infrastructures required by bigger and more complex vessels. 4 Nonetheless, given the limited range of steamships, convenient supply depots along the length of trade routes were essential if ships' holds were to be filled with goods rather than huge amounts of fuel. The Iberian Atlantic islands (Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verde and to a lesser degree the Azores), situated as they were at the proximate mid-point on Atlantic trade routes, proved ideal. Alongside these activities a "differential economic model for islands" was created to permit the islands to develop their own enclave economies in which transportation played an important role.' Douglass North has theorised on this model, in which the export of agricultural products to Europe (bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, etc.) benefited maritime transport fleets by lowering their operating costs, since ships could now exploit the "return" leg of their journey with a cargo to take back to Europe." This activity was further complemented by passenger transport, either in the form of tourists visiting the islands or as ports of call for emigrants on their way to South America. The site of the Canary Islands at the crossroads of different maritime trade routes determined their historical importance in international trade and maritime traffic, relegating the archipelagos of the South Atlantic (Ascension Island, St. Helena and the Falklands), which had enjoyed a certain degree of success as coaling stations in the nineteenth century, to secondary roles. 7 This leads to the hypothesis that the ports of these archipelagos, and in particular those of the Canary Islands, were created as a support to Atlantic trade due to a range of factors, including location, adequate infrastructure, benign climate, size of market and the existence of institutional arrangements which benefited and reduced the costs of commercial transactions, such as franchises and commercial liberties (which took the form of "free ports" in the Canary Islands).
Abstract:The water-management model used in Cape Verde for irrigation water is a singular one involving both public and private institutions. The institutional framework adopted since independence (1975) includes influences of both Portuguese colonial occupation and African culture. Water is a common-pool resource, which can take the form of communal, private or state property, or not be subject to any form of ownership. Thus, this case study enables us to compare theories about managing. From a neo-liberal point of view, the common administration of resources of this kind is inefficient, but for one school of the institutional theory, solutions can come "from within"; in other words, from user groups themselves, who can co-operate, once they have defined commitments. Research based on surveys and interviews with private sector administrators leads to the conclusion that user association management is successful, whereas, individual management can lead to squandering.
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