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2181. The Volatility of Aid

Author:
George Mavrotas and David Fielding
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Issues related to the volatility of aid flows are now becoming crucial in view of their relevance to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The paper examines aid volatility using data for 66 aid recipients over the period 1973-2002. We improve upon earlier work in this important area by disaggregating total aid inflows into sector and programme aid. In this way we avoid focussing on a single aggregate, unlike most previous studies on aid volatility. We also adopt a different methodology to capture aid volatility. The institutional quality of the aid recipient affects the stability of sector aid but not that of programme assistance. Moreover, more open economies, which tend to be smaller and richer, ceteris paribus, are associated with more volatile sector aid flows.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, International Cooperation, and Poverty

2182. Decent Work and the Informal Economy

Author:
Anne Trebilcock
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The ILO was founded for social justice, a mandate expressed today in terms of decent work as a global goal, for all who work, whether in formal or informal contexts. In June 2002, the delegates to the International Labour Conference from governments, workers' and employers' organizations adopted a resolution incorporating conclusions on decent work and the informal economy. The four components of decent work – opportunities for employment and income, respect for rights at work, social protection and stronger social dialogue – form the backbone of the ILO's approach to the informal economy. These elements can also be seen through a development lens, and necessarily feature a strong gender dimension. To make the action foreseen by the ILC conclusions more easily operational in a cross-disciplinary way, the issues they address can be cast in terms of macro policy, governance, enhancement of productivity, markets and employment, social protection/addressing vulnerabilities, and representation and voice. All play key roles in poverty reduction. Moreover, recognizing the importance of measuring progress towards decent work, developments in relation to indicators are briefly described. This paper includes annexes reproducing the ILC conclusions along with two relevant resolutions adopted by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians and a list of ILO websites that address various aspects of decent work and the informal economy.
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, Economics, and Government

2183. From Local to Global and Informal to Formal: Entering Mainstream Markets

Author:
Reema Nanavaty
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This is a brief sketch of the Self Employed Women's Association's (SEWA) three-decade-long journey from the local to global and informal to formal sector in search of finding work and income for now 720,000 women workers. Though SEWA remains a local and an informal economy workers' organization, its aim has always been to mainstream its issues, hopes, and achievements.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance

2184. Unlocking Public Entrepreneurship and Public Economies

Author:
Elinor Ostrom
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Unlocking human potential requires a rich network of institutional arrangements in both private and public spheres. Opening the private sphere to entrepreneurship and complex market organization is well understood as a key to increasing the level and quality of private goods available to consumers. Opening the public sphere to entrepreneurship and innovation at local, regional, and international levels is also a key to increasing the level and quality of public goods – e.g., peace, safety, and health – available to citizens. This paper reviews studies of urban service delivery that have repeatedly found communities of individuals who have self-organized to provide and co-produce surprisingly good local services. In addition to unlocking individual freedom, we need to unlock the public sector from rigid, top-down, hierarchical organization.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance

2185. The Origins of Global Civil Society and Non-Territorial Governance: Some Empirical Reflections

Author:
William D. Coleman and Sarah Wayland
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
In contemporary discussions of global governance, many scholars have posited the possibility that networks of new social movements, publicly-oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other non-state actors have the potential to create pressures for increased transparency and accountability. A more legitimate democratic global politics would follow. Such networks are often seen to be the base of “global civil society”. Understanding the origins of global civil society is important if we are to assess well its possible contribution to addressing the challenge of global democratic governance in an era of globalization. In this paper, we evaluate two different views about the origins of global civil society. The first suggests that global civil society has been developing rationally over a long period of time, continuous with the development of domestic civil society in democracies. The second postulates global civil society to be a relatively new phenomenon, one that has emerged to respond to unprecedented challenges to democracy as a result of globalization.
Topic:
International Relations, Agriculture, Civil Society, Globalization, International Political Economy, Non-Governmental Organization, and Science and Technology

2186. Draft Constitution Gained, but an Important Opportunity Was Lost

Author:
Mona Iman
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
While the outcome of Iraq's October 15 national referendum is uncertain, it is clear that many of Iraq's Sunni Arabs will vote against it. Why are Sunni Arabs opposed to a constitution that appears to give them the same opportunities for self-governance that it provides to Kurds and Shia?
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Religion
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

2187. Six-Party Talks: Defining A Realistic Roadmap for Success

Author:
Ralph A. Cossa, Scott Snyder, and Brad Glosserman
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The forthcoming resumption of Six-Party Talks to eliminate nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula is expected to build on the Joint Statement of principles released at the end of the last round on September 19, 2005. While some have criticized the vagueness of the Joint Statement, it represents the first tangible progress in identifying common principles and objectives in two years of sporadic meetings. If North Korea has indeed made a “strategic decision” to abandon its nuclear weapons programs – a thesis still to be tested – it may provide a basis for future progress. For this to occur, however, a more specific negotiating road map and implementing process must be developed. It is important to assess where the current guidelines might lead and to identify the "commitments for commitments" and "actions for actions" that might be envisioned as next steps.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Asia and North Korea

2188. The EU as a Security Actor - "security by being" and "security by doing"

Author:
Bjørn Møller
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
In the present report, the focus is placed on the European Union (EU) and its security policy. It commences with some context-setting, i.e. with clarifying the EU's place in the global and European security “architecture” and its relations with the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO, finding the latter to be more controversial than suggested by official declarations. It then proceeds with the analysis of the EU, finding its main contribution to regional security to be related to what the EU is and represents rather than to what it is andre presents rather than to what it is does. An analysis of the latter, i.e. the directly security-related institutions and activities of the EU under the auspices of the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and the ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy) is also provided as well as an account of the “neighbourhood” programmes of the EU.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe

2189. EU's Neighbourhood Policy: A Question of Space and Security

Author:
Ulla Holm
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Terrorism and immigration stemming from the Southern Mediterranean have made it to the top of the European security agenda since 11 September 2001. This paper analyses the European Neighbourhood Policy in the light of European security perceptions. It suggests that the reason why the EU has difficulties in coming up with a coherent policy towards the Southern neighbours are due to fact that the EU and its member states are in an immense internal and external crisis of identity. This crisis has been further aggravated after the French and Dutch 'no' to the European Constitution. The paper makes the argument that the tension between modernity and post-modernity, between the European model of export of universalism and the increasing tendency to close the borders towards the 'others' further aggravates the identity crisis. The paper concludes that these tensions are increasing thus making it still more difficult for the EU to behave as an exporter of European values.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

2190. International Engagement in Failed States

Author:
Louise Riis Andersen
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Failed states have made it to the top of the international agenda following 11 September 2001. This paper gives an overview of the debate on 'what to do'. Firstly, it suggests an explanation of where these so-called failed states are coming from: Why do some states self-destruct? Secondly, four different approaches to failed states are presented and discussed - with special emphasis on the dilemmas and predicaments they each hold. The paper concludes that the question of what to do with failed states requires a political answer. Not a technical one.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Government, and Terrorism