A Guide to the Reptiles of Belize provides a complete guide to the environment, biogeography, and natural history of this country. It details the local variations, distribution, and ecology of Belize's reptiles and amphibians. This volume includes useful identification keys, numerous diagrams and line drawings, and over 180 lavish color photographs clearly documenting nearly every species. This colorful guide to the scaly denizens of Belize will appeal to anyone planning a Central American visit as well as anyone generally interested in herpetology. The book includes a comprehensive section on snake bites with up-to-date information on first aid and treatment. A Guide to the Reptiles of Belize will be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in reptiles, especially those of Belize or any other Central American locale in a format suitable for a hiker's daypack. Key Features* Complete hand-size reference to crocodiles, turtles, lizards, and snakes in Belize* Provides numerous drawings, diagrams, and over 180 color photographs representing 113 species* Gives identification keys for all species* Includes a detailed section on snake bites with up-to-date information on first aid, use of antivenom, and clinical treatment

A Guide to the Reptiles of Belize (Natural World)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Meyer, John R.

Stafford, Peter J.

Mental Health

Academic Press

The Economics of Slavery: And Other Studies in Econometric History

How are economists and historians to explain what happened in history? What statistical inferences can be drawn from historical data? The authors believe that explanation in history can be identified with the problems of prediction in a probabilistic universe. Using this approach, the historian can act upon his a priori information and his judgment of what is unique and particular in each past event, even with data hitherto considered to be intractable for statistical treatment. In essence, the book is an argument for and a demonstration of the point of view that the restricted approach of "measurement without theory" is not necessary in history, or at least not necessary in economic history. After two chapters of theoretical introduction, the authors explore the meanings and implications of evidence, explanation and proof in history by applying econometric methods to the analysis of three major problems in 19th century economic history--the profitability of slavery in the antebellum South, income growth and development in the United States during the 1800's, and The Great Depression in the British economy; also included is a postscript on growth reassessing some current arguments in the light of the findings of these papers. The book presents an original and provocative approach to historical problems that have long plagued economists and historians and provides the reader with a new approach to these and similar questions.

Business & Money

Economics

Routledge

This book surveys the latest changes in the turbulent area of airline deregulation. The authors' third collaboration on the subject, it deals with such current trends and topics as the proliferation of mergers and takeovers and the stategies and tactics involved in price wars and other marketing ventures.At the same time Deregulation and the Future of Intercity Passenger Travel is much more than an update on changes in the airline industry. It studies all the major systems of intercity passenger transportation - automobiles, buses, trains, airplanes - from the point of view of their interdependency. And it extends well beyond recent events to embrace the transportation history of much of this century, discussing the historical precedents and outcomes that have collectively given impetus to the trends in operation today, with special emphasis on the patterns of governmental subsidies and regulations. The authors also forecast probable developments in the next century, examining the impacts of various assumptions about future public policies, changes in technology, demographic patterns, and consumer preferences.The first part of the book focuses on the U.S. experience with airline deregulation, including changes in distribution channels and the travel agency business as well as the effects on airline employees and passengers. The second part takes up the economics of competition among the major modes in intercity travel.John R. Meyer is James W Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Economic Growth at Harvard University. Clinton V. Oster, Jr., is Associate Professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Director of the Transportation Research Center at Indiana University. Deregulation and the Future of Intercity Passenger Travel is fifteenth in the series Regulation of Economic Activity, edited by Richard Schmalensee.

Deregulation and the Future of Intercity Passenger Travel (M I T PRESS SERIES ON THE REGULATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY)

Oster Jr., Clinton V.

Oster, Clinton V.

Mit Pr

Meyer, John R., Peck, Merton J., Stenason, John, Zwick, Charles

Economics of Competition in the Transportation Industries

Peck, Merton J.

Stenason, John

Zwick, Charles

Harvard University Press

Autos, Transit, and Cities (Twentieth Century Fund Books/Reports/Studies, 10)

Politics & Social Sciences

Gómez-Ibáñez, José A.

Social Sciences

Transport in the former Soviet Union is experiencing massive changes in the 1990s: government responsibility has changed from operation to oversight; competition in the industry is increasing; and alternative financing and investment methods are emerging. Moving to Market examines rail, road, water, and air transport in the former Soviet Union and discusses the policy issues involved in making a transition from an industry once entrenched in a centrally planned economy to an industry that can thrive in a more open market. The authors conclude that the raw physical capacity is in place, but that quality of service and product needs to be improved. In addition, price structures need to be changed to reflect real costs and market demands.  The authors cite the "three M's"--marshaling, managing, and monitoring transport resources--as critical for the development of the nation's infrastructure as it moves toward the next century.

Moving to Market: Restructuring Transport in the Former Soviet Union (Harvard Studies in International Development)

Strong, John

Harvard Kennedy School

Once an icon of American industry, railroads fell into a long decline beginning around the turn of the twentieth century. Overburdened with regulation and often displaced by barge traffic on government-maintained waterways, trucking on interstate highways, and jet aviation, railroads measured their misfortune in lost market share, abandoned track, bankruptcies, and unemployment. Today, however, as Robert Gallamore and John Meyer demonstrate, rail transportation is reviving, rescued by new sources of traffic and advanced technology, as well as less onerous bureaucracy.
In 1970, Congress responded to the industry's plight by consolidating most passenger rail service nationwide into Amtrak. But private-sector freight service was left to succeed or fail on its own. The renaissance in freight traffic began in 1980 with the Staggers Rail Act, which allowed railroad companies to contract with customers for services and granted freedom to set most rates based on market supply and demand. Railroads found new business hauling low-sulfur coal and grain long distances in redesigned freight cars, while double-stacked container cars moved a growing volume of both international and domestic goods. Today, trains have smaller crews, operate over better track, and are longer and heavier than ever before.
Near the end of the twentieth century, after several difficult but important mergers, privately owned railroads increased their investments in safe, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly freight transportation. American Railroads tells a riveting story about how this crucial U.S. industry managed to turn itself around.

American Railroads: Decline and Renaissance in the Twentieth Century

Gallamore, Robert E.

The Urban Transportation Problem

In the last decade many countries turned to private sources to provide services formerly offered by public agencies. Europeans, particularly the British and the French, were leaders in this movement. Developing countries also experimented extensively with privatization in the 1980s, with varying degrees of success. Because governments around the world are heavily involved in transportation, it is a natural focus of privatization experiments and in many ways has been at the cutting edge. Going Private examines the diverse privatization experiences of transportation services and facilities. Cases are drawn from the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Since almost every country has experimented to some degree with highway and bus privatization, the authors focus particularly on these services, although they also discuss urban rail transit and airports. Highways and buses, they explain, encompass all three of the most common and basic forms of privatization: the sale of an existing state-owned enterprise; use of private, rather than public, financing and management for new infrastructure development; and contracting out to private vendors public services previously provided by government employees. After thoroughly examining these services and discussing the motives for, and objections to, privatization, the authors look at the prospects for privatization in other sectors and industries. They assess those circumstances in which privatization is most likely to succeed and those in which it is most likely to fail, for political as well as economic reasons. The authors conclude that privatization involves many political and social as well as economic dimensions. Privatization is usually not simply a matter of efficiency improvements or capital augmentation but also involves such deeply imbedded societal concerns as equity, income transfers, environmental problems, and attitudes toward taxation and the role of government.

Going Private: The International Experience with Transport Privatization

Gomez-Ibanez, Jose

Brookings Institution Press

In the last decade many countries turned to private sources to provide services formerly offered by public agencies. Europeans, particularly the British and the French, were leaders in this movement. Developing countries also experimented extensively with privatization in the 1980s, with varying degrees of success. Because governments around the world are heavily involved in transportation, it is a natural focus of privatization experiments and in many ways has been at the cutting edge.
 Going Private examines the diverse privatization experiences of transportation services and facilities. Cases are drawn from the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Since almost every country has experimented to some degree with highway and bus privatization, the authors focus particularly on these services, although they also discuss urban rail transit and airports. Highways and buses, they explain, encompass all three of the most common and basic forms of privatization: the sale of an existing state-owned enterprise; use of private, rather than public, financing and management for new infrastructure development; and contracting out to private vendors public services previously provided by government employees.
 After thoroughly examining these services and discussing the motives for, and objections to, privatization, the authors look at the prospects for privatization in other sectors and industries. They assess those circumstances in which privatization is most likely to succeed and those in which it is most likely to fail, for political as well as economic reasons.
 The authors conclude that privatization involves many political and social as well as economic dimensions. Privatization is usually not simply a matter of efficiency improvements or capital augmentation but also involves such deeply imbedded societal concerns as equity, income transfers, environmental problems, and attitudes toward taxation and the role of government.

Literature & Fiction

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