Showing papers on "Developing country published in 2003"

Effects of Financial Globalization on Developing Countries: Some Empirical Evidence

Abstract: The recent wave of financial globalization since the mid-1980s has been marked by a surge in capital flows among industrial countries and, more notably, between industrial and developing countries. While these capital flows have been associated with high growth rates in some developing countries, a number of countries have experienced periodic collapse in growth rates and significant financial crises over the same period, crises that have exacted a serious toll in terms of macroeconomic and social costs. As a result, an intense debate has emerged in both academic and policy circles on the effects of financial integration for developing economies. But much of the debate has been based on only casual and limited empirical evidence.

Democratic Governance and Multinational Corporations: Political Regimes and Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment

Abstract: Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important element of the global economy and a central component of economic development strategies of both developed and developing countries. Numerous scholars theorize that the economic benefits of attracting multinational corporations come at tremendous political costs, arguing that democratic political systems attract lower levels of international investment than their authoritarian counterparts. Using both cross-sectional and time-series cross-sectional tests of the determinants of FDI for more than 100 countries, I generate results that are inconsistent with these dire predictions. Democratic political systems attract higher levels of FDI inflows both across countries and within countries over time. Democratic countries are predicted to attract as much as 70 percent more FDI than their authoritarian counterparts. In a final empirical test, I examine how democratic institutions affect country credibility by empirically analyzing the link between democracy and sovereign debt risk for about eighty countries from 1980 to 1998. These empirical tests challenge the conventional wisdom on the preferences of multinationals for authoritarian regimes.

The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality

Abstract: Lack of income convergence for the world as a whole has led to concerns about the impact of globalization of markets on world inequality. GDP per capita is usually used to proxy for the quality of life of individuals living in different countries. However, well-being is also affected by quantity of life, as represented by longevity. This paper incorporates longevity into an overall assessment of the evolution of cross-country inequality. The absence of income convergence noticed in the growth literature is in stark contrast with the reduction in inequality after incorporating recent gains in longevity. The paper computes a full' income measure to value the life expectancy gains experienced by 49 countries between 1965 and 1995. Countries starting with lower income tended to grow more in terms of full' income than countries starting with higher income. The average growth rate of full' income is about 140% for developed countries, compared to 192% for developing countries. Additionally, we decompose changes in life expectancy into changes attributable to thirteen broad groups of causes of death. Infectious, respiratory and digestive diseases, congenital and perinatal conditions, and ill-defined' conditions are responsible for most of the mortality convergence observed between 1965 and 1995.

Gender and Development

Abstract: Global financial problems, rising food prices, climate change, international migration – increasingly by women – conflict situations in many poor countries, the spread of tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever and the increased incidence of HIV/AIDS and TB, and changing patterns of trade have all added new dimensions to gender issues in developing countries. These problems are frequently being brought to public attention in the media and through long-haul tourism. Consequently students’ interest in gender and development has grown considerably in the last few years. This updated second edition provides a concise, accessible introduction to Gender and Development issues in the developing world and in the transition countries of Eastern and Central Europe. The nine chapters include discussions on changes in theoretical approaches, gender complexities and the Millennium Development Goals; social and biological reproduction including differing attitudes to family planning by states and variation in education and access to housing; differences in health and violence at major life stages for women and men and natural disasters and gender roles in rural and urban areas. The penultimate chapter considers the impact of broad economic changes such as the globalization of trade and communications on gender differences in economic activity and the final chapter addresses international progress towards gender equality as measured by the global gender gap. The text is particularly strong on environmental aspects and the new edition builds on this to consider the effects of climate change and declining natural resources illustrated by a case study of changing gender roles in fishing in India. There is also enhanced coverage of topics such as global trade, sport as a development tool, masculinities, and sustainable agriculture. Maps, statistics, references and boxed case studies have been updated throughout and their coverage widened. Gender and Development is the only broad based introduction to the topic written specifically for a student audience. It features student friendly items such as chapter learning objectives, discussion questions, annotated guides to further reading and websites. The text is enlivened throughout with examples and case studies drawn from the author’s worldwide field research and consultancies with international development agencies over four decades and her experience of teaching the topic to undergraduates and postgraduates in many countries. It will be an essential text for a variety of courses on development, women’s studies, sociology, anthropology and geography.

Global review of commercialized transgenic crops

Abstract: THE unprecedented rapid adoption of transgenic crops during the initial five-year period (1996 to 2000) when genetically modified (GM) crops were first adopted, reflects the significant multiple benefits realized by large and small farmers in industrial and developing countries that have grown transgenic crops commercially. Between 1996 and 2000, a total of fifteen countries – 10 industrial and 5 developing – contributed to more than a twentyfive fold increase in the global area of transgenic crops from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 44.2 million hectares in 2000. The accumulated area of transgenic crops planted in the five-year period 1996 to 2000 total 125 million hectares, equivalent to more than 300 million acres. Adoption rates for transgenic crops are unprecedented and are the highest for any new technology by agricultural industry standards. High adoption rates reflect grower satisfaction with products that offer significant benefits ranging from more convenient and flexible crop management, higher productivity and/or net returns per hectare, health benefits and a safer environment through decreased use of conventional pesticides, which collectively contribute to not only improved weed and insect pest control (attainable with transgenic herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant Bt crops) but also benefits of lower input and production costs; genetically modified crops offer significant economic advantages to farmers compared with corresponding conventional crops. The severity of weed and insect pests varies from year to year and hence this will have a direct impact on pest control costs and the consequent economic advantage. Despite the on-going debate on GM crops, particularly in countries of the European Union, millions of large and small farmers in both industrial and developing countries continue to increase their plantings of GM crops because of the significant multiple benefits they offer. This high adoption rate is a strong vote of confidence in GM crops, reflecting grower satisfaction. Many recent studies have confirmed that farmers planting herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant Bt crops are more efficient in managing their weed and insect pests. An estimated 3.5 million farmers grew transgenic crops to health and economic advantages. In coming years, the number of farmers planting GM crops is expected to grow substantially and the global area of GM crops is expected to continue to grow. Global population would exceed 6 billion by 2050, when approximately 90% of the global population will reside in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Today, 815 million people in the developing countries suffer from malnutrition and 1.3 billion are afflicted by poverty. Transgenic crops, often referred to as GM crops, represent promising technologies that can make a vital contribution to global food, feed and fibre security. Global reviews of transgenic crops have been published as ISAAA Briefs annually since 1996. This publication provides the latest information on the global status of commercialized transgenic crops. A detailed global data set on the adoption of commercialized transgenic crops is presented for the year 2001 and the changes that have occurred between 2000 to 2001 are highlighted. The global adoption trends during the last six years from 1996 to 2001 are also illustrated. Given the continuing debate on transgenic crops, particularly the issues relating to public acceptance, there has been much speculation as to whether the global area of transgenic crops would continue to increase in 2001. This publication documents the global database on the adoption and distribution of GM crops in 2001. Note that the words transgenic crops and genetically modified crops, maize and corn, as well as rapeseed and canola are used synonymously in the text, reflecting the usage of these words in different regions of the world. Global figures and hectares planted commercially with transgenic crops have been rounded off to the nearest 100,000 hectares. In some cases this leads to insignificant approximations and there may be slight variances in some figures, totals and percentage estimates. It is also important to note that countries in the Southern Hemisphere plant their crops in the last quarter of the calendar year; the transgenic crop areas reported in this publication are planted, not harvested, hectarage in the year stated. Thus, the 2001 information for Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Uruguay is hectares planted in the last quarter of 2001.

What strategies are viable for developing countries today? the world trade organization and the shrinking of 'development space'

Abstract: The world is currently experiencing a surge of international regulations aimed at limiting the development policy options of developing country governments. Of the three big agreements coming out of the Uruguay Round ‐ on investment measures (TRIMS), trade in services (GATS), and intellectual property rights (TRIPS) ‐ the first two limit the authority of developing country governments to constrain the choices of companies operating in their territory, while the third requires the governments to enforce rigorous property rights of foreign (generally Western) firms. Together the agreements make comprehensively illegal many of the industrial policy instruments used in the successful East Asian developers to nurture their own industrial and technological capacities and are likely to lock in the position of Western countries at the top of the world hierarchy of wealth. The paper describes how the three agreements constitute a modern version of Friedrich List’s ‘kicking away the ladder’. It then outlines some needed changes in the way we think about development and in the role of multilateral organizations. It concludes that the practical prospects for change along these lines are slender, but not negligible.

Cities Transformed: Demographic Change and Its Implications in the Developing World

Abstract: Virtually all of the growth in the worlda (TM)s population for the foreseeable future will take place in the cities and towns of the developing world Over the next twenty years, most developing countries will for the first time become more urban than rural The benefits from urbanization cannot be overlooked, but the speed and sheer scale of this transformation present many challenges A new cast of policy makers is emerging to take up the many responsibilities of urban governancea "as many national governments decentralize and devolve their functions, programs in poverty, health, education, and public services are increasingly being deposited in the hands of untested municipal and regional governments Demographers have been surprisingly slow to devote attention to the implications of the urban transformation Drawing from a wide variety of data sources, many of them previously inaccessible, Cities Transformed explores the implications of various urban contexts for marriage, fertility, health, schooling, and childrena (TM)s lives It should be of interest to all involved in city-level research, policy, planning, and investment decisions

Finance and the Sources of Growth at Various Stages of Economic Development

Abstract: This paper studies the effects of financial development on the sources of growth in different groups of countries. Recent theoretical work shows that financial development may affect productivity and capital accumulation in different ways in industrial versus developing countries. This hypothesis is tested with panel data from 74 countries using GMM dynamic panel techniques. Results are consistent with the hypothesis: finance has a strong positive influence on productivity growth primarily in more developed economies. In less developed economies, the effect of finance on output growth occurs primarily through capital accumulation.

External Debt, Public Investment, and Growth in Low-Income Countries

Abstract: This paper examines the channels through which external debt affects growth in low-income countries. Our results suggest that the substantial reduction in the stock of external debt projected for highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs) would directly increase per capita income growth by about 1 percentage point per annum. Reductions in external debt service could also provide an indirect boost to growth through their effects on public investment. If half of all debt-service relief were channeled for such purposes without increasing the budget deficit, then growth could accelerate in some HIPCs by an additional 0.5 percentage point per annum.

Global production and consumption of animal source foods.

Abstract: This article provides interpreted statistics and information on global livestock production and the consumption of animal source foods from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations statistical data base. Country data are collected through questionnaires sent annually to member countries, magnetic tapes, diskettes, computer transfers, websites of the countries, national/international publications, country visits made by the FAO statisticians and reports of FAO representatives in member countries. These data show that livestock production is growing rapidly, which is interpreted to be the result of the increasing demand for animal products. Although there is a great rise in global livestock production, the pattern of consumption is very uneven. The countries that consume the least amount of meat are in Africa and South Asia. The main determinant of per capita meat consumption appears to be wealth. Overall, there has been a rise in the production of livestock products and this is expected to continue in the future. This is particularly the case in developing countries. The greatest increase is in the production of poultry and pigs, as well as eggs and milk. However, this overall increase obscures the fact that the increased supply is restricted to certain countries and regions, and is not occurring in the poorer African countries. Consumption of ASF is declining in these countries, from an already low level, as population increases.

Trade and the environment : theory and evidence

Abstract: Nowhere has the divide between advocates and critics of globalization been more striking than in debates over free trade and the environment. And yet the literature on the subject is high on rhetoric and low on results. This book is the first to systematically investigate the subject using both economic theory and empirical analysis. Brian Copeland and Scott Taylor establish a powerful theoretical framework for examining the impact of international trade on local pollution levels, and use it to offer a uniquely integrated treatment of the links between economic growth, liberalized trade, and the environment. The results will surprise many. The authors set out the two leading theories linking international trade to environmental outcomes, develop the empirical implications, and examine their validity using data on measured sulfur dioxide concentrations from over 100 cities worldwide during the period from 1971 to 1986. The empirical results are provocative. For an average country in the sample, free trade is good for the environment. There is little evidence that developing countries will specialize in pollution-intensive products with further trade. In fact, the results suggest just the opposite: free trade will shift pollution-intensive goods production from poor countries with lax regulation to rich countries with tight regulation, thereby lowering world pollution. The results also suggest that pollution declines amid economic growth fueled by economy-wide technological progress but rises when growth is fueled by capital accumulation alone. Lucidly argued and authoritatively written, this book will provide students and researchers of international trade and environmental economics a more reliable way of thinking about this contentious issue, and the methodological tools with which to do so.

Measuring health inequality among children in developing countries: does the choice of the indicator of economic status matter?

Abstract: Background Currently, poor-rich inequalities in health in developing countries receive a lot of attention from both researchers and policy makers. Since measuring economic status in developing countries is often problematic, different indicators of wealth are used in different studies. Until now, there is a lack of evidence on the extent to which the use of different measures of economic status affects the observed magnitude of health inequalities.

Winners and losers from regional integration agreements

Abstract: How are the benefits and costs of a customs union divided between member countries? Outcomes depend on the comparative advantage of members, relative to each other and relative to the rest of the world. Countries with a comparative advantage between that of their partners and the rest of the world do better than countries with an ‘extreme’ comparative advantage. Consequently, integration between low income countries tends to lead to divergence of member country incomes, while agreements between high income countries cause convergence. Results suggest that developing countries are likely to be better served by ‘north-south’ than by ‘south-south’ agreements.

International migration, remittances, and poverty in developing countries

Abstract: Few studies have examined the impact of international migration and remittances on poverty in a broad cross-section of developing countries. The authors try to fill this gap by constructing a new data set on poverty, international migration, and remittances for 74 low- and middle-income developing countries. Four key findings emerge: 1) International migration-defined as the share of a country's population living abroad-has a strong, statistical impact in reducing poverty. On average, a 10 percent increase in the share of international migrants in a country's population will lead to a 1.9 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty ($1.00 a person a day). 2) Distance to a major labor-receiving region-like the United States or OECD (Europe)-has an important effect on international migration. Developing countries that are located closest to the United States or OECD (Europe) are also those countries with the highest rates of migration. 3) An inverted U-shaped curve exists between the level of country per capita income and international migration. Developing countries with low or high per capita GDP produce smaller shares of international migrants than do middle-income developing countries. The authors find no evidence that developing countries with higher levels of poverty produce more migrants. Because of considerable travel costs associated with international migration, international migrants come from those income groups which are just above the poverty line in middle-income developing countries. 4) International remittances-defined as the share of remittances in country GDP-have a strong, statistical impact in reducing poverty. On average, a 10 percent increase in the share of international remittances in a country's GDP will lead to a 1.6 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty.

International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain : A Study of 24 Labor-Exporting Countries

Abstract: While the level of international migration and remittances continues to grow, data on international migration remains unreliable. At the international level, there is no consistent set of statistics on the number or skill characteristics of international migrants. At the national level, most labor-exporting countries do not collect data on their migrants. Adams tries to overcome these problems by constructing a new data set of 24 large, labor-exporting countries and using estimates of migration and educational attainment based on United States and OECD records. He uses these new data to address the key policy question: How pervasive is the brain drain from labor-exporting countries? Three basic findings emerge: With respect to legal migration, international migration involves the movement of the educated. The vast majority of migrants to both the United States and the OECD have a secondary (high school) education or higher. While migrants are well-educated, international migration does not tend to take a very high proportion of the best educated. For 22 of the 33 countries in which educational attainment data can be estimated, less than 10 percent of the best educated (tertiary-educated) population of labor-exporting countries has migrated. For a handful of labor-exporting countries, international migration does cause brain drain. For example, for the five Latin American countries (Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica and Mexico) located closest to the United States, migration takes a large share of the best educated. This finding suggests that more work needs to be done on the relationship between brain drain, geographical proximity to labor-receiving countries, and the size of the (educated) population of labor-exporting countries.

Thirteen Plus One: A Comparison of Global Climate Policy Architectures

Abstract: We critically review the Kyoto Protocol and thirteen alternative policy architectures for addressing the threat of global climate change. We employ six criteria to evaluate the policy proposals: environmental outcome, dynamic efficiency, cost effectiveness, equity, flexibility in the presence of new information, and incentives for participation and compliance. The Kyoto Protocol does not fare well on a number of criteria, but none of the alternative proposals fare well along all six dimensions. We identify several major themes among the alternative proposals: Kyoto is "too little, too fast"; developing countries should play a more substantial role and receive incentives to participate; implementation should focus on market-based approaches, especially those with price mechanisms; and participation and compliance incentives are inadequately addressed by most proposals. Our investigation reveals tensions among several of the evaluative criteria, such as between environmental outcome and efficiency, and between cost-effectiveness and incentives for participation and compliance.

Push and pull factors in international nurse migration.

Abstract: Purpose: To describe the push and pull factors of migration in relation to international recruitment and migration of nurses. Organizing Construct: Review of literature on nurse migration, examination of effects of donor and receiving countries, and discussion of ethical concerns related to foreign nurse recruitment. Findings: The primary donor countries are Australia, Canada, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (UK); the primary receiving countries are Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the United States (US). The effects of migration on donor countries include the loss of skilled personnel and economic investment; receiving countries receive skilled nurses to fill critical shortages with less economic investment. Ethical concerns include the potential for exploitation of foreign nurses. Conclusions: Nurses migrate to seek better wages and working conditions than they have in their native countries. Given the current conditions, developed countries continue to actively recruit foreign nurses to fill critical shortages. Migration is predicted to continue until developed countries address the underlying causes of nurse shortages and until developing countries address conditions that cause nurses to leave.

Child Poverty in the Developing World

Abstract: This short report presents the first ever scientific measurement of the extent and depth of child poverty in all the developing regions of the world. It represents a summary of a much larger research report on child poverty and child rights funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (Gordon et al 2001 2003). Full details of this research will be published in a future book on this subject. (excerpt)

Randomized Evaluations of Educational Programs in Developing Countries: Some Lessons

Abstract: This paper reviews recent randomized evaluations of educational programs in developing countries, including programs to increase school participation, to provide educational inputs, and to reform education. It then extracts some lessons for education policy and for the practice and political economy of randomized evaluations.

Completing the fertility transition in the developing world: The role of educational differences and fertility preferences

Abstract: This study summarizes patterns of educational differentials in wanted and unwanted fertility at different stages of the fertility transition. The data are from Demographic and Health Surveys in 57 less developed countries. As the transition proceeds, educational differentials in wanted fertility tend to decline and differentials in unwanted fertility tend to rise. An assessment of fertility patterns in developed and less developed countries with low fertility concludes that these differentials are likely to remain substantial when less developed countries reach the end of their transitions. This conclusion implies that the educational composition of the population remains a key predictor of overall fertility in late transitional countries and that low levels of schooling can be a cause of stalling fertility.

Women and tobacco.

Abstract: Smoking prevalence is lower among women than men in most countries, yet there are about 200 million women in the world who smoke, and in addition, there are millions more who chew tobacco. Approximately 22% of women in developed countries and 9% of women in developing countries smoke, but because most women live in developing countries, there are numerically more women smokers in developing countries. Unless effective, comprehensive and sustained initiatives are implemented to reduce smoking uptake among young women and increase cessation rates among women, the prevalence of female smoking in developed and developing countries is likely to rise to 20% by 2025. This would mean that by 2025 there could be 532 million women smokers. Even if prevalence levels do not rise, the number of women who smoke will increase because the population of women in the world is predicted to rise from the current 3.1 billion to 4.2 billion by 2025. Thus, while the epidemic of tobacco use among men is in slow decline, the epidemic among women will not reach its peak until well into the 21st century. This will have enormous consequences not only for women's health and economic wellbeing but also for that of their families. The health effects of smoking for women are more serious than for men. In addition to the general health problems common to both genders, women face additional hazards in pregnancy, female-specific cancers such as cancer of the cervix, and exposure to passive smoking. In Asia, although there are currently lower levels of tobacco use among women, smoking among girls is already on the rise in some areas. The spending power of girls and women is increasing so that cigarettes are becoming more affordable. The social and cultural constraints that previously prevented many women from smoking are weakening; and women-specific health education and quitting programmes are rare. Furthermore, evidence suggests that women find it harder to quit smoking. The tobacco companies are targeting women by marketing light, mild, and menthol cigarettes, and introducing advertising directed at women. The greatest challenge and opportunity in primary preventive health in Asia and in other developing areas is to avert the predicted rise in smoking among women.

Migration as a source of growth: the perspective of a developing country.

Abstract: This paper analyses the dynamics of migratory flows and growth in a developing economy. We show that when workers freely choose their location, some natives can rationally decide to return to their home country after they have accumulated a certain amount of knowledge abroad, while some prefer to stay permanently in the same economy (either at home or abroad). We point out that worker mobility can have an expansionary effect on the developing economy. Moreover, we show that in the long-run, as the sending economy develops, fewer natives are likely to emigrate and more migrants are likely to return.

Fish to 2020: supply and demand in changing global markets

Abstract: Using a state-of-the art computer model of global supply and demand for food and feed commodities, this book projects the likely changes in the fisheries sector over the next two decades. As prices for most food commodities fall, fish prices are expected to rise, reflecting demand for fish that outpaces the ability of the world to supply it. The model shows that developing countries will consume and produce a much greater share of the world's fish in the future, and trade in fisheries commodities will also increase. The authors show the causes and implications of these and other changes, and argue for specific actions and policies that can improve outcomes for the poor and for the environment.