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711. Territorial review of Öresund,2003

Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
The Öresund project which is intended to develop jointly Skåne (Malmö) in Sweden and Zealand (Copenhagen) in Denmark is a major endeavour for the Danish and Swedish governments, given the potential economic growth that can be derived from the integration of one of the most highly populated and productive regions on the Baltic Sea. The significance of the project is reflected not only in the regional policy focus given to Öresund in both countries but also in the EU's support, notably through INTERREG, which considers Öresund a flagship programme. While progress has been achieved to better link the two regional economies, much remains to be done to remove barriers to integration and to define the strategic positioning of the area for the future. Four key policy challenges need to be addressed. First, regarding physical accessibility, the pricing policy for the crossing of the new bridge can be made more efficient and secondary infrastructure optimised to fully exploit the opportunities brought about by the fixed link. A cross-border committee could be created to allow integrated spatial planning. Second, labour mobility should be increased by removing bureaucratic and legislation obstacles through a new package of active labour market policies. Third, networking and co-operation between firms and educational institutions should be enhanced. Fourth, asymmetries of the two fiscal systems will need to be tackled by a new tax agreement. Most important is the governance framework of the region. While there are numerous common Danish/Swedish regional institutions and rightfully the creation of a heavily bureaucratic governing body has been avoided, the potential for public/private partnerships is far from tapped. Furthermore, the system in place does not provide an appropriate framework for the private sector to fully involve all relevant actors. These conditions will need to be fulfilled and forms of “light institutionalisation” of cross-border relations developed in order to trigger a new dynamism in the integration process.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Denmark and Sweden

712. Drifting Apart or Growing Together?

Author:
Joseph P. Quinlan
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
One of the defining features of the global economic landscape over the past decade has been the increasing integration and cohesion of the transatlantic economy. Globalization is happening faster and reaching deeper between Europe and America than between any other two continents. The data in this study suggest that the past decade was not primarily about U.S. companies spreading their operations to the four corners of the globe. Rather, it was a time when the transatlantic economy became even more intertwined and interdependent. Failing to understand this dynamic can lead to serious errors of policy and cause significant damage to U.S. and European interests.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe

713. Managing the Defense Budget Process

Author:
Nicole Ball
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
Sound fiscal management of the entire security sector is essential if a country is to have effective, efficient and professional security forces that are capable of protecting the state and its population against internal and external threats. Highly autonomous security forces that are able to act with impunity in the economic and political spheres are invariably professionally weak and highly cost-ineffective. Because the armed forces in many African countries absorb the majority of resources allocated to the security sector and tend to have a high degree of political autonomy, there is a good deal of interest in the process by which defense budgets are developed, implemented and monitored.
Topic:
Security, Development, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Africa

714. Banking Reform and Development in the Middle East and Africa

Author:
Catherine Boone and Henry Clement
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This study underscores the strategic role —both political and economic— of banking sector reform in the overall pursuit of economic development and democratization. It compares trajectories of banking sector reform in Middle Eastern and African countries that have remained on the margins of the new global economy. A close look shows that there governments' willingness to embrace reform has differed across contexts, as has the extent and pace of reform. Meanwhile, the effects of reform have also been very uneven. We model this variation in reform trajectories and its outcomes, propose a theoretical explanation for it, and use a set of case studies to illustrate the contrasts and causal dynamics that we have identified. Our main claim is that structural features of national political economies go far in defining actual trajectories of banking sector reform and liberalization. Structural features of national political economies that we define as key are the strength of indigenous private sector, and how it is linked to the state and foreign capital. We propose a typology of banking structure and reform trajectories and use case studies from the Middle East and Africa to illustrate variation in the politics of banking sector reform.
Topic:
Development and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Middle East, Canada, North America, and Mexico

715. Cross-border business activities in the Small and Medium Enterprise sector in the Southern Adriatic border areas of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author:
Ivo Grkovic and Nikola Kalafatovic
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Analyzing the area of our interest and its economic perspective requires us to take a step back in to the past and conclude that history rep eats itself. Traditionally, this has been the area of trade, communication, as well as war. The last fifty years, up until the disintegration of ex-Yugoslavia, represented the longest period of peace in this region of different cultures, nations and history. In ex-Yugoslavia, these differences did not represent a limiting factor, and therefore the transport of people as well as goods was free and unlimited. Although the state borders existed, in the legal sense they were not of great importance. We can say that people living in this region were both geographically and economically directed towards each other. However, economic differences were present, and Croatia ranked as the second most developed state of ex-Yugoslavia (after Slovenia).
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Maryland, and Slovenia

716. The Federal Budget and the Regions

Author:
A.M. Lavrov
Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Improvement of the financial relations between the Federation and the regions still remains quite an urgent problem. The Concept of Reforming Inter budgetary Relations in the Russian Federation in 1999 — 2000 is being implemented; Russia's Finance Ministry has developed the Concept of Reforming Budget Federalism in the Russian Federation to 2005, which will soon be approved by the Government; a special section on interbudgetary relations has been included in the Main Long- Term Trends of Socio-Economic Policy of the Russian Federation Government program, drafted by the Strategic Research Center.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Bosnia

717. Prespa Economic Task Force Report: Barriers and Incentives to Cross-Border Economic Development

Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Building upon the positive co-operation undertaken to date, mainly concerning the protection and management of the Prespa Lakes region and the Prespa Park following the trilateral Declaration by the Prime Ministers: Mr. Costas Simitis, Mr. Ljubc o Georgievski and Mr. Ilir Meta, of 2 February , 2000, and in the spirit of the joint message delivered on 29 September 2000 by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Mr Aleksandar Dimitrov, Mr Paskal Milo and Mr George Papandreou at the Otesevo Conference a s well as the conclusions of the afore-mentioned conference (co-organised by the EastWest Institute, the Council of the Europe and the OSCE) an d the conclusions of the trilateral cross-border co-operation meeting, Korca – Kozani – Bitola, adopted in Kozani, September, 2001, EastWest Institute in close collaboration with its partners, (the Regional Enterprise Support Centre (RESC) in Bitola (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the Centre for Inter - Balkan Cooperation (CIBC) in Kozani (Greece) and the Regional Development Agency (RDA ) in Korce (Albania), launched a process for the creation of the Prespa Economic Task Force.
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Greece, Balkans, Macedonia, Albania, Maryland, and Kozani

718. A Tale of Two Countries: Poverty among Immigrants in Denmark and Sweden since 1984

Author:
Kræn Blume, Björn Gustafsson, Peder Pedersen, and Mette Verner
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The paper focuses on the problems of low income among immigrants, analysed by using comparable panel datasets for two Scandinavian welfare states. After a brief survey of a few earlier studies on immigrant poverty, we present Denmark and Sweden as interesting cases for comparative research. Cyclical profiles have been very different since the 1980s and both countries have experienced considerable differences with regard to the number and composition of immigrants from the less developed countries. Poverty rates, analysed relative to different background factors, are fairly high, in particular when considering the welfare state background of Denmark and Sweden. A number of differences are found in spite of the institutional similarities between the two countries.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Political Economy, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Denmark and Sweden

719. The Theoretical, Conceptual and Empirical Impact of the Service Economy: A Critical Review

Author:
Birgitte Andersen and Marva Corley
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper offers a critical review of the conventional economic classification, measurement and valuation of output, and related performance indicators, for the service sector. The paper also explores and contrasts long-standing views on the service knowledge base and service innovations, as well as the global aspects of many services. A problem arises when historical industrial classification schemes treat services as being 'immaterial' (i.e. everything that is not manufacturing and agriculture), while ignoring that the activities of services in the economy, as well as the corporate structures of firms, transcend such classification schemes at any level of aggregation. Other problems arise when associated traditional analytical methods measure services input and output and related performance indicators using the same conceptual framework and indicators as those that are applied for problem solving for agriculture and manufacturing. Such entanglements have other and wider consequences for understanding the impact of the new economy and for designing appropriate policy.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy

720. Integrating European Business

Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The first speaker considered the questions, 'What was expected from the internal market/ “1992” Programme?' and 'What is the single market?' The single market is the cornerstone of the EU, enshrined in Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union. It had not yet been completed but the Commission had argued, nevertheless, that EU GDP is 1.8% higher than it would have been without the single European market (SEM).
Topic:
International Trade and Finance and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe