Number of results to display per page
Search Results
1842. Economic Integration and Incipient Democracy
- Author:
- Philip I. Levy
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Contrary to the common approach in the literature, the economic and other forces that push countries toward democratization are continuous rather than discrete. This paper argues that failure to account for the latent variable of "incipient democracy" can bias estimates of democracy's determinants. The paper presents a new avenue by which economic integration can foster democracy, one that focuses on the means for democratization rather than the motive. This strengthening of civil society is identified as a necessary component of economic integration with modern distributed production, though we would not expect to see it in autocracies dependent on natural resource trade. The arguments are applied to the case of China.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Economics, and Emerging Markets
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
1843. What if the United States Sneezed and Latin America Didn't Catch a Cold?
- Author:
- Megan Davy
- Publication Date:
- 05-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) economies, usually susceptible to international financial turmoil, are especially vulnerable to even minor tremors in U.S. markets. Regional policymakers and entrepreneurs, therefore, have been closely watching the current U.S. subprime credit crisis. Here is the good news: all signs point to relatively minor symptoms in LAC countries—despite a rocky financial history during the 1980s and 1990s—thanks in large part to reforms undertaken in response to previous financial crises, as well as continued high commodity prices that will likely buoy export markets. Although the economic downturn in the United States and other global markets will likely expose lingering weaknesses in the region's economy, this latest crisis can provide an impetus to complete the unfinished business of building more modern, resilient economies.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Emerging Markets
- Political Geography:
- United States, South America, Latin America, and Central America
1844. Lula Can Make 2008 a Very Good Year
- Author:
- Roger F. Noriega
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- If Time magazine had wanted to recognize a true democrat and reformer as the 2007 Person of the Year, they would have chosen Brazil's president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva over Russia's Vladimir Putin. Working within Brazil's free, pluralistic democratic system, Lula has focused on economic growth and social justice, getting tangible results with his new anti-hunger and poverty programs. Unlike Putin, Lula is also strengthening key institutions and the rule of law.
- Topic:
- Democratization and Development
- Political Geography:
- South America and Latin America
1845. Early-Stage Valuation in the Biotechnology Industry
- Author:
- Vinay Ranade
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- Biotechnology (or biotech) has impacted almost every aspect of human life. It has reorganized industries, drastically changed healthcare, helped to improve the environment, and led to important changes in laws and ethical norms.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Health, and Science and Technology
1846. The Gulf as a Global Financial Centre: Growing Opportunities and International Influence
- Publication Date:
- 06-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- Ambition is high. Just a few years ago, the claim that the Gulf represented an important financial centre, let alone an aspiring Global Financial Centre (GFC), would have been seen as optimistic. However, it should be recalled that in the late 1990s, and even up until 2003, few analysts expected oil prices to move above the $20–30 range–yet by early 2008 oil was trading well above $100 and rising. The GCC economies have approximately tripled in size in just five years and their combined GDP will be well above $1 trillion in 2008, while their external financial wealth in the form of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and foreign exchange reserves alone is more than double this figure. These trends are not, of course, uncorrelated. Nevertheless, it is easy to see the region's comparative advantage from the swing in oil prices, whereas the scope for developing a significant advantage in global finance remains tentative. To develop and mature the Global Financial Centre concept will require considerable effort and nurturing, chiefly by GCC governments, banks and fund managers but including cooperative ventures with leading GFCs and financial services companies.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, and Arab Countries
1847. The Negotiated Nordic Labor Markets: From Bust to Boom
- Author:
- Jon Erik Dølvik
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper provides an overview of the negotiated Nordic labor market regimes and their various paths of adjustment from bust to boom in recent decades. Developed in small, open economies, the Nordic labor regimes are often associated with strong centralized agreements and associations, high union density, and extensive worker representation, which have been embedded in social models based on close interaction between working life policies, the welfare state and macroeconomic policies. In leaner forms these features have undoubtedly contributed to the high Nordic levels of mobility, equality and employment in recent years (“flexicurity”), but an often overlooked part of the story is the increased scope for product market competition and the supply-side reforms undertaken in the Nordic countries since the crises in the 1980-90s. Another distinction of the revitalized Nordic models is the growing importance of management-union negotiations and dialogue at the company level. A key argument in this paper is thus that the capacity for negotiated flexibility and adjustment in Nordic labor markets has been critically reliant on the multilevel, single-channel pattern of articulation between centralized coordination and decentralized negotiations linking restructuring, training, productivity and pay issues.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland
1848. Analysing the Impact of Natural Hazards in Small Economies: The Caribbean Case
- Author:
- Martin Heger, Alex Julca, and Oliver Paddison
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper analyses the impact of natural disasters in the Caribbean. The economic impact of natural disasters in the region has been significant, resulting in widespread destruction of the productive economy. This paper presents the main macroeconomic impact of disasters, e.g., a deteriorating fiscal balance, a collapse of growth and a worsening external balance, as a consequence of damage resulting from the event. By making special reference to the small-island developing state nature of many countries in the region, valuable lessons of the impact of such disasters on the capital stock can be learnt, particularly as the interruption of production of goods and services can be particularly devastating in an environment where few large sectors (agriculture, tourism) dominate the economic landscape.
- Topic:
- Development, Environment, Markets, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean
1849. Approaching a Triumphal Span: How Far Is China Towards its Lewisian Turning Point?
- Author:
- Fang Cai
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- With the aid of an analytical framework of the Lewis model revised to reflect the experience of China, this paper examines the country's dualistic economic development and its unique characteristics. The paper outlines the major effects of China's growth as achieved during the course of economic reform and the opening-up of the country: the exploitation of the demographic dividend, the realization of comparative advantage, the improvement of total factor productivity, and participation in economic globalization. By predicting the long-term relationship between the labour force demand and supply, the paper reviews the approaching turning point in China's economic development and examines a host of challenges facing the country in sustaining growth.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
1850. Asset-Based Poverty in Rural Tajikistan: Who Climbs out and Who Falls in?
- Author:
- Oleksiy Ivaschenko and Cem Mete
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Tajikistan's rural sector has witnessed substantial development since the country began to emerge from civil conflict in 1999. Gross agricultural output increased 64 per cent from 1999 to 2003, and there were significant developments in the agricultural reform agenda. This paper uses the panel component of two surveys conducted in Tajikistan at one-year interval (2003 and 2004) to explore the major determinants of the transition out of/into poverty of rural households. Poverty status is measured in the asset space, thus indicating structural rather than transitory poverty movements. The empirical analysis reveals several interesting findings that are also important from a policy perspective: first, cotton farming seems to have no positive impact on poverty levels, nor on mobility out of poverty. Second, the rate of increase in the share of private farming at the district level had little impact on poverty levels and poverty mobility.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Development, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Tajikistan