Based on an examination of factors affecting grain-fed beef prices in Australia, there is evidence that Australian market prices for grain-fed beef are not a true reflection of world prices for that product. Although no evidence was found of attempts to manipulate or otherwise distort market...

Over the past 50 years, the urban population of sub-Saharan Africa has expanded at a historically unprecedented rate. Although there is little evidence that urbanisation increases the likelihood of conflict or violence in a country, Africa’s urban transition has occurred in a context of...

The 2004 Presidential Election in Mozambique was marred by allegations of fraud. We assess the validity of these allegations by testing whether or not qualitative descriptions of the methods and locations of misconduct are consistent with a series of simple quantitative tests. Most studies of...

In this paper the author argues that urbanisation should be understood as a global historical process driven primarily by population dynamics stimulated by technological and institutional change. In particular, disease control and expanded access to surplus energy supplies are necessary and...

The process of urbanisation has historically been associated with both socioeconomic development and social strain. Although there is little evidence that urbanisation per se increases the likelihood of conflict or violence in a country, in recent decades Africa has experienced exceptional rates...

Over 800 million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America live in slums. Why? I argue that slums are a result of “disjointed modernization” and show that 70% of cross-country variation in slum incidence is explained by demographic, economic, and institutional factors. I trace the origins of...

Why are some countries more prone to social violence than others? Despite the fact that annual deaths due to homicides worldwide outnumber those due to organized armed conflict by a factor of roughly 3 to 1, this question has received very little attention from conflict and development...

The impact of the March, 2012 LFTB media event on beef prices was estimated by using the Relative Price of a Substitute Good method applied to 50% and 90% lean beef trim and cull cow prices. Stationarity tests conclude both of the relative prices were cointegrated prior to the LFTB event....