TECHNICAL CHANGE AND PROFITS IN CANADIAN MANUFACTURING: A REGIONAL ANALYSIS

Manufacturing profitability and growth declined sharply in Canada between 1955 and 1984. The spatial extent of this decline has not previously been documented. This article examines manufacturing performance in six regions of Canada. The analysis reveals significant interregional performance differences that appear to be increasing. Two different types of inter-firm competition are identified in the article: competition in production and competition in the market. Empirical investigation reveals that changes in production conditions had a greater impact on regional profitability in five of the six regions studied. In the remaining region, poor market performance was the primary cause of the reduction in profits after 1955.
Au Canada la rentabilité et la croissance industrielle ont profondément diminué entre les années 1955 et 1984. L'ampleur spatiale de cette baisse n'a jamais été docu-mentée. Cette étude examine le comportement et les performances de fabrication dans six régions canadien-nes. De considérables différences inter-régionales, qui semblent toujours s'accentuer sont mises en évidence. Dans cette recherche, deux genres de concurrence entre les societes son identifiés: la concurrence dans la production, et la concurrence dans le marché. L'analyse empi-rique montre que certains changements dans les conditions de production ont eu un effet considérable sur la rentabilité régionale pour cinq des six régions en question. En ce qui concerne la dernière région, la baisse des profits a partir de 1955 est dûe essentiellement à la mauvaise performance du marché.     

Gender and the Family in Pre‐industrial Europe

P. Fleming, Family and Household in Medieval England A. Lynn Martin, Alcohol, Sex and Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe N. J. Menuge (ed.), Medieval Women and the Law P. Skinner, Women in Medieval Italian Society, 500–1200 F. A. Underhill, For Her Good Estates: The Life of Elizabeth de Burgh     

国际移民与婚姻挤压——以战后四邑侨乡为例的探讨

论文从战后四邑侨乡社会婚姻挤压的形成、战后四邑侨乡社会婚姻挤压下的社会调适等方面,对战后四邑侨乡社会重建问题进行研究。认为战后四邑侨乡社会的婚姻挤压是特殊历史时期各种社会经济因素相互影响、共同作用的结果;战争时期的兵燹、饥荒、瘟疫疾病、侨汇中断与国际移民网络丧失等一系列突发性的历史事件及其所带来的社会影响,造成了侨乡社会人口性别年龄结构的急剧变动;战后时期,美、加等国移民新政扫除了侨乡社会向海外华人社会跨国婚姻自由迁移的政策障碍;中外交通的恢复、国际移民网络的重建、巨量侨汇的涌入与华侨残破家庭的重建等社会经济因素的叠加,进一步加剧了婚姻市场的挤压程度。面对日益严峻的婚姻挤压问题,四邑侨乡社会在普通民众追求个人生活幸福的理性选择基础之上,形成了一些新的社会文化规范,衍生出一系列应对婚姻挤压效应的社会机制。     

Anthropology,revolution, and development

Green, Edward C., ed. Practicing Development Anthropology. Boulder and London: Westview Press, 1986. xi + 283 pp. including tables, figures, and acknowledgements. $26.50 paper.

Banerjee, Diptendra, ed. Marxian Theory and the Third World. New Delhi/Beverly Hills/London: Sage Publications, 1985. 325 pp. including chapter references and list of contributors. No price.     

The Origins of American Expansion in Hawaii and Samoa, 1865–1900

From Nixon to Reagan, official US perceptions of West German trade with the Soviet Union (Osthandel) underwent a remarkable evolution. Despite initial skepticism, the Nixon and Ford administrations placed no major obstacles to West German–Soviet economic relations. Carter, however, changed the situation. His stance on human rights and economic sanctions against the Soviets for various developments - along with his belief that West Germany should follow the United States' lead - led Carter to ask Schmidt to curtail Osthandel, an action that contributed to Schmidt's notoriously poor relationship with the US President. Despite coming from a different political party, Reagan initially continued Carter's outlook on Osthandel. Yet rather than emphasize human rights, he publicly stressed Poland's self-determination as the reason to implement his aggressive policy to curb trade with the USSR, even though his advisers feared the strategic implications of greater German dependence on Soviet energy. Carter's and Reagan's early approaches were ineffective. Their actions, especially the latter's, strained US relations with Germany, the United States' most important ally in central Europe. Equally important, both Carter's and Reagan's policies undermined détente with Moscow. Because Nixon and Ford's approach to Osthandel harmed neither US–German relations nor US–Soviet relations, these presidents' responses had conspicuous advantages over succeeding administrations.