contraceptive continuation, client satisfaction, and women's health.

Jews, Poitevins, and the Bishop of Winchester, 1231-1234

Amongst the many questions concerning the Jews of thirteenth-century England, by no means the least interesting turn upon the hardening of Christian-Jewish relations, the collapse of the wealth of the Jewish community, and the eventual expulsion of the Jews in 1290. Quite when and why did these processes originate and evolve? By which authority, Church or King, were they most keenly sponsored? Robert Stacey has provided answers to many of these questions, nominating the years 1240 to 1258 as ‘a watershed in Anglo-Jewish relations’ and showing the diversity of religious and financial pressures underlying Henry Ill’s attack on the Jews. Whilst in no way challenging Stacey’s basic approach, the purpose of the present essay is to extend his concept of a watershed back by a decade or so to the regime which governed England between 1232 and 1234. At the same time I shall suggest that the misfortunes of the English Jewry need to be viewed in the wider context of Jewish-Christian relations throughout northern Europe, in particular with an eye to the anti-Jewish legislation of Capetian France.

The goals and values of local economic development strategies in rural America

The goals and values of economic development strategies vary according to the individual communities that employ them. While economic development strategies are aimed at increasing jobs, income, and community wealth, the issue of who gains and who loses from economic change is often overlooked. The industrial development strategies of the 1960s and 1970s are giving way to local initiatives based on services. Although local efforts may mean greater local control, the globalization of the economy has exposed formerly remote areas to international competition. The challenge to communities will be to achieve a moderate, steady, and manageable pace of “good” growth. Each community will ultimately need to develop a strategy for economic growth that matches community desires with community resources.

Patterns of Wealth Concentration

Community wealth created from improvements in production techniques and by economic development takes two forms. One is absolute changes in quantity. The other is relative changes in the pattern of distribution. Because units of wealth are unstandardized, communities are difficult to compare based on absolute wealth differences. Four patterns of wealth distribution-hyper and normal equality, status and hyper inequality-reflect relative differences in the way wealth is distributed. No communities have perfect or hyper equality. The pattern for egalitarian, tribal communities is for wealth to be more normally distributed. Hierarchical communities have status inequality. The pattern for communities in societies with considerable dependence on external markets is for wealth to be very concentrated in the hands of a few people-hyper inequality.

Slave-Raiders and Middlemen, Monopolists and Free-Traders: the supply of slaves for the Atlantic trade in Dahomeyc. 1715–1850

This article, which extends and modifies the analysis offered in an earlier article in this journal (1977), examines what is known of the organization of the supply of slaves for the trans-Atlantic trade in Dahomey, with particular emphasis on the relative importance of local slave-raiding and the purchase of slaves from the interior, and on the evolution of a group of private merchants within Dahomey. It is argued that initially the kings of Dahomey sought to operate the slave trade as a royal monopoly, and relied exclusively upon slave-raiding rather than purchasing slaves from the interior. From the mid-eighteenth century, however, Dahomey did seek to operate as a ‘ middleman’ in the supply of slaves from the interior, and since its kings did not normally attempt to control this aspect of the trade this involved the emergence of a private sector in the slave trade. Although merchants in Dahomey were in origin state officials, licensed to trade on behalf of the king or ‘caboceers’ (chiefs), they subsequently acquired the right to trade on their own account also and thus became in some measure independent of the state structure. The autonomy and wealth of the merchant community in Dahomey were further enhanced by the transition from slave to palm oil exports in the nineteenth century, when leading merchants moved into large-scale oil production, using slave labour supplied by the king. There were recurrent tensions between the monarchy and the merchants over commercial policy and over the monarchy's expropriatory fiscal practices, and the conflict of interests between the two was exacerbated by the development of the oil trade, undermining the solidarity of Dahomey in the face of the European imperialism of the late nineteenth century.

British capitalism at the crossroads, 1919-1932: a study in politics, economics, and international relations

In the aftermath of the First World War British politics were subordinated to the goal of reconstructing a multilateral trade and payments system. This decision must be understood as the result of the peculiar structure of British capitalism wherein mercantile and financial activity rather than manufacturing industry provided the core of wealth of the dominant community. For a decade, Britain made a signal contribution to the restoration of multilateralism. With the world at a turning-point in 1928, British policy remained committed to reform through multilateral action, particularly once the Labour party resumed office. But the practical effect of policy was the opposite of that intended. Dogmatic opposition to all second-best alternatives helped drive all countries, Britain included, away from internationalism towards a narrow nationalism and economic protectionism. The account ends in 1932 when Britain embarked upon an active imperial policy while the rest of the world headed towards another war. Using a wide range of primary sources, the author presents an account which integrates the economic, political and diplomatic events of the period.

School health education evaluation

THE EVALUATION SAMPLE: CONTEXT, INPUT AND PROCESS The SHCP Samples The HECG Sample The Project Prevention Sample The 3Rs and HBP Sample Context for the Evaluation: Community Size and Wealth Classroom Characteristics: Student Ethnicity and Health Instruction Experience Classroom Characteristics: Teacher Gender, Experience and Instructional Specialty Program Input: Amount and Type of Inservice Training Program Process: Instruction Hours, Percent Taught, and Program Fidelity Summary 247

Physicians Who Move

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> I have read the SPECIAL COMMUNICATION by Dr Steiber entitled "Physicians Who Move and Why They Move" (1982;248:1490). To the casual reader, this article might be only "interesting," but the importance of these findings must be stressed, since if they are improperly applied they would affect us all and, ultimately, patient care. It has been demonstrated and is confirmed in this article that physicians are not drawn to or driven away from areas on the basis of community wealth.¹But the community (or state) certainly feels the impact of physician movement in terms of gain or loss of wealth. Physicians are not only an asset to a community, but, if they have been trained in state-supported schools or financially aided through school by cities or counties, they represent a considerable financial investment that can "just walk away." No doubt, in most states and certainly in Illinois,

THE CATHOLIC PARISH, THE CATHOLIC CHAPEL AND VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT IN IRELAND

The Catholic Church in Ireland underwent profound transformations in the early modern period. Among the most significant of these was the need to reconstruct its parish network and to provide places of worship for its adherents. This reconstruction and rebuilding phase was largely compressed into the 1780–1860 period and gave rise to a radically new parish framework which was adapted to the demographic, social and economic conditions of that time. Chapels were also constructed in large numbers and their sites were determined by the attitudes of landlords, the wealth of the local Catholic community and the sponsorship of prominent Catholic families. The diffusion of chapel building shows pronounced regional biases. Associated with this reinvigorated parish and chapel network was the development of new villages, for which the chapel acted as a nucleus and focus. The term chapel-village is used to describe them and their economic, social and morphological characteristics are examined. Their distribution reve...

Community Wealth Concentration: Comparisons in General Evolution and Development

An expanding literature points to increased inequality with economic development. Studies of income and wealth distributions show that communities are much less egalitarian after development than before.' Benefits are concentrated among a few, while the majority are at least relatively, if not absolutely, worse off after economic development. Chenery of the World Bank states, It is now clear that more than a decade of rapid growth in underdeveloped countries has been of little or no benefit to perhaps a third of their population.2 For most human history, communities have been egalitarian. Egalitarian communities characterize primitive and tribal societies in which wealth does not show concentration and for which social classes do not

John Macky’s 1707 Account of the English Seminaries in Flanders

The following report on English religious houses in Flanders was sent to Secretary of State Sunderland on 7 January 1707/8. When the Earl of Sunderland left office in 1710, he took this account, along with virtually all departmental papers, with him and it has remained in his private collection from that time to the present. As the covering letter reveals, it was prepared by John Macky on his own initiative. His purpose was to reveal the size and wealth of the English Catholic community residing in religious houses in the Low Countries. In particular, he stressed the income which came to these institutions from Britain. This was to substantiate his proposal to remove these bodies by cutting off this flow of money.

In Pursuit of Equal Taxation: Jersey City's Struggle Against Corporate Arrogance and Tax-Dodging by the Railroad Trust

. Mark Fagan, progressive Republican who became Mayor of Jersey City in 1901, and his adviser, City Corporation Counsel George L. Record, both followers of Henry George, attempted to use taxation to break up the railroad trust and regulate the railroads. They believed that community wealth belonged to the people, whether it be land or franchises. Their efforts to achieve equal taxation made it a paramount state issue but it failed because the voters were not prepared to approve the social reorganization needed to overcome corporate arrogance and end corporate privilege. But to escape equal taxation the railroads accepted regulation.

Differences in Profit and Nonprofit Organizations: A Study of Effectiveness and Efficiency in General Short-Stay Hospitals

1 Research for this paper was supported by Grant Number HS-00028 from the National Center for Health Services Research and Development. Support of the Tennessee Mid-South Regional Medical Program also facilitated the research, Comments by Anthony Obserschall on an earlier version of this paper are appreciated. as is the computer assistance of Thomas James. Results of a study of small short-stay profit and nonprofit hospitals show significant differences in organizational relationships. The proportionate number of management and support personnel is negatively associated with the occupancy rate and the proportionate number of production personnel is more positively associated with occupancy rate in profit hospitals but not in nonprofit hospitals. Average daily charges are associated with community wealth for profit hospitals, but not for nonprofit hospitals. It is suggested that the profitmaking orientation of hospitals is a significant contextual property which influences the relationships of hospital structure and community wealth to hospital efficiency and effectiveness.'

Quality of Administrative Provisions for Physical Education in New York State

Abstract In this study, there were examined the relationships between the quality of the non-instructional provisions for physical education in 100 secondary schools of New York State and factors involving size of school, wealth of community, and training and experience of the physical education director. The quality of the provisions was more closely related to wealth of the community than to any other factor. Secondary schools enrolling less than 200 pupils tended to lack essential provisions. Amount of training of the director was more closely related to the quality of provisions than amount of experience.