Legitimizing global economic governance through transnational parliamentarization: The parliamentary dimensions of the WTO and the World Bank

This paper discusses the potential contribution of parliamentary institutions and networks to the democratization of global economic governance. It places the analysis in the context of the larger debate on the democratic deficit of international economic institutions, in particular the WTO. On a theoretical level, the paper distinguishes different notions of legitimacy and democracy in order to identify which aspects of democratic legitimacy of global economic governance can be addressed through transnational parliamentarization. It is argued that national parliaments must react to the emergence of global economic governance in a multi-level system through new forms of transnational parliamentarization. In its empirical part, the paper assesses the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO (PCWTO) and the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) as two examples of such transnational parliamentarization. Drawing on the theory of deliberative democracy the paper argues that the contribution of these settings to democratic global governance should not be measured on the basis of their formal decision-making power but with regard to their role as fora for transnational discourses and on their potential to empower national parliamentarians. -- Das Arbeitspapier untersucht den potentiellen Beitrag von parlamentarischen Institutionen und Netzwerken zur Demokratisierung des internationalen Wirtschaftssystems. Es stellt die Analyse in den Kontext der allgemeinen Debatte über das Demokratiedefizit der globalen Wirtschaftsinstitutionen, insbesondere der WTO. Auf theoretischer Ebene unterscheidet das Arbeitspapier verschiedene Konzeptionen von Legitimität und Demokratie, um herauszufiltern, welche Anforderungen demokratischer Legitimität durch Prozesse der transnationalen Parlamentarisierung erfüllt werden können. Das Arbeitspapier argumentiert, dass nationale Parlamente auf die Emergenz globaler Wirtschaftsinstitutionen im Mehrebenensystem durch neue Formen der transnationalen Parlamentarisierung reagieren müssen. In seinem empirischen Teil bewertet das Arbeitspapier die Parlamentarische Konferenz zur WTO (Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, PCWTO) und das Parlamentarische Netzwerk zur Weltbank (Parliamentary Network on the World Bank, PNoWB) als zwei Beispiele einer derartigen transnationalen Parlamentarisierung. Unter Rückgriff auf die Theorie der deliberativen Demokratie wird argumentiert, dass der Beitrag dieser Einrichtungen zu demokratischer gobal governance nicht anhand ihrer formalen Entscheidungsbefugnisse gemessen werden sollte, sondern mit Blick auf ihre Rolle als Foren für transnationale Diskurse und ihr Potential nationale Parlamentarier zu stärken.

Changes in the distribution of pre-government and post-government income in Germany 1973 - 1993 : paper presented at the Conference on the Personal Distribution of Income in an International Perspective at the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst

To sum up our findings we come to the following statements. - During the period from 1973 to 1993 inequality of the personal distribution of equivalent pre-government income increased to some extent, as was to be expected given the enormous rise in unemployment. - Inequality of post-government income also increased slightly, but was much lower than inequality of pre-government income due to the equalizing effect of the German tax and transfer system. - In 1993 inequality of pre-government income was higher, and inequality of post-government income was considerably lower in East Germany than in West Germany; the West German tax and transfer system that was transferred to East Germany after reunification - with some additional but temporary minimum regulations - seems to have had a stronger equalizing effect in the East than in the West. - A decomposition into three age groups, the young and the middle-aged group sub-divided further according to whether household members were affected by unemployment, showed that within-groups inequality explained by far more of overall inequality than between-groups inequality. - The relative positions of the two young groups as well as of the middle-aged group with unemployed members deteriorated with respect to their equivalent pre-government and post-government incomes. - During the first period with rising unemployment (1973 to 1978), the development of within-groups inequality and of between-groups inequality contributed to about the same extent to the increase of overall inequality of pre-government income. But this was fully compensated by the tax and transfer system as there were only a negligible change in inequality of equivalent net income and very slight effects of the (four) components of change which nearly compensated each other. - During the last period from 1988 to 1993 the equalizing effect of the German tax and transfer system seems to have weakened, at least in the western part of Germany. The increase in inequality of equivalent net income is mainly due to developments of within group inequalities

understanding the discrepancies

Public attitudes related to social Europe are important for legitimating the aspirations of the European Union and European politicians to deepen European integration. This paper investigates public opinion about social Europe by analyzing attitudes related to the basic principles for European social security measures and attitudes about implementing a uniform European social security system. Based on a survey conducted in 13 European countries, it explores the discrepancies between the two interrelated phenomena and investigates in detail the factors responsible for the strong support for general principles, but fizzling support for the implementation of a European social system. The main findings demonstrate that the value-based mechanisms are primarily responsible for carrying over the positive attitudes towards the general principles to positive attitudes towards a uniform European social security system. In contrast, self-interest does not play a prominent role. Left-leaning individuals, emphasizing the justice principle of need and who identify and trust the European Union are the primary proponents of general principles related to social Europe, as well as for the potential realization of a uniform European welfare system

Changes in income poverty and deprivation over time : a comparison of eight European countries from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties with special attention to the situation of the unemployed ; this paper was also published as working paper 3 of EPUSE (the employment precarity, unemployment and social exclusion project), Oxford, october 1998

All-over in Europe, unemployment became a growing problem from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s. Nevertheless, the effects on the economical situation of the unemployed and the whole population are quite different in European countries. In this paper we first give a brief overview over the development of unemployment rates in eight member states of the European Union and over the different reactions to provide the social protection of the unemployed. Therefore we look at the social security expenditures, the level of income replacement for the unemployed and recent social policy reforms concerning them. In the second section of the paper, we examine the development of income distribution and poverty taking different poverty lines into consideration. There is no general pattern neither for the relationship of inequality among the unemployed to the whole economically active population nor for the development from the 80s to the 90s. But one can say that in countries with increasing income inequality also poverty is rising (especially in the UK) and that where inequality among the unemployed is less pronounced the proportions of the poor went down from the mid 80s to the mid 90s (France and Ireland). In nearly all countries the risk of being poor is ernormously high for the unemployed, Denmark is the only exception

Towards advanced Intellectual property management - Events and stages during the development. Evidence from the biotech sector

During recent years the management of Intellectual Property (IP) underwent major changes. IP management systems became increasingly complex nowadays actively handling an integrated mix of intellectual assets rather than just administrating patents or trademarks as single, independently treated assets. Our paper describes and analyses the historic development of IP management in German and Swedish Dedicated Biotechnology Firms (DBFs) with our main focus on the following two issues: (1) Which events trigger the development towards an advanced IP management? (2) Can distinctive stages be identified in the development of IP management systems and if yes, how are they characterised? Our study draws primarily on 12 personal interviews with leading managers from six larger German and Swedish DBFs with rich experience in IP management that were founded between 1984 and 1997. During our study we found that shifts towards an advanced IP management were triggered by single crucial events (e.g. litigation) or an accumulated sum of incremental events, of either internal or external nature. Up to four different stages of IP management were found throughout the development of the case companies, while six criteria were identified that can be applied to characterize an IP management stage. --Intellectual Property Management,Dedicated Biotechnology Firm,Germany,Sweden

The process of user-innovation: A case study on user innovation in a consumer goods setting

Manufacturers usually benefit by dividing their innovation processes into distinct phases in order to ensure that the development activities are performed efficiently in an appropriate sequence. Users usually do not apply such structured processes. They follow a more intuition-driven approach. In this paper we analyze the way users improve or develop novel products. The field of our research is a new and rapidly evolving consumer market, the sport of kite surfing. We identified a sequence that underlies the approaches of user inventors. This sequence consists of two major stages, (1) idea generation and (2) idea realization, each again subdivided. We propose that a manufacturer in the relevant product field can significantly profit from more closely observing such user activities: Better understanding of tacit needs which cannot be derived by applying classical market research methods. Learn about the adequacy of solutions from the user. This may guide their development activities and prevent development of inadequate solutions. Collect user ideas as well as corresponding solution knowledge at very low tariffs and increase reputation as a customer-close organization. --Produktinnovation,Produktentwicklung,Benutzer / Beteiligung

New ways of life or old rigidities? Changes in social structures and life courses and their political impacts

Author's comment: Ebenfalls erschienen als: Arbeitspapier des Projektes Political economy and the life course in advanced societies (POLIS