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341. Economic Survey of Sweden, 2004

Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
With sound monetary and fiscal frameworks and a good macroeconomic position, Sweden is better placed to face the longer-term challenges of an ageing population than many other OECD countries. As elsewhere, these demographic trends will put downwardpressure on growth in potential output and increase burdens on public expenditure over time. Managing this situation effectively within the welfare state approach while enjoying the highest possible living standards will be easier if the country can raise productivity growth, expand the effective labour supply, and get public finances quickly back onto their intended medium-term path. Productivity growth could be boosted further by increasing the pressures from competition in all parts of the economy, building on earlier liberalisation efforts. Effectively addressing cartels and other anti-competitive behaviour, removing regulatory obstacles and further exposing the large public sector to competition would all help. Productivity growth could also be raised if workers and capital moved more quickly and easily in response to shifts in costs and demand for different outputs. However, taking the rewards for productivity improvements in the form of lower working hours diminishes the tax base; further reductions in high marginal tax rates would reduce the incentive to do so. Although employment rates are already high overall, more could be done to get young people qualified and into the workforce earlier and to improve the integration of immigrants. Reducing the numbers of people drawing sickness and disability benefits will not only boost effective labour supply but also help ease expenditure pressures. More generally, tight expenditure restraint will be necessary to attain the government's surplus target. The budget framework could be refined in ways that would help to ensure that public finances are sustainable in the long term, while also providing room to moderate marginal tax rates in order to boost incentives to work, save and invest. Further progress towards environmental sustainability could focus on improving the cost-effectiveness of policies. Ultimately, creating faster growth and maintaining the welfare state depend on continuation of far-sighted economic management.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Human Rights, International Organization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Sweden

342. Economic Survey of Switzerland, 2003

Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Although trend growth of GDP has been meagre for two decades (1.25 per cent against 2.75 per cent for the OECD average), per capita income in Switzerland remains among the highest in the OECD. In recent years, output growth was less resilient than in most other OECD countries, with the economy being in recession during the first semester of 2003. This is partly due to the global slump in the financial and capital goods sectors which are very important for the Swiss economy, but the unsatisfactory growth performance is largely attributable to the timid pace of structural reforms over many years. Against this background, there are three major challenges for economic policy.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Human Rights, International Organization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Switzerland

343. Economic Survey of Hungary, 2004

Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
For Hungary to maintain strong growth, macroeconomic policy has to aim for sound and sustainable public finances, low inflation and maintaining the competitiveness of its FDI-driven export sector. Fiscal consolidation has to focus on lasting structural reforms, which bring down the volume of government expenditure in a sustainable way. Revenue increases buy time for the 2004 budget, but thistime has to be used to implement measures that will durably reduce spending in a medium-term framework. The difficult balancing act for monetary policy between achieving inflation targets and steering the exchange rate for entry into the euro zone could be made easier if fiscal targets are achieved. The move to base future budgets on the joint inflation target is a welcome step to improve co-ordination between the government and the Central Bank and should be continued. In wage setting, the indicative wage guidelines should be used to communicate disinflation in the runup to EMU, and thereby limit the risk of unintended real wage increases. Wage moderation should also be assisted by measures which increase the supply responsiveness of labour. Any room created for tax cuts should be used to reduce Hungary's large tax wedge on labour, which interacts negatively with some social benefit programmes. Large regional disparities should be addressed by measures which increase labour mobility and broaden investment across regions through further improved infrastructure. Business conditions can be further improved by addressing the low level of competition in some network industries and more generally improving the conditions for market entry in the domestic sector. The considerable costs of programmes to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and also more local air pollutants could be reduced with the wider application of economic instruments. Hungary will only be able to reap the full benefits of European Union accession and EMU entry if it establishes a sound macroeconomic framework, boosts labour force participation and sustains high productivity growth.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Human Rights, International Organization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Hungary

344. Science and Innovation Policy: Key Challenges and Opportunities

Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Science and technology exert a growing influence on society and the economy. Scientific achievements continue to expand the frontiers of knowledge and increasingly contribute to the technological progress that affects how people live and work. New science-based technologies help protect the environment, build safer homes, schools and factories, and develop energy- saving transport systems. Advances in genetics save lives and improve health standards throughout the world. Industries based on new technologies employ millions of highly skilled workers in the OECD and beyond. Information and communications technologies (ICT) have enhanced their productivity and made it possible for a greater number of individuals, firms and countries to take part in the knowledge-based economy.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Human Rights, International Organization, and Political Economy

345. Economic Survey of the United Kingdom, 2004

Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
The performance of the UK economy has been impressive in recent years, underpinned by wide-ranging structural reforms and sound macroeconomic policy frameworks. The OECD projects growth above potential in 2004 and 2005, with unemployment remaining low, but instability stemming from the housing market is a risk. Monetary policy should continue to tighten to reduce future inflationary pressures and the risk of a further sharp rise in house prices from becoming a potential source of fragility. At the same time, the current rigidity of house supply should be eased by reforming land planning, while a reform of the regressive council tax could help to reduce the risk of housing market instability. Over the projection period, government spending will continue to rise as a share of GDP, reflecting the government's ambitious targets in priority areas. Slowing spending growth may be warranted on efficiency grounds: bottlenecks have become apparent, while time is needed to pilot new innovative approaches. More generally, getting incentives right is essential to meet the ambitious service targets. Slowing spending growth would also benefit the public finances. An income-contingent contribution scheme for university graduates is an equitable way forward; other forms of user charges not compromising equity concerns could improve efficiency. Both are preferable to raising taxes. Trend growth has already been boosted by the sharp decline in structural unemployment, but measures are still needed to reduce the number of inactive, especially those on incapacity benefit. While educational performance of students has risen, policy needs to further address the lack of vocational skills as one element in a strategy to reduce the productivity gap with the best performers elsewhere. In this respect, competition is also important. The government has strengthened the competition framework and active enforcement along with the market studies of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission's market investigations should help to ensure that markets become more competitive. However, planning restrictions and market power are a problem in the retail sector and industry regulators will need to remain vigilant in the electricity, gas and telecom sectors. Ensuring macroeconomic stability, while addressing the remaining weaknesses through further structural reforms offers the prospect of continuing strong economic performance.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Human Rights, International Organization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

346. The Decline of the Communists

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Overlooked in the victory of the pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, in the Duma election last December and President Vladimir Putin's overwhelming victory in the presidential election three months later was a milestone in Russia's post-Soviet political history: the precipitous decline of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF). The single largest faction in the Duma between 1995 and 2003, the KPRF was reduced to 12 percent of the party-list vote in the Duma poll while the Communist candidate for the presidency, who received 40 percent in the 1996 election and 24 percent in 2000, ended up with 14 percent.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

347. Privatizing Pensions

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Perhaps more than any other structural market reform unfolding today in Russia, pension privatization epitomizes both the enormous progress achieved over the past decade and the equally huge obstacles still ahead on the road to "civilized" liberal capitalism. The reform highlights and tests the quality of key institutions and instruments central to such a system: transparency and liquidity of banks and mutual funds, probity and competence of state regulatory agencies, and stability of equity and bond markets.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

348. How Can International Organizations Shape National Welfare States? Evidence from Compliance with EU Directives

Author:
Katerina Linos
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
How can international organizations shape national welfare states? The answer depends on why national governments comply with international organization mandates. International relations scholarship offers two competing compliance models. Enforcement theories emphasize states' utilitarian calculus and predict that states' policy preferences determine implementation, while managerial theories attribute non-compliance to states' capability limitations and emphasize institutional variables. This paper examines the implementation of EU social policy directives through a new quantitative dataset and qualitative case studies of implementation in Greece and Spain. Three proxies for national social policy preferences – low labor costs, high unemployment and early national social legislation – predict implementation delays. At the same time, factors unrelated to national preferences on particular directives have at least as large an impact on timely implementation. Thus, a national bureaucracy's capacity and the absence of veto players reduce implementation delays. These findings suggest that capabilities influence compliance at least as much as preferences, but through mechanisms different from the ones emphasized in existing work. Although international organizations may not be especially successful in overcoming past policy legacies in favor of future commitments, they can reorient the axes of contestation from left-right to supra-sub national and thus shape national policies.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

349. Narrating Oneself Through Another: Medieval Christians and Their Images of the Saracen

Author:
Paul T. Levin
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
It was Turkish membership in the European Union that the Viennese social worker quoted in the Guardian was against. As the Commission of the European Union has recently delivered a report that suggests the opening up of EU accession negotiations with Turkey, old fears seem to be awakening on the continent; “Turcophobia”, as the Guardian calls it. The liberal Viennese news weekly Profil the same week described the prospect of Turkish membership as “not so much a risk as a danger” in an editorial titled “The Turks at the Gates of Vienna.” But not only Turks are experiencing a resurrection of animosities that many thought were long since buried. In the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, anti-Arab sentiments surged along with verbal and physical attacks on Muslims in both Europe and the U.S. Perhaps the secretly held view of too many in Europe and the “West” is that of Britain's Robert Kilroy-Silk. According to his column in the Sunday Express on September 25 of this year, Arabs are no more than "suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors". This essay digs deep to find the historical roots of today's images of Turks, Arabs, and Muslims.
Topic:
International Relations, International Organization, Regional Cooperation, and Religion
Political Geography:
Britain, United States, Europe, Turkey, and Arabia

350. Overview of Civil Society Participation in Regional and Sub-Regional Processes: The Case of Latin America and the Caribbean

Author:
Anita Ratynska
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The following paper presents the current landscape of civil society participation in regional security policy-making bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It highlights the achievements made in civil society (CS)-government/regional mechanisms partnerships as well as the areas of concern that still remain to be addressed.
Topic:
Government, International Cooperation, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Latin America and Caribbean