Foreign direct investment and poverty reduction

Foreign direct investment is a key ingredient of successful economic growth and development in developing countries--partly because the very essence of economic development is the rapid and efficient transfer and cross-border adoption of"best practices."Foreign direct investment is especially well suited to effecting this transfer and translating it into broad-based growth, not least by upgrading human capital. Growth is the single most important factor in poverty reduction, so foreign direct investment is also central to achieving that important World Bank goal. Government-led programs that improve social safety nets and explicitly redistribute assets and income might direct more of the fruits of growth to the poor. But these are complements--not alternatives--to sensible growth-oriented policies. And growth is needed to fund these government-led programs. Moreover, the delivery of social servicesto the poor--from insurance schemes to such basic services as water and energy--can clearly benefit from reliance on foreign investors. In short, foreign direct investment remains one of the most effective tools in the fight against poverty.Labor Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Foreign Direct Investment,Governance Indicators,Poverty Assessment

Expectations and exchange rate dynamics under managed floating: An asset market approach.

This thesis analyses exchange rate dynamics in a managed floating exchange rate regime, under two alternative specifications of private expectations: adaptive expectations and long-run perfect foresight. The whole analysis follows the asset market approach to exchange rate determination. A built-in government reaction function is incorporated in a neoclassical general equilibrium portfolio balance model. The intervention rule employed, reflects both the "reference rate proposal" of Ethier and Bloomfield (1975) and the 3rd guideline of the IMF for the management of floating exchange rates. The government intervenes in the foreign exchange market in order to minimize the discrepancies of the spot exchange rate from the government reference rate (estimate of the long-run exchange rate), at every moment in time. It is shown that the degree of success at which government intervention moderates short-run exchange rate variability depends on the degree of precision with which the government forms its estimate of the long-run exchange rate path. Any prediction errors lead to dynamic instability. A generalisation of the intervention rule leads to a stable long-run equilibrium even if the government uses the wrong estimate of the long-run exchange rate path (competitive exchange rate policies). However, the sustenance of these equilibria creates crises in the balance of payments and the system ultimately returns to the free floating long-run position. Persuance of competitive exchange rate policies increases the degree of reserve use and could lead to intervention at cross purposes, increasing the need for international liquidity. A re-interpretation of our intervention rule to reflect speculative behaviour leads to similar results as government intervention. The liquidation of speculative profits, however, creates additional short-run exchange rate variability, enhancing the non-profit making nature of government intervention

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission: Optical Telescope Element Design, Development, and Performance

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared space telescope that has recently started its science program which will enable breakthroughs in astrophysics and planetary science. Notably, JWST will provide the very first observations of the earliest luminous objects in the Universe and start a new era of exoplanet atmospheric characterization. This transformative science is enabled by a 6.6 m telescope that is passively cooled with a 5-layer sunshield. The primary mirror is comprised of 18 controllable, low areal density hexagonal segments, that were aligned and phased relative to each other in orbit using innovative image-based wavefront sensing and control algorithms. This revolutionary telescope took more than two decades to develop with a widely distributed team across engineering disciplines. We present an overview of the telescope requirements, architecture, development, superb on-orbit performance, and lessons learned. JWST successfully demonstrates a segmented aperture space telescope and establishes a path to building even larger space telescopes.Comment: accepted by PASP for JWST Overview Special Issue; 34 pages, 25 figure

The Private Sector in Development : Entrepreneurship, Regulation, and Competitive Disciplines

Over the years, the term private sector development, has been misunderstood and misconstrued - variously vilified and sanctified. During the decade of the 1990s, the role of the private sector in economic development, received increased attention, with controversy surrounding such issues as privatization, and corporate scandals. This book provides the first comprehensive treatment of the topic. Central to the discussion, is the design of public policy that promotes an appropriate balance between competition, and regulation. It places special emphasis on the means by which private initiative is channeled into socially useful directions, particularly job creation, and basic service delivery for poor people. Finally, there is discussion of the implications of private sector involvement for policies of development institutions. Written principally for policymakers, and advisers, the book thoroughly explores the challenges inherent in creating public policy that encourages, and enhances the development role of the private sector. If global poverty is to be reduced, the private sector, by almost unanimous assent, is crucial. The authors offer a broad-ranging, and balanced assessment of how to build workable, market mechanisms in developing countries