Showing papers in "International Journal of Social Economics in 1998"

Foundation of business ethics in contemporary religious thought: the Ten Commandment perspective

Abstract: This paper reviews the Ten Commandments (TCs) in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It investigates work ethics in the three religions. In addition, the paper examines the meaning and implications of the TCs in each faith. Ethical and social considerations are addressed. It is argued that the TCs set the moral rules and foundations for individuals and groups. TCs, however, should be regarded as general moral guidelines for personal and business conduct.

Good governance in sustainable development: the impact of institutions

Abstract: The possibilities for good governance depends on institutional structures and the economic resources available for ensuring governance. In some cases centralised governance structures are inefficient. In other cases, decentralised structures turn out to be inadequate. In India decentralisation of power to village level has not improved the efficiency of rural development. Decentralisation of power, it is said, by facilitating the empowerment of people in local communities can contribute to more sustainable development. On the other hand, in India, the delegation of power to the states in some cases has resulted in the destruction of the environment. Thus centralised and decentralised governance structure have both merits and demerits. Preservation of the environment which is essential for sustainable development cannot be achieved unless the pressure on forest and natural resources is reduced. This cannot happen in the absence of appropriate property rights of local communities and of rural women. In West Bengal as well as in the central Himalayan region in India it has been found that the disappearance of community control and restrictions on the user rights of villagers reduced the incentive and ability of villagers to use forest sustainability. On the other hand, in Russia, pristine forests are being degraded because of lack of resources of the weak central government. Good governance also depends on appropriate institutions. Corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency, inefficient and corrupt law enforcement agencies undermine the capacity of institutions to facilitate good governance for sustainable development. Corruption and rent seeking activities can grow even in an economy which has tried to apply outward oriented economic policies if an appropriate institutional environment does not exist. A state which assumes predatory or semi‐predatory status can systematically incapacitate all institutions for good governance and effective implementation of policies. Thus formulation of policies cannot ensure effective implementation in the absence of good governance which in turn cannot be achieved in the absence of appropriate institutions. Hence, sustainable development requires good policies and effective provision of institutions conducive to good governance.

Direct foreign investment and inter‐regional economic disparity in China

Abstract: Discusses the pattern of the regional distribution in the Chinese economy of Direct foreign investment (DFI) in the context of the open‐door policy and the regional difference in investment environments. Presents a regression analysis on the effects of DFI on the economic growth in the eastern and western regions, using pooled time‐series and cross‐section data for 16 provinces over a seven‐year period (1986‐92). Discusses other important factors influencing regional economic development including rural industry development, differential growth of fixed capital investment and exports, and domestic capital flow from the western region to the eastern region. A case study of the effect of DFI on the intra‐provincial economic inequality in Guangdong Province is presented and some conclusions and policy implications are drawn.

Gender issues in poverty alleviation: a case study of Bangladesh

Abstract: Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world. In 1988‐89, 48 per cent of rural and 44 per cent of urban households had a daily per capita consumption of less than 2,122 calories ‐ the cut‐off point for absolute poverty in Bangladesh. Although poverty is prevalent amongst men as well as women, far more women suffer from poverty due to their low socio‐economic status. Social customs and religious beliefs play a dominant role in shaping a society’s attitudes towards women. At the household level, their status significantly varies between educated and uneducated, between employed and unemployed, and between rural and urban women. If one excludes the very small numbers of successful women who are educated and/or active in the workforce, most women have an inferior status to that of men. They are economically dependent on men even for the basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing and medicine. They are bound by various social customs made by men and every facet of life including decision making is determined by men. The central purpose of this paper is to examine the issues relating to the poverty of women in Bangladesh: to analyse the dimensions of poverty in Bangladesh; to evaluate the steps taken by various governmental and non‐governmental agencies to alleviate the poverty of women; and to examine the impact of such steps on the changing status of women in Bangladesh.

Contributions to charitable organizations in a developing country: the case of Singapore

Abstract: This article makes use of pooled time series data to study the demand for donations to charitable organizations in Singapore, a newly‐industrializing country. As in the case of the developed nations, donations are found to be responsive to the price of giving and characteristics of the charities such as size and age. Government social expenditures are found to cause some crowding‐out of private donations. The results imply that the government can reduce its direct role in providing social services, and at the same time meet the rising demand through policy measures to encourage private giving.

Economics, ethics and sustainability: redefining connections

Abstract: Economists have generally framed the question of welfare in terms of wealth creation and distribution. More recently this conception of welfare has been challenged by concerns for the unsustainability of expanding material wealth. Sustainability thus requires the expansions of welfare considerations to include the limits posed by the biophysical world within which all economic activity takes place. This paper pursues the question how the concept of ethics generally accepted and operative in mainline economics influences our understanding of sustainability. The question pursued is whether this concept of ethics can lead to sustainability or whether other ethical concepts are necessary to achieve a more compatible relationship between economic activity and sustainability? To pursue this question three ethical concepts are discussed: utilitarian ethic, discursive ethic, and the ethic of care. In each case the question is raised whether the ethical concept under consideration contributes to or undermines sustainability. The conclusion reached in this paper is that a utilitarian ethic leads to a perception of the links between economic activity and environmental context which is not likely to yield sustainable outcomes beyond an economically defined notion of sustainability. Discursive ethic and ethic of care have important contributions to make to redefining concept and implementation of broader sustainability goals.

Technology transfer models across cultures: Brunei‐Japan joint ventures

Abstract: Cultural aspects play an important role in technology transfer. Some member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have recently conducted joint venture studies with a common theme that cultural aspects are of crucial significance for both the suppliers and recipients of technology. This paper presents in part some of the results of the study conducted in Brunei Darussalam. The study focuses on Brunei‐Japan joint ventures located in Brunei. Based on these results, this study suggests three types of technology transfer models across cultures; that is, a success model, a partial success model, and a minimal success model. This investigation supports the general assertion that continuing changes in cultural values do bring about changes in work values and that, to accommodate different values, some changes in cultural aspects need also be accommodated. Thus, an organization may have to accept fusion of cultures and lowering of cultural barriers to facilitate the process of technology transfer.

Evaluation of tourism and tourist resources in China: Existing methods and their limitations

Abstract: The evaluation of both tourism and tourist resources in China remains problematic. On the macro‐level, only the positive contributions of tourism have been evaluated, ignoring the aspects of disparities between the east coast and the inland area, inbound tourism and domestic tourism, nature‐based and city‐based tourism, positive and negative effects from tourism and so on. On the micro‐ and site‐ specific level, tourist resources characterised by non‐marketable and non‐use values are not properly evaluated, exposing these fragile resources to the plight of exploitation. Commercialisation of tourist resources, including natural environment and ethnic cultures, threatens further development of tourism in China. The limited applicability of the travel cost and the contingent valuation method in measuring the value of recreation sites in China is discussed.

An information economics perspective on innovation

Abstract: Introduces the information theoretic or economics of information approach, shows how this relates to innovation and illustrates an example of an information economics model of innovation. Attempts to demonstrate that an information economics perspective, both generally and in the context of a simple model, improves understanding of and provides new insights into innovation, compared to a more conventional economic approach.

Adam Smith’s three strikes against commercial society

Abstract: It is commonly held that Adam Smith is a prophet of capitalism. There is a good deal of evidence pointing towards his optimism about commercial society. This article claims to show the pessimistic side of Smith’s view of commercialism. While some of Smith’s pessimism is obvious, some emerges only after considering his six ends of human nature. We show that according to Smith’s own criteria, commercial society is not good. We also show that Smith considers commercial society to be neither inevitable nor permanent. In other words, Smith says that commercial society fails on three counts. Rather than a prophet of capitalism as the end of history, Smith emerges from this analysis as a major critic.

Economic change, the environment and Buddhism in Asia

Abstract: The paper aims to identify the form and significance of the influence of Buddhism upon the nature of past and future national economic change. It is divided to address two major tasks. The first section analyses the world view and behavioural prescriptions of Buddhism and examines their compatibility with the requirements commonly presumed for economic development. This analysis suggests that, contrary to conventional views, Buddhism has many positive features consistent with processes and change leading to growth in economic welfare (especially under the modern ecologically sustainable development framework). The second section consists of an empirical analysis of comparative social, economic and environmental indicators across nations where Buddhism is likely to have had a substantial influence. Although few regularities are identified across the entire group of nations, some internal similarities are noted together with discussion of the importance of historical factors and development potentiality linked to the influence of Buddhism. The analysis provides a useful overview of relative conditions and trends in Buddhist‐influenced nations on a diverse range of social, economic and environmental indicators.

Socio‐economic and political aspects of biodiversity conservation in Nepal

Abstract: Although a very poor country, Nepal has established an extensive protected area system. Many visitors are attracted by some of these parks, helping to make tourism the top foreign exchange earner. Landmark events for wildlife conservation during recent Nepalese history are identified, especially the 1961‐90 rule of the monarchy and the present decentralized democratic system which succeeded it. Although many problems remain, Nepal has gone further than most countries towards reconciling: the needs and aspirations of local people with protected area management, and the economic opportunities offered by nature tourism with its ecological threats. Innovative projects have emphasized the socio‐economic aspects of conservation and legislation has recently been passed to formalize the status of park buffer zones. The future of Nepal’s protected areas may depend on how effectively these initiatives can be implemented and how effectively their lessons can be applied on a broader front.

Caste, class synergies and discrimination in India

Abstract: There is sufficient empirical evidence to suggest that discrimination, defined as absence of equal opportunities, exists before the market as well as in the market against certain social categories in India. Inequality in access to sources of human capital acquisition reinforces inequality in the labour market and vice versa. Apparently, caste‐community discrimination and class discrimination overlap. However, in the case of socially deprived categories, the latter accentuates the former. The impact of modernisation notwithstanding, the inegalitarian sacral tradition of caste still has strong hold over the minds and lives of Indians. The development processes have strengthened caste and community consciousness resulting in the metamorphosis of different social categories into interest groups. With patron‐client relationship as the basis for political mobilization, development policies have favoured the dominant social categories as well as the articulate better‐off sections across all social categories. So it seems that “divinely ordained” social inequities persist in a secular garb, though possibly with reduced inhumanity. Yet, with increasing political assertion of the lower social categories and widening opportunities for social mobility, hegemony of the traditional elite is likely to decline. The change in the composition of the elite should foster non‐brahmanical pragmatic cultural ethos conducive to social mobility and development. The policies designed to promote equal opportunities, taking into account heterogeneity of Indian society, will speed up the process of socio‐economic change.

The woes of economic reform: poverty and income inequality in fiji

Abstract: Amongst the major development problems facing many of the developing countries is the increasing levels of poverty and income inequality. Economic growth in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was seen as a panacea for reducing poverty. While the key to development progress is still achieving economic growth, the means to do so is based on the ability of governments to move towards a free market type economy. The concern today is the impact of economic structural adjustment policies (SAPs) on the levels of poverty and inequality. In most cases the evidence on the impact of SAPs shows that despite sustained economic growth the poverty level has increased in many developing countries and Fiji is not an exception. The move towards free market reforms is being increasingly questioned as a policy measure and its ability to have positive impact on the reduction of poverty and income inequality. The criticism of the free market approach is its failure to take account of institutional, social and political factors which in many cases are the real causes of poverty and income inequality. The debate on the applicability of SAPs and the evidence of the impact of SAPs is reviewed in the case of developing countries. The level of poverty and income inequality in Fiji are discussed.

Internalizing economics: sustainability between matter and meaning

Abstract: Despite its now widespread use, the concept of sustainability remains ambiguous. Its varying definitions carry the marks of the disciplines defining it. Sustainability as defined in economics is commonly conceptualized as economic development constrained by considerations of environmental sustainability. This concept follows familiar notions of internalizing the externalities of economic activity into the framework of economics. In contrast to this common notion, this paper argues that sustainability cannot be achieved unless economics is internalized into the social and environmental context within which all economic activity takes place. Internalizing economics into contextual, material reality can also be described as the need to preserve three types of services: technological services; relational services; and ecosystem services. Much attention has been given to sustaining and expanding the first to the neglect and destruction of the latter two. This makes evident the fact that internalizing economics requires more than an awareness of physical context. It requires also an awareness of the ethical context which supports or undermines the sustaining of essential caring and ecosystems services. To illustrate this point the implications of utilitarian ethics for sustainability are contrasted with those of the ethics of care.

Coming out of their homesteads?: Employment for rural women in shrimp aquaculture in coastal Bangladesh

Abstract: Bangladesh has experienced a rapid expansion of shrimp farming in the coastal regions in recent years. The increase in both area and production has been influenced by the financial profit motive of rural farmers coupled with high international demands for shrimps and ecological congeniality for shrimp aquaculture. In the past the traditional farming systems in the coastal belts of Bangladesh centred around rice crop. In contrast, the introduction of shrimp aquaculture on a larger/commercial scale has developed shrimp‐based farming systems. Shrimp farming itself is less labour‐intensive than rice cultivation, especially when extensive methods of shrimp culture are practised. Hence, it has reduced on‐farm employment opportunities for rural landless. Nevertheless, shrimp production requires a substantial volume of labour in off‐farm ancillary activities, namely shrimp fry collection, shrimp feed collection, and shrimp processing and packaging for export. Most of this off‐farm work is performed primarily by rural women. This process has engendered a major shift in rural employment and occupational structure in the shrimp belt. Shrimp production has enabled rural women to earn more cash income and to become more active income‐earning members in rural households. While they used to contribute to their share of agricultural work in the homestead before the shrimp cultivation was introduced, now they work mostly outside their homes. This has forced them to stay outside of their homes for longer hours, which limits their time for household duties, more specifically looking after children. All these factors together have implications for the socio‐economic changes in the rural society. The findings that emerge indicate that a range of factors including rural power structure, centre‐periphery issue, rural‐urban migration determine the pattern and extent of employment. It is unclear whether greater employment opportunities for rural women have empowered them or have helped extricate them from various forms of discrimination and exploitation.

Transitions into and out of poverty

Abstract: This article raises five questions: What kinds of persons and families are poor? How do they become poor? How long do they remain poor? How do they cope with being poor? How do they escape from being poor? These questions are significant for one central and obvious reason: answering them improves our understanding of the nature of poverty or unmet human physical need, thereby contributing to the development of forms of aid to remedy that need. To the extent that we are successful in helping the needy, our social economics is enhanced, and any economic order based on that social economics should function more effectively. Two main sources of information on poverty from the Census Bureau are used to address those questions: the Current Population Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Both use the same absolute standard of poverty but each source produces a different estimate of poverty because they are fundamentally different in design and coverage. The data presented herein cover the period 1985 through 1993.

If planning is about anything, what is it about?

Abstract: The discipline and practice of regional and town planning is searching uneasily for new directions attendant upon conceptual and empirical developments since the early 1970s. This paper traces the current disquiet, explores contemporary viewpoints and then outlines a prospective focus in terms of processes of wealth creation. It is argued that orientation to this goal would realign planning with other mainstream disciplines such as economics and provide greater clarity to the endeavours of theoreticians and practitioners. The implications of such a move are explored in terms of an approach to the real world of the marketplace.

Ecology, economics and ethics: Some key issues relevant to natural resource management in developing countries

Abstract: Reports that while overconsumption of the world’s natural resources is a problem in developed nations, it is population growth and biological resource depletion that are the bane of developing nations. Uses India as an example for discussing biodiversity, natural resource issues and ecosystem function in an Asian context. Examines the linkages between ecological and social processes when humans are integrated within the structural and functional attributes of the ecosystem. Suggests a holistic approach for the rehabilitation and sustainable development of rural systems, so conserving biodiversity and natural resources.

The problem of values and value‐judgments in science and a positive solution

Abstract: The economic science is again in a crisis and a new solution prolegomena to any future study in economics, finance and other social sciences has just been published by the International Institute of Social Economics in care of the MCB University Press in England. The roots of the major financial and economic problems of our time lie in an open conflict between theory and practice. In the 1930s and before the conflict was between classical theory and given realities. In the 1990s the conflict appears between the now prevailing modern, Keynesian theory and the actual realities. In addition during the twentieth century a great argument developed between the two schools of thought, argument which is not yet settled. In one sentence, the prolegomena tried and was successful to solve the conflict between theory and practice and the big doctrinal dispute of the twentieth century. It was a struggle of research and observation over half a century between 1947 and 1997.

Markets and biodiversity loss: some case studies and policy considerations

Abstract: Resource use policy based on standard (neoclassical) economic theory is driven by the assumption that “getting the prices right” is the key to sustainable resource use. Although most neo‐classical economists now agree that market prices may substantially undervalue biological features, the prevailing view is that “correct” market prices can be established through enlightened intervention in private markets. Using the examples of the Atlantic bluefin tuna, the American bison, and the passenger pigeon, we show that neither very high nor very low prices can ensure the survival of a particular species. With these cases as background, we compare and contrast three policy approaches to sustainability: weak sustainability, strong sustainability and Georgescu‐Roegen’s concept of a viable technology.

Chanakya: the pioneer economist of the world

Abstract: Reviews the content of the scholar Chanakya’s treatise, Arthasastra (economics). Written in the period 321‐296bc, it sets forth a framework for the economic management of India. Examines the Arthasastra’s teachings in the areas of agriculture, forestry, wildlife, mining and industries, and transport and trade. Reports that the economy was based on a system of coinage that had made barter of secondary importance and lists the prescribed sources of revenues such as taxes and fines and at the main heads of expenditure such as the maintenance of an army, a bureaucracy, social security measures and the upkeep of the King, his family and his court. Concludes that Chanakya’s Arthasastra is a monumental treatise of the ancient world that possesses great importance in the history of economics.

Tracking the poor: the making of wealth and poverty in Thailand (1982‐1994)

Abstract: The paper tracks 77 households in two villages in Northeastern Thailand over a period of 12 years between 1982 and 1994. The survey data show that the “original” poor of 1982 have improved their position both absolutely and relatively, and the so‐styled “emergent” poor of 1994 comprise, in large part, a different set of households. The paper highlights the extent to which poor households are not condemned to poverty. This is explained largely in terms of the declining importance of agriculture in determining patterns of well‐being and the concomitant increase in the role of non‐farm activities.

Quality‐adjusted life years (qalys) versus willingness to pay in matters of life and death

Abstract: Qalys (quality‐adjusted life years) are used to make judgements about resource allocation in medical care and other matters. Since this may involve the qalys of prospective individuals (who are not yet born but may be born under some relevant alternative and not in another), the use of qalys involves a fundamental philosophical problem related to optimal population, believed to be “insoluble”. This paper provides a solution to this problem that is based on the classical utilitarian position modified to account for the partiality of existing people towards their own welfare. However, a different difficulty with qalys is raised since the use of qalys may be Pareto inefficient in comparison to using willingness to pay. The objection to willingness to pay based on inequality is responded to.

Jeremy Bentham and the New South Wales convicts

Abstract: Bentham’s penal theory persuaded him that convict transportation was inherently inferior to imprisonment as a punishment for serious crime. The transportation of convicts to New South Wales also threatened his plans to build a panopticon penitentiary. This penitentiary, he thought, would demonstrate the superiority of a prison run for profit by a private contractor over alternative schemes of convict management. In the process, it would also make him a fortune. His repeated attempts to persuade the British Government to abandon the New South Wales penal colony and to honour its commitment to his panopticon project, however, came to nothing. Neither the Government’s acceptance of Bentham’s key theoretical arguments nor its avowed support for his penitentiary scheme was sufficient to prompt it to act. Bentham found that winning the main theoretical argument was not enough. He was continually forced to concentrate on side issues and on particular and largely incidental matters of fact. As it turned out, the particular and the incidental combined to carry the day against his panopticon.

Regional catching up and productivity growth in Chinese reform period

Abstract: Following the catching‐up hypothesis and using new published provincial data, this paper examines Chinese regional productivity growth by way of catch‐up in the reform period. It provides a general catch‐up measurement and a special assessment for regional development “trickle‐down” effects. Number of measurements include regional productivity averages, indices, growth rates, absolute increments, the coefficients of variation, rank correlation coefficients, and so on. The study indicates that the strength of Chinese catch‐up varied from time to time with weakened potentiality and the regional development spreading effects from coastal area to interior provinces have been limited so far. The review of social capabilities indicates that their different degrees of development acted to limit the strength of technological potentiality in the interior areas, though such changes on their surface did not exhibit the uniformly self‐limiting character for different regions. Furthermore, the pace of realization of the potentiality for catch‐up was affected by a number of factors that govern the diffusion of knowledge, the mobility of resources and the rate of investment.

WORK AS SUCH ‐ The social teaching of the Church on human work

Abstract: Traditionally, one of the most central themes of the social teaching of the Church has been the ethical value of the human person as a creature endowed with an original personality. As a person, man works for a particular purpose, in a pragmatic and rational way, with the ability to decide for himself and to achieve fulfilment. For this reason, work is conceived as an essential element of the person, and needs to be performed in freedom. Our principal source will be the social teaching of John Paul II, and in particular his encyclical Laborem Exercens, since this devotes special attention to the issue of human work. Indeed the focus of this encyclical is human work, that is, the individual who achieves fulfilment in his work. It is man himself who gives his work sense and meaning. By working he fulfils his vocation and his very being. Therefore man’s work is “both a destiny and a calling, but above all, work is for man, not man for work” (Laborem Exercens, No. 6). In other words, man’s duty is to work, not only in order to produce and possess, but to achieve fulfilment.

The implications of economic inequality for social welfare and social conflict

Abstract: In this article, first, we show how equity considerations, in the guise of inequality of income, enters into a social welfare function. In this connection the important properties of a social welfare function are also discussed. Second, contrary to the popular belief, we contend that the degree of inequality is not an appropriate indicator of the degree of social discontent. Third, the appropriate indicator of social discontent is shown to be the level of social envy which is a non‐monotonic function of inequality. It is also demonstrated that the sociological term “relative deprivation” is equivalent to the economic definition of envy.

National financial policies, global environmental damage and missing international institutions

Abstract: This paper categorises environmental damage as local, national, transfrontier and international in nature. It argues that since the developed countries’ environmental protection policies aimed at reducing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be offset by the expansion of industrialisation in the less developed countries, the key to protecting the global environment is technological advancement by which the world community can raise the efficiency of the current energy usage and/or develop feasible alternative sources of energy so that the consumption of fossil fuel can be minimised. Furthermore, this paper argues that national institutions promote mainly R&D and technological changes in areas which will ensure national supremacy over other nations, in the areas of either trade and/or military and prestige rivalries and hence international treaties for protection of the global environment attempted thus far will continue to be incapable of significantly protecting the planet from global environmental damage, unless and until an authorised international institution for the global environment is established.