1 - 6 of 6
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. The Political Economy of Heterogeneous Development: Quantile Effects of Income and Education
- Author:
- Marcus Alexander, Matthew Harding, and Carlos Lamarche
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Does development lead to the establishment of more democratic institutions? The key to the puzzle, we argue, is the previously unrecognized fact that based on quantitative regime scores, countries over the past 50 years have clustered into two separate, very distinct, yet equally-common stages of political development—authoritarian states with low levels of freedom on one side an d democracies with liberal institutions on the other side of a bimodal distribution of political regimes. We develop a new empirical strategy—exploiting exogenous world economic factors and introducing new panel data estimators—that allows for the first time to estimate the effects of development as well as unobserved country effects in driving democracy at these different stages of political development. We find that income and education have the least effect on democracy when authoritarian regimes are consolidated and that only country effects, possibly accounting for institutional legacies, can lead to political development. Ironically, it is in highly democratic and wealthiest of nations that income and education start to play a role; however greater wealth and better educated citizenry can both help and hurt democracy depending again on what the country's institutional legacies are. Far from accepting the notion that much of the developing world is cursed by unchanging and poor long-run institutions, policy-makers should take note that with democratization we also see country-specific factors that in turn condition the difference income and education make for democracy.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Economics, Political Economy, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, China, Asia, and Germany
3. Trade, Development and the Doha Round: A Sure Bet or a Train Wreck?
- Author:
- Daniel Drache
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- This paper explores the strategy and assumptions that are pushing the Doha Round into dangerously troubled waters, and it assesses the different agendas on the table. It summarizes how we reached the current deadlock, and examines the state of the WTO's legal dispute mechanism. It then critically assesses how divergences play out in the key policy areas of water exports, generic drugs, textile quotas, service-sector liberalization, and agricultural subsidies. Lastly, it will try to answer the question of whether Doha is 'a sure bet, or a train wreck' by looking at several of the prospects and possible scenarios that face the WTO post-Hong Kong. What is now evident is that a target deal seems more distant than ever. It would appear that evolution is not going to be kind to the WTO. The Doha Round is too complex which increases the possibility of failure; too intrusive to assuage many of global civil society's concerns and too anti-development for numerous countries in the Global South to come on board. Paradoxically, many countries are proving to be resilient and innovative when faced with the negotiating impasse and are not pushing the panic button. The global economy is not drifting towards protectionism and the core trading nations seem ready to accept a less dynamic WTO.
- Topic:
- Development, International Trade and Finance, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
4. Policies that increase vulnerability to corruption
- Author:
- Dwight Ink
- Publication Date:
- 12-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The National Academy of Public Administration
- Abstract:
- My comments on donor policies that increase vulnerability to corruption grow out of experience of directing the Agency for International Development programs in the Western Hemisphere, as well as assessing USAID missions in Africa, the Near East, and Asia. Following this work, I headed a non-profit organization, the Institute of Public Administration, which has been heavily involved in the transition of countries in Europe and Asia from dictatorships to market economies and democratic societies. I should point out, however, that my background is in management, not banking or economics.
- Topic:
- Development, Non-Governmental Organization, Poverty, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, and Asia
5. Open Doors
- Author:
- Paul Masson, Michael Pomerleano, and Robert E Litan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Foreign direct investment in financial firms in emerging markets surged in the 1990s, although not equally in all places. The main beneficiaries: Latin America and Central Europe, with Asia a distant third. This conference report summarizes findings on the impacts—mainly positive—of this significant inflow of funds and managerial and technical know-how, as well as recommendations for policies toward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the future. The main recommendation: countries with restrictions generally should relax them, even when their own financial systems are weak. At the same time, foreign entry gives rise to new policy challenges, supervisory and competitive, which emerging markets need to confront both unilaterally and with cooperation from source country governments.
- Topic:
- Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Latin America, and Central Europe
6. Corruption and Globalization
- Author:
- Shang-Jin Wei
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- At least since the Asian financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has, from time to time, included transparency and anti-corruption measures as part of the conditions for countries to borrow its funds. Because of this, it has been criticized as having overstepped its mandate, or even having made crises worse in countries the IMF is supposed to help.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Globalization, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Asia