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32. Separate but Equal Democratization? Participation, Politics, and Urban Segregation in Latin America
- Author:
- Dennis Rodgers
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Many commentators have noted the existence of a historical correlation between cities and democratization. This image of the city as an inherently civic space is linked to the notion that the spatial concentration intrinsic to urban contexts promotes a democracy of proximity. Seen from this perspective, it is perhaps not surprising that the most urbanized region of the global south, Latin America, is also a heartland of vibrant and much applauded democratic innovation. Of particular note are the myriad local level 'radical democracy' initiatives that have proliferated throughout the region's cities during the past two decades. At the same time, however, it is a significant paradox that Latin American urban centres are also amongst the most segregated in the world, something that is widely considered to have a significantly fragmenting effect on public space, and is therefore undermining of democracy.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Social Stratification, Sociology, and Urbanization
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
33. Explaining Poverty Evolution: The Case of Mozambique
- Author:
- Channing Arndt, M. Azhar Hussain, E. Samuel Jones, Virgulino Nhate, Finn Tarp1, and James Thurlow
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Measuring poverty remains a complex and contentious issue. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa where poverty rates are higher, information bases typically weaker, and the underlying determinants of welfare relatively volatile. This paper employs recently collected data on household consumption in Mozambique to examine the evolution of consumption poverty with focus on the period 2002/03 to 2008/09. The paper contributes in four areas. First, the period in question was characterized by major movements in international commodity prices. Mozambique provides an illuminating case study of the implications of these world commodity price changes for living standards of poor people. Second, a novel 'backcasting' approach using a computable general equilibrium model of Mozambique, linked to a poverty module.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa
34. Population Size, Per Capita Income, and the Risk of Civil War: Regional Heterogeneity in the Structural Relationship Matters
- Author:
- Markus Brückner
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- A common finding in the empirical civil war literature is that population size and per capita income are highly significant predictors of civil war incidence and onset. This paper shows that the common finding of population size and per capita income having a significant average effect on civil war risk in a world sample breaks down once country- and year-specific unobservables are accounted for. However, for Sub-Saharan Africa there continues to be a highly significant average effect of population size and per capita income on civil war risk that is robust to the use of country- and year-fixed effects and instrumental variable techniques.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Demographics, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Africa
35. Does Lack of Innovation and Absorptive Capacity Retard Economic Growth in Africa?
- Author:
- Steve Onyeiwu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper reviews the innovative capabilities and absorptive capacities of African countries, and investigates whether they have played significant roles in the region's slow and episodic economic growth. Results from cross-country regressions covering 31 Sub-Saharan African countries suggest that growth in Africa is not simply a question of capital accumulation, fertility rates, aid dependency, and stable macroeconomic environment. It is also about strengthening the capacity of African countries to assimilate and effectively use knowledge and technology. Contrary to the views held by many analysts, the growth of African economies does not depend so much on their ability to innovate, but rather on their capacity to absorb and effectively use new technologies. Beyond technological issues, the paper confirms the stylized facts that the size of the government and political stability are important for the growth performance of African countries.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Africa
36. Globalization Crises, Trade, and Development in Vietnam
- Author:
- Philip Abbott and Finn Tarp
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Vietnam has been among the most successful East Asian economies, especially in weathering the external shocks of recent globalization crises—the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and the 2008-09 great recession, financial crisis and collapse of global trade. Its success contradicts its characterization as an example of export-led growth and highlights the role of the state, particularly in maintaining and influencing investment. Examination of economic performance and policy responses shows rising dependence on foreign finance around each crisis, and actions by the government to counteract that dependence and bolster the domestic economy while continuing to restructure the economy toward greater emphasis on the private sector. Growth, employment and poverty alleviation have been maintained at the expense of renewed inflation, larger budget deficits, and currency depreciation. The 'stop-go' nature of present …
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia
37. Is Internal Migration Bad for Receiving Urban Centres? Evidence from Brazil, 1995-2000
- Author:
- Céline Ferré*
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- During the twentieth century, internal migration and urbanization shaped Brazil's economic and social landscape. Cities grew tremendously, while immigration participated in the rapid urbanization process and the redistribution of poverty between rural and urban areas. In 1950, about a third of Brazil's population lived in cities; this figure grew to approximately 80 per cent by the end of the nineteenth century. The Brazilian population redistributed unevenly—some dynamic regions became population magnets, and some neighbourhoods within cities became gateway clusters in which the effects of immigration proved particularly salient. This study asks, has domestic migration to cities been part of a healthy process of economic transition and mobility for the country and its households? Or has it been a perverse trap?
- Topic:
- Demographics, Migration, and Immigration
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Brazil, and Latin America
38. Research Capacity Development for Environmental Management in Cambodia: Outlining a Multi-Sector Approach
- Author:
- Kei Otsuki and Shimako Takahashi
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Research capacity development at the higher education level in order to improve environmental planning and management has been considered invaluable in ensuring the sustainable development of developing countries. In least developed countries (LDCs), such as Cambodia, people are especially vulnerable to environmental changes and advanced knowledge is urgently needed to enhance their socio-ecological resilience; however, governments lack both the financial and human resources needed to ensure adequate academic infrastructure for knowledge generation and dissemination. Furthermore, the international aid community has rarely placed emphasis on investing in higher education in developing countries; instead, producing basically skilled labourers through primary and secondary education was considered more effective in bringing return on investment and enhancing economic development. Neither national nor international development agendas have so far resulted in a substantial commitment to research capacity development of academic institutions in LDCs.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Cambodia and Southeast Asia
39. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries
- Author:
- Wim Naudé, Adam Szirmai, and Micheline Goedhuys
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Nobody can be left in any doubt as to the importance of innovation for prosperity upon reading that “people living in the first decade of the twentieth century did not know modern dental and medical equipment, penicillin, bypass operations, safe births, control of genetically transmitted diseases, personal computers, compact discs, television sets, automobiles, opportunities for fast and cheap worldwide travel, affordable universities, central heating, air conditioning . . . technological change has transformed the quality of our lives.”
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Globalization, and Markets
40. Reasoning about a distributed probabilistic system
- Author:
- J.W. Sanders and Ukachukwu Ndukwu
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Reasoning about a distributed system that exhibits a combination of probabilistic and temporal behaviour does not seem to be easy with current techniques. The reason is the interaction between probability and abstraction, made worse by remote synchronisation. In this paper the recently proposed language ptsc (for probability, time and shared-variable concurrency) is extended by constructs for interleaving and local block. Both enhance a designer's ability to modularise a design; the latter also permits a design to be compared with its more abstract specification, by concealing appropriately chosen design variables. Laws of the extended language are studied and applied in a case study consisting of a faulty register-transfer-level design.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, International Organization, United Nations, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- United States