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251. Capital Controls: Myth and Reality-A Portfolio Balance Approach

Author:
Carmen M. Reinhart, Nicolas E. Magud, and Kenneth S. Rogoff
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The literature on capital controls has (at least) four very serious apples-to-oranges problems: (i) There is no unified theoretical framework to analyze the macroeconomic consequences of controls; (ii) there is significant heterogeneity across countries and time in the control measures implemented; (iii) there are multiple definitions of what constitutes a "success" and (iv) the empirical studies lack a common methodology-furthermore these are significantly "overweighted" by a couple of country cases (Chile and Malaysia). In this paper, we attempt to address some of these shortcomings by: being very explicit about what measures are construed as capital controls. Also, given that success is measured so differently across studies, we sought to "standardize" the results of over 30 empirical studies we summarize in this paper. The standardization was done by constructing two indices of capital controls: Capital Controls Effectiveness Index (CCE Index), and Weighted Capital Control Effectiveness Index (WCCE Index). The difference between them lies in that the WCCE controls for the differentiated degree of methodological rigor applied to draw conclusions in each of the considered papers. Inasmuch as possible, we bring to bear the experiences of less well known episodes than those of Chile and Malaysia. Then, using a portfolio balance approach we model the effects of imposing capital controls on short-term flows. We find that there should exist country-specific characteristics for capital controls to be effective. From this simple perspective, this rationalizes why some capital controls were effective and some were not. We also show that the equivalence in effects of price- vs. quantity-capital control are conditional on the level of short-term capital flows.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Latin America and Southeast Asia

252. Assessing 12-year Military Reform in Indonesia:Major Strategic Gaps for the Next Stage of Reform

Author:
Leonard C. Sebastian and Iisgindarsah
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
The Indonesian military remains one of the most crucial institutions in a democratising Indonesia and continues to be a key factor in any discussion regarding the future of the country. Forced to withdraw from formal politics at the end of the New Order regime, the military leadership has been embarking on a series of reforms to "professionalise" the armed forces, while maintaining their standing within Indonesian society. This paper attempts to provide an assessment of the military reform process during the last 12 years in Indonesia. To this end, it will provide an overview regarding the role of the Indonesian military during the Suharto era; analyse to what extent the process of democratisation has shaped the role and mission of the military; explore the perceptions and motivations of the actors involved in the reform process; review what has been achieved; and highlight the outstanding issues that remain unaddressed. With regard to the final point, this paper discerns three major strategic gaps that undermine the processes of military reform in Indonesia, namely: the "regulation loophole", the "defence-economic gap" and the "shortcomings of democratic civilian control". Considering these problems, this paper concludes that while the military officers' interest in day-to-day politics will gradually diminish, the military professionalism will ebb and flow depending more on the behaviour of political elites and their attempts to address the major strategic gaps in the next stage of the country's military reform.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Southeast Asia

253. Security Sector Reform Monitor: Timor-Leste

Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The third edition of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) Monitor: Timor-Leste acknowledged that the national justice system continues to face major obstacles, even though recent strategic planning and initial efforts to improve access to justice have showed promising signs for future justice system development (see The Centre for International Governance Innovation [CIGI], 2011). Two increasingly serious challenges to the justice system — and also the broader security sector — are the political intervention in the justice system and the lack of accountability for both past crimes and more recent crimes associated with the 2006 internal crisis.
Topic:
Security, Crime, and Law Enforcement
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia

254. Inward FDI in Malaysia and its policy context

Author:
Rajah Rasiah and Chandran Govindaraju
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Malaysia is still perceived as an important destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Deregulation by the Malaysian government in 1986 with a new round of Pioneer status tax holidays, tax allowances for expansion projects, liberal rules for firms operating in free trade zones (FTZs), and tax exemptions are encouraging stronger FDI inflows (IFDI). IFDI flows reached a peak in 1988-1993 as export-oriented foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) relocated manufacturing production operations to Malaysia to benefit from cheap labor, government incentives and liberal conditions for manufacturing FDI. After 1996, due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, IFDI flows into Malaysia decreased and subsequently recorded the lowest level in 2001 as a result of the world trade recession. Following steady growth in 2002-2007, IFDI in Malaysia fell dramatically in 2008 and 2009 due to the global economic crisis. However, a strong resumption in the first quarter of 2010 and government efforts, including continued liberalization of manufacturing and services, the Government Transformation Programme, promoting new key economic areas, and the active role of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), contributed to an increase in inward FDI flows in the second quarter of 2010.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Malaysia and Southeast Asia

255. Burma: A View from Rangoon

Author:
Larry M. Dinger
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
Burma (also known as Myanmar) is a land of contrasts. It is geographically the largest country in Southeast Asia, stretching from tropical beaches to Himalayan peaks. It is rich in resources, including natural gas, timber, and gems. Eighty years ago its people were generally acknowledged to be the best educated in the region, and their prospects for development were expected to be high. Yet today, Burma is the poorest country in Southeast Asia with a per capita GDP of about $625; governmental health and educational expenditures are pitifully small; and Burmese rank near the bottom in most human-development indexes. The ethnic Burman, mostly Buddhist majority lives mostly in the central plains; but more than one hundred other distinct ethnic groups exist, as do notable Christian, Muslim, and Hindu minorities. Visitors universally praise the hospitality of Burmese peoples; yet ethnic-based armed conflicts simmer and sometimes flare in border areas, and Burma receives constant international criticism for major human rights abuses.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Burma, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar

256. Rising to the occasion

Author:
Nazery Khalid
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Maritime Institute of Malaysia
Abstract:
The announcement by Minister of Transport, Dato' Seri Chong Kong Ha on 11 January 2011 that Malaysian p orts handled a total of 18. 4 mil. TEU in 2010 should bring a smile to port operators in the country.
Topic:
Security, International Trade and Finance, and Maritime Commerce
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia

257. Globalization, Wages, and Working Conditions: A Case Study of Cambodian Garment Factories

Author:
Cael Warren and Raymond Robertson
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
We use a comprehensive data set of working conditions and wage compliance in Cambodia's exporting garment factories to explore (1) the impact of foreign ownership on wages and working conditions, (2) whether the relationship between wages and working conditions within these exporting factories more closely resembles efficiency wage or compensating differential theory, and (3) whether the wage-working conditions relationship differs between domestically owned and foreign-owned firms. We find that foreign ownership increases compliance on both wages and working conditions, contradicting the contention that higher wages in foreign-owned firms compensate workers for worse working conditions. In addition, we find a robust positive relationship between wages and working conditions in the sample as a whole, suggesting that efficiency wages or a similar theory more accurately explains the behavior of these exporting firms than compensating differentials.
Topic:
Development, Industrial Policy, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Cambodia and Southeast Asia

258. Better Factories Cambodia: An Instrument for Improving Industrial Relations in a Transnational Context

Author:
Raymond Robertson and Arianna Rossi
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Globalization of production has created an environment for labor-management relations that involves international actors and spans countries, going beyond the boundaries of the traditional workspace. The dramatic changes brought about by globalization led to the emergence of new cross-border forms of industrial relations. This paper analyses the case of the International Labour Organization's Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) project as a transnational instrument to create the institutional space for industrial relations in Cambodia. Based on the principle of social dialogue among the social partners (the national Government and workers' and employers' organizations) as well as with global buyers, BFC's multistakeholder approach reaches beyond the workplace and may be a key instrument of industrial relations because it bridges the gap between the sphere of production and that of consumption. The empirical results reveal some of the particular strengths of the program.
Topic:
Development, Globalization, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Cambodia and Southeast Asia

259. Indonesia and the 2011 ASEAN Chairmanship: Priorities and Prospects

Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
As of 1 January 2011, Indonesia assumed the chairmanship of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). With the growing importance of Southeast Asia in the global arena, hopes are high that Indonesia will seize the opportunity to push for concrete improvements toward the establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015, as well as to promote democratic values and respect for human rights in the region. At the start of its chairmanship, Indonesia has proposed three main agendas, namely: to ensure progress in the implementation of ASEAN Community Blueprints; to enhance ASEAN's roles in regional architecture; and to develop an ASEAN community vision in a global community of nations.
Topic:
Democratization, Human Rights, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Southeast Asia

260. Forests, Food and Fuel: REDD+ and Indonesia's Land-use Conundrum

Author:
J. Jackson Ewing
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Indonesia faces pronounced land-use challenges. The sprawling archipelagic state must deal with the legacies of short-sighted land conversions, the need to pursue foreign investment, capital growth and employment generation through profitable land intensive industries, and the rising food demands of a growing and increasingly urban population. Moreover, Indonesia must pursue these already daunting objectives without overly compromising its endowment of forest resources; which provide a range of valuable services both domestically and internationally. This paper explores the intersection of these issues and comments upon some of the most pressing challenges inherent to maintaining food security, protecting the essential services that forest ecosystems provide, and remaining open to capital-producing industries that are land intensive. The paper takes as its point of entry the movement of the Reduced Emissions through Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme into Indonesia's land-use calculus.
Topic:
Environment, Natural Resources, Food, Foreign Direct Investment, and Developing World
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Southeast Asia