Foreign capital and the reconstruction of Zimbabwe
The study picks out the dominant characteristics of the development of Rhodesia as a peripheral economy by foreign capital over the last eighty years. The significance of settler capital and the impact of UDI are assessed. The conclusions explain the importance attached by international capitalists to achieving a settlement in Rhodesia, in order to stabilise the whole region and to secure control of its valuable resources. The discussion also poses some of the options for the Zimbabwean struggle in terms of achieving genuine liberation.
Labour relations in Zimbabwe, 1980-1987
This study examines labour relations in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987, and finds that the government had a major impact on reforming labour relations. This interpretation differs from accounts presented in literature. Most writers assume employers are exploitative, and depict the government as acting on behalf of capital to control workers and ensure peaceful capitalist accumulation. It is argued that this view is one-sided, and a more balanced view of labour relations is provided by examining national labour policy and labour relations in three prominent organisations. This account suggests that government labour policy was to promote workers' interests while taking into consideration the need for national economic growth to enable employment and welfare services to be expanded. In an effort to balance workers' and national interests, the government pursued a corporatist strategy which involved the monopolisation of trade union representation, and control over unions to enforce government labour policy. A disaggregated view of "capital" is required which recognises that different management or organisational cultures exist. Thus, while some employers in Zimbabwe are exploitative and maintain racist management practices, others have gradually reformed their labour practices and have advanced black employees. In some cases this reform process has proceeded quite rapidly. The government's policies to protect and promote workers' interests provided the major stimulus for this reform of labour relations within enterprises.
Foreign capital and economic growth
Abstract A new but simple model of the impact of foreign capital–in particular foreign direct investment–on the economic growth rate of poor countries is described and tested. A feature of this model is that it aims to allow separately for structural economic effects and the direct impact on the balance of payments position. Results confirm the favourable impact of aid flows and domestic savings, but suggest that direct investment is associated with structural effects that retard growth. An attempt is made to interpret these results in a wider context than usual for the purpose of assessing possible policy implications.