https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34497 2026-04-23T08:03:43Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34572 Title: The specification and estimation of the labour demand relation : survey of the literature Authors: Briguglio, Lino Abstract: Empirical studies on labour demand typically assume the existence of some underlying production function. The Cobb-Douglas or the Constant Elasticity of Substitution production functions! are usually specified for this purpose, and the labour demand relation is derived from these functions. Short run deviations of the actual labour input from its desired level are usually incorporated into the model by. specifying a partial adjustment scheme. 1985-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34571 Title: The application of operational research in developing countries Authors: Galea, C. T. Abstract: In the past century the developed countries have undergone two technological or industrial revolutions: the first involved mechanization (the use of machines to replace man as a source of physical work), and the second involved automation (the use of machines and computers to :r:eplace man as source of mental work, as source of control). Many developing countries are still in the early stages of the process of mechanization and have yet to make a real start in the process of automation. they will have to make rapid strides in both processes in order to bridge the gap between them and the developed countries, or even to prevent the gap from widening. Either of the two processes requires not only technological knowledge, but also managerial capability to utilize such knowledge effectively. For all developing countries the advent of planned development invariably entailed new tasks beyond the administrative capabilities of their governments. Only a few administrators in these countries have the opportunity to keep abreast of new Operational Research Techniques. This is certainly one of the main reasons why Operational Research has up to the present not been very successful in helping developing countries. 1985-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34570 Title: A time series analysis of exports and price relationships : the case of steel industry Authors: Kaminarides, John S.; Varzandeh, Javad Abstract: There have been several studies that explain the change in the world trade structure for agricultural products in recent years. These studies are done by Benejie in 1972, Coffin in 1971, and the most important of all by Barr in 1973. His famous price equation for wheat, well explains the changes. in wheat prices. A is the three years moving average of domestic use of wheat for food, TE is the total ending U.S. wheat carryover stock, and a, b, and c, are parameters to be estimated. Although these studies have provided a fairly good explanation of what has occured in the grain market lately, they left unanswered the question of how the change in other product markets, for example, steel, should be explained. Moreover, Barr has chosen parameters C in his price equation equal to 5 without having a satisfactory explanation for it. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to verify the possibility of such an existing relationship in steel products and to develop productive models for price and volume of exports in the steel industry. 1985-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34569 Title: Maltese migration : a critique of two views Authors: Delia, E. P. Abstract: The year 1984 may have started a new phase in the international migration movement of Maltese. It registered the lowest number of emigrants and return migrants in a year - 629 and 654 respectively - for the past forty years and thus yielded, practically, a net emigration of zero. This latter result rendered operative one of the basic assumptions underlying population projections in the Maltese Islands introduced by government economic planners in 1977. If this condition persists throughout the eighties, the Maltese population will grow at about 0.9% annually, that is, at the average rate of natural increase for the past years. 1985-01-01T00:00:00Z