The Birth of a Noble Tea Country: on The Geography of Colonial Capital and The Origins of Indian Tea

This paper looks at the origins of the British tea industry of India from the standpoint of colonial and semicolonial involvement in, respectively, British India and Qing China. The imposition of the tea industry in Assam was integrally tied to the wars in East Asia fought in order to open markets for the movement of opium and other commodities. British officials championed both policies in the name of modern economic progress, liberalizing trade with the Qing and establishing a productive industry in Assam. The agricultural science of political economy aimed to extract the value of various objects which could then be united in a land hitherto considered a wasteland. Plants, soil and labor were each viewed as isolatable things whose values were objective and calculable. Such static representation, however, was already belied by the dynamic process of gathering and transporting these "things" across the vast and unevenly developed regions of Asia, ultimately valorizing them as a breakfast drink commodity enjoyed worldwide. The origins of the Assam tea plantations, mirroring developments elsewhere, relied upon spatio-economic connections that force us to reevaluate how the specific histories of British India, Qing China and Southeast Asia are inseparably linked.     

RETURNS TO FIELD OF STUDY VERSUS SCHOOL QUALITY: MBA SELECTION ON OBSERVED AND UNOBSERVED HETEROGENEITY

While a substantial literature has established returns to college major and to school quality, we offer the first such estimates for Master's of Business Administration (MBAs). To control for their nonrandom selection of fields, we estimate the returns to MBA concentrations using both ordinary least squares (OLS) with detailed control variables and including individual fixed effects. We find approximately 7% returns for most MBAs but roughly double that for finance and management information systems (MIS). Thus, MBA area of study can matter as much or more than program quality: only attending a top 10, but not 11‐25, MBA program trumped studying finance and MIS at a nontop 25 program. (JEL I21, J30, J24)     

Who decides? Child care reviews in two Scottish social work departments

SUMMARY. There has been controversy for several years about the role of child care reviews-are they for decision-making or only for monitoring progress of children in care. At the heart of this debate have been the questions of involvement of children, their parents, and professionals from other agencies. This article takes forward these arguments based on research in two Scottish social work departments. As well as reporting and discussing the key issues and identifying when different people participate in reviews, it takes in the specific implications of the external monitoring and decision-making role of the Children's Hearing.     

The Functions of Child Care Reviews in Scotland A Preliminary Investigation

Correspondence to Dr A. J. Kendrick, Research Fellow, Department of Political Science and Social Policy, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland. Summary In this second article based upon the first stage of a researchproject on statutory child care reviews in Scotland we explorethe perceptions of the functions of reviews. We identify a numberof primary functions which can be viewed together as elementsin a rational model of decision-making. With certain provisosthis model allows us to distinguish analytically the explicitpurpose of child care reviews. We show that although a numberof other functions take place in reviews these are not perceivedas necessary to reviews and as such can be considered secondaryfunctions.     

A Profile of Adult Placement Carers

Correspondence to Andrew Gage, Manchester City Council Social Services Department, Adult Homefinding Team, Fenham, 5 Moorfield Road, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 8UZ. Summary This study examines the social and personal characteristicsof the people providing support in their own homes (adult fostering)to people with severe learning disabilities. Comparisons aremade with the general population on social and personal areas.A typical carer is identified and the results lead into issuescurrently affecting carers. Links are drawn between carer characteristicsand service user quality of life which require further study.     

COMMON LAW, STATUTE LAW, AND THE THEORY OF LEGISLATIVE CHOICE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE GOAL OF THE SHERMAN ACT

Although the Sherman Antitrust Act is more than a century old, debate continues over its goals. In contrast to what many have argued, I contend that the Act's main goal is to maximize economic efficiency, rather than the welfare of consumers. The Sherman Act is a modest extension of the common law, which the "Law and Economics" literature indicates moves towards economic efficiency. Further, unlike the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, Sherman Act decisions are made by courts, not a regulatory agency. Thus, the theory of legislature choice also implies that the goal of the Act is to maximize economic efficiency.     

AGRICULTURAL LABOR STRIKES AND FARMERS' INCOME

This paper assesses the effectiveness of union strikes against agricultural industries. Various factors including input substitution possibilities create special challenges for union leaders. We develop the concept of a minimum-effective union and apply it empirically to the 1979 California lettuce strike. To be effective, a union has to reduce producer profits below the prestrike level. In the lettuce strike case, producer profits were actually increased, not reduced.