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11. Public and Private Pension Systems and Macroeconomic Volatility in OECD Countries

Author:
Mario Holzner, Stefan Jestl, and David Pichler
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
Abstract:
This paper analyses the impact of public pension expenditures and pension funds’ assets as well as their benefits on economic volatility. To do so, we use panel data for 35 OECD countries for the period 1980-2018 and apply a set of state-of-the-art econometric estimators. Our results show weak evidence of a negative impact of public pension expenditures as well as weak evidence of a positive impact of pension funds’ benefits on volatility. Results were, however, found not to be very robust. In contrast, pension funds’ assets do not show any evidence of being associated with economic volatility. Unsystematic fiscal policy, banking crises and political (in)stability, however, are revealed to be somewhat more robust determinants of economic volatility.
Topic:
Economics, Public Sector, Econometrics, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Inflated Beyond Fiscal Capacity: The Need to Reform the Public Sector Wage Bill

Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This policy brief addresses the issue of Yemen’s bloated public sector. Due to decades of corruption and patronage appointments, among other factors, public sector salaries were already a source of fiscal stress prior to the ongoing war. Previous efforts to downsize the public sector, notably those supported by the World Bank, produced few tangible results, as this brief outlines. During the conflict, the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the armed Houthi movement have added to the public sector payroll — particularly in the military and security apparatus — as the economy has contracted. Amid consistently large budget deficits, the inflated public sector wage bill is fiscally unsustainable and threatens to undermine economic recovery and future stability in Yemen.
Topic:
Economics, World Bank, Budget, Inflation, Public Sector, Fiscal Policy, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Asia, Yemen, and West Asia

13. Priorities for Government Policy in Yemen

Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This policy brief outlines recommendations for the immediate priorities of the Government of Yemen, both to achieve quick wins and to prepare the ground for medium and long-term success. These recommendations are the outcomes of in-depth discussions held during the fourth Development Champions Forum convened on December 8-11, 2018, in Amman, Jordan. They are designed to offer Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed and his cabinet a set of practical measures to help the government build on the momentum and increased visibility it achieved in the final quarter of 2018. The immediate priorities recommended by the Development Champions include steps to support the stabilization of the local currency. an area in which tangible progress has already been made. The Champions also urge the government to regularize the payment of public sector salaries and pensions. Another immediate priority for the government should be to take steps to stabilize and transform Aden, the Champions suggest, based on the shared consensus that the southern coastal city could become a model for the rest of Yemen. The Champions emphasized that developing Aden would depend on improving the level of security across the governorate. While recognizing that the government faces immediate challenges that demand attention in Aden and across the country, the Development Champions urge the government to plan and implement procedures to prepare for the country’s medium and long-term future. These strategies should address the root causes of Yemen’s socio-economic instability, and not just its symptoms. Among the most important actions to prepare for long-term priorities is the expansion of the roles and responsibilities of local government authorities, the Champions concluded. During the conflict, decision-making authority has filtered down to the local level and become far more decentralized. The government should build on this new reality to reconfigure the state and its relationship with local government authorities.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Public Sector, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Asia, Yemen, and West Asia

14. Channeling Urban (Land) Rent Back into the Public Sector through Taxation

Author:
Bircan Polat
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Following the March 31, 2019 local elections, the indebtedness of local governments has once again emerged as a subject of public debate in Turkey. Local government expenditures took center stage in these debates, yet much less attention has been paid to potential sources of revenue for local governments. Generation of internal sources of municipal revenue is no less important than the issue of expenditures as it pertains to the relative financial independence of municipalities from the central government. Among potential sources of municipal revenue, a significant one is taxation on urban (land) rent which occurs as a result of a few distinct processes: transformation of agricultural land into urban land due to population increase, migration, industrialization; zoning change that renders the property more valuable due to a number of potential factors such as greater proximity to parks, attractions, or highway systems.
Topic:
Governance, Economy, Tax Systems, Public Sector, and Urban
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

15. The Invisible Hand? Critical Information Infrastructures, Commercialisation and National Security

Author:
Riccardo Alcaro, Giampiero Giacomello, and Johan Eriksson
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Corporatisation of critical information infrastructure (CII) is rooted in the ‘privatisation wave’ of the 1980s-90s, when the ground was laid for outsourcing public utilities. Despite well-known risks relating to reliability, resilience, and accountability, commitment to efficiency imperatives have driven governments to outsource key public services and infrastructures. A recent illustrative case with enormous implications is the 2017 Swedish ICT scandal, where outsourcing of CII caused major security breaches. With the transfer of the Swedish Transport Agency’s ICT system to IBM and subcontractors, classified data and protected identities were made accessible to non-vetted foreign private employees – sensitive data could thus now be in anyone’s hands. This case clearly demonstrates accountability gaps that can arise in public-private governance of CII.
Topic:
Privatization, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Public Sector, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Europe, Sweden, and European Union

16. Journal of Public and International Affairs 2018

Author:
Andi Zhou, Sam Kanson-Benanav, Collin Smith, Yi Xu, Amn Nasir, Sameer Anwar, Saim Rashid, Muqueet Shahzad, Lauren Eades, William O'Connell, Caper Gooden, Paige KW Gasser, Laurie Georges, Seleeke Flingai, and Erika Parks
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
These are critical times for those who work to further the public interest. Across the globe, divisions and distrust erode the clarity required to tackle the great challenges of our day. Those who advocate for truth find themselves under attack from those who fear what they might lose if the status quo is changed. There is exceptional need today for powerful voices speaking on behalf of sound policy. The 10 articles in this 29th edition of the Journal of Public and International Affairs all reflect a dogged determination among young policy professionals around the world to press ahead in spite of the headwinds. These pages contain fresh ideas on electrifying rural Myanmar, reforming the U.S. banking system, strengthening the Jordanian labor market, and preventing recidivism among convicted sex offenders in Texas, to name just a few. The JPIA was born from the conviction that graduate students have a unique and invaluable voice in key policy debates. The authors of these articles, together with the 45 editors from 13 graduate programs around the world who selected and reviewed them, will shape the future of economic, international, domestic, and development policy in the decades to come. We strive continually, especially at this moment, to amplify their voices.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, International Affairs, Bilateral Relations, Labor Issues, Business, Mental Health, Accountability, Public Sector, Hezbollah, Services, Electricity, Pollution, and Waste
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Africa, South Asia, Middle East, Canada, Brazil, South America, Central America, Lebanon, Mozambique, North America, Mexico, Jordan, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, and United States of America

17. Accessing Funds for Development: Required Capacities for Resource Mobilization and Absorption

Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
African countries are now implementing the Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 (also known as Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs), both requiring huge financial resources. Globally, large amounts of investable resources, mostly private, are available in advanced and emerging economies while domestic public resources, even in low-income countries, can be increased when the relevant capacities are in place. To efficiently mobilize the available resources, therefore, countries need to tackle the binding capacity constraints. These include human and institutional capacity to effectively manage tax exemptions, tax evasion, capital flight, illicit financial flows; constraints to accessing private resources particularly blended finance offered by public private partnership (PPP) avenues; and constraints relating to underdeveloped capital markets in most Africa countries. This Issues Paper produced by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) for the 26th Annual Meeting of its Board of Governors considers the capacity dimensions related to the mobilization and absorption of funds by responding to the following questions (1) What are the domestic and external resources available for Africa’s development? (2) How can the resources be effectively mobilized? (3) What are some of the good practices employed by countries to ensure that the available resources are effectively utilized and fully absorbed? (4) What have been the capacities required to effectively access and absorb the mobilized resources?
Topic:
Economics, Economic growth, Public Sector, Capacity, Capital Flight, Economic Development, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Africa

18. Building Capacity in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation: The Role of Governments

Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
The call to industrialize and modernize Africa has become more pressing in recent years especially given the high rates of youth unemployment. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Common African Position on Agenda 2030 identify science, technology, and innovation (STI) as key enablers to achieving this. In response, Africa adopted a 10-year Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy (STISA–2024). The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) STI Survey (2016) confirms the importance of STI strategies and capacity development in African countries. This policy brief highlights the role of African governments in building STI capacity and the key capacity imperatives pertinent to STI. African governments are responsible for building STI capacity through the policies and processes that guide investment decisions in STI products and services.
Topic:
Government, Public Sector, and Capacity
Political Geography:
Africa

19. Targeting credit through community members

Author:
Diego A. Vera-Cossio
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
Delegating the allocation of public resources to community members is an increasingly popular form of delivering development programs and are associated with a tradeoff between improved information about potential beneficiaries and favoritism towards local elites. Unlike targeting cash transfers to the poor, the optimal targeting of credit is a more complex problem involving issues of productivity, repayment, and market responses: This paper analyzes this problem using a large-scale lending program, the Thai Million Baht Credit Fund, which decentralizes the allocation of loans to an elected group of community members, and provides three main results. First, exploiting a long and detailed panel, I recover pre-program structural estimates of household total factor productivity and find that resources from the program were not allocated to high-productivity, poor households, which is inconsistent with poverty and productive efficiency as targeting criteria. Second, using socioeconomic networks data, I show that actual targeting is strongly driven by connections to village elites and is related to lower program profitability, which suggests favoritism as a reason for mistargeting. Finally, I exploit quasi-experimental variation in the rollout of the program and uncover evidence that, in general equilibrium, informal credit markets compensate for targeting distortions by redirecting credit towards unconnected households, albeit at higher interest rates than those provided by the program. The results highlight the limitations of community-driven approaches to program delivery and the role of markets in attenuating potential targeting errors.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Microcredit, Public Sector, Local, Microeconomics, and Credit
Political Geography:
Thailand

20. Missing from the Mainstream: The Biophysical Basis of Production and the Public Economy

Author:
June Sekera
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
Just as mainstream economics neglects the biophysical basis of production and disregards energy as the most fundamental input, it likewise ignores the existence of the public economy. Both types of denialism threaten the ability of societies to develop energy solutions that can meet the needs of the polity. This article calls for a new theory of the public economy and it outlines elements of such a theory. Both a biophysical economics and a new public economics are needed to address the energy challenges confronting modern societies.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Economic Theory, and Public Sector
Political Geography:
Global Focus