Historical learning in the design of WTO rules: the EC sugar case

The Uruguay Round Agreement made significant changes to the governance of international trade. Trade rules and dispute settlement mechanisms were altered and a series of specific agreements provided for liberalisation across economic sectors. The Agreement on Agriculture, arguably the most difficult and contentious to negotiate, permitted the continued use of trade-distorting instruments, both domestically and at the border. Rule-enforcement in agriculture therefore relies crucially on the clarity of the rules. This paper provides an in-depth study of a unique and critical case for understanding the new rules: the EC sugar regime. This policy was challenged unsuccessfully under the pre-Uruguay Round rules, but successfully under the new rules. This case is particularly valuable in allowing us to isolate the effect of the Uruguay Round on agricultural trade disputes: the policy under challenge was essentially unchanged and the legal actions addressed the same concern – excessive export subsidisation. Drawing on primary and secondary materials and interviews with key policy actors, sugar is used to illustrate how those involved in the multilateral process learned from particular rule weaknesses revealed in earlier cases, revising those rules in the Uruguay Round in such a way that dispute panels can more readily and objectively determine rule breaches

A tale of two cities: restoring water services in Kabul and Monrovia

Kabul and Monrovia, the respective capitals of Afghanistan and Liberia, have recently emerged from long-lasting armed conflicts. In both cities, a large number of organisations took part in emergency water supply provision and later in the rehabilitation of water systems. Based on field research, this paper establishes a parallel between the operations carried out in the two settings, highlighting similarities and analysing the two most common strategies. The first strategy involves international financial institutions, which fund large-scale projects focusing on infrastructural rehabilitation and on the institutional development of the water utility, sometimes envisaging private-sector participation. The second strategy involves humanitarian agencies, which run community-based projects, in most cases independently of the water utilities, and targeting low-income areas. Neither of these approaches manages to combine sustainability and universal service. The paper assesses their respective strengths and weaknesses and suggests ways of improving the quality of assistance provided

School tuck shops in South Africa—an ethical appraisal

It can be postulated that schools have an ethical responsibility to protect children from an unhealthy food environment. Against the backdrop of stunting, overweight and micronutrient deficiencies prevalent in South African children, the aim of this scoping study is to review information available on foods sold to school children within an ethical framework. While some schools have a formal tuck shop, at other schools, food vendors sell food either on or outside the school premises. Ten studies, of which two were national, fit the selection criteria for this study. Available data show that mostly unhealthy food options are sold to South African school children; with low-nutrient energy-dense foods (e.g. chips, sweets) and sugar sweetened beverages being the most popular. The Integrated School Health Policy provide a policy framework for achieving healthy school food environments in South Africa, and several guidelines are available in South African to assist school tuck shops to sell healthier options. Children’s preference for unhealthy foods, the cost of healthier food options and a lack of proper facilities may however be barriers for implementing healthy tuck shops. An action stronger than merely providing guidelines may therefore be needed. Cognisance needs to be taken of conflicting value based arguments within ethical perspectives. Given these conflicts, the authors argue that an Ethics of Responsibility contributes to the debate of the best and supports the notion that society at large has a responsibility to protect vulnerable communities of which school children are part. Presently an ethical vacuum exists in terms of rights and responsibilities which this study hopes to address.DHE

INGAME Transnational report

This Report describes and analyses the main research results carried out in the countries that make up the partnership and in the wider European context. In particular, the research methodology has seen the implementation of two phases, desk-based research conducted by all partner organisations through Literature Review and field-based research conducted in each country through online questionnaire

Trade and income inequality in developing countries

We use a dynamic specification to estimate the impact of trade on within-country income inequality in a sample of 65 developing countries (DCs) over the 1980-1999 period. Our results suggest that trade with high income countries worsen income distribution in DCs, both through imports and exports. These findings provide support to the hypothesis that technological differentials and the skill biased nature of new technologies may be important factors in shaping the distributive effects of trade. Moreover, we observe that the previous results only hold for middle income countries (MICs); we interpret this evidence by considering the greater potential for technological upgrading in MICs

Big sugar in southern Africa : rural development and the perverted potential of sugar/ethanol exports

This paper asks how investment in large-scale sugar cane production has contributed, and will contribute, to rural development in southern Africa. Taking a case study of the South African company Illovo in Zambia, the argument is made that the potential for greater tax revenue, domestic competition, access to resources and wealth distribution from sugar/ethanol production have all been perverted and with relatively little payoff in wage labour opportunities in return. If the benefits of agro-exports cannot be so easily assumed, then the prospective 'balance sheet' of biofuels needs to be re-examined. In this light, the paper advocates smaller-scale agrarian initiatives

Are we willing to give what it takes? Willingness to pay for climate change adaptation in developing countries

Climate change adaptation is gaining traction as a necessary policy alongside mitigation, particularly for developing countries, many of which lack the resources to adapt. However, funding for developing country adaptation remains woefully inadequate. This paper identifies the burden of responsibility that individuals in the UK are willing to incur in support of adaptation projects in developing countries. Results from a nationally representative survey indicate that UK residents are willing to contribute £27 per year (or a median of £6 per year) towards developing country adaptation (US$30 and$7 using the World Bank’s purchasing power conversion factors). This represents less than one third of the back-of-the-envelope $100-140 per capita per year that the authors estimate would be needed to raise the$70-100bn per year recommended by the World Bank to fund developing country adaptation. Regressions indicate that WTP is driven mostly by a combination of beliefs and perceptions about one’s own knowledge levels, rather than actual knowledge of climate change. We conclude that, to engage the many different audiences that make up the ‘public’, communication efforts must move beyond the simple provision of information and instead, connect with people’s existing values and beliefs

Redistributing Care Work for Gender Equality and Justice – a Training Curriculum

People contribute to the economy through their work in many different ways; such as small-scale trading in the local market or as casual labourers in commercial farms. Others are factory workers, miners, teachers, and domestic workers etc. Through their work women and men contribute to the productive economy by producing goods and services that people use every day. It is this work that is counted and measured by governments. Yet, the work of social reproduction – which refers to the activities needed to ensure the reproduction of the labour force – is not counted. Social reproduction includes activities such as child bearing, rearing, and caring for household members (such as children, the elderly and workers). These tasks are completed mostly by women and girls and support all the activities in the productive economy. Unpaid care work is a component of social reproduction relating specifically to all the activities that go towards caring for people within a household or community. This work is not paid, requires time and energy, and is done out of social obligation and/or love and affection. However, this is an essential component of the economy – care work sustains all other human activity. We know that care is critical in our lives – it has a widespread, long term, positive impact on well-being and development. However, prevalent gender norms – the ways in which women and men are expected to behave – and class inequalities lead to an imbalance in care work with women and girls living in poverty taking on a far greater share of unpaid and paid care work under difficult working conditions.UK Department for International Developmen

A comment on the multifaceted relationship between multinational enterprises and within-country inequality

The capacity of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to generate employment and upgrade the quality of the host country’s human capital is arguably it’s most immediate and significant contribution to economic growth, a key objective of an MNE-assisted development agenda. However, whether by direct or indirect action, or by inaction, MNEs can have both a positive and a negative effect on within-country inequality, not least because they play an outsized and growing role in most economies. Much is unclear about the mechanisms underlying the link between MNE activity and inequality. We believe it is necessary - for both MNEs and policymakers- to have a more nuanced understanding of how, and under what circumstances, the presence of MNEs affects inequality in host economies. We therefore highlight some key issues and avenues for future research

Global citizens: Who are they?

A growing desire to instigate global citizenship programmes in Higher Education (HE) has led to the development of optional structured opportunities for students to engage in prosocial activities. One of the challenges facing such programmes is to demonstrate and plan for the personal growth of those students. This paper reports the dispositional, prosocial and attitudinal characteristics; knowledge and skills; and perceptions of social justice that students who undertake these activities bring to their initial participation. The findings indicate, that in comparison to a control group, the students differ significantly in a number of important ways (e.g. conscientiousness, extraversion, openness; Machiavellianism, prosocial behaviour; self-esteem; skills relating to social action and tolerance and understanding and their concern regarding social problems). However, consideration should be given to the ways in which those students can be developed within a framework for social justice. Further, recruitment procedures for citizenship programmes in general should encourage the participation of a more diverse group of students than currently appears to be the case