Publishing Institution: United Nations University / Topic: Financial Crisis

Author:: Sam Jones
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The recent financial crisis has rekindled interest in the foreign aid supply behaviour of bilateral donors. Using the latest data covering the period 1960-2009, this paper examines how such behaviour is related to domestic factors. Based on a simple empirical model, a distinction is made between long-run supply trends and short-run dynamics, which motivates use of error correction methods. Panel econometric techniques are employed that are consistent in the presence of parameter heterogeneity and cross-section dependence. Results support the error correction framework, but point to very substantial heterogeneity between countries. There is also good evidence that donor behaviour continues to evolve over time. As such, past trends in aid supplies are unlikely to provide a good guide to those of the future.
Topic:: Development, Bilateral Relations, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis

Author:: Michael Cohen
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: International narratives on Argentina's recovery from the crisis of 2001-02 tend to emphasize the role of rising commodity prices and growing demand from China. Argentina is said to have been 'lucky', saved by global demand for its agricultural exports. The international narrative has also been used by local agricultural exporters to justify their objections against higher export taxes during periods of high commodity prices. These narratives are not correct. Data on the country's recovery show that it was not led by agricultural exports but was fuelled by urban demand and production. When the Convertibility period ended and the peso was devalued in 2002, price increases for imports stimulated the production of domestic goods and services for consumers. This production in turn generated multiplier effects which supported small and medium-sized firms and helped to create many new jobs. This later produced a revival of the construction and then the manufacturing sectors as well.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: China, Argentina, and Latin America

Author:: Luc Soete and Alexis Habiyaremye
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Before the current global recession, many resource-rich African countries were recording unprecedented levels of growth due to a raw material price boom. However, the collapse in raw material prices and the ensuing severe economic difficulties have again exposed the vulnerability of these countries' natural resource export-focussed economic structures. In this research brief, we describe how Africa's abundance of natural resources attracted disruptive and predatory foreign forces that have hindered innovation-based growth and economic diversification by delaying the accumulation of sufficient stocks of human capital. We suggest that for their long-term prosperity, resource-rich African countries shift their strategic emphasis from natural to human resources and technological capabilities needed to transform those natural resources into valuable goods and services to compete in the global market.
Topic:: Economics, Emerging Markets, Industrial Policy, Global Recession, Natural Resources, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and India

Author:: Sandeep Kapur and Suma Athreye
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The last two decades have seen a significant rise in the internationalization of firms from developing economies. In addition to their growing participation in international trade, a number of leading emerging economies are contributing to growing outflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. According to the 2008 World Investment Report, outward flows of FDI from developing countries rose from about US$6 billion between 1989 and 1991 to US$225 billion in 2007. As a percentage of total global outflows, the share of developing countries grew from 2.7% to nearly 13.0% during this period.
Topic:: International Relations, Economics, Globalization, International Political Economy, Markets, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United States, China, and India

Author:: Wim Naudé
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: T HE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND RECESSION, WHICH spread across the globe following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in September 2008, has become the dominant news topic of the past year. One year into the crisis it has become clear that the paradigm for international development has changed irrevocably. With leadership, moral authority and the capacity of the West diminishing, developing countries' recovery and future growth will critically depend on their own initiatives and solutions.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United States

Author:: Wim Naudé and Augustin Kwasi Fosu
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS OF 2008 HAS INDUCED two negative external shocks in African countries. The first is a financial shock with the availability of credit declining and the cost of international credit increasing (a financial crisis); and the second is a shock relating to the demand for and price of exports, as most of Africa's important markets went into recession and commodity prices tumbled (an economic crisis).
Topic:: Globalization, Poverty, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa

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