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971. Global Environmental Institutions: Perspectives on Reform

Author:
Duncan Brack and Joy Hyvarinen
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
One of the key issues on the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in August/September 2002 was 'international sustainable development governance'-how international institutions concerned with the nexus of economic, social and environmental issues should be structured. There is broad consensus that the international decision-making architecture in this area needs improving, but less agreement on what it should look like.
Topic:
Environment, International Law, International Organization, Science and Technology, and United Nations

972. Productivity, Investment, and Current Accounts: Reassessing the Evidence

Author:
Jaime Marquez
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The most widely accepted explanation for the inverse association between private investments and current accounts [Glick and Rogoff, 1995] rests on data for manufactures through 1990. Is this consensus robust to revisions to the national accounts and the expansion of information technologies since 1990? To address this question I replicate their results and I find that post 1990 developments eliminate the support for such a conclusion. I also implement alternative formulations and find, again, a lack of empirical support for their findings. Thus I examine the role of measurement errors and focus on the treatment of the manufacturing sector as representative of the whole economy and the exclusion of the contribution of capital when measuring productivity. Correcting these two measurement errors restores to Glick and Rogoff's conclusion its original strength.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

973. International Comparisons of Productivity Growth: The Role of Information Technology and Regulatory Practices

Author:
Christopher Gust and Jaime Marquez
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
While information technologies (IT) are credited with the recent acceleration in productivity in the United States, many other industrial countries have not experienced a pickup in productivity growth. To explain this productivity divergence, we use panel data from 1992 to 1999 for 13 industrial countries and find that this divergence is driven in part by differences in both the production and adoption of information technologies. Based on this finding, we proceed to investigate what factors might play a role in explaining differences in IT adoption. Our results support the view that burdensome regulatory environments and in particular regulations affecting labor market practices have impeded the adoption of information technologies and slowed productivity growth in a number of industrial countries. We then develop a theoretical model with vintage capital and labor to evaluate the effect of more stringent labor market regulations on a firm's decision to adopt new technologies. We establish conditions under which a tax on firing workers delays the adoption of IT technology. These conditions occur when technological change is skill-biased and a firm must upgrade the quality of its workforce through labor turnover. The resulting delay in adopting IT technology then has negative implications for economy-wide productivity and is largely consistent with our empirical results.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

974. The Defense Science Board Summer Study on Defense Science and Technology

Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Technology has been and must continue to be a key enabler of military advantage, both in conflict and in situations where conflict is close at hand. Over the years, the Department of Defense (DoD) science and technology progrme has discovered, invented, harnessed, and demonstrated such enabling technologies. As industry becomes more global, as scientific endeavors in other countries become more competitive, and as affordable technology increasingly issues from commercial sources, the DoD science and technology program needs to continue to meet challenges and exploit opportunities that arise. The Defense Science Board 2001 Summer Study task force has asked to examine three aspects of the DoD science and technology program: How the Department's S investment should be spend. The level of investment in science and technology. How the military can realize the most value from this investment.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

975. Annual Industrial Capabilities Report to Congress, MAR 2002

Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Section 2504 of title 10, United States Code, requires that the Secretary of Defense submit an annual report to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, by March 1st of each year. The report is to include:”(1) A description of the departmental guidance prepared pursuant to section 2506 of this title.(2) A description of the methods and analyses being undertaken by the Department of Defense alone or in cooperation with other Federal agencies, to identify and address concerns regarding technological and industrial capabilities of the national technology and industrial base.(3) A description of the assessments prepared pursuant to section 2505 of this title and other analyses used in developing the budget submission of the Department of Defense for the next fiscal year.(4) Identification of each program designed to sustain specific essential technological and industrial capabilities and processes of the national technology and industrial base.” This report contains the required information.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

976. Population, Poverty, and Vulnerability: Mitigating the Effects of Natural Disasters

Author:
George Matrine and Jose Miguel Guzman
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Hurricane Mitch was one of the most destructive natural disasters of recent times, and it exposed the underlying vulnerability of the Central American region, where poverty magnifies the threat of natural hazards. International assistance for national disasters tends to focus on short-term recuperation rather than on long-range prevention. Policymakers need to pay greater attention to the role of population dynamics within necessary prevention efforts. This article analyzes the relationships between demographic dynamics and Hurricane Mitch in Central America, and extracts from that experience lessons that can help reduce vulnerability to natural disasters in the long run. Specifically, it centers on three aspects: How did demographic processes condition the area's vulnerability prior to Mitch? What are Mitch's consequences for population dynamics in the short- and long-term? How must population dynamics change in order to mitigate the effects of future natural disasters? Systematic use of such information could help blunt natural-disaster impacts in three important ways: planning of spatial organization, reproductive health needs, and design of adequate information systems.
Topic:
Security, Environment, Poverty, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Central America and Caribbean

977. What is to be Done at Johannesburg? Issues for the World Summit on Sustainable Development

Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Marking the ten-year anniversary of the historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa has been viewed throughout its preparations with both great hope and pessimism. Some analysts, activists, and policymakers think the Summit is the last best chance for the world to balance the three pillars (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainable development. Others are looking past Johannesburg altogether, skeptical that it can accomplish much. As of this writing in June 2002, even a clear Summit agenda remains elusive for governments and civil society alike.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
South Africa

978. Frames, Framing, and Reframing In, and Through, The Mass Media: Reflection of Four Protracted Environmental Disputes in the Israeli Press

Author:
Ravit Richter and Ariella Vraneski
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University
Abstract:
The mass media is part and parcel of modern life. In recent years environmental conflicts have increasingly become part of the public agenda, and they now gain vast media coverage. While all agree that fully functioning media sectors are essential for expanding and supporting democracy on global, national, and local levels alike, many claim that the media's interference, by definition, escalates conflicts. Recent studies confirm that many roles can be attributed to media coverage, including some that lead conflicts toward constructive resolutions. The hypothesis of our research is that through frames, the media is both influenced by and influential with regard to the conflict's dynamics.
Topic:
Environment and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Middle East and Israel

979. An E-Parliament to Democratize Globalization: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Author:
Robert C. Johansen
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Human beings have struggled for centuries to gain control of their own destinies, particularly to shape the political decisions that affect their lives. By the late twentieth century, nearly 60 percent of the world's people had achieved democratic governance. But now, because of interdependence and globalization, people living in national democracies have begun to lose their grip on decisions that affect them. Throughout the world, many decisions impacting citizens of one country are made by people living outside their country or by impersonal market forces that are not accountable to anyone and that often subordinate the needs of many people to the prosperity of a few.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, and Science and Technology

980. Economic Convergence through Savings, Trade and Technology Flows—Lessons from Recent Research

Author:
Per Botolf Maurseth
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on income disparity between countries and convergence in economic growth. New theoretical models modify and often reverse the prediction of convergence in the traditional neo-classical model of economic growth. A particular feature of the recent literature as compared to traditional studies of economic growth is that it acknowledges interdependence between countries. International capital flows, trade in goods and (maybe most important) international technology flows influence individual countries growth performance. The empirical literature on the dynamics of the international distribution of income per capita reveals massive unconditional divergence in income levels. For sub-samples of countries on the other hand, the data support the conditional convergence hypothesis: when other factors are accounted for, there is a tendency for income per capita to converge. For the OECD countries, as well as for some other countries, knowledge flows, either embodied in traded goods or disembodied seem to be important for whether poorer countries are able to catch up with richer ones.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology