912 research outputs found
Workshop series on the role of institutions in East Asian development: Institutional foundations of innovation and competitiveness in East Asia
The discussion paper summarizes the results of a workshop that focussed on the institutional foundations of innovation and competitiveness in East Asia. The following papers are contained: 'Transitional Institutions, Institutional Complementarities and Economic Performance in China. A "Varieties of Capitalism" Approach', 'The Current State of Research on Networks in China's Business System', 'Recent Changes to Korea's Innovation Governance', 'Standardization and Institutional Complementarities in Japan - Empirical Results from SAP R/3 Implementations in Japanese Automotive Suppliers'. --East Asia,Japan,China,Korea,institutional change,competitiveness,innovation
Democratization and Financial Reform in Taiwan: The Political Economy of Bad-Loan Creation
This study shows that many bad loans now burdening Taiwan's financial institutions are interrelated with the society's democratization which started in the late 1980s. Democratization made the local factions and business groups more independent from the Kuomintang government. They acquired more political influence than under the authoritarian regime. These changes induced them to manage their owned financial institutions more arbitrarily and to intervene more frequently in the state-affiliated financial institutions. Moreover they interfered in financial reform and compelled the government to allow many more new banks than it had originally planned. As a result the financial system became more competitive and the qualities of loans deteriorated. Some local factions and business groups exacerbated the situation by establishing banks in order to funnel funds to themselves, sometimes illegally. Thus many bad loans were created as the side effect of democratization.Taiwan, Politics, Economy, Democratization, Finance
Identifying the bank lending channel in Brazil through data frequency
Using the different response timings of credit demand and supply, we isolate supply shifts after monetary policy shocks. We show that the bank lending channel exists in Brazil: after an increase (decrease) in the basic interest rate (Selic), banks reduce (increase) the quantity of new loans and raise (lower) interest rates. However, contrary to the empirical literature for the US, we find evidence that large banks react more than smaller ones to monetary policy shocks. Results may have important implications for monetary policy transmission in light of the recent wave of concentration in the Brazilian banking industry.monetary policy transmission; credit markets; bank lending channel. JEL Code: E52; E58
Western Aid Conditionality and the Post-Communist Transition
The political and economic collapse of communism in the Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union has created enormous challenge for Western democracies. The challenge has been not that of providing financial developmental aid although it is very important for countries facing the double challenge of transition and development. Its most important dimension has been to provide active policy support to implement reforms dismantling central planning. This in turn includes designing and providing a stimulus to implement a viable transition strategies and establishing market friendly institutions. Thus, the question is the extent to which Western assistance has made a difference in the course of transition from economic systems based on central planning to those based on competitive markets. This paper examines links between the economic transition in the former Soviet bloc countries (including states that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union) and Western assistance. Its main focus is on addressing two specific questions: (i) have the Western governments and international institutions supported the most effective strategy of transition in Eastern Europe and FSU?; and (ii) what kind of aid policy can give the best results in terms of recipient countries commitment to effective transition strategy?Post-Communism, transition, Western aid
The new presence of China in Africa
This book describes China's growing range of activities in Africa, especially in the sub-Saharan region. The three most important instruments China has at its disposal in Africa are development aid, investments and trade policy. The Chinese government, which believes the Western development aid model has failed, is looking for new forms of aid and development in Africa. China's economic success can partly be ascribed to the huge availability of cheap labour, which is primarily employed in export-oriented industries. China is looking for the required raw materials in Africa, and for new marketplaces. Investments are being made on a large scale in Africa by Chinese state-controlled firms and private companies, particularly in the oil-producing countries (Angola, Nigeria and Sudan) and countries rich in minerals (Zambia). Third, the trade policy China is conducting is analysed in China and compared with that of Europe and the United States. In case studies the specific situation in several African countries is examined. In Zambia the mining industry, construction and agriculture are described. One case study of Sudan deals with the political presence of China in Sudan and the extent to which Chinese arms suppliers contributed to the current crisis in Darfur. The possibility of Chinese diplomacy offering a solution in that conflict is discussed. The conclusion considers whether social responsibility can be expected of the Chinese government and companies and if this is desirable, and to what extent the Chinese model in Africa can act as an example - or not - for the West.
Table of contents:
Objectives of and instruments for China’s new presence in Africa / Meine Pieter van Dijk
China’s opening up, from Shenzhen to Sudan / Filip de Beule and Daniël Van den Bulcke
Chinese aid to Africa, origins, forms and issues / Jean-Raphaël Chaponnière
China’s investments in Africa / Peter Kragelund and Meine Pieter van Dijk
Competing trade policies with respect to Africa / Meine Pieter van Dijk
State-driven Chinese investments in Zambia: combining
strategic interests and profits / Anders Bastholm and Peter Kragelund
The political impact of the Chinese in Sudan / Meine Pieter van Dijk
The impact of the Chinese in other African countries and
sectors / Meine Pieter van Dijk
Responsible production in Africa: the rise of China as a
threat or opportunity? / Peter Knorringa
Conclusions from China’s activities in Africa / Meine Pieter van DijkChina vindt in Afrika grondstoffen en afzetmarkten voor zijn snelgroeiende exportindustrie. De auteurs van dit boek vergelijken de Chinese aanpak op het gebied van ontwikkelingshulp, investeringen en handelspolitiek met die van het Westen en bespreken in hoeverre het Chinese model in Afrika als voorbeeld kan dienen. Dit boek beschrijft de activiteiten die China in Afrika ontplooit, en dan met name ten zuiden van de Sahara. De drie belangrijkste instrumenten die China ter beschikking staan in Afrika zijn ontwikkelingshulp, investeringen en handelspolitiek. De Chinese overheid, volgens wie de westerse ontwikkelingshulp gefaald heeft, zoekt nieuwe vormen van hulp en ontwikkeling in Afrika. Het economische succes van China kan deels verklaard worden uit de grote beschikbaarheid van goedkope arbeid, die vooral wordt ingezet in op export gerichte industrie. De daarvoor benodigde grondstoffen zoekt China onder meer in Afrika, evenals nieuwe afzetmarkten. Er wordt op grote schaal door zowel Chinese staatsondernemeningen als particuliere bedrijven geC/nvesteerd in Afrika, met name in de olie-producerende landen (Angola, Nigeria en Sudan) en landen die rijk zijn aan grondstoffen (Zambia). Ten derde wordt de door China bedreven handelspolitiek in China geanalyseerd en vergeleken met die van Europa en de Verenigde Staten
Corporate Governance Reforms in the Philippines: An Ethnographic Approach
This research investigates the impact of corporate governance reforms in Philippine institutions and firms. Literature reviewed looks at the macro and micro view of corporate governance theories and the prevailing business environment. The methodology of this research applies an ethnographic approach combining both deductive and inductive inquiries with a triangulated method using interviews, media articles and participant observation. Collection of the interview data occurred over four intensive months whilst in situ in Manila, Philippines. The data was then analysed using the NVivo qualitative analysis computer program. The results of my data collection and analysis are explained and distilled in six chapters. They are: - Chapter 4: Business and Corporate Governance Environment - Chapter 5: The Regulators - Chapter 6: Business Groups: The Owners of Companies - Chapter 7: The Board and Management: The Controllers of the Company - Chapter 8: The Government Financial Institutions - Chapter 9: Corruption The thesis concludes with a chapter on a summary of the research findings and recommendations for policy and practice
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Reproduction, exchange relations and food insecurity: maize production and maize markets in Honduras.
Although severe poverty and difficult climatic conditions for crop production created acute food insecurity among many small maize producers in parts of Honduras in the 1980s, this thesis focuses on the widespread phenomenon of chronic and endemic vulnerability found in less critically affected parts of the country. It argues that a major cause of food insecurity among small maize producers in the 1980s lay in the complex nature of social relations of production and exchange for maize. Nevertheless, policy debates and directions in Honduras tended to side-step these complexities. Small maize farmers were vulnerable to food insecurity because of their exchange relations with other farmers, traders and state institutions over land, labour, finance and output. These exchanges combined commoditized, personalized and noncommoditized relations. They also involved inequality and power, reciprocity and assistance, as well as forms of economic coercion.Exchanges of land and labour between commercial and semi-proletarian farmers, as well as loans made by commercial to semi-proletarian farmers, helped to sustain the maize production of both social groups. Although these relations provided some security on an unequal basis for semi-proletarian farmers, indebtedness prevented them from improving their livelihoods from maize. Thus while most commercial farmers interviewed were able to make profits from maize production, semi-proletarian farmers continued in stagnation.Petty commodity maize producers as well as commercial farmers tended to establish relations with state and state-linked institutions for credit, technical assistance, and sometimes for output markets. However, petty commodity producers could also experience difficulties in reproducing maize production. In particular, their incorporation into state-linked projects to increase output and productivity could increase the risk of debt and left many in a position of 'insecure transformation'.Semi-proletarian maize farmers could break the cycle of 'secure stagnation' by organizing collectively to gain land and establish new social relations of production and exchange. However, there were many risks and difficulties for these groups, and struggling groups might still maintain some relations of patronage to survive.A key distinction between maize production and trade was that the latter was driven by profits while the former continued in production even though many farmers had negative net cash incomes. Traders' profits also depended on social differentiation, by wealth and task in trade, as on the differentiation of farmers from whom they purchased maize. Personalized relations also helped to ensure profits from trade.Although maize trade involved many participants and was apparently competitive, local traders (including commercial maize farmers) could establish debt relations with semi-proletarian farmers which put the latter at a disadvantage in output markets, especially with respect to the time of maize sales and hence prices received. Market alternatives for semi-proletarian farmers were relatively restricted compared to commercial farmers and petty commodity producers.The thesis concludes that policies which only consider market variables in maize production and distribution and which propose increasing liberalization and deregulation are unlikely to benefit those who are most at risk among Honduran maize farmers. Unless the complex social relations which maintain either the stagnation of semi-proletarian farmers or the insecure transformation of petty commodity producers are addressed, conditions of reproducing maize production are likely to become more acute and reinforce food insecurity in the countryside
Pension systems in East Asia and the Pacific : challenges and opportunities
With the recovery from the recent crisis, countries of the East Asia and Pacific region are rethinking their financial, and social policy, including old-age protection. Population aging, in combination with ongoing urbanization, and economic transformation, will place increasing pressure on traditional family care arrangements. Coverage under formal pension systems is generally low, and the absence of social safety nets for the needy elderly, poses risks in the face of breaks in the economic growth path. In addition to common systemic challenges, formal old-age income support systems confront issues specific to their design type: 1) The national provident fund, and social security systems with reserve funds, have demonstrated problems with investment policy, and performance, governance and management. 2) In the established market economies, social security systems are fiscally unsustainable in the long run, and often have a weak benefit-contribution link. 3) These types of systems encounter additional problems in transition economies, including low contribution collection from previously socialized enterprises. Options addressed by the paper involve the adoption of an integrated view on retirement income provision, averting fiscal un-sustainability, and, integrating public, and private sector pensions. Additionally, moving toward a multi-pillar structure with prudent coverage extension, and, fostering financial markets, to allow decentralized pension funds management, are also suggested.Health Economics&Finance,Public Sector Economics,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform
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