Market-led Approach Research Articles

The Ghana Grains Partnership

A surge in international food prices that began in 2008 led to a variety of responses from African governments, ranging from price controls, trade restrictions and food security stocks, to facilitating longer-term increase in supply-side increases in production. In Ghana, the objectives emphasized broad-based, pro-poor agricultural growth, expansion of high-value cash crops and improved production of food crops. A hybrid of crop rotation plus addition of external inputs of fertilizers in a modern intensified farming regime was seen as a way forward. The Ghana Grains Partnership (GGP) was underpinned by this assumption, addressing a national shortfall in maize through a coordinated and market-led value chain development approach. The Partnership was initially made up of international and national agribusinesses, an agricultural development fund, farmers and farmer associations and a commercial bank and coordinated by Prorustica. The GGP adopted innovative approaches such as the coordination of commercial and non-commercial objectives. The focus on complete agricultural value chains provided a holistic approach to meet the needs of farmers for agricultural inputs and finance and addressed constraints to more effective commodity output markets. The Partnership's basic principles included the setting up of a farmers' grain association with the partners sharing the costs, benefits and risks.

Municipal Visions, Market Realities: Does Planning Guide Residential Development?

In discussions about alternative modes of residential development, such as those proposed under the New Urbanist, Smart Growth, or sustainable cities movements, a common assumption is that planning is capable of implementing these visions. In this study I seek to ascertain the ability of planning to guide residential development. In contrast to much of the existing research into planning capability, which evaluates individual implementations, this study uses municipality-wide built-form data. Before and after comparisons are carried out for the primary study site, the town of Markham, Ontario (Canada), where a New-Urbanist-inspired development philosophy has been in place since the early 1990s. Results are compared with those from the city of Vaughan, an adjacent municipality that has maintained a market-led development approach. Findings are that planning is capable of moderately accelerating positive trends and moderately retarding negative trends.

Law, Language and International Trade Regulation in the WTO

While attending a major conference on the Future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently, I noticed that few delegates attended the session on international agricultural trade. This seeming lack of interest was striking for two reasons. First, international markets for agricultural products are highly distorted because states use quotas and subsidies to manipulate the supply and demand for agricultural products, which in turn affects the price of those goods both on domestic and international markets. 1 Notwithstanding numerous efforts between 1947 and 1995 to liberalize agricultural trade and return it to a more market-led approach, the sector remained largely outside international regulation under the rules in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the GATT). 2 It was not until 1995, with the creation of the WTO including an Agreement on Agriculture, that specialized rules were finally introduced which attempted to regulate states' use of restrictive trade measures. Despite these new rules, liberalization efforts in international agricultural trade remain considerably behind those in other goods sectors. 3

Regional Integration and Africa's Development Trajectory: meta-theories, expectations and reality

Regional integration remains an integral part of Africa's development strategy and has underpinned most pan-African development policies for the past 50 years. This paper explores the issue of regional integration in the context of ‘development’ theory and the neo-patrimonial state system in Africa. A central contention of the paper is that Western, Euro-centric conceptions of regionalism, particularly those centred on the market integration approach, have promoted a very biased understanding of regional integration in many parts of the developing world. Using southern Africa as an exemplar case study, the paper argues that the various meta-theories focused on explaining the political economy of regionalism, often closely allied to a development theory paradigm, fail to account for the nature, character and evolution of regional integration. Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa has been conceived and analysed in the light of the market-led approach, modernity and development. Thus far, it is has failed. This paper therefore explores why market-led regional integration has failed and why, for the foreseeable future, it will continue to do so.

Out of AGRA: The Green Revolution returns to Africa

The global food crisis and philanthropy capitalism have provided foundations and multilateral institutions an opportunity to relaunch the Green Revolution in Africa. While the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) maintains the Green Revolution focus on genetic improvement, new technological variations have been added, including a focus on genetic engineering. Eric Holt-Gimenez argues that AGRA reflects a structural shift from state-led development strategies to market-led approaches for the Green Revolution. Although AGRA may revive the Green Revolution, a market-led approach based on genetic engineering is unlikely to solve the problem of hunger in Africa. Informed public debate is needed to consider other proven African alternatives that may hold more promise for rebuilding African agriculture.

‘Willing buyer, willing seller’: South Africa's failed experiment in market-led agrarian reform

Since its transition to democracy, South Africa has implemented a multifaceted programme of land reform to address problems of historical dispossession and rural poverty, relying heavily on the concept of ‘willing buyer, willing seller’. This version of market-led agrarian reform has been influenced by the World Bank but enjoys support from landowners and elements within the ruling African National Congress committed to maintaining the structure of large-scale, capital-intensive farming. Central to the South African approach is the voluntary acquisition of land, but also important have been the methods of beneficiary selection, of farm planning and of post-settlement support, all of which have been influenced by the market-led approach and serve to discriminate against the very poor. The rate of land transfer remains far below official targets and the limited available evidence suggests that, where land has been transferred, it has made little positive impact on livelihoods or on the wider rural economy. Key to understanding the slow pace of reform is the lack of mobilisation and militancy among the rural poor and landless, who to date have had minimal influence over the design and implementation of the land reform programme.

Markets and higher education: a regime of truth?

A discourse of marketisation prevails in recent publications on higher education in Ireland. Higher education is urged to heed the call to the markets and to become the driver of Ireland's future economic success, as Ireland seeks to build a knowledge-based economy. This article questions the dominant marketisation discourse in higher education. It explores the arguments for and against a market-led approach to education and argues that there can be no pure markets in education. It suggests that the real discourse is one of urging universities to follow government- or corporate-led agendas. It proposes a wider-encompassing discourse on higher education's role in society rather than one confined to the socially constructed language of performativity.

Promoting Diversity and Pluralism in Contemporary Communication Policies in the United States and the United Kingdom

Recent revisions of media regulation and legislation have emphasized diversity and pluralism as key objectives. Both the Federal Communication Commission's rewriting of broadcasting ownership rules in 2003 and the United Kingdom government's 2003 Communications Act insist that the public interest is best met through providing a dynamic, market-led approach to communications regulation. This article highlights definitions of diversity and pluralism that are increasingly ubiquitous in legislative and regulatory instruments that seek to "modernize" media systems in our present "communications cornucopia." This approach involves conceptualizing media diversity and media pluralism as twin outcomes of strategies designed to maximize consumer choice and market competition. The article argues that we need to challenge the assumption that meaningful forms of diversity can be brought forth only through market structures and questions the validity of quantitative assessments of media sectors that equate choice and competition with diversity. The article suggests that we need to win back a notion of diversity that is based on citizens' engagement with and interrogation of the world rather than the idea that diversity can be measured simply through the number of organizations and channels in the contemporary media environment.

Functional Analysis of Corporate Rescue Procedures: A Proposal from an Anglo-Swiss Perspective

Corporate rescue has received growing attention in recent years. Large corporate failures and legislative activities in the field have increased the awareness that rescue is important and beneficial. Coordinating and controlling corporate rescue activities is a difficult task. This article presents a set of analytical tools intended to help establish the regulatory options available to the law and their coherence, as well as their respective advantages and disadvantages. It develops and tests these tools with regard to the English and Swiss laws on corporate rescue. Its thesis is that a market-led approach to corporate rescue is advantageous. In face of the widely diverging interests of the parties involved in a rescue, it is suggested that this approach should be supplemented by mechanisms of accountability, professionalisation and selfregulation. This points the way towards a functional analysis of rescue law taking into account the operation of the relevant rules in practice.

'Management of Demand' as a Tool in Sustainable Tourist Destination Development

This paper suggests 'management of demand' in the context of a careful target-marketing approach as an important instrument for the sustainable development of a tourist destination. Traditionally, destination areas plan and manage in a rather product and resource-centred way. An increased marketing effort is nowadays frequently demanded, but there are limits in adapting to the market, calling for a combined supply and market-led approach to destination marketing. In this context, 'management of demand' may contribute to more sustainable tourism development. This is shown using the example of the rural tourist market in North Portugal, which is segmented based on benefits sought. Segments are evaluated according to a set of criteria in terms of attractiveness and destination-fit. The careful selection of the target-market and its eventual differentiation in space and time may help a destination pursue its main development goals, which should further depend on the interests of all local stakeholders and consider preservation priorities.

Book Review: Third Sector. The Contribution of Non Profit and Cooperative Enterprises in Australia

Mark Lyons Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2001. This book provides a useful broad-brush, historical, political analysis of the third sector in Australia. Beginning with definitions, working through the major locations of third-sector organizations--from community services to philanthropic intermediaries--it then briefly discusses the place of the third sector in Australian history. The second part of the book focuses on how these organizations work, how they are interlinked with other sectors (household, business and government) and finally the social and political contributions of the sector to Australian society. The impact of economic rationalism on Australian society can be historically traced from a number of levels. The identification in the late 1970s of a `crisis in the welfare state' resulted in a plethora of academic analyses of various responses by governments (primarily of the right) in policy development. This market-led approach to the non-government sector can now also be seen to have reshaped the contributions of various non-profit, volunteer based organizations--the so-called `third sector'. Working within one of these organizations today is a very different experience to that of 20 years ago, a challenge that its current leadership faces and one to which Professor Mark Lyons suggests they have `failed to respond' (p. 226). Lyons argues that many people join third-sector organizations as volunteers as an `opportunity to shape the policies and strategies [of civil society] by democratic means' (p. 14) and that it has been estimated that between 500,000 and 700,000 people volunteer for the sector. However, while the third sector does incorporate the small, non-incorporated bodies such as the local arts group or sports group, it also, according to Lyons, includes such large businesses as NRMA with a $2800m turnover or the Panther's Rugby League Club with $83m (p. 16), a fact that then tends to move the sector into what many may consider `for-profit business'. In addition, the sector also includes many paid staff--according to Lyons--as much as 7.6 percent of the Australian workforce. These statistics show how complex the sector has become, and how challenging it now is to both analyse and document. For sociologists searching for a cutting-edge text that provides depthful and challenging analysis this book may disappoint. The literature used is reasonably focused on economics and public policy, there is little or no gender analysis and, as a result, some of the classic texts in the area are missing (e. …

Publishing: a market‐led approach

ABSTRACTA definition of marketing is offered. Detailed analysis demonstrates the editorial and commercial benefits of a market‐led approach to publishing.

The use of branding by trade publishers: An investigation into marketing the book as a brand name product

Publishing has traditionally been an introspective industry, and while this is gradually changing, there is a need for publishers to adopt a more market-led approach. This requires the development of branding strategies to increase levels of recognition and consumer loyalty among the book buying public. The nature of the book as a product presents difficulties in applying branding theory to the industry and this study provides an insight into the issues involved in branding the imprint and the author and examines how some trade publishers are addressing these issues. The study also examines the public perception of brands within the trade sector and examines how much impact publishers’ brands have made with the consumer.

Venison production from farmed deer

Deer farming commenced in New Zealand (NZ) in 1969, and since then the number of farmed deer has progressively increased, to reach 1·3 million in 1993 (Game Industry Board (GIB), personal communication). These comprise 85% European red deer (Cervus elaphus), with the remainder being composed of elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis), elk/red deer crossbreds, fallow deer (Dama dama) and small numbers of other species. Initially, deer were obtained from the capture of feral animals, introduced to NZ over 100 years ago, but in the last 10 years the increase has come from breeding on deer farms. The industry has a strategic marketing plan to coordinate all sectors in order to maintain profitability. This plan has been implemented and financed by the GIB, through the collection of compulsory levies on venison and velvet sales. With the formation of the GIB in 1984, the NZ Deer industry has been strongly export market-led, and thus differs from the NZ sheep and cattle industries, which developed with a production driven philosophy. Key aspects of the market-led approach have been to produce and market venison which is consistently tender and of low fat content, and at the carcass weight range and times required by the markets.

Local urban regeneration initiatives: Birmingham ‘heartlands’

In order to protect local democratic accountability and meet the needs of local residents, several larger UK urban authorities have helped to promote initiatives which offer an alternative to the Conservative government's market-led approach to urban regeneration. This paper explores the Birmingham ‘Heartlands’ initiative, setting out when, how, and why it was established, how it operated, what it tried to achieve, what success it enjoyed and what wider lessons it might offer for regeneration initiatives in other UK cities. It charts its transformation into an Urban Development Corporation (UDC), and suggests that one of its main achievements may have been to help to promote a type of agency which can not only call on direct government funding to encourage development and investment, but which has a greater respect and feel for local needs and priorities than the UDCs seen to date.

Seven steps to market — the development of the market-led approach to countryside conservation and recreation

Fifty years of interplay between farming, environment and politics are reviewed within the context of the search for policy tools which reconcile the need for conservation and access to the countryside with the needs of those who own or manage the land. Seven main policy instruments which have been used to reconcile conflicts between the various interest groups representing farmers and landowners, conservationists and recreationists are identified and their strengths and weaknesses analysed. The significance and initial impact of the seventh of these policy tools — the incentives or market-led approach — is considered in greater detail.

Industrial Policy of the European Community: Strategic Deficits and Regional Dilemmas

Industrial policy of the European Community (EC) shifted in emphasis towards a neoliberal approach in the late 1980s as one part of moves towards completion of the single internal market by 1992. Intervention by national governments was also to be curtailed (in theory at least) on the grounds that it would be contrary to fair competition and free trade. There is mounting evidence, however, that European industry is increasingly falling behind its main rivals based in the USA and Japan. This poses a sharp challenge for the future of companies in certain key sectors, and for the places and regions dependent on employment in those industries. These issues of industrial strategy and regional development are explored in this paper. First, the change which took place in EC industrial policy from the limited but deliberately interventionist stance of the early 1980s to a much more strongly market-led approach by the early 1990s is outlined. The implications of such free-market measures for the energy sector, in terms of security-of-supply considerations are identified, and these measures are compared with the difficulty experienced in formulating a response to the challenge of global competition in another key sector, automobile production. The uneven regional impacts of such changes are then considered, and the inadequacy, even in its own terms, of present EC regional policy is indicated. Finally, the emergent strategic deficit in EC industrial policy, the regional dilemma associated with the ‘1992’ proposals, and the potential scope for alternative policy directions are addressed.

The New Information Technologies: Is there an ‘alternative strategy’?

The Conservative government has adopted a market-led and entertainment-led approach to the development of IT generally. It has privatised BT, established a competitor and has pursued a distinctive market philosophy towards the development of the new media. One of these media, cable systems, has attracted much interest because it contains within it the possibility of the creation of a so-called ‘national grid’, marrying communications and culture, business and entertainment in an intricate and complex way. But because all these developments have taken place in the private sector, the Left has been quick to criticise the government's approach and have pointed out the many consequences: in terms of employment, impact on culture, diminishing the public domain, reducing acountability and so on. However, this article suggests that these critiques are by no means as complete as first appears since they themselves lack any coherent ‘alternative strategy’ that is ‘realistic’, plausible or meaningful. This, the article goes on to argue, will present a future socialist government with a serious problem. What will its own approach be and how much can it learn from these critiques?