Trade and investment in Latin America and Asia: Lessons from the past and potential perspectives from further integration

CGE Modeling, FTA, trade liberalization,

Strategies for stimulating poverty-alleviating growth in the rural nonfarm economy in developing countries:

"The rural nonfarm economy (RNFE) accounts for roughly 25 percent of full-time rural employment and 35-40 percent of rural incomes across the developing world. This diverse collection of seasonal trading, household-based and large-scale agroprocessing, manufacturing and service activities plays a crucial role in sustaining rural populations, in servicing a growing and modern agriculture, and in supplying local consumer goods and services. In areas where landlessness prevails, rural nonfarm activity offers important economic alternatives for the rural poor....Three key groups currently intervene in the rural nonfarm economy: large private enterprises, non-profit promotional agencies and governments. Large modern corporations take investment, procurement and marketing decisions that powerfully shape opportunities in the rural nonfarm economy throughout much of the Third World...." The authors put forth three basic principles for policy makers who want to ensure equitable growth of the RNFE : (1) Identify key engines of regional growth; (2) Focus on subsector-specific supply chains; and (3) Build flexible institutional coalitions. They conclude that "a prosperous rural nonfarm economy can contribute to both aggregate economic growth and improved welfare of the rural poor." from Executive Summary.Poverty alleviation Developing countries., Rural population., Employment, Non-agricultural Rural areas., Manufacturing industries., Service industries.,

Integration of markets vs. integration by agreements

This paper provides an analysis of the two channels of regional integration: integration via markets and integration via agreements. Given that East Asia and Latin America are two fertile regions where both forms of integrations have taken place, the authors examine the experiences of these two areas. There are four related results. First, East Asia had been integrating via markets long before formal agreements were in vogue in the region. Latin America, by contrast, has primarily used formal regional trade treaties as the main channel of integration. Second, despite the relative lack of formal regional trade treaties until recently, East Asia is more integrated among itself than Latin America. Third, from a purely economic and trade standpoint, the proper sequence of integrations seems to be first integrating via markets and subsequently via formal regional trade agreements. Fourth, regional trade agreements often serve multiple constituents. The reason why integrating via markets first can be helpful is because this can give stronger political bargaining power to the outward-looking economic-oriented forces within the country.Trade Law,Free Trade,Trade and Regional Integration,Trade Policy,Emerging Markets

Predicting Outcomes in Investment Treaty Arbitration

Crafting appropriate dispute settlement processes is challenging for any conflict-management system, particularly for politically sensitive international economic law disputes. As the United States negotiates investment treaties with Asian and European countries, the terms of dispute settlement have become contentious. There is a vigorous debate about whether investment treaty arbitration (ITA) is an appropriate dispute settlement mechanism. While some sing the praises of ITA, others offer a spirited critique. Some critics claim that ITA is biased against states, while others suggest ITA is predictable but unfair due to factors like arbitrator identity or venue. Using data from 159 final cases derived from 272 publicly available ITA awards, this Article examines outcomes of ITA cases to explore those concerns. Key descriptive findings demonstrate that states reliably won a greater proportion of cases than investors; and for the subset of cases investors won, the mean award was US$45.6 million with mean investor success rate of 35%. State success rates were roughly similar to respondent-favorable or state-favorable results in whistleblowing, qui tam, and medical-malpractice litigation in U.S. courts. The Article then explores whether ITA outcomes varied depending upon investor identity, state identity, the presence of repeat-player counsel, arbitrator-related, or venue variables. Models using case-based variables always predicted outcomes whereas arbitrator-venue models did not. The results provide initial evidence that the most critical variables for predicting outcomes involved some form of investor identity and the experience of parties’ lawyers. For investor identity, the most robust predictor was whether investors were human beings, with cases brought by people exhibiting greater success than corporations; and when at least one named investor or corporate parent was ranked in the Financial Times 500, investors sometimes secured more favorable outcomes. Following Marc Galanter’s scholarship demonstrating that repeat-player lawyers are critical to litigation outcomes, attorney experience also affected ITA outcomes. Investors with experienced counsel were more likely to obtain a damage award against a state, whereas states retaining experienced counsel were only reliably associated with decreased levels of relative investor success. Although there was variation in outcomes, ultimately, the data did not support a conclusion that ITA was completely unpredictable; rather, the results called into question some critiques of ITA and did not prove that ITA is a wholly unacceptable form of dispute settlement. Instead, the results suggest the vital debate about ITA’s future would be well served by focusing on evidence-based insights and reliance on data rather than nonreplicable intuition

Latin American perspectives to internationalize undergraduate information technology education

The computing education community expects modern curricular guidelines for information technology (IT) undergraduate degree programs by 2017. The authors of this work focus on eliciting and analyzing Latin American academic and industry perspectives on IT undergraduate education. The objective is to ensure that the IT curricular framework in the IT2017 report articulates the relationship between academic preparation and the work environment of IT graduates in light of current technological and educational trends in Latin America and elsewhere. Activities focus on soliciting and analyzing survey data collected from institutions and consortia in IT education and IT professional and educational societies in Latin America; these activities also include garnering the expertise of the authors. Findings show that IT degree programs are making progress in bridging the academic-industry gap, but more work remains

Shaping the future of Southern Nevada moderators & panelists biographies

Moderators & Panelists biographie

Combining community-based research and local knowledge to confront asthma and subsistence-fishing hazards in Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York.

Activists in the environmental justice movement are challenging expert-driven scientific research by taking the research process into their own hands and speaking for themselves by defining, analyzing, and prescribing solutions for the environmental health hazards confronting communities of the poor and people of color. I highlight the work of El Puente and The Watchperson Project--two community-based organizations in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, that have engaged in community-based participatory research (CBPR) to address asthma and risks from subsistence-fish diets. The CBPR process aims to engage community members as equal partners alongside scientists in problem definition, information collection, and data analysis--all geared toward locally relevant action for social change. In the first case I highlight how El Puente has organized residents to conduct a series of asthma health surveys and tapped into local knowledge of the Latino population to understand potential asthma triggers and to devise culturally relevant health interventions. In a second case I follow The Watchperson Project and their work surveying subsistence anglers and note how the community-gathered information contributed key data inputs for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Cumulative Exposure Project in the neighborhood. In each case I review the processes each organization used to conduct CBPR, some of their findings, and the local knowledge they gathered, all of which were crucial for understanding and addressing local environmental health issues. I conclude with some observations about the benefits and limits of CBPR for helping scientists and communities pursue environmental justice

Thinking Outside the Box: Strategies and Examples for in the Preservation and Development of Heritage

This paper present examples of positive economic and social impacts of cultural projects and mentions an interpretation of the positive interaction between development and culture. Several best practices are explored for each single topic and guidelines for future IDB projects are suggested. This paper complement the document: Thinking Outside the Box: Arguments for IADB's Involvement in the Preservation and Development of Heritage in which were discussed topics related to the role of culture in development and the social impact of culture.Culture & Arts, Heritage Conservation, Urban Development

evidence from a South American country

Pazmiño-Sarango, M., Naranjo-Zolotov, M., & Cruz-Jesus, F. (2021). Assessing the drivers of the regional digital divide and their impact on eGovernment services: evidence from a South American country. Information Technology and People. [Advanced online publication in 21 September 2021]. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-09-2020-0628Purpose: The paper explores the main drivers of the regional-level digital divide in Ecuadorian cities and the extent to which the information and communication technology (ICT) adoption by citizens influences local-level policymakers' decisions to develop eGovernment services. Design/methodology/approach: The paper used an exploratory approach. The authors empirically assessed the provision of eGovernment services in each of the 36 Ecuadorian local governments following the Local Online Service Index (LOSI) measurement scale proposed by the United Nations, and then evaluated the drivers of the eGovernment divide at a local level. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used. Findings: The findings indicate that the digital divide is driven by income and education disparities, and that eGovernment availability is driven by ICT use. It appears that proper attention to technology use by its citizens is not being given by local-level policymakers in Ecuador when they devise their eGovernment strategy. Research limitations/implications: Because the data were available at different levels of aggregation, there may be some inaccuracy of the indicators and lack of generalizability. Researchers are encouraged to test this hypotheses with data at lower levels of aggregation and from different latitudes to provide a comparative view between countries. Practical implications: The paper includes implications for policymakers and local authorities regarding how the limitations on eGovernment development may be mitigated. Originality/value: This study fulfils the need to assess digital development and its impact on eGovernment services at a city level in a developing country.authorsversionepub_ahead_of_prin

New horizons for productive transformation in the Andina Region

En cubierta: Growth and productive transition agendaBibliografía: p. 118-129Las economías desarrolladas y emergentes, así como el contexto internacional dentro del cual interactúan, han enfrentado eventos que vienen transformando estructuralmente sus procesos de producción. El cambio climático, la digitalización y la pandemia del COVID-19 están generando grandes cambios en el mundo. La estructura productiva de los países andinos está siendo afectada por estas tendencias. Dada esta coyuntura, urge tomar decisiones sobre políticas para afrontar esta situación pues, de no hacerlo, habría serias consecuencias sobre el ingreso de los países andinos. Existen muchos sectores que han sido afectados y también beneficiados por la pandemia. Resulta fundamental atender los desafíos del sector agrícola, especialmente aquellos relacionados con su baja productividad. Cabe señalar que, a pesar del entorno, este sector ha crecido. El reposicionamiento de las cadenas globales de valor destaca las oportunidades no aprovechadas por la región andina. Además, el sector servicios, principal empleador de las economías andinas, fue impactado fuertemente por la pandemia. Por otro lado, el sector extractivo ya presentaba retos importantes, aun antes de este proceso de transformación. Esto ocurre en un contexto donde, pese a su crecimiento, la digitalización sigue teniendo grandes rezagos. Más aún, la región se ha caracterizado por presentar retos de desigualdad, que representan un desafío adicional de una transición que va a tener impactos sociales considerables. Este contexto abre oportunidades para la región, pero exige un importante esfuerzo de coordinación de políticas públicas. La región tiene la tarea de diversificarse. Esta publicación presenta recomendaciones al respecto. Al revisar los sectores antes mencionados, resulta fundamental atender los desafíos del sector agrícola, en particular los relacionados con su baja productividad. Existen oportunidades para integrarse a las cadenas globales de valor, pero los países andinos deberán hacer un mejor uso de los tratados comerciales existentes, buscando reducir costos para el comercio. Cabe mencionar que la región tiene espacio para aprovechar las transformaciones que están ocurriendo en el sector servicios. Finalmente, pese a existir desafíos importantes para el sector de industrias extractivas, también se presentan oportunidades para aprovechar este sector como palanca para la transformación productiva. Para lograrlo, es necesario promover la digitalización empresarial y facilitar a las empresas la decisión de qué tecnologías digitales implementar y cómo hacerlo. Cualquier estrategia de transformación productiva debe generar oportunidades para la población. Por tanto, es necesario considerar que el fomentar sectores de la economía más diversos e inclusivos no solo es más equitativo y justo, también es más rentable