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53622. Are Immigrants Leaving California? Settlement Patterns of Immigrants in the Late 1990s
- Author:
- Wendy Zimmermann and Jeffrey S. Passel
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- For at least the last century and a half, the immigrant population in the United States has been highly concentrated in a handful of states. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, when the foreign-born population was less than half its current size, just over half of all immigrants lived in only six states. By 1990, that share had increased to nearly three-quarters. But, between 1990 and 1999, the geographic concentration of immigrants began to wane slightly, as the foreign-born population grew substantially faster in states that have not traditionally received large numbers of immigrants. This dispersal of the immigrant population is particularly noteworthy in the face of dramatically increased numbers, especially in the new settlement areas, and policy changes surrounding the noncitizen population.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Economics, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
53623. Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings From the 1999 National Survey of American Families
- Author:
- Randy Capps
- Publication Date:
- 02-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- The 1999 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) reveals that hardship is greater for children of immigrants than for children of U.S. natives in three areas of basic need: food, housing, and health care. The data also indicate that the relative generosity of differing state policies on noncitizens' access to public benefits generally corresponds with hardship levels. Because the NSAF cross-sectional data do not allow assessment of changes over time, these hardship levels cannot necessarily be ascribed to federal welfare reform or state policies. Nonetheless, these findings reinforce observations on the vulnerability of a population whose access to the social safety net has been diminished by recent policy changes. This analysis is one of the first studies based on nationally representative data to examine hardship among immigrant families in the post-welfare-reform era.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, Migration, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- United States
53624. The Politics of Pensions in European Social Insurance Countries
- Author:
- Martin Schludi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- This paper analyzes national processes of pension reform in countries with systems of old-age provision largely following the Bismarckian type (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden). Operating on a defined benefit/pay-as-you-go basis and mainly financed out of wage-based social contributions, pension systems in these countries are highly vulnerable to demographic and economic pressures. Therefore, pension reform has emerged as a major issue in these countries since the early 1990s. Although there are substantial similarities in the direction of reform, the degree of policy change varies considerably even among countries with similar legacies in pension policy. As a closer inspection of national patterns of pension policy-making shows, the political feasibility of pension reforms and the degree of adjustment in pension policy critically depends on the government's ability to orchestrate a reform consensus either with the parliamentary opposition or with the trade unions. The paper tries to identify the conditions under which a “pension pact” between those actors is likely to emerge.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
53625. Do Affluent Countries Face an Incomes-Jobs Tradeoff?
- Author:
- Lane Kenworthy
- Publication Date:
- 10-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- A commonly-held view suggests that affluent nations face a tradeoff between incomes and jobs. According to this view, in the United States pay for workers at the bottom of the earnings distribution (relative to those in the middle) is very low and government unemployment-related benefits (the “replacement rate”) are stingy, but this facilitates the creation of lots of new jobs and encourages such individuals to take those jobs. The result is a high rate of employment and low unemployment. In much of Western Europe relative pay levels are higher for those at the bottom and benefits are more generous, but this is said to discourage job creation and to reduce the willingness of the unemployed to accept low-wage jobs. The consequence is low employment and high unemployment. I undertake a comparative assessment of this tradeoff view, based on pooled cross-section time-series analyses of 14 OECD countries in the 1980s and 1990s. The findings suggest that greater pay equality and a higher replacement rate do reduce employment growth in low-productivity private-sector service industries and in the economy as a whole. However, these effects are relatively weak. The results point to a variety of viable options for countries wishing to maintain or move toward a desirable combination of jobs and equality.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
53626. Global Markets, National Tax Systems, and Domestic Politics: Rebalancing Efficiency and Equity in Open States' Income Taxation
- Author:
- Steffen Ganghof
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Competitive pressure on some capital income tax rates reinforces a generic "quadrilemma" or a four-way tradeoff in domestic income taxation. To maintain competitiveness, governments have to cut some tax rates on capital income down to "international standards." If these cuts lead to a de-alignment of different rates on capital income, domestic allocation becomes more inefficient, all else being equal. Cutting all tax rates on capital income to a uniform low level, while maintaining high and progressive tax rates on labor incomes, avoids this inefficiency, but sacrifices comprehensive income taxation, that is, joint and equal taxation of capital and labor incomes. Finally, reducing all income tax rates to international standards, including top rates on labor income, implies a strong significant reduction in the progressiveness of labor income taxation (and/or significant revenue losses). As a result, governments that aim at all four goals” competitiveness, allocative efficiency, horizontal equity (comprehensive income taxation) and progressivity – and want to maintain a given revenue level cannot avoid seriously compromising one of them. This paper analyzes how this income tax quadrilemma has played out in seven OECD countries: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. Combining the results of this matched comparison with exploratory data analysis for all OECD countries, the paper discusses the general implications of the quadrilemma for the domestic political economy of tax competition and the future of "domestic compensation" in open states.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Finland, Norway, Denmark, Georgia, Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand
53627. The Effects of Convergence: Internationalisation and the Changing Distribution of Net Value Added in Large German Firms
- Author:
- Anke Hassel and Jürgen Beyer
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The paper examines whether and how the increasing internationalisation of firms impacts on the operation of a co-ordinated market economy. Following the tenets of agency theory it assumes that an emerging market for corporate control changes the monitoring mechanisms that oversee management. Since Anglo- American forms of monitoring are usually associated with a higher return for investors compared with Continental European firms, a change in the distribution of the net value added of firms is expected. Using financial data on 59 large German companies, the paper shows that the emerging convergence of German corporate governance practices to Anglo-American standards has had a weak, but significant, impact on the distribution of net value added. This is in contrast to the impact of the internationalisation of firms on product markets, which does not have an effect. Since the market for corporate control is, however, still underdeveloped in Germany, the main effects remain to be seen.
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- America, Europe, and Germany
53628. Institutional Change and the Uses and Limits of Path Dependency: The Case of German Finance
- Author:
- Richard Deeg
- Publication Date:
- 06-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- How can we determine when an existing institutional path or trajectory is ending and being replaced with a new one? How does such a process take place? How can we distinguish between institutional innovation within an existing trajectory and a switchover to a new trajectory or path? This paper explores these questions by examining the pattern of institutional change in the German financial system. The paper advances four theoretical claims: First, that endogenous developments can disrupt an institutional path and lead to a new one. Second, that an event sequence involving a move to a new institutional path may not follow from a contingent event yet may nonetheless be marked by increasing returns processes. Third, that increasing returns in politics are not automatic and must be cultivated by actors in order to be realized. Finally, that the concept of path is still in need of a measurable conceptualization before any further advances in path dependent arguments can be made.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Germany
53629. Corporate Governance in Transition: Ten Empirical Findings on Shareholder Value and Industrial Relations in Germany
- Author:
- Martin Hopner
- Publication Date:
- 05-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Within the context of debates over national “varieties” of capitalism, this paper discusses the shareholder value orientation of the 40 largest listed German companies. Three dimensions of shareholder value are distinguished: the communicative dimension, the operative dimension and the dimension of managerial compensation. A shareholder value index compiling data on accounting, investor relations, variable top-management compensation and the implementation of profitability goals makes it possible to compare the shareholder orientations of the companies. The shareholder value phenomenon is explained first by the exposure to markets – the international product market, capital market pressures and the market for corporate control – and, secondly, by internal developments – changing management careers, increasing management compensation and reduced monitoring by banks and corporate networks – which cause external impulses to increase shareholder value to fall on fertile ground. Conflicts over shareholder orientation result in changing coalitions between shareholders, management, and employees. Shareholder value does not make companies opt out of central collective agreements or endanger the existence of employees' codetermination, but it does lead to more market-driven industrial relations.
- Topic:
- Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Germany
53630. An Emerging Market for Corporate Control? The Mannesmann Takeover and German Corporate Governance
- Author:
- Gregory Jackson and Martin Hopner
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Corporate governance in Germany is often described as a bank-oriented, blockholder or stakeholder model where markets for corporate control have not played a significant role. This case study of the hostile takeover of Mannesmann AG by Vodafone in 2000 demonstrates how systemic changes during the 1990s have eroded past institutional barriers to takeovers. These changes include the strategic reorientation of German banks from the “house bank” to investment banking, the growing consensus and productivity orientation of employee codetermination and corporate law reform. A significant segment of German corporations are now subjected to a market for corporate control. The implications for the German model are examined in light of both claims by agency theory for the efficiency of takeover markets, as well as the institutional complementarities within Germany's specific “variety” of capitalism. While the efficiency effects are questionable, the growing pressures for German corporations to achieve the higher stock market valuations of their Anglo-American competitors threaten the distributional compromises underlying the German model.
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- America and Germany
53631. What Have We Learned?[1] Problem-Solving Capacity of the Multilevel European Polity.
- Author:
- Fritz W. Scharpf
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- This Working Paper is an attempt, occasioned by the evaluation of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, to provide a conceptual framework within which institute research on multi-level European problem solving could be discussed in the context of a more comprehensive overview of the literature. The framework combines an institutional dimension (distinguishing between supranational, joint-decision and intergovernmental modes of EU policy making) and a policy dimension (distinguishing between market-creating, market-enabling, market-correcting and redistributive policies). As institutional modes differ in their capacity for conflict resolution, and as policy types differ in the likelihood of severe policy conflict, greater or lesser problem-solving capacity can be explained by the location of a particular policy area on both of these dimensions.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe
53632. Globalization, Tax Competition, and the Fiscal Viability of the Welfare State
- Author:
- Philipp Genschel
- Publication Date:
- 05-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Does globalization undermine the fiscal basis of the welfare state? The conventional wisdom believes so: open borders cause tax competition, which in turn leads to a race to the bottom in capital taxation. However, the data show that revenues from capital taxation are fairly stable in OECD countries. Some observers conclude from this that globalization does not pose much of a challenge to the welfare state. This conclusion is unwarranted because it overlooks that tax competition was not the only challenge facing welfare states during the 1980s and 1990s. There was also slow growth, rampant unemployment, and high levels of precommitted spending. These problems exerted countervailing pressures that prevented a race to the bottom in taxation. Yet, this does not mean that national autonomy has not been diminished. The welfare state is trapped in between external pressures to reduce the tax burden on capital and internal pressures to maintain revenue levels and relieve the tax burden on labor.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
53633. How Bargaining Mediates Wage Determination: An Exploration of the Parameters of Wage Functions in a Pooled Time-Series Cross-Section Framework
- Author:
- Bernhard Kittel
- Publication Date:
- 03-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The process of wage determination is mediated by the institutional framework of the labor market. Bargaining systems differ not only in their mode of governance, but also in the way that wages are related to unemployment, inflation, and productivity growth. Based on annual data for the period 1971–1996 from 20 OECD countries, the paper uses a pooled time-series cross-section model to show that bargaining modes affect the speed at which wages are adjusted and the extent to which macroeconomic factors affect wages. Contrary to the expectations of mainstream economics, uncoordinated bargaining does not turn out to be the most flexible mode. Pattern setting and peak-level coordination, if legally enforceable, are modes of labor market governance that are at least as flexible and responsive, if not more so. Hence these labor market institutions cannot be blamed for excessive rigidity.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
53634. Minority Governments and Party Politics: The Political and Institutional Background to the "Danish Miracle"
- Author:
- Christoffer Green-Pedersen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The performance of the Danish economy in the 1990s has been successful to the extent that scholars are talking about a "Danish miracle". The importance of government policies to Denmark's economic success is taken as a point of departure in investigating why Danish governments have been able to govern the economy successfully in the 1990s. The paper argues that two factors have been important. First, the functioning of Danish parliamentarianism has been reshaped to strengthen the bargaining position of minority governments, which became the rule in Danish politics after the landslide election in 1973. Today, Danish minority governments can enter agreements with changing coalitions in the Danish parliament. The paper thus challenges the conventional wisdom about minority governments as weak in terms of governing capacity. Second, the changed socioeconomic strategy of the Social Democrats after returning to power in 1993 has been important because it has created a political consensus around a number of controversial reforms.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Political Economy, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Denmark
53635. Inspections in Iraq: A Test For Saddam, Not A Good Solution for WMD
- Author:
- Patrick Clawson
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Like that of its predecessor, the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq appears to focus on the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the hands of Saddam Husayn's regime. Some suggest that U.S. policy should emphasize the resumption of inspections, suspended since 1998. However, there are strong reasons to doubt that inspections would reduce the threat of Iraqi WMD.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries
53636. How to Unseat Saddam (Part 2 of 2)
- Author:
- Michael Eisenstadt
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Psyops and propaganda activities that aim to diminish Saddam in the eyes of his supporters, exacerbate existing strains between his inner circle and the military, stir up popular discontent, and embolden opponents of the regime are a crucial component of any policy that seeks regime change in Baghdad. Such efforts could keep Saddam on the defensive and create an atmosphere of crisis and tension, forcing the regime to divert assets to deal with internal security, and leaving fewer resources available for clandestine technology procurement or trouble-making elsewhere. Such efforts could transform the psychological environment in the country, creating an atmosphere in which a coup or uprising might occur.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arab Countries
53637. How to Unseat Saddam (Part 1 of 2)
- Author:
- Michael Eisenstadt
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Before September 11, U.S. policymakers would have been hard-pressed to justify significant military action against Iraq without a major provocation. The events of September 11 and the subsequent anthrax incidents, however, have highlighted the dangers of "business as usual" in an age of sophisticated terrorism and weapons proliferation, and the potentially high costs of ignoring the likes of Saddam Hussein; that is true whether or not Iraq was associated with these events. The risks of perpetuating a faltering containment policy, and the imperative of regime change in Iraq have never been clearer.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries
53638. Special Policy Forum Report -- Islam and the Use of Force: The Views of Contemporary Muslim Clerics on Terrorism, Violence, and Conflict
- Author:
- Akbar Ahmed and Emmanuel Sivan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On December 6, 2001, Akbar Ahmed and Emmanuel Sivan addressed the Washington Institute's Policy Forum. Professor Ahmed holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University's School of International Service and has most recently authored Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World. Professor Sivan is professor of Islamic history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has written the book Radical Islam. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Islam, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Washington, Middle East, and Arab Countries
53639. Promoting Religious Freedom in the Arab World, Post-September 11
- Author:
- Amy Hawthorne
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- To win the war against terrorism, the U.S. government must pursue with equal vigor both the short-term imperative to root out terrorist groups, including their international support networks, and the longer-term objective of advancing a positive vision for the Arab world, one that offers an alternative to the destructive ideology of the terrorists. Both efforts are essential; focusing on the former at the expense of the latter will almost surely prove self-defeating.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Arab Countries
53640. Navigating the U.S. Government's Terrorist Lists
- Author:
- Matthew Levitt
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Since September 11, the Bush administration has issued seven different lists of terrorist groups, including terrorist organizations, front companies, and individuals. In its effort to prosecute the war on terrorism, the administration has articulated the goal of eradicating Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network and its Taliban hosts rather clearly. However, the goals of the broader war on terrorism, beyond Al Qaeda and the Taliban, remain ill defined. An examination of the administration's various terrorist lists underlines the developing nature of its strategic vision for dealing with international terrorism beyond Al Qaeda. The lists are a telling component of the administration's emerging policy regarding its war on terrorism writ large.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arab Countries