Book Reviews 389

INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: SOURCES, METHODS A N D APPLICATIONS Victor Bulmer-Thomas Wiley, Chichester, 1982, 278 pp.

It is more than thirty-five years since Wassily Leontief published the initial table of interin- dustry transactions for the U.S. economy. Since then much theoretical and empirical work has been undertaken and almost every country has experimented with some form of input-output tabulation. Methodological developments have mainly taken place within the framework of the developed economy and are found disseminated in a variety of main stream journals, official reports and working papers. Bulmer-Thomas’s book has attempted two things. First, to research and synthesize these theoretical and empirical developments and apply them to the developing country framework. Secondly, to assimilate the material to provide a handbook for use by input-output practitioners. In these aims he has been largely successful. The study has filled the gap between the earlier attempts to create practical books such as the now dated work of Van Arkadie and Frank and the more theoretical works pushing forward the frontier of knowledge. Bulmer-Thomas has been able to incorporate in a concise book coverage of the basic linear model, extensions to the basic model that include intertemporal adjustment and price determination, and chapters that relate input-output analysis to specific development problems, such as import substitution and resource alloca- tion.

There is, however, a gap that still remains and one that needs to be bridged if the input-output tables gathering dust on the shelves in some developing countries are ever to be used. The key to this lies in making both the theoretical and practical utility of input-output computations accessible to those people responsible for their implementation. They are to a large extent, relatively non-numerate and fearful of implementing schemes and piojects they d o not understand. It is a pity the book has not reached this class of develop- ment administrators.

The book, is, however, an excellent reference book for the professional economist and clearly belongs on the reading list for all serious students of economic development, particu- larly those specializing in input-output methods. It seems hardly fair to criticize a book that intended to focus on this group for achieving its aim.

PAUL COOK Department of Administrative Studies

University of Munchester

BUKMA‘S ROAD TOWARD DEVELOPMENT: GROWTH A N D IDEOLOGY UNDEK MILITARY RULE David 1. Stelnberg Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1982

In Stelnberg’s words, ‘Burma remains one of the last exotic nations in Asia’. His study highlights many of the seemingly irreconcilable contradictions in Burma’s political and economic development which have contributed to the nation’s uniqueness and relative isola- tion on the world political stage. He points out that Burma has been neglected by scholars, journalists and development specialists precisely as a consequence of its isolation. In addi- tion, statistics about the country are difficult to obtain, with information under tight govern- mental control and tending to be very unreliable.

Stelnberg’s study attempts to make sense of the available sources and to interpret them against the background of the country’s peculiarities. This task cannot have been an easy one in a state dominated by a highly centralized one-party regime presiding over what amounts to over 65,000 village micro-economies which frequently operate independently from the state planning apparatus.

390 Book Reviews

Given these difficulties, the author produces a clear and concise account of the ideological unity of socialism and Buddhism expressed by a regime committed to an almost millenial expectation about the attainment of national socio-economic and political goals. The ideol- ogy is itself a reflection of the irreconcilable contradictions mentioned above. It not only addresses the question of how socialism can be reconciled with the traditional postulates of Buddhism, but also how industrialization can ‘take’ in a backward ‘atomized’ economy and how a centralized regime can attain national unity in a country with such a multiplicity of ethnic groupings. Stelnberg does not seek to prescribe new solutions to these problems, but the reader should find his treatment of them both stimulating and thought-provoking.

BRIAN JACOBS Department of International Relations and Politics

North Stu jlordsh ire 1’0 iy tech n ic

CASE STUDIES FOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING IN TANZANIA R. E. Gregson Institute of Development Management, Mzumbe, 1982, 96 pp.

These cases have been developed from the author’s experience with management training in Tanzania, and are intended as aids for teaching different areas of business management: marketing and distribution, production. materials, transport, as well as general aspects. All 16 cases relate to Tanzanian organizations, in particular those of the parastatal type. All are short, posing one or more problems for discussion and solution, with a summary of relevant information including organization charts, statistical tables and sketch-maps as appropriate. The case between pp. 61-69 appears to be designed as a role-play exercise, possibly this is made clear in a supplementary volume of Teaching Notes available for instructors’ use (not seen by this reviewer).

Provided that the limitations of such cases as a training method are understood, the author‘s belief that this volume can be useful for teachers and students of management in other developing countries, is ful ly justified.

ASHLEY DIXON

NIGERIAN KALEIDOSCOPE : MEMOIRS OF A COLONlAL SERVANT Sir Rex Niven C. Hurst and Company, London and Archon Books, Hamden, Connecticut, 1982,278 pp.

Sir Rex Niven, who first went ot Nigeria in 1921, has been a regular contributor to the written record of the country in which he served for so long. His history, published in 1937, became a standard text lor several generations of Nigerian children and the final decision which shaped your reviewer’s career was taken in 1944 after he had read a government careers booklet by Sir Rex called ‘A day in the Life of a District Officer’.

The present volume, written in retirement and old age, is appropriately titled. It is fireside reminiscence loosely structured by the chronology of Sir Rex’s career. The emphasis is on the early days and although occasionally there is a glimmer of tongue-in-cheek enlighten- ment-that, for example, the capital was never moved from Lagos to Kaduna because replies to despatches from the Secretary of State could not have caught the returning mail- boat-Sir Rex seems happier describing the Queen’s visit and the design of suitable robes for the officers of the legislature than the exciting political and administrative developments which were the context of his later career and in which he played a significant role.