Government Policies toward Information and Communication

The development of what one might call 'modern' systems of information and communication began with the Gutenberg printing press in the 15th century, and progressed through the prepaid postal system, electric telegraph and telephone in the 19th century, radio and television broadcasting in the 20th century, and most recently the Internet. This essay focuses on the response of governments to these innovations, beginning with the printing press. United Nations DESA Discussion Paper No. 21 (October 2001).internet, printing press, telegraph, telephone, broadcasting, information and communication technologies (ICT)

Universal Pensions in Mauritius: Lessons for the Rest of Us

That the Government of Mauritius provides nearly every resident over the age of 60 with a non-contributory, basic pension is one of the best-kept secrets in the world. The scheme dates from 1950 and became universal in 1958, following abolition of a means test. Remarkably, introduction of a compulsory, contributory scheme for workers in the private sector appears to have strengthened the non-contributory regime without affecting its universality. This paper examines the past and future of non-contributory, universal pensions in Mauritius, and draws lessons that might be useful for other countries, especially those in the developing world. United Nations DESA Discussion Paper No.32, April 2003.public pensions, social security, means test, targeting, demographic ageing, Mauritius

Universal Pensions in Low Income Countries

Most workers in developing countries have no access to pensions in old age. Well-intentioned reformers have concentrated on privatization, but this does nothing to expand coverage. Non-contributory, universal pensions automatically protect an entire population, in a way that contributory pensions - public or private - never can. This paper explores the feasibility of introducing such pensions in low-income countries. October 2004 revised and expanded edition of the September 2001 paper. Initiative for Policy Dialogue Working Paper No. IPD-01-05.social security, pension reform, citizen's pension

Export Processing in the Caribbean: Lessons from Four Case Studies

The author reviews case studies of four Caribbean countries-the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad-and briefly discusses an African country, Mauritius. He compares labour legislation, nationality of investors, technology transfer, and linkages with the rest of the economy. Of these five cases, only Trinidad failed to develop a significant export processing sector. Explanations rooted in government policy are suggested for this result. United Nations ECLAC Working Paper No. 42 (September 1996).export processing zones, export promotion, Dominincan Republic, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, transnational corporations

Universal pensions in Mauritius: lessons for the rest of us

Abstract That the Government of Mauritius provides nearly every resident over the age of 60 with a non-contributory, basic pension is one of the best-kept secrets in the world. The scheme dates from 1950 and became universal in 1958, following abolition of a means test. Remarkably, introduction of a compulsory, contributory scheme for workers in the private sector appears to have strengthened the non-contributory regime without affecting its universality. This paper examines the past and future of non-contributory, universal pensions in Mauritius, and draws lessons that might be useful for other countries, especially those in the developing world

The Pattern of Trade and Specialisation in the Central American Common Market

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structural changes and pattern of specialisation that followed the formation of the Central American Common Market (CACM) in the early 1960s. In the first section it is shown that the fear did exist that trade-creating and "backwash" effects would dominate as a result of unrestricted free trade in the region. In sections two and three, evidence is presented to suggest that these fears have proved to be largely unfounded. The operation of market forces has led to an unplanned reciprocal exchange of manufactures for manufactures and non-manufactures for non-manufactures. Moreover, most of the structural changes within the manufacturing sector appear to have taken the form of intra-industry specialisation, i.e. specialisation in the differentiated products of an industry with no need to abandon entire high-cost industries

Old age pensions in Mexico: Toward universal coverage

This paper chronicles the rise of social pensions in Mexico. First it summarizes the pension system prior to introduction of social pensions. Next it describes how Mexico City, the federal government, and seventeen of Mexico’s 31 states initiated social pensions, a policy supported eventually by each of the three major political parties. It concludes with thoughts on what remains to be done

La demanda de energía en la industria manufacturera chilena

Incluye BibliografíaAnaliza las diferencias de la demanda de energia entre las industrias manufactureras chilenas con posterioridad al alza mundial de los precios de la energia en 1973

La promoción de exportaciones y la sustitución de importaciones en la industria centroamericana

Incluye BibliografíaExamina las tendencias del crecimiento económico y el comercio: estima la contribución de la sustitución de importaciones y la promoción de exportaciones al crecimiento del producto manufacturero, e intenta un análisis preliminar de la relación entre el comercio internacional y la protección arancelaria

Foreign Control and Concentration in Brazilian Industry

A Portuguese translation of this paper, with the title "Controle Estrangeiro e Concentraçao na Indústria Brasileira", was published in IPEA’s journal Pesquisa e Planejamento Econômico, April 1987, pp. 161-189. This working paper, in English, was part of the proceedings of the annual conference of economists, XIV Encontro Nacional de Economia (Brasilia, 1986), pp. 162-189. IPEA was the government partner of the UN agency (ECLAC) that employed me at the time. I requested, and received, permission from ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile, to publish the paper in IPEA’s journal. ECLAC then informed me that they would also like to publish the paper, in English and in Spanish, in their flagship quarterly journal Cepal Review (Revista Cepal). IPEA, at the request of ECLAC, agreed to withhold publication until ECLAC had published it. Unfortunately, the editor of Cepal Review then insisted that I substantially change or remove a paragraph that was critical of earlier work, by one of their consultants, that they had published in 1983. I was stubborn, and not prepared to remove or change the offensive paragraph. ECLAC had already accepted the paper, so it was never published in English. This is the draft that I typed on a dot matrix printer and presented to the meeting of economists in Brasilia. The printing is not easy to read, but should be of value to those who are unable to read Portuguese