Showing papers on "Economic problem published in 2005"

The Economy As an Evolving Complex System III: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

Abstract: Derived from the 2001 Santa Fe Institute Conference, "The Economy as an Evolving Complex System III," represents scholarship from the leading figures in th area of economics and complexity. The subject, a perennial centerpiece of the SFI program of studies has gained a wide range of followers for its methods of employing empirical evidence in the development of analytical economic theories. Accordingly, the chapters in this volume addresses a wide variety of issues in the fields of economics and complexity, accessing eclectic techniques from many disciplines, provided that they shed light on the economic problem. Dedicated to Kenneth Arrow on his 80th birthday, this volume honors his many contributions to the Institute. SFI-style economics is regarded as having had an important impact in introducing a new approach to economic analysis. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/9780195162592/toc.html

The Role of Foreign Direct Investment and Natural Resources in Economic Development

Abstract: Foreign direct investment (FDI) has long been a topic high on the policy agenda in emerging markets. The contribution of FDI to a country’s external financing and economic growth, the behaviour of multinational corporations, and the extent of regulation of FDI and other forms of capital flows are some of the issues on which policy-makers usually have to take a stand. It is no coincidence that economic research has devoted much effort to exploring these issues.

Political Institutions and Economic Policies: Lessons from Africa

Abstract: Many assert that the economic problems of Africa possess political origins. In particular, they point to a lack of political accountability and argue that economic reform and the renewal of growth depend upon political reform and in particular upon the promotion of competitive electoral politics. Summarizing these arguments, this article formalizes and tests them, using both an African and global sample of data. While it finds support for the view that within Africa – and globally – competitive institutions are associated with less extractive policies, it finds no evidence that these institutions have facilitated the implementation of Washington consensus policies.

Frontier Expansion and Economic Development

Abstract: I. INTRODUCTION Finding new frontiers or reserves of natural resources to exploit has been the basis of much of global economic development for the past 500 years (Cipolla, 1976; di Tella, 1982; North and Thomas, 1973; Toynbee, 1978; Webb, 1964). Such frontier-based economic development is characterized by a pattern of capital investment, technological innovation, and social and economic institutions dependent on "opening up" new frontiers of natural resources once existing ones have been "closed" and exhausted (di Tella, 1982; Findlay, 1995; Findlay and Lundahl, 1994). However, recognition of the role of the frontier in development has only occurred over the past century, beginning with the first frontier thesis on American development as put forward by Frederick Jackson Turner. (1) Turner's frontier thesis was further extended by Walter Prescott Webb to explain not just American but global economic development over the 1500-1900 period of world history. (2) In recent decades, historians, geographers, and social scientists have continued to modify the Turner-Webb frontier thesis to describe processes of frontier-based development in many areas of the world, including Latin America, Russia, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand (Hennessy, 1978; Savage and Thompson, 1979; Wieczynski, 1976; Wolfskill and Palmer, 1983). Although there is considerable debate over whether the original thesis envisioned by Turner and Webb is still relevant for all frontier regions, there is a general consensus over both the definition of a frontier and its significance in terms of economic development: A frontier area is assumed to be "a geographic region adjacent to the unsettled portions of the continent in which a low man-land ratio and unusually abundant, unexploited, natural resources provide an exceptional opportunity for social and economic betterment to the small-propertied individual" (Billington, 1966, p. 25). Or, as di Tella (1982, p. 212) has put it more succinctly, throughout history processes of frontier-based development "were characterized by the initial existence of abundant land, mostly unoccupied, and by a substantial migration of capital and people." Today, frontier-based economic development is very much prevalent in many developing regions of the world, which still have abundant, mainly forested lands and other natural resources at their disposal. Although Webb's Great Frontier may have closed at the turn of the twentieth century, frontier areas of various sizes, characterized by a "low man-land ratio and unusually abundant, unexploited, natural resources," still exist throughout the developing world. Exploitation and conversion of these frontier reserves clearly influence the overall pattern of economic development. For example, many low-income and lower-middle-income economies not only rely principally on direct exploitation of their natural resources through primary industries (e.g., agriculture, forestry, fishing, etc.) but also over 50% or more of their export earnings come from a few primary commodities (World Bank, 1992). Natural capital--the value of the natural resource endowment of a country--is particularly important in the developing world. For low-income countries dependent on export revenues from primary commodities (other than petroleum), 20% of their national wealth comprises natural capital (World Bank, 1997). (3) These economies are also experiencing dramatic land use changes--especially conversion of forest area and wetlands to agriculture--that are symptomatic of classic frontier expansion processes (FAO, 1997). Over 1970-90, for developing countries, 47% of the increase in crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa, 48% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 41% in East Asia (excluding China) has come from increases in harvested land area, and these trends are projected to continue until 2010 at least (FAO, 1995; Fischer and Heilig, 1997). However, there is also evidence that the process of frontier-based economic development in many small open developing countries today may not be generating as prodigious or as sustained an economic boom as the Turner-Webb frontier thesis would predict. …

Industrial Organization : Competition, Growth and Structural Change

Abstract: As most economies remain caught in a global recession, that shows little sign of abatement, the importance of maintaining a flourishing industrial sector for the economic wellbeing of a country has rarely been so relevant. Industrial Organisation has long served as a basic introduction to this subject. The book is concerned with economic problems and policy issues that arise from the activities of firms. The authors reject the traditional micro-economic analysis of market structure in favour of studying conduct and performance in the context of macro-economic policy and the environment which this provides for firms. Substantially revised and updated to take account of developments in the subject since the publication of the last edition, Industrial Organization includes four new chapters which reflect the major new areas of interest in industrial economics over the last decade. These include the increasing importance of the service sector and problems of relatively low productivity growth within this, and questions relating to increased levels of international competition in a more open world economy. This is a comparative study, drawing on empirical evidence from the UK, USA and the EC. Mathematical and econometric requirements are kept to a minimum, and the text has long been regarded as the most accessible introduction to the subject.

Homo Socio-Economicus: Foundational to social economics and the social economy *

Abstract: In his introduction to The Social Economics of Human Material Need, John Davis directs attention to a paradox that only a few in mainstream economic thought are willing to admit: The concept of nee...

Can Germany Be Saved?: The Malaise of the World's First Welfare State

Abstract: What has happened to the German economic miracle? Rebuilding from the rubble and ruin of two world wars, Germany in the second half of the twentieth century recaptured its economic strength. High-quality German-made products ranging from precision tools to automobiles again conquered world markets, and the country experienced stratospheric growth and virtually full employment. Germany (or West Germany, until 1989) returned to its position as the economic powerhouse of Europe and became the world's third-largest economy after the United States and Japan. But in recent years growth has slowed, unemployment has soared, and the economic unification of eastern and western Germany has been mishandled. Europe's largest economy is now outperformed by many of its European neighbors in per capita terms. In Can Germany Be Saved?, Hans-Werner Sinn, one of Germany's leading economists, takes a frank look at his country's economic problems and proposes welfare- and tax-reform measures aimed at returning Germany to its former vigor and vitality.Germany invented the welfare state in the 1880s when Bismarck introduced government-funded health insurance, disability insurance, and pensions; the German system became a model for other industrialized countries. But, Sinn argues, today's German welfare state has incurred immense fiscal costs and destroyed economic incentives. Unemployment has become so lucrative that the private sector, already under pressure from international low-wage competitors, has increasing difficulties in paying sufficiently attractive wages.Sinn traces many of his country's economic problems to an increasingly intractable conflict between Germany's welfare state and the forces of globalization. Can Germany Be Saved? (an updated English-language version of a German bestseller) asks the hard questions--about unions, welfare payments, tax rates, the aging population, and immigration--that all advanced economies need to ask. Its answers, and its call for a radical rethinking of the welfare state, should stir debate and discussion everywhere.

The Economy As an Evolving Complex System III: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

Abstract: Derived from the 2001 Santa Fe Institute Conference, "The Economy as an Evolving Complex System III," represents scholarship from the leading figures in th area of economics and complexity. The subject, a perennial centerpiece of the SFI program of studies has gained a wide range of followers for its methods of employing empirical evidence in the development of analytical economic theories. Accordingly, the chapters in this volume addresses a wide variety of issues in the fields of economics and complexity, accessing eclectic techniques from many disciplines, provided that they shed light on the economic problem. Dedicated to Kenneth Arrow on his 80th birthday, this volume honors his many contributions to the Institute. SFI-style economics is regarded as having had an important impact in introducing a new approach to economic analysis. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/9780195162592/toc.html

Transitional Road for Traffic: Analysing Trafficking in Women From and Through Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract: THIS ARTICLE ANALYSES ASPECTS of the changing rhetoric and realities since 1989 of the traffic in women from and through Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union 1 (CEE). The overt and shocking human rights abuses apparent in the traffic in women stem to a large extent from the degraded status of women within these societies. 2 This essential inequality is thrown into sharp relief by both economic problems and war. Compounding variables are that certain criminals, military personnel and ‘business’ people view women (and children) as valuable commodities to exploit in terms of prostitution. 3 Discourses on economic transition and militarisation in CEE are related to debates on trafficking in women with focus on poverty, human rights, prostitution and migration. The rapid marketisation of these countries had a disproportionately heavy impact on women’s economic opportunities and family responsibilities. 4 The growth of trafficking in women for sexual exploitation across CEE from the 1990s to date highlights how considerations of migration and prostitution, when politically framed, can be decisive in the formulation of adopted policy strategies. The demand for prostitution in the wealthier Western European countries links with confused and contradictory attitudes towards prostitution and its regulation to generate and support thriving ‘markets in women’. Military and peacekeeping personnel link with local profiteers in creating further markets. Both the feminisation of poverty and the secondary positioning of women in countries within the region are key factors encouraging migration to the West. 5 There are competing causal factors and motives underpinning much of the trafficking trades, 6 particularly that of traffic in women. Key impacts of poverty and war have interlinked across CEE to oppress impoverished women with apparent complexities between migration, human trafficking and smuggling. 7 Contradictory dialogues speak to the current political interest in legislating against the traffic in women in CEE, specifically from alternating focal points of women’s human rights, immigration controls and the feminisation of poverty. In this article attempts are made to draw out some causal factors against the background of dramatic political and economic change, particularly the rapid globalisation of the now marketised economies in the region and to assess some of the ways in which legislative change

Rights Based Fishing: Use Rights versus Property Rights to Fish

Abstract: The basic economic problem of commercial fisheries can be seen as the absence of property rights to the fish stocks. There are, however, both practical and principal obstacles to applying that solution. Instead, the preferable arrangement appears to be stock control by public agencies, combined with exclusive use rights granted, leased or sold to the fishing industry in order to achieve economic efficiency. Incentives to establish such rights can be found both in government circles and in the industry. Both have a vital role to play; plans to establish use rights such as ITQs have run aground on more than one occasion because of opposition from the industry. Use rights can be seen as a tool for government agencies to achieve economic efficiency in the industry. If desired, these gains can be distributed over a wider public through user fees of some kind. There are few examples, however, of substantial user fees, and the industry has been successful in getting such schemes abolished when they have been put into effect. The experience of Russia and, in particular, Estonia is discussed. The absence of user fees can be explained by the need to obtain support for use right schemes from the industry, and the windfall gains from gratis use rights are vehicles for this. Norway and Iceland are two countries which have put in place use rights, but they have done so in different ways. Iceland has an ITQ system while Norway has fishing concessions combined with individual vessel quotas. Some success appears to have been achieved in both countries with these systems.

Unpacking the Neoliberal Approach to Regional Policy: a Close Reading of John Freebairn's ‘Economic Policy for Rural and Regional Australia’

Abstract: A close reading of a neoliberal intervention in policy debates on ‘the regional economic problem’ is used to throw light on this method. When it is compared to economic geography, the neoliberal approach advances a relatively simplified conception of regional economic and social life that pays little regard to their richness, complexity and grounded realities. Correspondingly, this approach encourages a vision of regional policy that normalises and exonerates the spatially uneven outcomes of market forces. This article argues that policy-makers’ ends in the field of regional development should be alert to the limitations that arise from the neoliberal tendency to override the evidence of empirical complexity in favour of a more simple narrative.

Tax compliance in a simulated heterogeneous multi-agent society

Abstract: We consider an individualised approach to agent behaviour in an application to the classical economic problem of tax compliance Most economic theories consider homogeneous representative agent utilitarian approaches to explain the decision of complying or not with tax payment However, a heterogeneous and individualised account of decision can be considered to explain certain apparently irrational behaviours Ideas such as trust and peer perception may have a key influence in individual decisions, and thus transform the global results for society In this paper, we apply the agent view of rationality to economic decisions and define a territory to be explored by agent technology and social simulations We conclude that the multi-agent view can provide powerful results which might lead to significant economic policy implications

Social and economic problems in Cuba during the crisis and subsequent recovery

Abstract: Up to 1989, social policy in Cuba achieved very notable advances in education, health, social security, employment and income distribution. The collapse of the socialist bloc and other internal and external factors, however, gave rise to a severe crisis, which reached its bottom in 1993 and led to a deterioration in almost all the social indicators. The modest market-oriented reforms introduced in 1993-1996 generated a partial recovery but were later interrupted and have been reversed since 2003. The social indicators improved after 1994, but in 2003 some of them had still not regained their 1989 levels and poverty and inequality had increased. This article evaluates the economic and especially the social evolution of Cuba between 1989 and 2004, on the basis of Cuban statistics and publications, ECLAC documents, and a recent study of economic and social aspects in 1997-2002 jointly published by ECLAC, the National Economic Research Institute of Cuba, and the United Nations Development Programme./

Selling off the family silver: the politics of privatization in the OECD 1990-2000

Abstract: The 1990s have witnessed unprecedented attempts at privatizing state owned enterprises in virtually all OECD democracies. This contribution analyzes the differences in the privatization proceeds raised by EU- and OECD-countries between 1990 and 2000. It turns out that privatizations are part of a process of economic liberalization in previously highly regulated economies as well as a reaction to the fiscal policy challenges imposed by European integration and the globalization of financial markets. In addition, institutional pluralism and union militancy yield significant and negative effects on privatization proceeds. Partisan differences only emerge if economic problems are moderate, while intense economic, particularly fiscal problems foreclose differing partisan strategies.

Some aspects of industrial diversification in the united states

Abstract: LO NE of the major characteristics of industrial development in the United States during the past two decades has been a drive toward diversification of manufacturing in many industrial areas. In part the promotion of diversification has resulted from a belief that industrial specialization was unhealthy, and that specialization has led to the economic and social bankruptcy of communities. A statement from a government publication that appeared in 19371 illustrates the extreme nature of this thesis: "A poorly balanced industrial structure throws the entire industrial front out of joint by causing migration of labor, unemployment, lower wages, curtailed purchasing power, less trading business, lower living standards, high cost of relief, high taxes, tax delinquency, untenanted property, stagnation of building enterprises, obsolescence of community plant, and depreciation of industrial equipment." In recent years the emphasis on the need for diversification has assumed, in a few areas, some of the aspects of a search for a panacea for the solution of all local economic problems. In view of the present importance of diversification policy in the country

Economics for the future

Abstract: Many of us decided to study economics because we were interested in issues such aseconomic growth, unemployment, poverty, discrimination and social exclusion. Andfor much of the history of the discipline, economists grappled with explaining suchphenomena and, hopefully, helped to improve the development of economic policy.But now the discipline is increasingly dominated by other concerns, such asmathematical rigour and econometric modelling. The New York Times columnist,Michael Weinstein, recalled how his passion to learn economics, which was driven bya desire to understand the causes of poverty and the impact of technical change, wasimmediately quelled when on his first day as a graduate student at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology the professor announced that ‘all of economics is a subset ofthe theory of separating hyperplans’ (Weinstein, 2000). The subject has become soobscure that even orthodox economists are bemoaning its intellectual poverty.AccordingtoMiltonFriedman,‘economicshasbecomeincreasinglyanarcanebranchof mathematics rather than dealing with real economic problems’ (Friedman, 1999,p.137). And Robert Solow has observed: ‘Today if you ask a mainstream economista question about almost any aspect of economic life, the response will be: suppose wemodel that situation and see what happens...modern mainstream economics consistsof little else but examples of this process’ (quoted in Lawson, 2005).So many economists are now increasingly engaged in research and teaching that isdisconnected from the issues that influence people’s lives, as Long (2005) observed:‘academiceconomistsremainhiddenintheirivorytowers.Theyareneitherhouseholdnames nor a significant presence in newspaper commentary pages. How strange fora country that produced the most famous economists of all time: Adam Smith, DavidRicardo and John Maynard Keynes’. But not all remain hidden in their ivory towers:there are a few who do influence the policy domain, but they come from the intel-lectually narrow sect of neoclassical economics. And there are those from the neo-classical sect who have managed to infiltrate popular culture by throwing away themaths, packaging their prose in airport-style books and entertaining their readerswithstories about why sumo wrestlers cheat and why drug pushers live with their mums(see Levitt and Dubner, 2005).As modern orthodox economics moves away from reality, there is both theopportunity and the need for heterodox economics to orientate economics towards

In search of the economic self

Abstract: Economic theory and data are reviewed in the light of the concept of an economic self. In psychology, the self is in principle held to be a unified entity underlying all decisions, but in practice this unity is undermined by failures of transparency and complications of reflexivity. Current economic theory is found to be deficient in not recognising a self, but economic data confirm that the unity of the self is not absolute. A fuller account of the economic self will require a recognition of the role of human nature and emotions such as pride in forming economic tastes.

Urban Planning in Hong Kong and Integration with the Pearl River Delta: A Historical Account of Local Development

Abstract: This paper shows the importance that urban planning plays in the development of Hong Kong. This leads to a reassessment of the role of the government, which is the sole proprietor of the land, in the economy – while it acknowledges the importance of market forces. The first part shows how, since 1945, Hong Kong authorities have been obliged to intervene more in urban planning and local development, despite their liberal ideology. The second part focuses on the interaction between government action and market forces, and their influence in this development. The third part deals with the question of the economic integration between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) after China started its economics reforms in 1978. The deconcentration of Hong Kong industries to China was mainly due to market forces, but provided a new role for the government. This role is analyzed through its transportation policy – the domain with the most visible governmental intervention before and after 1997. It indicates the preference of the government to develop the territory rather than better integration with the PRD, because of the internal economic problems that may emerge from this integration. Nevertheless, for political and economic reasons, this integration is also seen as necessary. The future of Hong Kong’s economy lies in the answers the authorities will give to this dilemma.

Selling off the “Family Silver”: The Politics of Privatization in the OECD 1990-2000. CES Working Paper, no. 121, 2005

Abstract: The 1990s have witnessed unprecedented attempts at privatizing state owned enterprises in virtually all OECD democracies. This contribution analyzes the differences in the privatization proceeds raised by EU and OECD countries between 1990 and 2000. It turns out that privatizations are part of a process of economic liberalization in previously highly regulated economies, as well as a reaction to the fiscal policy challenges imposed by European integration and the globalization of financial markets. In addition, institutional pluralism and union militancy yield significant and negative effects on privatization proceeds. Partisan differences only emerge if economic problems are moderate, while intense economic, particularly fiscal, problems foreclose differing partisan strategies.

Economic Freedom and World Economic Growth: Evidence and Implications

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explain the statistical variation in economic growth rates in a broad cross-section of countries, over the period 1980-1999. This problem will be addressed within the framework of the so-called "growth-regression" approach, which seeks to explain this variation by relating economic growth to a list of potential explanatory variables. A large number of studies published since the early I990's have been based on the so-called "neo-classical theory of economic growth", and this approach will be followed as a first approximation, though the main purpose of the paper is to evaluate the incremental explanatory power of several additional variables not usually contemplated in the conventional neo-classical approach.

Sind unsere gesamtwirtschaftlichen Probleme überhaupt lösbar

Abstract: The paper draws on Baumol’s (1967) model of «unbalanced growth» to show that pressing economic problems of mature economies such as declining growth rates of real GDP, an increasing government share in GDP and the «cost explosion» in health care can readily be explained – yet they cannot be finally resolved. Swiss economic data are used to verify that the economic developments Baumol’s model predicts are indeed underway. Some policy as well as politico-economic conclusions are drawn from these insights.

Neocapitalism and the Reduction of Global Poverty

Abstract: Justice and well-being are of course necessary conditions for a peaceful world order, and we move closer to this goal as our understanding of social and economic behavior becomes more complete. Here it is certainly true that our knowledge of capital-function in mainstream economics is incomplete. For example - exactly how labor and capital work together, in our planning and decisions, to produce consumables and new capital is not substantively understood in our universities and governments, nor is it understood, not coincidentally, how the (marginal) efficiency or usefulness or productive-power of both labor and capital may increase, or contract, depending on the level of expected investment-risk in our economic planning. This incomplete knowledge is coupled to the need to deepen standard economics to its neuropsychological foundation.... Since neoclassical economics and capital-function reside at the heart of capitalism, it follows that this system of high-productivity is not yet comprehensive - a shortcoming that should be considered important, inasmuch as incomplete understanding of any complicated system eventually and inevitably produces unsatisfactory, and often tragic, consequences. As an example, in our global economic system free trade and open markets as policy goals or idealizations may be faulted for increasing expected risk in the economic planning of disadvantaged citizens, thereby tending to discourage their investment in education, skills, and business.... Two main themes along this line are addressed: First, that our understanding of economics, and the capitalist ideology, may be rendered "paradigmatically complete" by reaching down to the neuropsychological foundation; and second, that this deeper understanding will help solve the Economic Problem (poverty), and thereby clear the way for defeating the great dangers of our modern world. Principal attention is also given to our "post cold-war" detant or ease-of-tensions, and the unprecedented opportunity for important and continuing progress that it presents.

Property and Environment: Thoughts on an Evolving Relationship

Abstract: Private property is a necessary but insufficient tool for environmental regulation. Why is it necessary? There are several reasons. First, it settles who controls a resource, making rational management possible. While this may sound trivial, countries with weak or fragmented systems of ownership--or where enforcement of law is tainted by corruption--find it impossible even to begin to preserve resources or prevent pollution. (1) This is especially the case when different individuals make conflicting claims to the same plot of land. Second, private property owners have the incentive to preserve the capital value of their land. They can reap where they (or nature) have sown. They postpone harvesting their property (by cutting a forest, for example) until a propitious time. This choice is a cousin to environmental protection. Private ownership involves control of appetite and rational planning. It similarly solves the problem of open access to a resource, which leads to destruction, because all may have an incentive to reap but none have any incentive to sow--or even to defer use. (2) Private property owners can also be effectively regulated. Regulators can easily locate owners of land and many other natural resources. To the extent that the resource is valuable or the owner competes in a market, regulators have a generally effective lever for enforcement of laws. This obvious point is not unimportant; clear expectations of effective enforcement are an aspect of the rule of law. Reducing enforcement costs enhances the efficiency of regulations in reaching public goals. Private property generally encourages innovation by simplifying decision-making and safeguarding the fruits of success. In some instances, it can similarly encourage innovation in achieving environmental goals by allowing an owner to capture the economic benefit of the innovation. Regulatory systems that create such benefits harness private initiative for public ends, but are themselves complex public creations that require enormous sophistication in regulatory agencies. (3) I will discuss this further below. Consequently, private property may be necessary for environmental protection in a market economy. (4) Nearly everyone, however, recognizes that property rights alone are insufficient. While an owner may manage her land to protect the value of some economic service or product it provides her, she may not take steps to protect its ecological health, at least in spheres unrelated to economic return. A farmer may assiduously cultivate a field for corn, but remain indifferent to the consequences of destroying wildlife habitat. Moreover, the fertilizer spread on the fields and the drainage system for rainwater may weaken the natural health of nearby bodies of water. (5) Owners might also rationally conclude that exhausting the entire value of a resource immediately is more valuable to them than preserving it, even if this eliminates options for future users. (6) They make choices that impose costs on others without taking those costs into account, which is the fundamental economic problem of externalities. Environmental law starts from the recognition that: 1) environmental benefits are public goods, so individual owners do not have a strong incentive to produce them, and 2) legal institutions are needed to make owners take account of the costs that they might impose on others. A near consensus on these points seems to exist, both in the legal academy and on this panel, although with a great deal of pulling at the margins. Professor Ely distinguishes between pollution control regulations, which address harms to the public, and other regulations (such as those preventing the destruction of privately-owned wetlands or woodlands) that seemingly try to gain some public environmental benefit. He argues that the former is unobjectionable because no one has the right to use his property to harm another, a familiar principle drawn from the common law of nuisance. …

Economic Globalisation: The Process and its Potential, Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts

Abstract: After economic globalisation is defined, the factors that have favoured it in recent times are outlined and the process is placed in a historical context. Measures of the recent expansion in economic globalisation are given, such as trends in the proportion of global GDP traded internationally, and the relative size of global FDI. China’s comparative economic openness compared to the rest of the world is discussed. Potential positive and negative economic and social impacts of globalisation are explored, taking into account important economic theories. Particular attention is given to globalisation and the evolutionary dynamics of economic growth by considering the economic ‘catching up’ phase of countries, such as China, and by placing this in a general evolutionary context. The question is also posed of whether economic growth will eventually cease, and whether industrial and social structures could become defective once economic globalisation is well established and enters its mature phase. Economic growth fostered by growing globalisation also raises globally important environmental and natural resource issues of relevance to the sustainability of economic growth and to the fulfilment of human goals. Some of these issues are investigated, taking into account theories that provide an optimistic prognosis, as well as those which warn of dangers and difficulties ahead.

Corporate responsibility and economic theory: an anthropological perspective

Abstract: A basic worldview of economic theory is the notion that humans have unlimited material wants and limited means to satisfy these wants. In this framework the task of economists is to design policy instruments to meet human preferences for material commodities as efficiently as possible, that is, with the minimum amount of society's scarce resources. An interesting perspective on this aspect of contemporary economics is offered by anthropologists who trace the origins of economic man back hundreds if not thousands of years. Such a long-term perspective is all the more important since the standard economic preference satisfaction model of consumer and firm behaviour is being replaced by models consistent with current research findings in the fields of psychology, anthropology and other behavioural sciences about human decision-making. Much of traditional management theory and the theory of the firm are based on the preference satisfaction model, so the demise of that conceptual base has far-reaching implications for the analysis of sustainable corporate behaviour.

Economic Reform after the Revolution in the Kyrgyz Republic

Abstract: Before the March 2005 revolution, the Kyrgyz Republic had undertaken substantial market reform, but the growth rate remained moderate and poverty palpable The two main culprits were seen to be limited market access and corruption Market access has improved considerably, and the corruption of the prior ruling family is seen as a major cause of the revolution In a post-revolutionary situation, it is possible to undertake politically difficult reforms Desirable and possible reforms are privatization of the large enterprises, further tax cuts, unification of the revenue services, an administrative reform, and substantial decentralization Judicial reform is desirable but hardly possible Key words: economic reforms, Kyrgyzstan's economy, postcommunist transformation, transition economics ********** In March 2005, Kyrgyzstan went through a sudden revolution in the wake of botched elections The revolution was directed against the authoritarian practices and corruption of the old regime This article assesses the economic developments that contributed to the revolution and outlines the economic reforms required in the wake of the revolution Two of the central concerns of this analysis are access to foreign markets and corruption We argue that Kyrgyzstan has achieved a breakthrough in market access, while the problems of corruption remain in spite of the many measures undertaken To establish what should be done about corruption in the Kyrgyz Republic, we need first to establish its nature Finally, we suggest what can and should be done by the new regime (1) A Peculiar Experience The Kyrgyz Republic found itself in a particularly complicated situation after the collapse of the Soviet Union No less than 94 percent of its area is considered mountainous, leaving the country with little arable land It possessed very few export products In Soviet times, the Kyrgyz Republic was heavily specialized in sheep husbandry, but in the early transition four-fifths of its ten million sheep died One reason for this was that demand for mutton plummeted as the large price subsidies for meat disappeared and incomes dropped, rendering sheep breeding unprofitable (2) Another reason was that the large kolkhozy collapsed in general disorganization The Kyrgyz textile industry was never strong, and it was hardly viable when it was exposed to competition Most of it has closed down The Kyrgyz Republic also produced some military equipment, but it was located too far from the Russian military-industrial complex, which was in deep crisis itself because of the absence of demand The country had a limited-scale mining industry, mostly for gold What a deeply landlocked, isolated, and poor country such as Kyrgyzstan would do in a normal market economy was questionable By 1995, the Kyrgyz gross domestic product (GDP) had officially fallen by 47 percent from 1989, which was not a bad performance under the circumstances (3) Given that the underground economy expanded, the actual slump was considerably less The country's financial problems were aggravated by the elimination of the Soviet budget subsidy, which had amounted to about one-tenth of its GDP (4) The dominant problem of the Kyrgyz Republic was poverty President Askar A Akaev tried to resolve the economic problems with radical market economic reform In May 1993, Kyrgyzstan was the first CIS country to break out of the ruble zone, which salvaged the nation from hyperinflation The country liberalized prices and trade, and a market economy took shape Soon after Russia, the country undertook a similar mass privatization of much of its industry The Kyrgyz government developed a close and good relationship with the international financial institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, which poured loans into the country Bilateral donors, notably the United States, have also been attentive and generous to the Kyrgyz Republic, which was rightly perceived as the most pluralist and open country in Central Asia both in politics and economics …