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The economic reforms implemented in Cuba since 2008 do not adequately deal with the structural issues that hamper the country's economic development. The article presents a system dynamics model to investigate Cuba's development process, and a simulation analysis to compare different policy scenarios that may be realized in the future as economic reforms will continue. The results indicate that the most effective development policy would be to combine active public policies to enhance the research and development sector on the one hand, and to foster the emergence of an efficient private sector that will develop the capital infrastructure of the economy on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern primary industry makes obsolete the conventional analysis of private and social performance. This is due to the dominance of chain failure as opposed to the more familiar market failure. This paper makes the case that value addition dominates aspirations for primary industries, and vertical coordination and shifts in commercial power balances feature in the sharing of benefits within value chains. Moreover, complexity in chain relationships and some particular features of primary industry bring challenges to forward planning and concerted effort. Value addition in New Zealand's forestry and wood products' industry presents several such challenges, and these are examined with a qualitative system dynamics model. Potential policy responses that eliminate chain failure are discussed in association with the Australian beef industry research model. The paper advocates joint industry-university-government action in terms of research and skills development. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]