Relying on volunteer labor, open source projects like the Apache web server create commercial quality software. Why developers contribute freely without direct remuneration has been widely debated. We offer empirical evidence that such participation can be explained by existing theories in labor economics. Analyzing panel data covering a four-year period, we find that increases in human capital...

Organizational knowledge resources typically exist in specialized pockets scattered across the firm. As distributed knowledge systems, firms’ capacity to manage their knowledge resources is linked with their ability to integrate these pockets of specialized knowledge. Firms are increasingly depending on teams to strategically consolidate their dispersed knowledge into productive outcomes. Teams...

Livestock fodder needs in nearly all developing countries now exceed the sustainable yield of rangelands and other forage resources. In Africa, overgrazing has reduced range productivity virtually everywhere. It is important to provide animals with adequate nutrition to ensure the high productive and reproductive performance. Meanwhile, it is necessary to avoid the deterioration of the pasturel...

This paper uses a heterogeneous …rms model to scrutinize Fair Trade’s aim to help the most disadvantaged producers in developing countries. Incorporating important aspects of Fair Trade in a two-good heterogeneous …rm model we show that only the most productive …rms will join Fair Trade arrangements. Higher required production standards and entry costs make Fair Trade not viable for low-product...

Owing to the current turmoil in oil markets, a number of analysts have raised the specter of the world soon running out of oil. This concern emerges periodically in large measure because of the inherent uncertainty of estimates of worldwide reserves. Such episodes of heightened anxiety about pending depletion date back a century and more. But, unlike past concerns, the current situation reflect...

During the feudal Edo period (1603-1868) in Japan, the shogunate government relied for regional control on hereditary feudal barons as well as its own bakufu bureaucracy. Compared with hereditary lords, bakufu officials had shorter and uncertain tenure. Examining easily available historical data, the paper finds that regions ruled by bakufu bureaucrats are associated with (a) slower population ...

Land degradation takes a number of forms, including depletion of soil nutrients, salinization, agrochemical pollution, soil erosion, vegetative degradation as a result of overgrazing, and the cutting of forests for farmland. All of these types of degradation cause a decline in the productive capacity of the land, reducing potential yields. Farmers may need to use more inputs such as fertilizer ...

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a pilot study that promoted productive and capacity-building activities among deprived rural women of Mexico. The evaluation design is observational; 1,278 women are interviewed, and the comparison group is estimated by propensity score matching. The results show a positive impact on the carrying out of agricultural activities, in the aut...

Bioinformatics is increasingly recognised as a crucial field for research and development in the biological sciences, and forms an integral part of genomics, proteomics and modern biotechnology. Worldwide participation is important, and scientists in developing countries can contribute to this field. Regional networks for bioinformatics are highly beneficial for capacity strengthening and coope...

There is increasing recognition of the growing population burden of cancer in all countries worldwide – a reflection of the increasing number of people and the aging of the global population as a result of the demographic transition associated with global human development. There is also an increasing realization that the burden of cancer will become greatest amongst those with the least capaci...