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522. When Women Farm India's Land: How to increase ownership?
- Author:
- Lucy Dubochet
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Women have long played a crucial role in India's agricultural production, and the trend that sees men shifting to non-farm activities further increases their responsibility. The situation of women cultivators is one of tremendous vulnerability: without land titles, they are not recognised as farmers, and thus are not able to access credits and government benefits. This policy brief outlines avenues to address the gap between the reality for many rural women and their entitlements.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Gender Issues, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
523. Does Lean Capability Building Improve Labor Standards? Evidence from the Nike Supply Chain
- Author:
- Greg Distelhorst, Jens Hainmueller, and Richard M. Locke
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- This paper offers the first empirical analysis of the introduction of lean manufacturing as a "capability building" strategy for improving labor standards in global supply chains. Buyer interventions to improve supplier management systems have been proposed to augment existing, and widely deemed insufficient, private regulation of labor standards, but these claims have yet to be systematically investigated. We examine Nike Inc.'s multiyear effort to promote lean manufacturing and its associated high-performance work systems in its apparel supply base across eleven developing countries. Adoption of lean manufacturing techniques produces a 15 percentage point reduction in serious labor violations, an effect that is robust to alternative specifications and an examination of pre-trends in the treatment group. Our finding contradicts previous suggestions that pressing suppliers to adopt process improvements has deleterious effects on labor conditions and highlights the importance of relational contracting and commitment-oriented approaches to improving labor standards in the developing world.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- India
524. Identifying Options for a New International Climate Regime Arising from the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action
- Author:
- Robert N. Stavins, Ottmar Edenhofer, and Christian Flachsland
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The goal of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements is to help identify and advance scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic public policy options for addressing global climate change. Drawing upon leading thinkers in Argentina, Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, and the United States, the Project conducts research on policy architecture, key design elements, and institutional dimensions of domestic climate policy and a post-2015 international climate policy regime. The Project is directed by Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Europe, and India
525. Crucial Collaborators or Petty Players? The Globalization of R and the Rise of China and India
- Author:
- Andrew B. Kennedy
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Course Pack
- Institution:
- Center for the Advanced Study of India
- Abstract:
- In recent decades, research and development has become a key new arena of globalization. Whereas multinational corporations once conducted R primarily in their home countries, it is now often dispersed across multiple locations around the world. Has this process transformed economic ties between the world's dominant state and its would-be rising powers in ways that imply an important power shift? Focusing on China and India's growing collaboration with the U.S., this paper argues that it has not. China and India remain considerably more reliant on the globalization of R than the U.S. does, and this remains a potential source of leverage for Washington. This vulnerability mainly reflects the fact that U.S. R investments in China and India are far more important for these two Asian countries than they are for the U.S. These investments loom larger in the Chinese and Indian innovation systems than they do in their American counterpart, and it is difficult to imagine any country substituting for the U.S. in this regard. In contrast, the U.S. cannot derive a great deal of leverage as a platform for R Both China and India are considerably less dependent on the U.S. in this respect.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and India
526. Colonial Origins of Maoist Insurgency in India: Long Term Effects of Indirect Rule
- Author:
- Shivaji Mukherjee
- Publication Date:
- 01-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for the Advanced Study of India
- Abstract:
- In this dissertation I try to answer the puzzle of why the Maoist insurgency in India, which is considered to be the most important internal security threat to the world's largest democracy, occurs in certain districts in India and not others. To restate the puzzle described in the Introduction Chapter, why did the insurgency emerge and consolidate along certain districts in the central-eastern part of India and not in other areas? Why are certain districts affected by the insurgency and not others? Is it as Fearon and Laitin (2003) would argue, purely because of opportunities for rebellion being present in some areas of India in the form of forest cover or mountainous terrain? Is it because of the fact of rebellious tribes or oppressed lower castes facing horizontal inequalities living there as theorized by Murshed and Gates (2005)? Is it as Gurr (1970) would argue because these areas are poorer or with higher levels of economic inequality than others? Yet there are other areas of the country which have similarly high forest cover, poverty, and socio-economically deprived ethnic groups like dalits (lower castes) and adivasis (tribal people), and yet have no Maoist insurgency. Is it as Teitelbaum and Verghese (2011) have recently argued because of colonial direct rule setting up the caste structures and poor quality civil services leading to Maoist insurgency in India? But the Maoist insurgency occurs in certain districts of states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa where there was indirect rule through native princes, rather than direct rule. None of these existing theories can fully explain the spatial variation in Maoist insurgency in India. There must be some other omitted variable which explains the full extent of this unusual spatial variation.
- Topic:
- Security, Communism, Post Colonialism, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
527. The West must allow a power shift in international organizations
- Author:
- Jakob Vestergaard and Robert Hunter Wade
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- More than three years after the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s governing body agreed to reform the organization's governance so as to better reflect the increasing economic weight of dynamic emerging market economies in the world economy, only microscopic changes have been made. Emerging market and developing countries (EMDCs) have become increasingly frustrated with Western states for clinging to their inherited power, in the IMF and other important international economic governance organizations. The emerging cooperation among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) – as seen in the advanced-stage negotiations to establish a Development Bank and a Contingent Reserve Arrangement – sends a “wake up and smell the coffee” call to the West, and the latter will carry a heavy responsibility for eroding global multilateral governance if it continues to drag its heels on the needed adjustments.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Monetary Fund, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil
528. The United States and India: A Vital Strategic Partnership
- Author:
- Timothy J. Roemer
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Council of American Ambassadors
- Abstract:
- British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was once asked what would be the most important factor in determining the success of his government. He replied, "Events, dear boy, events." As we see, events in Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan demand the government's capital. We cannot simply allow "events" to define and set the course for the strategic relationship between the United States and India. We must constantly build the relationship; proactively work to deepen and improve it; and commit substantial time to overcome problems and obstacles. Our shared values of democracy and diversity and our mutual interests of nonproliferation and counterterrorism cooperation run too deep for any single event to derail the bonds of unity and affection among our people. As the Obama Administration focuses on a "rebalance to Asia," and emphasizing the National Export Initiative (NEI) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), now is the time to deliver tangible results that will boost economic benefits for the middle classes of both countries. Most importantly, a strong strategic relationship between the United States and India can significantly promote democracy in the region and increase world prosperity over the next century.
- Political Geography:
- United States and India
529. Constructing Culturally Proximate Spaces through Social Network Services: The Case of Hallyu (Korean Wave) in Turkey
- Author:
- Chong-Jin OH and Young-Gil CHAE
- Publication Date:
- 08-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- This study aims to understand the factors and actors of Hallyu (Korean Wave) in Turkey in the context of the characteristic cultural and technological conditions of network society. Two contextual factors -time and space- motivate this particular case study. While the consumption of Korean pop cultural products in European countries has noticeably increased, few studies were conducted on Hallyu in the European continent. Especially, network media technologies including blog, SNS, and various online communication platforms enable the international fans to consume Korean cultural products across the time and spatial barriers. In addition, this case study is also interesting because of the shared historical and cultural heritages maintaining and developing cultural linkages between South Korea and Turkey. Thus, this study contextualizes the Hallyu phenomenon in the context of historical, cultural, and technological relations between the two countries.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, India, and South Korea
530. Politics of National Honor in Turkish-Israeli Relations: An Alternative Account of the Recent Tensions
- Author:
- Özlem Demirtas-Bagdonas
- Publication Date:
- 08-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- This article seeks to complement the ideological and rationalist accounts of the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations in the last decade by focusing on the role of honor politics in exacerbating the tension between Turkey and Israel. Claims to “greatness” and/or “exceptionalism” have made both countries very sensitive to humiliation, while their reciprocal gestures defying each other's claimed authority and superiority have further aggravated the tensions. Both countries' desire to place themselves on a higher moral plane and preoccupation with national honor, although it was accentuated differently and gained varying degrees of public resonance in each country, have made it increasingly difficult for both Turkey and Israel to reach a compromise.
- Political Geography:
- India