DIRECTIONS FOR DIVERSIFICATION WITH AN APPLICATION TO SASKATCHEWAN*

ABSTRACT. Traditional models of regional diversification do not capture the trade-off between stability and living standards. In this paper, we characterize regions as open activity models subjected to both productivity and price shocks. We then partially rank small diversification policies by the direction in which they point away from the current industrial structure in mean-variance space. Some general patterns emerge. In particular, diversification for regional self-sufficiency and away from regional comparative advantage may be undesirable.     

STATE, CLASS AND INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL 1: BACKGROUND TO THE BRASILIAN STEEL INDUSTRY

By 1980, the Brasilian steel industry had grown to be the eighth largest among the market economies. It is a largely state-owned industry, much of the expansion of which has been funded by international capital. The pattern of development has not been externally imposed, however, but rather reflects the changing balance of class forces within Brasil as policies oscillate between nationalist, populist limits on foreign investment and open, pro-development strategies that rely on foreign investment. Both policies develop their own contradictions, that are reflected in frequent military interventions.     

Recent Technology Imports into India: Results of a Survey

This paper analyses the results of a survey of twenty-four recent cases of technology imports into India. Over the last thirty years, large firms in Indian industry have come under increasing competitive pressure from small firms which pay lower wages and which are also favoured by government policy. Most small firms obtain technology through informal channels within the country. But some import technology; and larger firms import it in their defence against competition from small firms. Larger firms, with a history and a reputation, have better access to technology from abroad; smaller firms often go through an extensive search before they find a willing technology supplier. Irrespective of size, firms that import technology within their own specialization are observed to put more effort into technology choice, absorption and adaptation. Indian policies of across-the-board import substitution, by promoting diversification into new products developed abroad, tend to discourage specialization and hence to encourage technology imports and to work against technology absorption and innovation.     

DO METROPOLITAN AREAS MEAN ANYTHING? A RESEARCH NOTE*

This note analyzes whether central cities and suburbs of a metropolitan area relate to each other in a meaningful way. Specifically, it analyzes whether there is a factor specific to the metropolitan area in central-city and suburban growth once national and regional factors have been taken into account. Data are analyzed for growth of metropolitan areas from 1960 to 1980.