DR-CAFTA and Worker’s Rights: Moving from Paper to Practice

This study analyses the “White Paper” projects and initiatives taken by the US government to improve labor rights practice in DR-CAFTA countries. Based on a three year study, WOLA has concluded that U.S. funding for projects to strengthen the enjoyment and enforcement of labor rights in the DR-CAFTA countries is insufficient to address institutional weakness and pervasive impunity. In this report WOLA defines labor law reforms needed in the six participating countries and recommends implementation methods

Trade Liberalization and Market Access: Analyzing Dominican Export Performance during the Twentieth Century

Leading management thinker C.K. Prahalad argues that selling consumer goods to four billion poor people at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BoP) both generates sizeable profits for large businesses and eliminates poverty. A welcome, innovative and influential perspective, but an opportunity missed, I argue here. First, selling to the poor may do little to eradicate poverty, but potentially hurts small businesses and threatens local jobs and incomes. Second, a more precise analysis using household surveys shows a much smaller BoP market size, less than 5% of previous estimates. Third, virtually everyone in developing countries is classified as a 'poor' consumer in much of the BoP literature. The focus and the bulk of Prahalad's new purchasing power rests with the emerging middle class in India, China and Brazil, while the 2 billion people below $2 a day, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, are marginalised in this debate. Data for consumer prices confirms that the true challenge is to serve the latter group, those that are completely cut off from the global marketplace. This paper concludes that big businesses have a central role in shaping and expanding these future markets by generating employment and incomes.

Perturbative Part of the Non-Singlet Structure Function F_2 in the Large-N_F Limit

We have calculated $\bar{MS}$ Wilson coefficients and anomalous dimensions for the non-singlet part of the structure function F_2 in the large-N_F limit. Our result agrees with exact two and three loop calculations and gives the leading N_F dependence of the perturbative non-singlet Wilson coefficients to all orders in $\alpha_S$.Comment: 11 pages, including one figur

The Making of a Latin American Global Economist

This paper provides some background for considering the future of these two traditions by looking at global Latin American graduate economic programs. It reports the findings of a survey of Latin American global economics programs and discusses the debate between global economics and traditional economics, arguing that there is a role for both, with global economics concentrating on the science of economics, and traditional economics concentrating on the applied policy "political economy" branch of economics--which is much broader than the applied policy training that graduate students get in global economics.

Good Science, Bad Regulation, and Toxic Risk Assessment

Regulation of toxic substances is an extremely complex, uncertain, and controversial enterprise. The regulatory process is customarily divided into two discrete functions: risk assessment ostensibly is a scientific activity that develops estimates of health hazards at varying exposure levels, while risk management is a political activity that balances competing interests and values to determine whether identified toxic risks should be considered unacceptable or tolerable. This sharp distinction between the scientific and social policy dimensions of toxics regulation is embodied in the Environmental Protection Agency\u27s (EPA\u27s) guidelines for estimating carcinogenic hazards, which provide that risk assessments must use the most scientifically appropriate interpretation and should be carried out independently from considerations of the consequences of regulatory action. The requirement for adoption of the most scientifically appropriate interpretation reflects EPA\u27s current priority on attaining good science in risk-assessment proceedings. In other words, EPA and other federal agencies now stress the need for scientifically credible risk assessments and presume that their analyses should be grounded exclusively on the best available scientific theories and data even if the resulting predictions do not achieve the degree of reliability ordinarily required for valid scientific conclusions

Sourcing and procurement strategy in supply chain management: the case study for Petronas Dagangan Berhad / Nurul Fahmy Latin

The purpose of the study is to explore the sourcing and procurement strategy in terms of supply chain management by PDB. It is to examine the sourcing and procurement in terms of strategy process, supplier relationship, reducing cost, during economic downturn, and competitive advantage. There are three issues arrived in the study which including shortage in supply, responds towards having effective sourcing of demand with other supplier, and source supplies from emerging markets. The researcher uses interview method in order to gain information from the company as well as other secondary data. The findings show that most of the company practice does follow the theory view but there are some differences between them in terms of reducing cost and sourcing and procurement during economic downturn. Findings are useful to develop and measure the competitive capabilities of sourcing and procurement strategy and guide the organisations to enhance supply chain responsiveness and organisational performance. As a result, PDB must have an efficient long term planning as it can’t be implemented in a flash, cooperate with suppliers as to increase the higher production thus will minimize the cost, maintain its sourcing and procurement strategy during economic downturn as it has less effect on sales of product, and maintain pool of suppliers as well as minimizing risk