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African nations have been experiencing rapid rates of urbanization accompanied by serious problems of urban unemployment due to the rate of rural-urban migration and the lack of an adequate understanding of the migration process for economic policy formulation. The aim of this paper was to review the present knowledge of African rural-urban migration, suggesting future directions for improved methodology and theory for economic research on migration. Focus was on: (1) Migrants (identity) and the Migrant Process; (2) Determinants of Rural-Urban Migration (noneconomic factors and income differentials); (3) Implications of Migration for Economic Development (distortions in factor markets, migration as capital transfer, and externalities associated with migration). The literature revealed that younger, better educated people have dominated rural-urban migration in Africa; economic motives have been important in determining the rate of rural-urban migration (little agreement as to the relevant economic variables in the decision to migrate); divergence between the private and social returns of migration (almost no research establishing the divergence magnitude). Future migration theory should include the human capital approach; methodology should utilize sample survey techniques, rather than unreliable census data, and migration research should be linked with policy concerning education, population distribution, industrial decentralization, and rural-urban labor markets. (JC)

Employment problems in Africa were examined with special emphasis on rural employment and migration within the context of overall economic development. A framework was provided for analyzing rural employment in development; that framework was used to analyze empirical information from Africa; and theoretical issues were raised in analyzing rural employment and migration in economic development. The framework consisted of a micro-economic analysis of the rural labor market; an analysis of rural urban migration; and an aggregate analysis of rural employment as influenced by interaction in the product and factor markets of four sectors--urban, large and small scale; rural nonfarm; and agriculture. Results showed deficiencies in micro-level information (role of the nonfarm sector and farm mechanization); migration information (rural-urban income differentials, capital transfer measurements, and migration elasticity); and established macro-models (they lacked adequate employment focus, were partial equilibrium analyses of more complex problems, and reflected institutional assumptions not widely applicable in the African context). Recommendations emphasized development of better theory and collection of more solid micro-level data, specifically further research on rural employment, off farm employment, and migration. (JC)

Maintains that computer-assisted instruction built around a spreadsheet-based model can illustrate and simplify some of the more difficult concepts concerning economics and fisheries. Describes a software program that illustrates overcapitalization, asset fixity, resource rent capture, economic optimum, and sustainable yield. (MJP)

Of the 53 referenda held in search of capital funds for public library buildings in 1994, 38 were successful, and of 54 referenda for public library operating funds in 1994, 50 were successful. Funding levels, voter approval rate, elections, competing ballot items, sources of taxation, and major campaigns (capital and operating levy) are examined. Six tables provide funding information. (AEF)

Traces changing state-capital relations in telecommunications in India since its beginning as a law-and-order maintenance tool of the British Empire. Focuses on how the state included the interests of particular external and internal forces (foreign capital, domestic capital, the World Bank, workers and managers in the state monopoly, and users) in restructuring its telecommunications sector. (SR)

The special allowance component of the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program was evaluated through research and hearings. Attention was directed to: the experiences of students and eligible lenders; the administrative costs of various types of eligible lenders; financial indicators that accurately reflect the costs of capital; and administrative mechanisms for rapidly disseminating to lenders the quarterly rate of the special allowance. It was recommended that the special allowance formula be retained in its current form. The allowance formula is one of several interrelated loan program provisions that have successfully contributed to lender participation and the supply of loan capital. Changes in any of these incentives would be viewed by lenders as increasing their risks and possibly would decrease their participation in the program. There is strong evidence that any reduction in the special allowance would disrupt the supply of education loan capital and reduce lender participation. There was no conclusive evidence that lender profits from the current special allowance formula are too high. Two papers are appended: "A Review of the Guaranteed Student Loan Special Allowance" (Wharton Applied Research Center); and "Review of Special Allowance Issues" (Applied Systems Institute, Inc.) (Author/SW)

Proposals for the amendment or elimination of the in-school interest subsidy for the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program were evaluated. The proposals were assessed in terms of their effects on the administrative and operational aspects of the GSL program, the availability of loan capital, and their impact on borrowers' ability to meet their repayment obligations. The proposals fall into four categories: borrower paying of interest while in school; accrual and deferral of in-school interest; immediate payment of in-school interest through additional borrowing (Domenici plan); and recapture, during the repayment period, of the federal in-school interest payment from the borrower (Metzenbaum proposal). It was concluded that the elimination of the in-school interest subsidy would seriously erode the capital supply for the GSL program. Experiences of various states with nonsubsidized loan programs indicate that students will have great difficulty in meeting interest payment obligations during their in-school years. It is recommended that the GSL in-school interest subsidy be retained in its current form. The basic data source for the analysis is described, as are previous studies on student loan defaults (Cresap Study, Kuch Report, and the Educational Policy Research Institute Model Report). (SW)

The flow of capital to and through the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) Program and the cost of that capital to the federal government and the individual borrower were studied. A review of the research on student loan capital was conducted, and automated cost models were developed to test assumptions and project future costs. Attention was directed to federal direct and indirect program costs and to offsets to federal costs. The role of each of the following participants in the GSL program was also examined: private lenders, federal government, state direct lenders and secondary markets, state guarantee agencies, private educational institutions, Student Loan Marketing Association, and underwriters. Although the program has been successful, federal expenditures have continued to increase. Direct costs included: special allowance, federal interest subsidy, federal reinsurance, insurance, administrative cost allowance, federal advance, and penalty interest. Indirect costs (in the order of 1982 magnitude) were: federal financing costs, tax-exempt bond subsidy, and program administration and overhead. Appended materials include cost data, major cost allocation assumptions, federal cost model descriptions, and a bibliography. (SW)

Guidelines adopted by the State Board for Higher Education concerning private foundations at Maryland public colleges and universities are reviewed, along with an assessment of institutional efforts to comply with the guidelines. The primary purposes of these foundations are to generate, manage, and distribute funds to the institution to support activities for which resources are not available from regular institutional funds. Activities of the 33 foundations in Maryland include fund raising, alumni activities, and distribution of scholarships for athletic and/or academic purposes. Each institutional governing board is advised to specify the relationship of the foundation and the institution in regard to the use of the institution's name, facilities, personnel, and other resources. Information is provided on assets of the 33 existing foundations as of June 30, 1982, and brief descriptions of each foundation are included. Appended materials include examples of policies adopted by governing boards, the title of the staff member designated as responsible for monitoring compliance with guidelines for each foundation, information on state employees providing service to foundations and receiving/not receiving remuneration from foundations. (SW)

Focusing on economic development in the People's Republic of China beginning at the eve of the communist takeover, this monograph analyzes the ways and patterns in which mass media and interpersonal communication were used to change economically relevant social structures in the interclass confrontation and the part these patterns played in the process of capital formation. Topics covered are: social structural change, including land reform, the "Wu Fan" movement, and the socialist transformation; and surplus value and investment, specifically production increase campaigns and restricted consumption. (FL)