Content Type: Working Paper / Political Geography: Asia / Topic: Development

201. Financial Development and Income Inequality in Rural China 1991-2000

Author:: Zhicheng Liang
Publication Date:: 09-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Financial development can exert a significant influence on the distribution of income. In this paper, using Chinese provincial data over the period of 1991-2000 and applying the generalized method of moment (GMM) techniques, we investigate the relationship between finance and inequality in rural China by testing alternative existing theories concerning the finance-inequality nexus. A negative and linear relationship between finance and inequality is found in our estimations. The empirical results show that financial development significantly reduces income inequality in post-reform rural China.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

202. Fiscal Decentralization and Political Centralization in China: Implications for Growth and Inequality

Author:: Xiaobo Zhang
Publication Date:: 09-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: China's current fiscal system is largely decentralized while its governance structure is rather centralized with strong top-down mandates and a homogenous governance structure. Due to large differences in initial economic structures and revenue bases, the implicit tax rate and fiscal burdens to support the functioning of local government vary significantly across jurisdictions. Regions initially endowed with a broader nonfarm tax base do not need to rely heavily on preexisting or new firms to finance public goods provision, thereby creating a healthy investment environment for the nonfarm sector to grow. In contrast, regions with agriculture as the major economic activity have little resources left for public investment after paying the expenses of bureaucracy. Consequently, differences in economic structures and fiscal burdens may translate into a widening regional gap.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

203. The Impacts of Growth and Inequality on Rural Poverty in China

Author:: Guanghua Wan and Yin Zhang
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper analyzes the evolution of poverty in China from the late 1980s to the late 1990s, employing a version of Shapley decomposition tailored to unit-record household survey data. The changes in poverty trends are attributed to two proximate causes— income growth and shifts in income distribution. Different datasets, poverty lines, poverty measures, and equivalence scales are used to examine the robustness of the results. Potential biases arising from ignoring differential regional prices and inflation are also investigated. Notwithstanding some ambiguities in the results, it is consistently found that rural poverty increased in the second half of the 1990s and adverse distributional changes are the main cause.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, and Poverty
Political Geography:: China and Asia

204. The Inequality-Growth Nexus in the Short and Long Runs: Empirical Evidence from China

Author:: Guanghua Wan, Zhao Chen, and Ming Lu
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper argues that the conventional approach of data averaging is problematic for exploring the growth—inequality nexus. It introduces the polynomial inverse lag (PIL) framework so that the impacts of inequality on investment, education, and ultimately on growth can be measured at precisely defined time lags. Combining PIL with simultaneous systems of equations, we analyze the growth—inequality relationship in postreform China, finding that this relationship is nonlinear and is negative irrespective of time horizons.
Topic:: Civil Society, Development, and Education
Political Geography:: China and Asia

205. Financial Development, Growth, and Regional Disparity in Post-Reform China

Author:: Zhicheng Liang
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Deepening financial development and rapid economic growth in China have been accompanied by widening income disparity between the coastal and inland regions. In this paper, by employing panel dataset for 29 Chinese provinces over the period of 1990-2001 and applying the generalized method of moment (GMM) techniques, we examine the impacts of financial development on China's growth performance. Our empirical results show that financial development significantly promotes economic growth in coastal regions but not in the inland regions; the weak finance-growth nexus in inland provinces may aggravate China's regional disparities.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

206. Spatial Convergence in China: 1952-99

Author:: Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, Dong Guo, and Patricio Aroca
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The purpose of this paper is to examine the convergence process in China by taking into account the spatial interaction between factors. The paper shows that there has been a dramatic increase in the spatial dependence of China's per capita GDP in the last 20 years. The consequence of space plays an important role, which is reflected in the influence of a neighbour's condition on the mobility of a province's income distribution from one category to another. The dynamics of the process showed evidence that China's distribution has gone from one of convergence to stratification, and from stratification to polarization.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

207. Financial Sector Development and Growth: The Chinese Experience

Author:: Mingming Zhou and Iftekhar Hasan
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper documents the financial and institutional developments of China during the past two decades, when China was successfully transformed from a rigid centralplanning economy to a dynamic market economy following its unique path. We empirically examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth in China by employing a panel sample covering 31 Chinese provinces during the important transition period 1986-2002. Our evidence suggests that the development of financial markets, institutions, and instruments have been robustly associated with economic growth in China.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: China and Asia

208. Primary Education in India: Prospects of Meeting the MDG Target

Author:: Bernarda Zamora and Sonia Bhalotra
Publication Date:: 07-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper uses two large repeated cross-sections, one for the early 1990s, and one for the late 1990s, to describe growth in school enrolment and completion rates for boys and girls in India, and to explore the extent to which enrolment and completion rates have grown over time. It decomposes this growth into a component due to changes in the characteristics that determine schooling, and another associated with changes in the responsiveness of schooling to given characteristics. Our results caution against the common practice of using current data to make future projections on the assumption that the model parameters are stable. The analysis nevertheless performs illustrative simulations relevant to the question of whether India will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of realising universal primary education by the year 2015. The simulations suggest that India will achieve universal attendance, but that primary school completion rates will not exhibit much progress.
Topic:: Civil Society, Development, and Education
Political Geography:: India and Asia

209. Reconstruction from Breakdown in Northeastern India: Building State Capability

Author:: M. Sajjad Hassan
Publication Date:: 07-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The northeast region of India remains fraught with severe violence, poor growth and acute frustration among its youth. Success of policies to resolve the region's crisis has proved less than encouraging. What could be the way out of the violence–poor growth trap? This paper argues that a key determinant of the instability in the region is the absence of the effective role of the state: to provide security and opportunities for social and economic wellbeing equitably to all sections of society; and to uphold the rule of law. For reconstruction to work the state must act to provide key political goods to all its citizens, and restore its legitimate authority by implementing policies and enforcing laws cleanly and transparently. Political leaders can contribute to this endeavour by organizing politics inclusively.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: India and Asia

210. Rethinking Import-substituting Industrialization: Development Strategies and Institutions in Taiwan and China

Author:: Tianbiao Zhu
Publication Date:: 07-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Conventional explanations of Taiwan and China's economic success point to the shift from an import-substituting industrialization (ISI) strategy to an export-oriented industrialization (EOI) strategy. This paper argues that the development strategies in Taiwan and China have always been a combination of ISI and EOI strategies during their entire miracle-creating period; far from the shift from ISI to EOI strategies, export promotion was used in both cases to sustain ISI, which has always been the central focus of development. Behind this strategy there is a set of institutions in both Taiwan and China, which has played a key role in supporting ISI, in particular, the government, the bank sector, public enterprises, and their relationship.
Topic:: Development and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: China, Israel, Taiwan, East Asia, and Asia

211. Food Security in Vietnam during the 1990s: The Empirical Evidence

Author:: Vasco Molini
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Analysing the performance of ten developing countries, Hoddinot and Yohannes (2002) find a strong association between two measures of food security (calorie intake and mostly dietary diversity) and the increase in expenditures per capita. Using various indicators of food security, we describe the changes in food balances in Vietnam and find evidence of a substitution of poor micronutrients items (rice and cereals) with rich ones like fruit, vegetables fish and meat. Poor households, while increasing the amount of calories consumed, still lack vitamins, iron, calcium, etc. A preliminary assessment of the food security variation showed that improvements were, as expected, more concentrated among the richer Vietnamese households than the poor ones, although there was some improvement among poorer strata as well. We also focus on the calorie/expenditure elasticity and compare results for the years 1993 and 1998. Our findings confirm that this link is strong, and show that calorie income elasticity changed in the expected direction. We conclude that in general food security improved in Vietnam during 1990s although considerable differences still remain among expenditure deciles and among regions due to the accentuated spatial difference.
Topic:: Security, Development, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Asia and Vietnam

212. Development of Financial Intermediation and the Dynamics of Rural-Urban Inequality: China, 1978-98

Author:: Qi Zhang, Mingxing Liu, and Yiu Por Chen
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Using China as a test case, this paper empirically investigates how the development of financial intermediation affects rural-urban income disparity (RUID). Using 20-year province level panel data, we find that the level of financial development is positively correlated with RUID. Examining two subperiods, 1978-88 and 1989-98, we test several competing hypotheses that may affect RUID. We find that the increase of RUID may be explained by fiscal policy during the first period and financial intermediates during the second period. In addition, we show that the direction of the Kuznets effect on RUID is sensitive to changes in government development policies. The rural development policies during the first period may have enhanced the rural development and reduced RUID. However, the financial intermediary policy during the second period focused on urban development and increased both urban growth and intra-urban inequalities, thus leading to an increase in RUID. Finally, we show that RUID is insensitive to the provincial industrial structure (the share of primary industry in GDP). These results are consistent with the traditional urban-bias hypothesis and are robust to the inclusion of controls for endogeneity issues. This study adds to the economic inequality literature by clarifying the effects of government policies on the underlying dynamics on convergent and divergent effects on rural-urban inequality.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:: China and Asia

213. How Should We Measure Global Poverty in a Changing World?

Author:: Kuan Xu and Lars Osberg
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Before effective anti-poverty policy can be designed and implemented, the extent, trend and distribution of poverty must be identified. In this sense, poverty measurement is a crucial intermediate step in public policymaking and development planning. This paper asks whether the estimated proportion of the world's population with income below US$1 (adjusted according to purchasing power parity) per day is a good measure of trends in global poverty. We argue that the answer depends on two important issues in the measurement of poverty—the definition of the poverty line, and how best to summarize the level of poverty In this paper, we survey the literature on poverty measurement, demonstrate the importance of considering poverty incidence, depth and inequality jointly, present a simple but powerful graphical representation of the Sen and SST indices of poverty intensity (the poverty box) which is the FGT index of order 1 and extend our empirical work to China using the commonly accepted international poverty line definition of one half median equivalent income.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, and Poverty
Political Geography:: China and Asia

214. Poverty Accounting by Factor Components: With an Empirical Illustration Using Chinese Data

Author:: Guanghua Wan
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The purpose of this paper is to develop two poverty decomposition frameworks and to illustrate their applicability. A given level of poverty is broadly decomposed into an overall inequality component and an overall endowment component in terms of income or consumption determinants or input factors. These components are further decomposed into finer components associated with individual inputs. Also, a change in poverty is decomposed into components attributable to the growth and redistributions of factor inputs. An empirical illustration using Chinese data highlights the importance of factor redistributions in determining poverty levels and poverty changes in rural China.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: China and Asia

215. Asia's Labour-Driven Economic Development, Flying-Geese Style: An Unprecedented Opportunity for the Poor to Rise?

Author:: Terutomo Ozawa
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The notion of 'shared growth' was introduced by the World Bank in recognition of East Asia's rapid growth accompanied by poverty reduction. It emphasizes the criticality of pro-poor policies and institutional setups in the fast-developing East Asian economies. The efforts of these individual countries are, however, a necessary but not sufficient condition (explanation). There is a more essential, underlying region-wide mechanism that simultaneously promotes regionalized growth and specifically favours Asia's working mass of unskilled labour. Such an efficacious mechanism is posited in the 'flying-geese paradigm of comparative advantage recycling in labour-intensive goods'. The paper argues that a number of favourable factors have fortuitously coalesced to engender a considerably favourable condition for Asia's rapid catch-up growth in which unskilled labour (the poor) can participate as their countries' most vital input in labour-driven development.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: East Asia and Asia

216. Pro-Poor Growth: The Asian Experience

Author:: Hyun H. Son and Nanak Kakwani
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper looks into the interrelation between economic growth, inequality, and poverty. Using the notion of pro-poor growth, this study examines to what extent the poor benefit from economic growth. First, various approaches to defining and measuring pro-poor growth are scrutinized using a variety of criteria. It is argued that the satisfaction of a monotonicity axiom is a key criterion for measuring pro-poor growth. The monotonicity axiom sets out a condition that the proportional reduction in poverty is monotonically an increasing function of the pro-poor growth measure. This paper proposes a pro-poor growth measure that satisfies the monotonicity criterion. This measure is called the 'poverty equivalent growth rate', which takes into account both the magnitude of growth and how the benefits of the growth are distributed to the poor and the non-poor. As the new measure satisfies the criterion of monotonicity, it is indicative that to achieve a rapid poverty reduction, the poverty equivalent growth rate ought to be maximized rather than the actual growth rate. The methodology developed in the paper is then applied to Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Asia, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand

217. Development Strategy, Viability, and Economic Institutions: The Case of China

Author:: Mingxing Liu, Pengfei Zhang, Shiyuan Pan, and Justin Yifu Lin
Publication Date:: 05-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper explores the politically determined development objectives and the intrinsic logic of government intervention policies in east developed countries. It is argued that the distorted institutional structure in China and in many least developed countries, after the Second World War, can be largely explained by government adoption of inappropriate development strategies. Motivated by nation building, most least-developed countries, including the socialist countries, adopted a comparative advantage defying strategy to accelerate the growth of capital-intensive, advanced sectors in their countries. In the paper we also statistically measure the evolution of government development strategies and the economic institutions in China from 1950s to 1980s to show the co-existence and coevolution of government adoption of comparative advantage defying strategy and the trinity system.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:: China and Asia

218. Trade Liberalization, Environment and Poverty: A Developing Country Perspective

Author:: M.S. Quresh
Publication Date:: 04-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper revisits the pollution haven hypothesis in the context of Pakistan by offering a systematic analysis of its trade and production patterns. Using bilateral trade statistics from 1975-2003, we test the hypotheses that Pakistan's net exports of pollutionintensive products have increased to the OECD countries. We also investigate if the stringency of environmental governance in the importing countries plays a role in determining Pakistan's exports of pollution-intensive products. The results reveal that there has been a change in the composition of output and exports towards pollutionintensive manufacturing that parallels the opening of the economy. Overall, the findings appear to be in favour of the pollution haven hypothesis and call for effective environmental policy response for poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
Topic:: Development, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Pakistan and Asia

219. Economic Development Strategy, Openness and Rural Poverty: A Framework and China's Experiences

Author:: Justin Yifu Lin and Peilin Liu
Publication Date:: 04-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper argues that both openness and poverty in a country are endogenously determined by the country's long-term economic development strategy. Development strategies can be broadly divided into two mutually exclusive groups: (i) the comparative advantage-defying (CAD) strategy, which attempts to encourage firms to deviate from the economy's existing comparative advantages in their entry into an industry or choice of technology; and (ii) the comparative advantage-following (CAF) strategy, which attempts to facilitate the firms' entry into an industry or choice of technology according to the economy's existing comparative advantages.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: China and Asia

220. Globalization, Growth and Poverty in India

Author:: Arup Mirtra and N.R. Bhanumurthy
Publication Date:: 04-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: In this paper an attempt is made to assess the impact of economic reforms on the incidence of poverty by decomposing the change in poverty ratio between two time points into growth/mean effect, inequality effect and the population shift effect. Based on the National Sample Survey data an analysis has been carried out for two time periods: (i) 1983 to 1993-94 and (ii) 1993-94 to 1999-2000, broadly representing the pre-reform and reform-period respectively, for the rural and urban areas of the fifteen major states, and also for the all-India level. The growth/mean effect, which determines the extent of fall (rise) in poverty incidence due to rise (fall) in mean per capita consumption expenditure, dominates in both the periods over the inequality effect, that estimates the rise (fall) in poverty due to rise (fall) in inequality. It also dominates over the population shift effect, which assesses the net impact on all-areas combined poverty, of a decline (rise) in rural (urban) poverty caused possibly by rural-urban migration. The growth effect, which is beneficial for poverty reduction, seems to have gone up in the reform period. The adverse inequality effect also fell in magnitude in the second period compared to the first. States with a greater beneficial growth effect in the second period relative to the first, also show a fall in the magnitude of an adverse population shift effect in the urban areas, i.e., a relatively less rise in the incidence of urban poverty caused by rural-urban migration.
Topic:: Development, Globalization, and Poverty
Political Geography:: India and Asia

221. Vulnerability to Globalization in India: Relative Rankings of States Using Fuzzy Models

Author:: Brinda Viswanathan and S. Kavi Kumar
Publication Date:: 04-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The net impact of globalization on developing countries, and more specifically on the poorer sections of population in these countries, is complex and context dependent, and hence needs to be analysed empirically. This study in the context of globalization attempts to develop regional level indices of vulnerability with respect to welfare loss in India using a methodology based on fuzzy inference systems. The vulnerability of an entity is conceptualized (following the practice in global climate change literature) as a function of its exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Empirical analysis based on such multidimensional conceptualization demands use of indicator-based approach which is attempted in this study and uses fuzzy models that adequately capture vagueness inherent in such approaches.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Globalization
Political Geography:: India and Asia

222. Three Decades of Rural Development Projects in Asia, Latin America, and Africa: Learning From Successes and Failures

Author:: Annelies Zoomers
Publication Date:: 03-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This article aims to contribute to the discussion about how to make development interventions more effective by analyzing the factors contributing to the success or failure of rural development projects. We made an aggregate level analysis of 46 projects in the field of agricultural research (AR), water management (WM), natural resource management (NRM), and integrated rural development (IRD), financed by the Netherlands' Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) and carried out between 1975-2005 in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Making a distinction between the successful projects and failures, we showed the possibilities and limitations of evaluating projects on the basis of the official criteria (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact and/or using criteria such as poverty, gender, institutional development, governance and environment). We learned that project performance very much depends on whether interventions 'keep track' with local priorities and trends. This is much more important than 'measuring output' (are results in line with the project goal?) which is wrongly presented as a priority in monitoring and evaluation practices.
Topic:: Development
Political Geography:: Africa, Asia, and Central America

223. International Finance and the Developing World: The Next Twenty Years

Author:: Tony Addison
Publication Date:: 02-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Much has changed in international finance in the twenty years since UNU-WIDER was founded. This paper identifies five broad contours of what we might expect in the next twenty years: the flow of capital from ageing societies to the more youthful economies of the South; the growth in the financial services industry in emerging economies and the consequences for their capital flows; the current strength in emerging market debt, and whether this represents a change in fundamentals or merely the effect of low global interest rates; the impact of globalization in goods markets in lowering inflation expectations, and therefore global bond yields; and the implications of the adjustment in global imbalances between Asia (in particular China) and the United States for emerging bond markets as a whole. The paper ends by noting the paradox that today we see ever larger amounts of capital flowing across the globe in search of superior investment returns, and yet the financing needs of the poorer countries are still largely unmet.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: United States, China, and Asia

224. Globalization And Military-Industrial Transformation In South Asia: An Historical Perspective

Author:: Emrys Chew
Publication Date:: 04-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: This paper attempts to demonstrate the relevance of the historical method and the importance of identifying long-term globalizing patterns in understanding the military-industrial transformation and militarization of South Asia. Out of this particular historical matrix would flow the events of 9/11, as well as ongoing developments in the global 'war on terror', fought out in the wider periphery of South Asia.
Topic:: Development, Globalization, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Asia

225. Afghanistan's Uncertain Transition From Turmoil to Normalcy

Author:: Barnett Rubin
Publication Date:: 03-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: Before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and all that followed, Afghans and the handful of internationals working on Afghanistan could hardly have imagined being fortunate enough to confront today's problems. The Bonn Agreement of December 2001 providing for the "reestablishment of permanent government institutions" in Afghanistan was fully completed with the adoption of a constitution in January 2004, the election of President Hamid Karzai in October 2004, and the formation of the National Assembly in December 2005.
Topic:: Development and War
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, and Asia

226. The Rule of Law in China: Incremental Progress

Author:: Jamie P. Horsley
Publication Date:: 04-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Western media reporting on China does not give the impression of a rule of law country. We read of frequent corruption scandals, a harsh criminal justice system still plagued by the use of torture, increasingly violent and widespread social unrest over unpaid wages, environmental degradation and irregular takings of land and housing. Outspoken academics, activist lawyers, investigative journalists and other champions of the disadvantaged and unfortunate are arrested, restrained or lose their jobs. Entrepreneurs have their successful businesses expropriated by local governments in seeming violation of the recently added Constitutional guarantee to protect private property. Citizens pursue their grievances more through extra-judicial avenues than in weak and politically submissive courts. Yet China's economy gallops ahead, apparently confounding conventional wisdom that economic development requires the rule of law.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: United States, China, and Asia

227. Economic Growth and India's Future?

Author:: Joydeep Mukherji
Publication Date:: 03-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:: Recent optimism about India is based on the view that the country may finally be on a higher growth trajectory after more than a decade of halting economic reform. Spurred by a balance of payments crisis a decade ago that pushed the government of India to nearly defaulting on its foreign debt, a series of coalition governments have slowly deregulated the once most-regulated economy outside the communist world. Over the years, the government has enlarged the role of market forces, given more freedom to the private sector, and cut barriers to domestic and foreign competition. At the same time, India's state governments have gained considerable autonomy from the central government, making India into the federal state envisaged in its constitution.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: India, East Asia, and Asia

228. India's New Entrepreneurial Classes: The High Growth Economy and Why it is Sustainable?

Author:: Sunil Bharti Mittal
Publication Date:: 02-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:: I am Francine Frankel, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, and it is my great pleasure this evening to introduce our speaker for CASI's Annual Lecture, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder, chairman, and group managing director, Bharti Enterprises. I hardly need tell this audience that Bharti Tele-Ventures is India's leading telecom conglomerate and its largest mobile service operator.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: India, East Asia, and Asia

229. Trade, Development and the Doha Round: A Sure Bet or a Train Wreck?

Author:: Daniel Drache
Publication Date:: 03-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: This paper explores the strategy and assumptions that are pushing the Doha Round into dangerously troubled waters, and it assesses the different agendas on the table. It summarizes how we reached the current deadlock, and examines the state of the WTO's legal dispute mechanism. It then critically assesses how divergences play out in the key policy areas of water exports, generic drugs, textile quotas, service-sector liberalization, and agricultural subsidies. Lastly, it will try to answer the question of whether Doha is 'a sure bet, or a train wreck' by looking at several of the prospects and possible scenarios that face the WTO post-Hong Kong. What is now evident is that a target deal seems more distant than ever. It would appear that evolution is not going to be kind to the WTO. The Doha Round is too complex which increases the possibility of failure; too intrusive to assuage many of global civil society's concerns and too anti-development for numerous countries in the Global South to come on board. Paradoxically, many countries are proving to be resilient and innovative when faced with the negotiating impasse and are not pushing the panic button. The global economy is not drifting towards protectionism and the core trading nations seem ready to accept a less dynamic WTO.
Topic:: Development, International Trade and Finance, and Third World
Political Geography:: China and Asia

230. From Soldier to Civilian: Disarmament Demobilisation Reintegration in Afghanistan

Author:: Peter Dahl Thruelsen
Publication Date:: 06-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This report sets out to explore the processes of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) within the context of post-conflict peace-building. I have tried to investigate the transformation of soldiers to civilians in the aftermath of war. The purpose of the research is to facilitate practical recommendations of DDR to be used in future cases of post-conflict peace-building.
Topic:: Security, Civil Society, and Development
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Asia

231. Flying Geese or Sitting Ducks: China's Impact on the Trading Fortunes of other Asian Economies

Author:: Alan J. Ahearne, John G. Fernald, John W. Schindler, and Prakash Loungani
Publication Date:: 12-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:: This paper updates our earlier work (Ahearne, Fernald, Loungani and Schindler, 2003) on whether China, with its huge pool of labor and an allegedly undervalued exchange rate, is hurting the export performance of other emerging market economies in Asia. We continue to find that while exchange rates matter for export performance, the income growth of trading partners matters far more. This suggests the potential for exports of all Asian economies to grow in harmony as long as global growth is strong. We also examine changes in export shares of Asian economies to the U.S. market and find evidence that dramatic changes in shares are taking place. Many of these changes are consistent with a 'flying geese' pattern in which China moves into the product space vacated by the Asian NIEs or with greater integration of trade across Asia in the production of final goods. Nevertheless, China's dramatic gains in recent years do increase the pressure on Asian economies, particularly in ASEAN and South Asia, to seek areas of comparative advantage.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Foreign Exchange, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:: China, South Asia, and Asia

232. China and the Multilateral Trading System

Author:: Robert Z. Lawrence
Publication Date:: 10-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper reviews China's multilateral and preferential trade policies. It reviews the demanding terms of China's WTO accession, its current tariff and trade regime and its participation in the Doha Round negotiations and the institution's regular activities. The analysis concludes that China's trade policies are broadly supportive of a rules based multilateral trading order and its behavior at the WTO is that of a status quo power rather than one seeking major systemic changes. The discussion then turns to China's regional trade initiatives. China has been extremely active in negotiating these and their implications remain uncertain. Concerns about an East Asian fortress, though, appear misplaced. Directly, and through their impact in inducing others to respond, these FTAs could provide a powerful impetus to the process of competitive global liberalization. Countries that do implement agreements with China will find it relatively easy to open their markets to other developing countries. There is also a risk however that the proliferation of FTAs will lead to web of overlapping agreements that could make the trading system unnecessarily complex.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: China and Asia

233. Caste Embeddedness and Microfinance: Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Andhra Pradesh, India

Author:: Guy Stuart
Publication Date:: 09-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper examines how the introduction of a new set of institutional practices through the creation of new organizations bump up against, but also build on, the existing social structure and practices of the setting in which they are introduced. In this case, the new practices were cooperative governance and financial accounting practices introduced through the medium of cooperative organizations into villages in Andhra Pradesh, by the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) during the 1990s. The paper demonstrates how the CDF both built on and challenged the existing social structure of the villages in which their cooperatives developed. In particular, the paper shows that the new institutional rules the cooperatives implemented interacted with the existing caste and gender structure in a variety of ways that included direct conflict, mutual support, and in difference.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:: India, Asia, and Andhra Pradesh

234. Judicial Reform in China: Lessons from Shanghai

Author:: Veron Mei-Ying Hung
Publication Date:: 04-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The George W. Bush administration in September 2002 laid out in the “National Security Strategy of the United States” its strategy toward China: “We welcome the emergence of a strong, peaceful, and prosperous China.” During a trip to Asia in March 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice adopted a similar phrase to welcome “the rise of a confident, peaceful, and prosperous China.”
Topic:: International Relations, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: United States, China, Shanghai, and Asia

235. Vladimir Putin and Russia's Oil Policy

Author:: Martha Brill Olcott
Publication Date:: 02-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The honeymoon between the Western oil industry and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended in mid-2003 when the Russian procurator's office began arresting Yukos executives. The Kremlin's seemingly sudden attack on private industry surprised the international business community that was expecting investment-friendly behavior from the Russian leadership. After assuming power in late 1999, Putin quickly signaled interest in developing a strong energy partnership with the United States, including increased opportunities for Western firms to invest in Russia's oil and gas industry.
Topic:: Development, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia

236. Nepal's Maoists: Their Aims, Structure and Strategy

Publication Date:: 10-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: In less than ten years, the Maoist insurgency has transformed Nepal. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has spread armed conflict across the country and reshaped its political environment irrevocably. But their political aims are still questioned, and not enough is known about their structure and strategy. This background report seeks to fill in many of the gaps, based on close study of their writings and actions and a wide range of interviews, in order to provide policymakers in Nepal and the international community with information and insights needed to approach a peace process realistically.
Topic:: Development and Government
Political Geography:: Asia and Nepal

237. The Rise of China with Special Reference to Arms Supplies

Author:: Peter Brookes, Bruno Tertrais, and Alexei D. Voskressenski
Publication Date:: 04-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: Like the rest of the world, Europe has been fascinated by the emergence of China for a long time, and there has been an official relationship between the EU and the People's Republic of China for 30 years now. This relationship was upgraded in 1998. It now takes the form of a China-EU summit every year, the latest having taken place in December 2004. The EU became China's main trading partner in 2004, with trade between the two parties soaring to €160 billion.
Topic:: Arms Control and Proliferation and Development
Political Geography:: China, Europe, and Asia

238. Indo-US Relations: Where Are They Headed?

Author:: Ronen Sen
Publication Date:: 12-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for the Advanced Study of India
Abstract:: I am Francine Frankel, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India. It is a very special pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all of you for this special occasion. We are honored to welcome Ambassador of India Ronen Sen for a very unusual event. This is the opportunity to participate in a dialogue with India's most distinguished diplomat and active participant in ongoing discussions of the potential for changing the direction of India-US relations and potentially the future great power balance in Asia.
Topic:: International Relations and Development
Political Geography:: United States, India, East Asia, and Asia

239. "Qui a le bâton, a le buffle". Le corporatisme économique de l'armée pakistanaise

Author:: Amélie Blom
Publication Date:: 12-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:: "He who has the stick, has the buffalo". This Punjabi proverb applies well to Pakistan's armed forces, a majority of which, in fact, hail from this province. They have gradually formed an economic interest group with many industrial and commercial activities that have become an integral part of Pakistan's everyday life. Oddly enough, this patent fact has been neglected by the academic research on Pakistan or, at best, has only been addressed in a descriptive manner. The present study attempts to explain the transformation of Pakistan's armed forces into a significant economic actor by reinterpreting Charles Tilly's thesis about the dependent militarization of Third World states. It emphasizes the crucial role played by local capital, especially land. It also stresses how endogenous historical factors (the colonial legacy) and political factors (the delicate civil-military balance of power) have helped the army to consolidate itself institutionally. Yet, since the 1980s, the expansion of military economic corporatism has provoked increased tensions between the army and its civilian partners, primarily the bureaucracy, which is the main loser in this unfair competition for state property. It also produces social resistance: unprecedented civil disobedience movements have appeared, and old grievances emanating from ethnic groups under-represented within the army have been reawakened. The phenomenon also creates friction within the armed forces themselves. Nevertheless, these tensions do not seriously undermine a corporatist rationale that is far too effective and functional to disappear. Paradoxically, the military's "privatisation" contributes to its internal cohesion. Indeed, military patrimonialism in Pakistan can usefully be analysed as one of the many processes that has helped the armed forces maintain a strong "esprit de corps" and which has given rise to what can be termed "military syndicalism".
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:: Pakistan and Asia

240. BRICSAM and the Non-WTO

Author:: Agata Antkiewicz and John Whalley
Publication Date:: 10-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: We discuss recent regional trade and economic partnership agreements involving the large population, rapidly growing economies (BRICSAM: Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa, ASEAN, and Mexico). Perhaps 50 out of 300 agreements that exist worldwide involve BRICSAM countries; most are recently concluded and will be implemented over the next few years. Along with extensive bilateral investment treaties, mutual recognition agreements, and other country to country (or region) arrangements they are part of what we term the non-WTO. This paper aims to document and characterize the agreements and analyze their possible impacts. Agreements differ in specificity, coverage and content. In some treaties there are detailed and specific commitments, but these also co-exist with seemingly vague commitments and (at times) opaque dispute settlement and enforcement mechanisms. Whether these represent a partial replacement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) process for newly negotiated reciprocity based on global trade liberalization or largely represent diplomatic protocol alongside significant WTO disciplines is the subject of this paper.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Russia, China, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico

241. A Half-Century of Development

Author:: Richard N. Cooper
Publication Date:: 03-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:: Development as a global policy objective dates from the 1940s. Relative to expectations then, the world economy performed outstandingly well during the second half of the 20th century. Worldwide growth in average per capita income exceeded two percent a year (historically unprecedented), many poor countries became rich, infant mortality declined, diets improved, longevity increased, diseases were contained if not vanquished. Poverty on the World Bank definition of $1 a day (in 1985$) declined dramatically, and the number of persons in poverty was halved despite a more than doubling of the world population. Variations occurred over time and space, with rapid growth being concentrated in Europe and Japan early in the period, then moving to east Asia, southeast Asia, and south Asia. Growth in the 1950s and especially the 1960s exceeded that in later decades. Examples of high growth could be found in every continent, but on average sub-Saharan Africa fared much less well than other regions. Declines in national per capita income were rare, and concentrated in Africa. Civil disorder was a common but not the universal cause of low growth. Median world income gained relative to the well-off, but both spurted ahead of the poorest. World exports grew more rapidly than output, often leading the way. Many countries gradually shifted their exports from primary products to labor-intensive manufactured goods, and as development proceeded to more sophisticated manufactures and services. The fraction of the labor force devoted to agriculture declined significantly. One country after another achieved social stability, created the right incentives for effort and risk-taking, and engaged constructively with the world economy, which facilitated economic growth. Those that lagged failed to meet one or more of these conditions. Civil and political liberties also spread during this period, although less certainly and less securely. On the whole, it was a good half century for mankind. The substantial poverty and misery that still exists should not lead to neglect or even denial of these achievements.
Topic:: Development, Inequality, Economy, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:: Africa, Japan, Europe, and Asia

242. Divergent Means and Convergent Inequality of Incomes among the Provinces and Cities of Urban China

Author:: John Knight, Li Shi, and Zhao Renwei
Publication Date:: 08-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Two precisely comparable national household surveys relating to 1988 and 1995 are used to analyse changes in the inequality of income in urban China. Over those seven years province mean income per capita grew rapidly but diverged across provinces, whereas intra-province income inequality grew rapidly but converged across provinces. The reasons for these trends are explored by means of various forms of decomposition analysis. Comparisons are also made between the coastal provinces and the inland provinces. The decompositions show the central role of wages, and within wages profitrelated bonuses, together with the immobility of labour across provinces, in explaining mean income divergence. The timing of economic reforms helps to explain the convergence of intra-province income inequality. Policy conclusions are drawn.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

243. Income Inequality in Rural China: Regression-based Decomposition Using Household Data

Author:: Guanghua Wan and Zhangyue Zhou
Publication Date:: 08-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: A considerable literature exists on the measurement of income inequality in China and its increasing trend. Much less is known, however, about the driving forces of this trend and their quantitative contributions. Conventional decompositions, by factor components or by population subgroups, only provide limited information on the determinants of income inequality. This paper represents an early attempt to apply the regression-based decomposition framework to the study of inequality accounting in rural China, using household level data. It is found that geography has been the dominant factor but is becoming less important in explaining total inequality. Capital input emerges as a most significant determinant of income inequality. Farming structure is more important than labour and other inputs in contributing to income inequality across households.
Topic:: Demographics, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

244. Fifty Years of Regional Inequality in China: A Journey through Central Planning, Reform, and Openness

Author:: Ravi Kanbur and Xiaobo Zhang
Publication Date:: 08-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper constructs and analyses a long-run time-series for regional inequality in China from the Communist Revolution to the present. There have been three peaks of inequality in the last fifty years, coinciding with the Great Famine of the late 1950s, the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and 1970s, and finally the period of openness and global integration in the late 1990s. Econometric analysis establishes that regional inequality is explained in the different phases by three key policy variables; the ratio of heavy industry to gross output value, the degree of decentralization, and the degree of openness.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: China and Asia

245. A Development-focused Allocation of the Special Drawing Rights

Author:: Ernest Aryeetey
Publication Date:: 03-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Efforts to realize the issue of development-focused Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been on-going for many years. Recently, however, the campaign first gained a new momentum immediately after the Asian financial crises with the new liquidity problems of developing nations following the collapse of private capital markets. Currently the search for financing options towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals drives the interest in development-focused SDRs. Extending the uses to which SDR can be put is derived from the growing demands on the international financial system to respond to the development finance needs of poor nations. Apart from the need to provide emergency funds in times of crises and the whole area of crisis prevention, increasingly the facilitation of development in poor countries and assistance to make the best policy decisions is considered crucial.
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Asia

246. Minimal Investments, Minimal Results: The Failure of Security Policy in Afghanistan

Author:: Michael Bhatia, Kevin Lanigan, and Philip Wilkinson
Publication Date:: 06-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:: Prime Minister Tony Blair's 2003 declaration that the international community “will not walk away from” Afghanistan missed the real question: When will the international community really walk into Afghanistan, and make the necessary commitments and investments that will give the Afghan people a reasonable chance at building a peaceful and stable country?
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Asia

247. Building a New Afghanistan: The Value of Success, the Cost of Failure

Author:: Barnett Rubin, Abby Stoddard, Humayun Hamidzada, and Adib Farhadi
Publication Date:: 03-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: On March 31, 2004, representatives of national governments and international organizations will meet in Berlin to renew their collective commitment to rebuild Afghanistan and ensure its future stability and development. The government of Afghanistan has thus far met all the deadlines and benchmarks required of it under the Bonn Agreement of December 5, 2001, and Afghanistan's international partners have made generous and at times risky contributions to that effort, including sacrificing the lives of some of their citizens.
Topic:: Development, Government, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Asia, and Berlin

248. What Went Right in Japan

Author:: Adam S. Posen
Publication Date:: 09-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:: Japan's recovery is strong. Real GDP growth will exceed 4 percent this year and likely be 3 percent or higher in 2005 and perhaps even 2006. The Japanese economy has been growing solidly for the last five quarters (average real 3.2 percent annualized rate), and the pace is sustainable, given Japan's underlying potential growth rate (which has risen to 2 to 2.5 percent per year) and the combination of catch-up growth closing the current output gap and some reforms that will raise the growth rate for quarters to come (though not permanently). Indicators of domestic demand beyond capital investment are increasingly positive, including housing starts bottoming out, inventories drawing down, and diminished deflation. Moreover, on the external side, while China was the main source of export growth in 2003, the composition of exports has become more balanced this year and is widening beyond that seen in other recoveries. Just as in the United States and other developed economies, a sharp slowdown in Chinese growth and a sustained further increase in energy prices represent the primary risks to the outlook.
Topic:: Development and Economics
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, Israel, East Asia, and Asia

249. CERI: The socio-political effects of forced migrations linked tomajor hydraulic projects in China. The example of the Three Gorges dam.

Author:: Florence Padovani
Publication Date:: 04-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:: The study of the population movements caused by the major Chinese hydraulic projects reveals the true extent of the change which has come about in relations between the State and society in China. The construction of the Three Gorges dam-which led to considerable controversy both within China and beyond - is a prime case in point.
Topic:: Civil Society, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

250. Transfrontier Cooperation in the North-West of Russia: 21st Century

Author:: Vladlena V. Eliseeva
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: This study has been prepared in conjunction with the Transfrontier Cooperation Do- nor Forum held in St. Petersburg on April 25, 2003 under the EastWest Instituteís Regional and Transfrontier Cooperation (RTFC) Program. EWI has over ten years of experience in transfrontier cooperation in various regions of Europe. Long before issues surrounding the upcoming EU enlargement were a top priority on the EU-Russia agenda, EWIís RTFC Program was researching and assessing the impact of enlargement on the Baltic Sea Region in general, and on the Kaliningrad Region (EWIís priority area in the North-West of Russia) in particular. Today, in view of the upcoming European Union enlargement, transfrontier cooperation (TFC) has assumed an increasing importance for the future of a larger Europe.
Topic:: Development and Globalization
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

251. The Logic of Piloting and Trans-Border Regionalism: The Project-Oriented Approach in EU-Russian Cooperation

Author:: Andrey Makarychev and Sergei Prozorov
Publication Date:: 12-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper addresses the impact of innovative developments in Russian policy-making discourse during the Putin presidency on the transformation of conflict issues in EU-Russian relations. The increasing recourse of Russian policy-makers in the border regions to the so-called 'projectoriented approach', which has an affinity to the modality of policy-making espoused by the EU programmes in Russia, has important consequences for conflictual dispositions in EU-Russian trans-border relations.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and Development
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

252. The case for regional exchange rate arrangement in East Asia'

Author:: Takuji Kinkyo
Publication Date:: 08-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:: The Asian crisis highlighted the difficulties for developing countries to actively manage exchange rates in an environment of high capital mobility. Now it became fashionable to argue that the exchange rate should be either allowed to float freely or irrevocably fixed. This paper examines the case for regional exchange rate arrangements as an instrument to enhance the manageability of exchange rates and discusses the options in East Asia. It critically assess the existing proposal of common basket peg system and suggests that East Asia should seek to create an Asian-version of regional monetary system modeled on the EMS.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, Economics, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:: East Asia and Asia

253. Transmission channels of capital flow shocks: why Korean crisis was so severe'

Author:: Takuji Kinkyo
Publication Date:: 08-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:: The Asian crisis highlighted the vulnerability of emerging market economies faced by sudden capital flow reversals. An important question that has critical implications for crisis management is how negative shocks in capital inflows were transmitted to economic activities, transforming financial instability into fully-fledged crises. Using VARs, this paper analyzes the transmission mechanism of capital flow shocks during the Korean crisis of 1997-98. Although it is commonly believed that severe economic contractions were caused by credit crunch, the analysis suggests that the major constraint for production was a steep rise in prices of imported inputs due to sharp exchange rate depreciations.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, Economics, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Asia and Korea

254. Reimagining International Society Through the Emergence of Japanese Imperialism

Author:: Shogo Suzuki
Publication Date:: 11-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract:: In the not too distant past Timothy Dunne asserted that '[International] society is what states have made of it'. Since then much has been written about how the English School offers a valuable interpretivist approach, how it has spread across the world, how it can be improved, and what it has to say about non-European societies and 'world society'. This paper aims to contribute to all three facets of the debate through a case study of how the Japanese elite understood international society during the bakumatsu (late-Tokugawa)/early-Meiji periods (1853-95). In doing so, it examines the emergence of Japanese imperialism from the perspective of international society as perceived by English School scholars.
Topic:: International Relations and Development
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, Europe, and Asia

255. Risks and Rights: The Causes, Consequences, and Challenges of Development-Induced Displacement

Author:: W. Courtland Robinson
Publication Date:: 05-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: While it may have as many meanings as people who invoke its name, development generally has positive, though perhaps ambiguous, connotations. Uneven development is a bad thing and sustainable development is a good thing but, for the most part, under- developed countries and communities seek to become more developed, whether that is through improving health and livelihoods, expanding educational opportunities, or building infrastructure. But, as the citations above suggest, development does not benefit everyone equally and for some—indeed, for millions of people around the world—development has cost them their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and even their very lives. The suffering of those displaced by development projects can be as severe, and the numbers as large, as those displaced either internally or internationally by conflict and violence. What follows is an examination of the often-overlooked phenomenon of development-induced displacement, its causes, consequences and challenges for the international community.
Topic:: Development, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:: Africa and Asia

256. Participation in a Decentralized Housing Allowance Program in a Transition Economy

Author:: Tatiana Lykova, Sergei Sivaev, Raymond J. Struyk, and Ekaterina Petrova
Publication Date:: 05-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: When Russia's housing allowance program, the country's first means-tested program, was introduced in 1994, it was truly innovative. But there were difficulties from the start, many arising from the division of authority for setting program parameters among different levels of government and the potential for variation in the treatment of similar households in different cities. In 1996, the program's original simple basis for benefit determination was seriously impaired by the introduction of different principles for very low-income households. Moreover, local governments have exhibited a willingness to vary benefits from year-to-year, depending on political and budgetary considerations. The analysis presented here documents the impact of these variations on participation rates in a sample of Russian cities. Large inequities are obviously present in the treatment of similar households from city to city. Indeed, it is questionable whether the program as currently configured is fulfilling the social safety net function envisioned for it in the original legislation.
Topic:: Development, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

257. Russia's Winter Woes: Tariff Setting for Local Utilities in a Transition Economy

Author:: Sergei Sivaev, Raymond J. Struyk, Valentin Andrianov, and Emin Askerov
Publication Date:: 04-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: During the past two winters, breakdowns in district heating services in Russia have grabbed international headlines. In Russia these services and water and sewerage services are the responsibility of municipal governments; these governments set the tariffs for these services. This article examines the tariff-setting process during 1997–2001 for these two services with particular emphasis on the decision process for considering tariff increases. We find that little progress has been made during the transition period in developing the legal base for rational tariff-setting procedures. Overall, tariff increases have been substantially less than the rate of inflation. Statistical analysis confirms that decisionmaking is highly politicized and that in times of extreme inflation tariff increases lag even further behind inflation, with the sector being used as a kind of shock absorber to cushion the full impacts of inflation on the population. There is an obvious acute need for leadership at the national level to address these problems.
Topic:: Development, Energy Policy, and Government
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

258. Externalities in Rural Development: Evidence for China

Author:: Martin Ravallion
Publication Date:: 07-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The paper tests for external effects of local economic activity on consumption and income growth at the farm household level using panel data from four provinces of post-reform rural China. The tests allow for nonstationary fixed effects in the consumption growth process. Evidence is found of geographic externalities, stemming from spillover effects of the level and composition of local economic activity and private returns to local human and physical infrastructure endowments. The results suggest an explanation for rural underdevelopment arising from underinvestment in certain externality-generating activities, of which agricultural development emerges as the most important.
Topic:: Development and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

259. Policy Recommendations for the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III)

Publication Date:: 09-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: The world is now several years into the twenty-first century. However, Africa remains a place faced with many difficulties, from violent conflicts to poverty and disease. A cursory examination of Africa today shows that the majority of the people in this region are not able to raise their incomes, and that the number of Africans living in poverty continues to increase, despite the fact that their countries receive considerable aid from the international community.
Topic:: Development, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:: Africa and Asia

260. Through the Fog of Peace Building: Evaluating the Reconstruction of Afghanistan

Author:: Barnett Rubin, Abby Stoddard, and Humayan Hamidzada
Publication Date:: 06-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: A year and a half after the defeat of the Taliban, anger is rising in Afghanistan at the slow pace of reconstruction. Success in reconstruction means meeting goals, not fulfilling pledges or being generous. The overriding goal is enabling Afghans to build a country that contributes to, rather than threatens, their own and global security. As the government of Afghanistan becomes better organized and articulates both this goal and what is needed to reach it more clearly, it has become evident that donors underestimated the amount of assistance required. Initial pledges fell short even of underestimates of the needs and were far less than in other comparable cases. Initial disbursements, which in past cases have always exceeded subsequent ones, came relatively quickly and nearly met pledges, as donors have highlighted (see figure 1). But most of these disbursements went for emergency humanitarian needs, not reconstruction. Implementation of those reconstruction projects that have been funded has been exceedingly slow, leaving little to show on the ground. As of May 2003, donors reported that in 17 months they had completed reconstruction projects with a total expenditure of only $191 million, out of $2.1 billion pledged to reconstruction for the first twelve months. Furthermore, according to Afghan government figures, only 16 percent of the total disbursements (including for humanitarian purposes) had passed through channels controlled by the struggling Afghan government and had thus failed to build that government's capacity or legitimacy. The pervasive insecurity outside of Kabul prevented implementation of major projects and sapped the public's confidence in the new authorities. Failure to strengthen the government and provide security will doom the reconstruction effort even if contributions increase. The government has articulated an ambitious policy framework for reconstruction and asked for both reconstruction and security assistance. Success is possible, and at a modest cost. Failure by the US and other major states to respond will doom Afghanistan, the region, and the world to a repetition of anarchy that gave birth to the Taliban and refuge to al-Qaida.
Topic:: Development, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, Asia, and Taliban

261. The Politics of Center-Periphery Relations in Afghanistan

Author:: Barnett Rubin and Helena Malikyar
Publication Date:: 03-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: The relationship of the central government of Afghanistan to the other units of government is in many ways a proxy for the relationship of state to society. It would not be so if the state were more institutionalized and in control of the territory and population of the country. But the current situation, where the direct administrative control of the government is largely limited to the capital city and environs, and in which the government relies on international support (“foreign” support to its opponents) to exercise that control, has precedents in other eras of Afghan history.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Asia

262. South Korea, a new model for the new economy?

Author:: Christian Milelli
Publication Date:: 09-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:: The "new economy" in South Korea rhymes with the Internet. In 2003, the "land of morning calm" has actually become the most connected country in the world. The present study tackles this phenomenon from a number of angles. The Internet is not only considered as a physical network but a lever of transformation of the country's economic and social life. Although the role of the state has been decisive and remains focal, it is not enough to explain the extreme rapidity with which the new electronic medium spread, which is due to a broad range of causes. The Korean experience differs from former ones in that it extends well beyond the market sphere (ecommerce) to areas such as education, volunteer associations and even politics. The emergence of a national dimension constitutes another characteristic that at first seems paradoxical, since the Internet is so universal in scope. Yet observation of the evolution of Internet traffic on the national level confirms this trend. South Korea is far from an exceptional case in Asia, but the country has taken the lead over its neighbors, becoming a new "model." Beyond these singular features, the Korean experience in the use of the Internet again demonstrates that a global "information revolution" – in other words, a process that is quickly reshaping the material bases of an entire society – is underway.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:: Asia and South Korea

263. CERI: Barter and Inter-business Transactions in Russia: Trade Normalization in View after the Ruble Crisis of 1998?

Author:: Caroline Dufy
Publication Date:: 09-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:: Barter was a prominent issue in public debate during the 1990s in Russia: it prompted a more overall reflection on the nature of the Russian economy and the aim pursued by economic reforms. These major issues shaped a number of divisions: the government opposition portrayed barter as one of the pernicious effects of economic policies that gave priority to finance to the detriment of the national productive sphere. For others, it was to be interpreted as the legacy of the Soviet industrial sector and its lack of competitiveness.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

264. CERI: Developing Border Cooperation between China and Russia

Author:: Sébastien Colin
Publication Date:: 07-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:: Since the resumption of talks between China and Russia – still the Soviet Union when this occurred in the mid-1980s, relations between the two countries have been particularly dynamic. On the international level, the two countries in fact share the same viewpoint on a number of issues. These mutual concerns led to the signing of a strategic partnership in 1997, then a new treaty of friendship in 2001. The complementarity between the two countries in the energy and arms sectors also stimulates cooperation. However, this alliance is not without its limits. The United States, its primary target, can easily short-circuit it, as it did just after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In the field of cooperation, the intensity and structure of trade between the two countries are both inadequate. The rise in trade during the 1990s was very uneven and marked by a drop between 1994 and 1996. The main causes of this are situated at the local echelon along the Chinese-Russian border. After the dynamism characteristic of the 1988-1993 period, the opening of the border triggered new problems, such as illegal Chinese immigration in the little-inhabited border zones of Russia. Although this trend caused friction among the local Russian population, it was mainly the retrocession of certain Russian territories to China when the border was demarcated between 1993 and 1997 that radicalized the inhabitants, paralyzing border cooperation. The Russian and Chinese government played an active role in attempting to resolve most of these disputes, as the Tumen program illustrated. Since then, the various authorities in the two countries have tried to revitalize border cooperation, but a number of problems remain that are mainly economic in nature and vary depending on the border region.
Topic:: Development and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, China, Europe, and Asia

265. Survey of SSR Regional and Sub-Regional Networks

Publication Date:: 10-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:: The enclosed survey was conducted in order to map all regional and sub regional networks working in the field of Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective of mapping SSR networks in these regions is multi-fold. Firstly it is imperative that at a time when security has taken a truly global dimension and span, academics and practitioners alike are aware of the state of SSR in different regions. Certain similarities and patterns emerge during the analysis that offer lessons and directions for actors wishing to become involved in SSR in a particular region, or searching for guidance in applying best practices and lessons learned to particular situations. Secondly, exchange of experience and ideas is especially important in supporting South-South dialogue, but the value of cooperation cannot be overemphasized given the often-unclear context in which SSR activities take place. The mapping exercise serves as an entry-point for practitioners to identify existing networks and their areas of expertise. Opportunities for collaboration are made possible by identifying other organisations that are pursuing similar goals. Additionally, the map of SSR networks serves to identify possible gaps in scope of activity and highlights entry points for other organisations and networks to further the objectives of security sector management and reform. Lastly, this exercise will serve as a vehicle for the GFN-SSR to develop ways to strengthen its activities. One way in which the GFN-SSR is already adding value is through the development of its website, which, inter alia, offers a newsletter in four languages, i.e., English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. An activity to reinforce the access to information for those in areas of poor connectivity is already being developed through the conception of a CD-ROM containing all the existing website information for distribution on a timely basis to interested organisations.
Topic:: Security, Development, and International Organization
Political Geography:: Africa, America, Europe, Asia, South America, Latin America, Central America, and Caribbean

266. Central Asian Leadership Succession: When, Not If

Author:: Eugene B. Rumer
Publication Date:: 12-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: The Central Asian political landscape yields few signs of an impending storm in the near term. The absence of threats to the status quo, however, does not mean that it is acceptable or that it represents a stable political equilibrium in the region. Leadership succession in Central Asia bears watching for several reasons: as a precedent-setting process, it will provide the key missing element for the emerging political structures of the Central Asian states the tenure of the next generation will either make up for the shortcomings of its predecessors or aggravate them in the event of the latter, the stage will be set in Central Asia for more radical changes that could reverberate far beyond remote regional boundaries.
Topic:: Security, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: China and Asia

267. Policies that increase vulnerability to corruption

Author:: Dwight Ink
Publication Date:: 12-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The National Academy of Public Administration
Abstract:: My comments on donor policies that increase vulnerability to corruption grow out of experience of directing the Agency for International Development programs in the Western Hemisphere, as well as assessing USAID missions in Africa, the Near East, and Asia. Following this work, I headed a non-profit organization, the Institute of Public Administration, which has been heavily involved in the transition of countries in Europe and Asia from dictatorships to market economies and democratic societies. I should point out, however, that my background is in management, not banking or economics.
Topic:: Development, Non-Governmental Organization, Poverty, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Asia

268. Mortgage Default Insurance in the U.S.: Implications for Russia

Author:: Raymond Struyk and Douglas E. Whiteley
Publication Date:: 03-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: The objective of this paper is to introduce the concept of mortgage default insurance as developed in the United States into the context of Russian mortgage lending. The first part of the paper discusses the broad principles and operations of mortgage default insurance offered by private companies as it works in the United States. The pricing of this product and the preconditions for offering such insurance are highlighted. The second section outlines the operation of the U.S. government-supported default insurance offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The final part applies the foregoing information to the situation in Russia today and concludes that the conditions necessary for launching mortgage default insurance do not currently exist in the country. Nevertheless, there are a number of essential actions that can and should be taken over the next several months to put Russia on the road to establishing such insurance in a few years. The paper finishes with a possible action plan for the next two years.
Topic:: Development, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia

269. One Third of the World's Growth and Inequality

Author:: Danny Quah
Publication Date:: 03-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper studies growth and inequality in China and India—two economies that account for a third of the world's population. By modelling growth and inequality as components in a joint stochastic process, the paper calibrates the impact each has on different welfare indicators and on the personal income distribution across the joint population of the two countries. For personal income inequalities in a China-India universe, the forces assuming first-order importance are macroeconomic: Growing average incomes dominate all else. The relation between aggregate economic growth and within-country in- equality is insignificant for inequality dynamics.
Topic:: Development and Economics
Political Geography:: China, South Asia, India, and Asia

270. How Optimal are the Extremes? Latin American Exchange Rate Policies During the Asian Crisis

Author:: Ricardo Ffrench-Davis and Guillermo Larraín
Publication Date:: 01-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: During the Asian crisis, intermediate exchange rate regimes vanished. It has been argued that those regimes were no longer useful and only the extremes remained valid. The paper analyses three foreign exchange regimes: Argentina (pegged), Chile (band) and Mexico (float). The Argentinean currency board delivered low financial volatility while it was credible, but even then it displayed high real volatility. Mexican float performed well in periods of instability isolating the real sector. The Chilean band delivered a mixed outcome as compared to Argentina and Mexico. This is linked apparently to a loss in the band's credibility, associated to policy mismanagement and an over-appreciation in the biennium before the crisis. Optimal exchange rate regimes vary across time and the conjuncture. Exit strategies are part of the election of the optimal system, including a flexible policy package rather than a single rigid policy tool.
Topic:: Development and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Asia, Argentina, South America, Latin America, Mexico, and Chile

271. From the Grabbing Hand to the Helping Hand: A Rent Seeking Model of China's Township-Village Enterprises

Author:: Jiahua Che
Publication Date:: 01-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: I present a study of ownership of firms under government rent seeking. Using its control of regulated inputs, a government agency extracts rents from a manager who undertakes an investment. Such a government rent seeking activity leads to a typical hold-up problem. Government ownership is shown to serve as a second best commitment mechanism through which the government agency will restrain itself from the rent seeking activity and even offer the manager support and favor such as tax breaks and subsidies. This mechanism works at a cost as government ownership compromises ex post managerial incentives and creates distortion in resource allocation. Nevertheless, government ownership may Pareto dominate private ownership under certain conditions. These conditions correspond to a host of stylized empirical observations concerning local government-owned firms (township-village enterprises) during China's transition to a market economy.
Topic:: Development, Emerging Markets, and Government
Political Geography:: China and Asia

272. Household Income Dynamics in Rural China

Author:: Martin Ravallion and Jyotsna Jalan
Publication Date:: 01-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: It is well known in theory that certain forms of non-linear dynamics in household incomes can yield poverty traps and distribution-dependent growth. The potential implications for policy are dramatic: effective social protection from transient poverty will be an investment with lasting benefits, and pro-poor redistribution will promote aggregate economic growth. We test for non-linearity in the dynamics of household expenditures and incomes using panel data for rural south-west China. While we find evidence of non-linearity, there is no sign of a dynamic poverty trap. Existing private and social arrangements in this setting appear to protect vulnerable households from the risk of destitution. However, the concavity we find in the recursion diagram does imply that the speed of recovery from an income shock is lower for the poor, and that current inequality reduces growth in mean incomes.
Topic:: Development and Economics
Political Geography:: China and Asia

273. Ratings since the Asian Crisis

Author:: Helmut Reisen
Publication Date:: 01-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The increased importance of rating agencies for emerging-market finance has brought their work to the attention of a wider group of observers - and under criticism. This paper evaluates whether the importance of ratings for developing-country finance has changed since the Asian Crisis and whether rating agencies have modified the determinants for their rating decisions. It also provides an analysis on recent suggestions by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, as these are very important for gauging the future role of sovereign ratings for foreign debt finance in developing countries. While the explanatory power of conventional rating determinants has declined since the Asian crisis, recent rating performance for Argentina and Turkey can still be qualified as lagging the markets, as variables of financial-sector strength and the endogenous effects of capital flows on macroeconomic variables seem to remain underemphasized in rating assessments. The market impact of sovereign ratings is predicted to decline as agencies have started to modify their country ceiling policy and as market participants try to exploit bond trading opportunities arising from the lagged nature of ratings. The paper presents theory and evidence to suggest that the Basel II Accord will destabilise private capital flows to the developing countries, if the current proposal to link regulatory bank capital to sovereign ratings is maintained: Assigning fixed minimum capital to bank assets whose risk weights are in turn determined by market-lagging cyclically determined ratings will reinforce the tendency of the capital ratio to work in a pro-cyclical way.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Turkey, Asia, and Argentina

274. Inaugural Oksenberg Lecture: The United States and China: A President's Perspective. An address by Jimmy Carter

Author:: Jimmy Carter
Publication Date:: 08-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:: The Oksenberg Lectures honor the legacy of Professor Michel Oksenberg (1938–2001), Senior Fellow at the Asia/Pacific Research Center, professor of political science, and a foremost authority on China.
Topic:: Development
Political Geography:: China, Israel, East Asia, and Asia

275. Center-periphery Relations in the Afghan State: Current Practices, Future Prospects

Author:: Barnett Rubin and Helena Malikyar
Publication Date:: 12-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: After decades of violence during which Afghanistan's weak institutions broke down even further, the Bonn agreement of December 5, 2001, provided elements of a road map for rebuilding governance and security in the common interest of the people of Afghanistan and the rest of the international community. The agreement provided a timetable for key political benchmarks to be met by the interim and transitional Afghan governments, such as the convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga, the appointment of the constitutional commission, the adoption of the constitution by another Loya Jirga, and general elections by June 2004.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Asia

276. Democratic Transformation of the Security Sector in Russia: A Sad Saga of Failure

Author:: Yuri Federov
Publication Date:: 10-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:: The motto "Yet who could guard the guards themselves?" used as the epigraph is often quoted in academic and political literature on civil-military relations. Indeed, it consists of two questions in one; both of which related to the essence of democratic transformation of the security sector in post-totalitarian societies: firstly, whether civil institutions are able to "guard the guards", in fact to control military and law-enforcement agencies, and, secondly, whether these institutions are democratically formed or they are of authoritarian or totalitarian nature.
Topic:: Security, Democratization, and Development
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

277. Fujimori's Financiers: How Japan Became the Largest Aid Donor in Latin America and Its Implications for Future Economic Development

Author:: Michael G. Donovan and Kwan S. Kim
Publication Date:: 01-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:: This paper analyzes the historical development of Japan's economic relationship with Latin America and describes trends observed in the short and medium term. The main types of relations examined are trade, direct foreign investment, and official development assistance. Emphasis is placed on how Japan's postwar economic development is mirrored in its changing relationship with Latin America. The importance of relationships for both Japan and the United States is discussed, as are competing broad theoretical hypotheses about the nature and evolution of these relationships. The concluding section explores the impact of the Asian economic crisis on Latin America and assesses the feasibility of free trade agreements between Japan and certain Latin American nations.
Topic:: Development and Politics
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, Asia, South America, and Latin America

278. The Russian Press in the Post-Soviet Era: A Case Study of Izvestia

Author:: Adam Jones
Publication Date:: 07-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:: The progress of the Russian press in the late Soviet and post-Soviet eras can be described (with apologies to Vladimir Lenin) as "two steps forward, on step back." The flowering of glasnost (openness) under Mikhail Gorbachev le to a "golden age" of Soviet journalism, including an explosion of new publications and a lifting of nearly all state restrictions on journalists' professional activities. However, the collapse of the USSR and the onset of material crisis in 1991-92 quickly produced a winnowing of the press and a retrenchment on the part of surviving publications. At the same time, powerful new forces - especially oligarchs and regional and leaders - arose to vie with the state for influence over post-Soviet media. This paper explores the trajectory of one of the leading newspapers of the Soviet and post-Soviet period, Izvestia, in the light of those broader trends. While Izvestia emerged from the ashes of Soviet communism with formal control over its material plant and journalistic collective, it was soon subjected to a tug-of-war between powerful actors determined to control its destiny - first the Communist-dominated Duma (parliament), and then large corporations and business oligarchs. The struggle led, in 1997, to the dismissal of the paper's editor. Oleg Golembiovsky, and the departure of many staff to form Novye Izvestia (New Izvestia) - though this publication too, was also unwilling or unable to avoid the temptations of a close alliance with one of the leading oligarchs, Boris Berezovsky. The findings are place in the broader comparative context of the press in transition, based on the author's research into process of media liberalization and transition worldwide.
Topic:: Cold War, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

279. At the Crossroads of Post-Communist Modernisation: Russia and China in Comparative Perspective

Author:: Linda Jakobson and Christer Pursiainen
Publication Date:: 02-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: “Modernity ends when words like progress, advance, development, emancipation, liberation, growth, accumulation, enlightenment, embetterment, avant-garde, lose their attraction and their function as guides to social action.” By this definition, Russia and China are both still undertaking extensive modernisation – though by very different means. Why have Russia and China chosen such different paths for their post-communist transitions? How do their strategies differ, and how are they interrelated? When – at what junctures - were the crucial choices made?
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, and Asia

280. Two Reluctant Regionalizers? The European Union and Russia in Europe's North

Author:: Hiski Haukkala
Publication Date:: 01-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: It has become something of a cliché to argue that the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in dramatic changes in the unfolding of political space in the 1990s. Yet this was especially true in the case of the then European Community (EC) and its relations with the Soviet Union/Russian Federation. During the Cold War, the relations between the EC and the USSR were practically non-existent. The ascension of Mikhail Gorbachev and the period of perestroika and glasnost resulted, however, in a gradual rapprochement between the two parties. The creation of these new ties was formalized in the signing of a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the EC and the USSR, which was, however, in effect signed with an already crumbling Soviet Union as it took place as late as 21 December 1989.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

281. Urban and Industrial Pollution Programs: Russia Case Study

Author:: Matthew Addison, Mark Hodges, Steven Gale, and Nick Wedeman
Publication Date:: 07-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:: Since the official dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has moved forward to make the difficult transition to open markets and more democratic institutions. The journey toward a complete restructuring of the Russian economy and an adoption of wide-ranging political reforms has been perilous. Political instability continues, crime and corruption have become more widespread, and economic conditions show little sign of improving quickly. Efforts to privatize state-held industries, initially seen as wildly successful, have now met with resistance, and full citizen involvement in government is far from complete.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Environment, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

282. India: Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction During the 1990s

Author:: Catherine G. Corey
Publication Date:: 07-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:: The fiscal crisis that struck India in 1991, as the result of myriad internal and external factors, compelled the nation to adopt a series of economic reforms and liberalization policies. The genesis of the fiscal crisis lay partly in the highly protected domestic economy that maintained extensive subsidization, licensing and investment regulations, thus placing considerable burdens on the expenditures of the central government. Compounding this problem was a rapidly expanding current account deficit that had grown over time as import demand steadily increased and exports and foreign investment lagged. These conditions, in combination with external factors, generated a severe balance of payments crisis in which India came perilously close to defaulting on loans from international lenders. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Financial Minister Manmohan Singh, the Indian government initiated a series of macroeconomic reforms. This included reductions in fiscal expenditure, privatization of state-run industries, promotion of foreign investment, and liberalization of international trade policy.
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Political Geography:: South Asia and Asia

283. Sustainable Development and the Open-Door Policy in China

Author:: James K. Galbraith and Jaiging Lu
Publication Date:: 05-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: How can one best explain China's remarkable economic growth during twenty-one years and its rise from autarky to world economic power? The exercise requires chutzpah; it demands simplification; it cries out for the trained capacity to present a unifying theme with a weighty set of policy implications.
Topic:: Development
Political Geography:: China and Asia

284. Cultural Contradictions of Post-Communism: Why Liberal Reforms Did Not Succeed in Russia

Author:: Nina Khrushcheva
Publication Date:: 05-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: One goal of Russia's economic reforms during the last ten years has been to establish a new class of businessmen and owners of private property—people who could form the foundation for a new model post-Soviet citizen. However, the experience of this post-communist economic “revolution” has turned out to be very different from the original expectations. For as people became disillusioned with communism due to its broken promises, the words “democracy” and “reform” quickly became equally as unbearable to large sectors of the Russian public after 1991. Such disillusion was achieved in less than ten years—a record revolutionary burnout that would be the envy of any anti-Bolshevik.
Topic:: Communism, Democratization, Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

285. Impact On Global Warming Of Development And Structural Changes In The Electricity Sector Of Guangdong Province, China

Author:: Michael M. May, Chi Zhang, and Thomas C. Heller
Publication Date:: 03-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
Abstract:: This paper examines the impact on global warming of development and structural changes in the electricity sector of Guangdong Province, China, together with the possible effect of international instruments such as are generated by the Kyoto Protocol on that impact. The purpose of the paper is three–fold: to examine and analyze the data available, to put that data into an explanatory economic and institutional framework, and to analyze the possible application of international instruments such as CDMs in that locality. Our plans are to supplement this work with similar work elsewhere in China.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:: China and Asia

286. A Security and Stability in Northern Europe – A Threat Assesment

Author:: Jochen Prantl
Publication Date:: 04-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The accession of Finland and Sweden as well as the ongoing enlargement process, which offers the perspective of EU membership to the Baltic States, has put the question of security and stability in Northern Europe on the Agenda of the European Union.
Topic:: Security and Development
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Finland, Asia, and Sweden

287. Managing Assets, Empowering Humans

Author:: Zohra Andi Baso
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: Empowerment of women is a systematic endeavor to ensure the target prosperity of women, a prosperity that is measured not merely in its material aspects but also in its organizational aspects, particularly at the grassroots level. Here, empowerment focuses on women's groups that create the capacity to work efficiently to maintain social habitation, culture, and environment, and also to protect rights.
Topic:: Development, Gender Issues, and Human Rights
Political Geography:: Asia

288. Gender And Politics Under the Suharto Regime 1966 - 1998

Author:: Norma Sullivan
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: This paper describes the relationship between gender and politics in Indonesia under the autocratic Suharto Regime. It provides an historical context for a future study of gender relations under the democratically elected Wahid government. The role of women in politics and government during the Suharto years is elucidated, as is the role of the national 'non-political' women's movement in national development. Contradictions are highlighted in this relationship, and links between scholarly and state planning discourses about the relations between women and men and their proper roles in national development are established. Methods by which women resisted State ideologies within the movement and in the community are described. The paper concludes that during the Suharto period structural inequality existed between men and women in Indonesia. This reality was to some extent concealed by the political ideologies of the Suharto State that argued, from a functionalist/consensus perspective, that while men and women played different roles in different social spheres, these roles were complementary and equal. Such gender stereotyping made it difficult for men and women to operate outside their prescribed roles and fields. It also denied that at the level of everyday life women and men found themselves in contradictory situations where sex-role stereotyping was irrelevant
Topic:: Development, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Indonesia and Asia

289. From Margin to Center : Theorizing Women's Political Participation from Activism on the Margins to Political Power at the Center

Author:: Patricia Martinez
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: Islamic states are called upon to include provisions in their legislation ensuring the political rights of women as guaranteed by Islam, notably their right to vote, to nominate themselves for election, to be appointed to public posts, and to participate in decision-making.
Topic:: Development, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Asia

290. The Role of Muslim Women's Organizations in Family Planning Advocacy in Medan

Author:: Hj. Chalidjah Hasan
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: This article deals with the role of Muslim women organizations in Medan in the KB (Family Planning) Advocacy. The sources of the article came from the field study with an observation method, in-depth interview and secondary data. The observation was carried out to look directly at activities concerning the KB Advocacy conducted by Muslim women organizations. Meanwhile the depth interview was conducted with the heads of Muslim women organizations and KB clinic staffs, namely doctors and nurses. The secondary data were used to compare the advocacy programs with the written sources, which were relevant with the studied topic. The samples of the study came from the big three Muslim women organizations in Medan, namely `Aisyiah, Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama, and Muslimat Al- Washliyah.
Topic:: Development, Gender Issues, and Religion
Political Geography:: Asia

291. State Power and the Asian Crisis

Author:: Linda Weiss
Publication Date:: 11-1999
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:: The Asian financial crisis has re-opened the debate about the role of the state in the region's industrialisation. Just when there seemed to be growing acknowledgment across the economic and political disciplines that certain kinds of state involvement were vital to the rapid upgrading of the Northeast Asian economies and that understanding what made states effective or ineffective was a crucial issue, along came the financial hurricane. Profound disarray of an economic and social nature has been the most immediate and important consequence of this watershed event. Theoretical disarray has followed closely in its path. This paper seeks to inject some theoretical rigour into the discussion of the Asian crisis. State power in the Asian setting - whether and in what way the state's transformative capacity is weak or robust - and how it relates to the impact of international markets is central to the argument that follows.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:: Asia and Northeast Asia

292. Indonesia in Transition

Author:: Michael P. Taylor
Publication Date:: 09-1999
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:: The Schlesinger Working Group on Strategic Surprises held its first two sessions in the fall of 1999, convening practitioners and area experts to discuss Indonesia immediately before and after that country's presidential selection. Participants debated the composition of the new government, the prospect of further regional separatism, and the future role of the military, and the political and social impact of the continuing financial crisis, among other issues. Many expected that the broad coalition-style government that emerged under the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid would offer short-term stability at the expense of a decisive policy direction. The center would hold in the short term but be weakened.
Topic:: Development, Ethnic Conflict, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Indonesia and Asia

293. The External Sector, the State and Development in Eastern Europe

Author:: Barry Eichengreen and Richard Kohl
Publication Date:: 03-1998
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:: Early optimists hoped that Eastern Europe might be able to emulate the high-performance economies of Asia once the shock of liberalization was absorbed. The ingredients of the East Asian “miracle,” in this view, were rapid accumulation based on high investment in physical and human capital, productivity growth based on technology transfer through licensing and direct foreign investment, rapidly expanding exports able to support industrial specialization and scale economies, and a strong state capable of guiding the development process and solving coordination problems. Emulating this recipe could provide the basis, it was hoped, for the expansion of exports and buoyant economic growth more generally.
Topic:: Development, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia

294. Banking Sector Development in Kazakhstan

Author:: Eugene Spiro
Publication Date:: 12-1998
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: The EastWest Institute convened in partnership with the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP) International Conference on Banking Policies on December 9-12, 1998. The purpose of the conference was to present Kazakh officials, academicians and bankers with practices (best and otherwise) in CEE and the West on bank privatization and reduction of the state's role in banking; costs and benefits of foreign strategic investment in the banking sector; and issues related to bank supervision, regulation and deposit insurance.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Kazakhstan and Asia

295. The Political Economy of Regional Development and Cooperation in the Pacific Basin, with Special Reference to APEC-A Rapporteurs' Report

Author:: Joseph Stevano and William Barnes
Publication Date:: 04-1996
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:: The papers and discussion summarized here were presented at the workshop “The Political Economy of Regional Development and Cooperation in the Pacific Basin, with Special Reference to APEC,” which was held at the Kellogg Institute, 12–14 October 1995. Some of the papers presented, including those by Yoji Akashi, Brian Job, and Clark Reynolds, will also be published in their entirety as part of the Kellogg Institute Working Paper Series. The United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and many other East Asian countries all belong to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and a distinctive feature of the workshop was that it consisted of experts from both sides of the Pacific. The result is a comprehensive look at the issues of trade and development in this region. Yorizumi Watanabe pointed out some tensions between regional and multilateral trade agreements. Satoshi Hanai’s paper analyzed the current Japanese recession; the papers by Akashi, Tsutomu Kikuchi, and Job focused on APEC, the former two from an Asian perspective, the latter from a North American—which provided a provocative contrast between different explanations and interpretations of the exact same events. Shozo Inouye analyzed Japan’s contribution to human resource development throughout the Asia-Pacific, while Michael Plummer and Reynolds analyzed the economic impact of economic integration in this region.
Topic:: Development, Political Economy, Regional Cooperation, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:: Asia

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS