Rural policy-making came under increasing pressure during 1990 and 1991 as a rural downturn rivalling the 1982-83 drought eroded farm incomes. International trade reform was stalled, the government procrastinated during the wool crisis and continued to be tardy in delivering the benefits of...

An emphasis on the public provision of health and education in Thailand assisted both sectors to make a substantial contribution to the consistently high growth rates achieved during the 1980s. However, a review of development goals is opportune. Three types of reform are recommended: (a)...

Discussion of rural poverty has tended to emphasise farm poverty at the expense of rural urban poverty. There are serious problems in measuring the former but the evidence suggests that there is a sizeable group of chronically poor farm people. Only the Rural Adjustment Scheme appears to have...

"The estimation in which different qualities of labour arc held comes soon to be adjusted in the market with sufficient precision for all practical purposes, and depends much on the comparative skill of the labourer and intensity of the labour performed, The scale, when once formed, is liable to...

Few issues of economic development arouse such deep emotions or controversies as the role of the foreign sector. Most orthodox economists believe that foreign aid, investment, technology and transnational corporations (TNC) are important contributory factors to economic development. On the other...

This article describes the federal government's rural policy activities during 1986. It emphasizes the interactions between rural and other policy areas and the prevailing influence of "politics". The Labor Government's rural policy-making in 1986 was preoccupied with the ramifications of the...

The key role of institutions in mediating rural markets, and thus in influencing economic change in agriculture, is explored. Pertinent theories of institutional change are reviewed and the place of external intervention, whereby outside agencies attempt to assist market mediation, is examined....