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4841. Subregional Relations in the Southern Tier: Prospects for Development

Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Doubts were expressed as to the extent one could define the Caucasus and Central Asia as a single region, particularly for the purposes of exploring the potential for subregional cooperation to develop among its constituent states. External considerations (complex relationship between Russia and the states involved; presence of other outside actors; energy transit perspectives; influence of external conflict, i.e. Afghanistan) may point towards consideration of the Southern Tier as one region. However, internal perspectives, geographical, historical, political and cultural, suggest that treating subregionalism separately in the Caucasus and Central Asia might be a more realistic and potentially fruitful approach.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
New York, Europe, Eurasia, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

4842. Deposit Insurance Funds: An Instrument of Banking Stability and Issues of Authority, Information and Effectiveness

Author:
Eugene Spiro
Publication Date:
03-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The EastWest Institute is interested in the issue of banking supervision as one of the primary goals of our Economics Program since 1990 has been to support the establishment of a reformed, market-based banking system in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). As an integral component of our broader work in providing expert support to commercial bank managers and economic policymakers on the concrete aspects of implementing reform-oriented practices and strategies, we see the underlying stability and transparency of the banking system to be of critical importance. In Hungary as elsewhere, banks are indispensable to the smooth functioning of the economy, and the EWI has long subscribed to the view that the banking sector (e.g. in the context of privatisation) is a 'special' sector and requires special treatment.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, and Maryland

4843. Networks in International Capacity Building: Cases from Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Kenneth Prewitt
Publication Date:
01-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
Networking is ubiquitous, Networks are not. By networks we have in mind professional and scientific collaborations unrestricted by geography—a group of scholars taking advantage of improved mobility and communication to work across institutional and national boundaries. This report draws from a conference that inquired into the role of networks in research, training and institution-strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa—terms commonly, if loosely, associated with "capacity building." Although the conference focused on networks that were making headway toward their declared goals, the purpose was not to celebrate success stories. It was to be analytic, with the intention of identifying generic questions and preliminary answers, particularly lessons of use to those involved in building, maintaining, strengthening and funding professional networks.
Topic:
Development and Third World
Political Geography:
Africa

4844. Emissions and Development in the United States: International Implications

Author:
Richard T. Carson and Donald R. McCubbin
Publication Date:
01-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
Abstract:
Concerns about the sustainability of resource use have no doubt been raised since civilization began. The most famous proponent of these concerns is Thomas Malthus (1976), who, in 1798, predicted that population growth would outstrip the ability of agriculture to supply food, and mass starvation would ensue. More recently, the widely read Limits to Growth report, by Meadows et al. (1974), presented a model of resource use and development that predicted humans would face unprecedented pollution and starvation, if current resource use patterns continued into the future. Of course, both reports' most dire predictions have not come true for several reasons. They failed to account for improvements in technology, the power of market prices to ration scarce resources, and the public's demand for environmental preservation when confronted with a perceived scarcity of environmental goods. Although the dire predictions failed to materialize, many believe that environmental quality will deteriorate as the world's economies grow, unless there are significant changes in human behavior. In this paper we make a modest attempt, using air pollution data, to examine the linkage between economic growth, human behavior, and environmental quality.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States

4845. The State in a Changing World: A Critique of the 1997 World Development Report

Author:
Devesh Kapur
Publication Date:
02-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
In recent years, the World Bank has been at the vanguard in pressing for a circumscribed role for the State in developing countries. It therefore comes as somewhat of a surprise that the 1997 World Development Report (WDR - the World Bank's annual flagship publication), The State in a Changing World, underscores the continuing significance of the State in LDCs.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, Government, International Organization, and Third World

4846. Women Coping with Crisis: Social Consequences of Export-Led Industrialization in the Dominican Republic

Author:
Helen I. Safa
Publication Date:
04-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
What are the social consequences of export-led industrialization, and are they a deterrent to sustainable development? This paper explores these questions by examining the link between export-led industrialization, the feminization of labor, and the growth of female-headed households in the Dominican Republic in a community that has undergone a marked shift in economic base from sugar production, employing mostly men, to export manufacturing, employing mostly women. Employment in export manufacturing gives women greater economic autonomy and greater leverage in the household, which, combined with deterioration in male employment, raises women's resistance to marriage and weakens the role of the male breadwinner. While female-headed households have increased in number, the economic and emotional support provided by consanguineal kin, often living in extended families, has enabled these households to function quite adequately. Under these circumstances, the female-headed household should not be seen as a deterrent to sustainability.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:
Caribbean

4847. The New Face of Regionalism in the Caribbean: The Western Hemisphere Dynamic

Author:
Anthony T. Bryan and Roget V. Bryan
Publication Date:
03-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
Regionalism in the Caribbean has emerged as a response to overcoming the development constraints of small size. The theories and strategies that helped to advance the process of Caribbean integration are undergoing a revision because of the process of globalization and the momentum toward free trade in the Western Hemisphere. The Caribbean countries now have to adapt rapidly to the new global liberalization process, based on reciprocal commitments. The way forward is not easy. The road map for the new regionalism in the Caribbean reflects a paradigm shift in the earlier theory and practice of integration. This paper explores the new face of regionalism within the context of second generation regional integration theories and smaller economies' agendas. The dynamic is much more complicated than originally conceived by Caribbean theorists and economists.
Topic:
Development, Emerging Markets, Globalization, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Caribbean

4848. Global Economics and Local Politics in Trinidad's Divestment Program

Author:
Anthony P. Maingot
Publication Date:
12-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
This study focuses on the complex interaction between local political, social, and economic exigencies and the imperatives of the global economy in Trinidad. Local systems operate according to the perceived needs of their elites and the moral codes and biases of the political culture. In Trinidad, the dominant biases have to do with racial competition. For more than five decades, efforts have been made to use the state to extend economic rights to underprivileged Afro-Trinidadians. In the mid-1980s, however, a shift in macroeconomic thinking led to liberalization and a growing gap between the traditional nationalist/statist ideology and the actual decisions of political elites. This paper explores this unresolved incongruity through a case study of Petrotrin, the national petroleum company that oversees the fast-growing oil and gas sector.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Political Economy, and Politics
Political Geography:
Caribbean

4849. Democracy and Reform in Cardoso's Brazil: Caught Between Clientelism and Global Markets?

Author:
Willian C. Smith and Nizar Messari
Publication Date:
09-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
This paper explores President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's record and his attempt to seek reelection on October 4 over the challenge of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, candidate of the Workers' Party (PT) and the left. These events are examined in the context of a central, inescapable dilemma of contemporary Brazilian politics: how to reconcile the exigencies of the market and globalization with the equally compelling needs to promote democracy while combating poverty, violence, and social exclusion. The paper concludes with analyses of various alternative politico-economic scenarios for Brazil following the October elections.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Economics, Globalization, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Brazil

4850. The Implementation of Agenda 21 in Latin America, 1992-1997

Author:
Gisela Salomón
Publication Date:
03-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The North-South Center, University of Miami
Abstract:
In June 1992, 172 governments meeting at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, agreed to work together to promote sustainable development. Five years later, in 1997, environmental problems continued to deteriorate. In this article, Gisela Salomón analyzes the difficulties faced by Latin American countries in implementing Agenda 21 and points to areas where progress has been made in sustainable development. The author expresses the need for governments to strengthen their political will to implement environmental strategies and to consider not only the economic aspects of development but social and ecological as well, emphasizing the importance of conscience-building, especially through education.
Topic:
Development and Environment
Political Geography:
Latin America