Country's Economic Policy Research Articles

Protection of Whistleblowers in India: A Corporate Perspective

Bureaucracy, Red-Tape, Corruption, Nepotism and Political Greed, are few terms, with which, we can closely associate India with. Stifling the voice of the truthful and the poor, has been the witnessing agenda of all distrusted political parties that climb up to power through vote-bank politics and, through 'push and pull' supplied and initiated in form of 'monetary favours' political parties get from the Corporate Honchos. Equation between Corrupt Political Parties and Corporate Honchos with draconian greed, has been unilateral. Political parties rise to power through the financial aid and support of corporate tycoons, and once they are crowned with overwhelming majority, they busy themselves with reverting back favours to the corporate giants by shaping country's economic and fiscal policies in a way that best suit their corporate-friends, many times than less, by rigging the government tenders (Coal Scam, 2G Scam and CWG Scam). Amidst this anarchy there is a miniscule population of people who have the guts to stand against and expose the corporate-political-nexus of malpractice. These people are the conscience keepers of the nation, who risk their everything, to bring the guilty and corrupt to task. These social-activists of impeccable integrity are called the Whistle-blowers. This paper explains the whistle-blower policy initiatives that India has equipped itself with, lately; along with the corporate governance code that India thinks can deliver the much required to better rid India of the corporate malpractices. In the last few sections of this paper, author compares India's position with few other countries, to test where India stands at the global platforms so far as whistle-blower policy initiatives are concerned.

Evaluation of information and communication technologies as the factor increasing labour productivity

In the context of economic globalisation and international openness, one of the most relevant goals of every country's economic policy is speeding up the labour productivity growth. In light of globalisation, one of productivity increasing sources could be information and communication technologies (ICT) development. Taking this into consideration, the paper aims to ground or deny the impact of ICT on labour productivity of EU countries both in the conceptual and empirical levels. Therefore, it discusses theoretical aspects of ICT development and presents theoretical frameworks of ICT development impact on labour productivity and economic growth. The research was performed using the data of EU-27 of 2001-2011. The main conclusion of the study might be that ICT development is a resource for labour productivity increase in EU states; however, labour productivity in low, medium and high productivity countries is influenced by different ICT development indicators.

Security and equity of conservation covenants: Contradictions of private protected area policies in Australia

Private land conservation is becoming a popular policy approach, given the constraints of increasing public protected areas, which include reduced availability of land for purchase, insufficient budgets for acquisition, and escalating management costs of small, isolated reserves. Conservation covenants represent a common policy instrument, now prominent in the United States, Canada and Australia, employed to compliment the protected area network. When ‘topsoil’ and subsoil, or ‘mineral’ use rights are decoupled, however, the security of covenants can become threatened if the country's economic policies take priority over conservation policies and mining is permitted where covenants exist. We discuss this issue on a theoretical level, examining four potential scenarios in which use rights are decoupled or coupled. We demonstrate that decoupled use rights can create an imbalance in the costs and benefits, to landholders and the government, from conservation and mining activities on private properties. We then present a case study in Queensland, Australia, in which the discrepancy of biodiversity and mining policies is directly threatening the ecological outcomes of conservation covenants on private land. We also reflect on our own personal research with landholders in Queensland to highlight the social consequences of such a policy position on the ability of State and Federal Governments to meet their policy commitments. The conflicts we identify can be used to improve the transparency of private land conservation.

For how Long can South Africa ‘punch above its Weight’?

South Africa is a privileged member of various global governance clubs. This status is based on its relative economic weight in sub-Saharan Africa and its legacy of ‘soft power’ derived from the peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy. However, those foundations are waning in the face of the African National Congress (ANC) government's growing ambivalence towards democratic norms and the relatively rapid growth and development taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. The ANC government's own policy choices, particularly its emphasis on state-driven economic policy, and the internecine power struggles racking the party have set the country's economic policy adrift. Thus investor confidence has been undermined at a time of global economic crisis. Taken together, these trends suggest South Africa's days as the African representative of choice are numbered. Ironically, this development may portend reversal of current trends, by concentrating the ANC leadership's collective mind on what really needs to be done to restore growth, and international confidence, in the country.

China's Emergence as a Defense Technological Power: Introduction

China is beginning to flex its expanding military and strategic clout in the pursuit of its broadening national security interests. At the same time, the country's economic and technology policies ...

Max Weber's 'Sociology of the State' and the Science of Politics in Germany

[MWS 9.1/9.2 (2009) 17-32] ISSN 1470-8078 Max Weber's 'Sociology of the State' and the Science of Politics in Germany* Gangolf Hübinger From the beginning of his academic career Weber had raised the question how politics and the state could be a subject of scientific analysis and how the leading political strata should be trained. In his inaugural lecture ('The Nation State and Economic Policy'), which he gave as professor of economics at the University of Freiburg, 13 May, 1895, Weber concentrated on economic policy and stated, 'the science of a country's economic policy is a political science. It is a servant of politics, not the day-to-day politics of the persons and classes who happen to be ruling at any given time, but the enduring power-political interest of the nation' (Weber 1994: 16). From this point onwards to his death in 1920, Weber thematised in his work new perspectives on the complex structure of the political order and economic action. The combination of 'the forms of the state and the economy' was to conclude his summer semester lecture course on the Sociology of the State, as indicated in his dictated lecture pro spectus (Disposition). First, however, the basic question has to be clarified, which he addressed to his audience of Freistudenten inhis famoslecture on 'Politics as a Vocation': 'what is the "state" in the context of all the human communities?' (Weber 1994: 310). In all the phases of his work Weber was always alert to what the sciences of the state could contribute to his research themes. When he, together with Werner Sombart and Edgar Jaffé, took over the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik in 1904, they established in the Foreword (Geleitwort) the new direction of the journal. The journal would proceed 'from a quite specific standpoint , that of 'the economically conditioned nature of cultural phenomena'. This task could only be accomplished by 'keeping in close contact with neigh bouring disciplines—the general theory of the state, the philosophy * Translated by Sam Whimster.© Max Weber Studies 2010, Global Policy Institute, London Metropolitan University, 31 Jewry Street, London, EC3N 2EY. 18 Max Weber Studies of law, social ethics—and with social psychological inquiry and those inquiries commonly grouped under the name of sociology' (Weber 2010:100). What then had the neighbouring disciplines of the theory of the state and philosophy of law to offer? An institutionalised discipline of politics did not exist in Weber's time and the state had yet to become an independent topic for research. But when Weber in his first contribution to the Archiv published his critical epistemological reflections on the subject of the social and cultural sciences in the essay 'The "Objectivity" of knowledge in social science and social policy', the state served as an illustration of what an ideal type is. It was the state that provided a weighty example: That complex of human relationships, norms and relations deter mined by norms we refer to as the 'state' is, for example, an 'economic' phenomenon with respect to state finances: to the extent that it has an impact on economic life through legislation and so on (and indeed in those aspects where its behaviour is governed by factors far removed from economic perspectives) it is 'economically relevant'; finally, where its behaviour and its attributes are determined by motives other than those of its 'economic' relationships, then it is 'economically conditioned' (2004: 369). The 'question of the logical structure of the concept of the state', and so for the construction of an ideal type, Weber then terms 'the most complicated and interesting case'. The major challenge of the 'Gen eral Theory of the State' is to treat adequately as an object of research and teaching 'an infinity of diffuse and discrete active and passive human actions, relations regulated factually and legally, sometimes unique, sometimes recurrent in character, all held together by an idea, a belief in actually or normatively prevailing norms and relations of rule of man by man' (Weber 2004:394). It is precisely here, however, where ideas created by theorists of the state themselves—most of all the 'the metaphysics of the organic state...

Success Strategies in the Chinese Chemical Industry: A Survey and Case Study Investigations

The chemical industry in China is facing fierce competition and exposure to market forces as a result of changes in the country's economic policy. The Chinese government has applied administrative actions rather than simply relying on market forces to address the changing dynamics. It has attempted to privatise state-owned chemical enterprises (SOCEs) by corporatisation, coupled with industrial restructuring by merging individual state-owned enterprises into groups. Based on a quantitative survey in combination with case studies of two Chinese chemical enterprises, this paper concludes that in this industry building competences is more effective than privatisation and restructuring to improve performance.

International economic organisations and the new economic order

International economic organisations are increasingly coming under the scrutiny and criticism of the international community. They have often been accused of not being able to fulfil the promise of what they stand for and guilty of even of world's worst outcomes. This paper challenges this viewpoint by proposing a new role for international organisations in Africa and developing countries in general. The paper suggests that a country's structural programme and domestic economic policies should be planned in concert with domestic authorities and experts.

Socio-Economic Structure and Performance of Traditional Fishermen in the Sultanate of Oman

Understanding the basic structure of fishing communities is vital information for a country's economic policy formation. Basic information such as income, educational level, and age of fishing participants can be useful in determining socio-economic changes between different geographical locations and fishing communities. Market supply and demand information is essential for the promotion of fishing industry improvement programs, as well as for food subsidy policies. Social and economic data for traditional fishermen in Oman is very limited in scope. Available information indicates that Omani traditional fishermen may contribute as much as 80% of the country's total catch. Worldwide, this figure is only about 25%. There are currently a number of challenges facing the Omani fishing sector, such as fish quality improvement for markets and to what extent traditional fishermen are participating in government-sponsored programs. The findings of this study have practical policy implications. For example, prelim...

Regime changes, economic policies and the effect of aid on growth

This study finds that on average aid has little impact on economic growth, although a robust finding is that aid promotes growth only in a politically stable environment irrespective of the quality of the country's economic policies. Aid is ineffective in an unstable environment even in the presence of good policies. The results, however, indicate that policy is more effective in promoting growth when supported by increased aid flows rather than aid being more effective in good policy environment. The empirical results also provide some tentative support for the presence of an aid Laffer curve in the politically stable countries. The allocation of aid is found to be influenced by the country size and its state of development, rather than the quality of policy.

Norway: relevance of the social development model for post‐War welfare policy

This article examines the extent to which social policies in post‐War Norway fit three key features of the social development model, namely productivism, social investment and universalism. The historical review shows that the pursuit of a social development model changes in line with economic development and the expansion of the welfare state. It reveals that policies to promote full employment have been central to the country's economic and welfare policies throughout the post‐War period. Nevertheless, the extent to which the productivist objective has been emphasised and implemented has fluctuated over time. In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s, the 1990s witnessed a strengthening of the work ethic but also a continued commitment to de‐commodification. The extent to which the combination of productivism and social investment is pursued is examined with reference to services for the insured and uninsured. The article concludes that the ways in which the social development perspective understands and defends universalism and social investment only partially applies to the mature Norwegian welfare state.

Economic crisis, small-scale agriculture, and forest cover change in southern Cameroon

The rate of forest cover loss in the humid tropics of Cameroon is one of the highest in Central Africa. The aim of the large-scale, two-year research project described here was to understand the effect of the country's economic crisis and policy change on small-scale agricultural systems and land-clearing practices. Hypotheses were tested through surveys of more than 5000 households in 125 villages, and through time-series remote sensing analysis at two sites. The principal findings are that: (1) the rate of deforestation increased significantly in the decade after the 1986 onset of the crisis, as compared to the decade prior to the crisis; (2) the main proximate causes of this change were sudden rural population growth and a shift from production of cocoa and coffee to plantain and other food crops; and (3) the main underlying causes were macroeconomic shocks and structural adjustment policies that led to rural population growth and farming system changes. The implication of this study is that it is necessary to understand and anticipate the undesirable consequences of macroeconomic shocks and adjustment policies for forest cover. Such policies, even though they are often not formulated with natural resource consequences in mind, are often of greater relevance to the fate of forests than forest policy.

Civil Society Participation in World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank Programs: The Case of Brazil

out an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and while retaining significant room to maneuver in relation to the prevailing ortho doxy of adjustment. The Piano Real was initially aided by an ample sup ply of international capital flows to finance temporary imbalances and by income from the privatization of state-owned assets. But Brazil's fiscal front remained weak, leading to a twofold increase in the internal debt. To retain the value of the country's currency, the government raised interest rates, a step that led to a spiraling of the problem. By 1998, the govern ment was increasingly desperate for extrabudgetary funding sources and sought an agreement with the IMF. The negotiations that led to an agree ment with the IMF profoundly altered the situation, regulating the nature and schedule of adjustment. By the end of that year, both the press and public opinion believed the IMF dictated the country's economic policies.1 Because of subsequent budget cuts, funding from multilateral development banks (MDBs) has become relatively more significant; in many cases, it is directed at sectors that have seen their budgets cut by up to 60 percent in the course of fiscal adjustment. The case of Brazil presents several unique features. The government has always tried to portray a situation of control over the dictates of inter national financial creditors. With regard to projects involving funding by MDBs, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Brazilian authorities projected an image of begetters and managers of projects that happened to be looking for a sponsor rather than of mere implementors of MDBs' conditions. In Brazil, doubts about the sovereignty of the policies and projects are a recurring theme. Even when the projects imply reform of the state itself, the government presents them as its own ideas financed by the MDBs. The agreement with the IMF and

Economic policies: still shackled by post‐war euphoria?

This country's economic and social policies remain dominated by the war‐time consensus: Keynes and Beveridge and the full‐employment White Paper, and belief that the state is best qualified to‘run the economy.’The so‐called monetarist and Thatcher revolutions failed to re‐shape policy‐making. Dependence on the rate of interest to suppress inflation, the staple of successive governments’macroeconomic policy, represents a neo‐Keynesian survival and is a major source of our distempers. It needs reconsideration ab initio.

An Introduction to China's Health Care System

The Chinese health care system was originally a highly centralized one. It had great success in improving the people's health. The county-township-village three-tier health care system has contributed much to rural primary health care, and has set an example of primary health care to the developing nations. In the 1980s, this system experienced transformations along with the changes of the country's administrative system and economic policy. The transformations are characterized by the disintegration of the rural cooperative medical service, by the decentralization of township hospitals from county to township governments, by official permission for private practice, by the implementation of the personal responsibility system in health institutions, by the health security reform, and by the development of health insurance in rural areas. The long-existing health administrative problems which were aggravated in the last decade are the rural-urban differences in resource allocation and the large proportion of people without health security. With the increase of medical service prices in recent years due to the inflation of the whole economy, it is believed that the cost of health care will create an economic burden to the low-income, fee-for-service paying individuals and will further affect the health of the population. In the process of the national economic reform, it is an important and difficult task for the health administrators to adjust the health care system promptly and properly. Only by continuously carrying forward good traditions, correcting mistakes and consistently persisting in health reform, can China further raise its health care to a new, prosperous stage.

EXPORT PROCESSING ZONES: The Economics of Enclave Manufacturing

Export processing zones (EPZs) are economic enclaves within which manufacturing for export occurs under virtual free trade conditions. Many developing countries have established EPZs in hopes of reaping economic gains through employment, foreign exchange earnings, and technology transfer. This article studies the benefits and costs of EPZs in Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines and reviews the relationship between the welfare effects of EPZs and the host country's economic policies. When the domestic economy is distorted, the EPZ confers limited welfare gains. Nevertheless, EPZs are far from the engines of development that some countries had initially hoped they would become. Copyright 1989 by Oxford University Press.

Subsidy Policies for Production Automation

In the increasingly competitive international economy, a country's economic policy is increasingly apt to be modelled on that of its most successful competitor. This article examines the United States, Japan, France, and West Germany to see whether and under what circumstances their economic policies, industrial structure, and technological positions are converging or diverging. In this special attention is paid to strategies concerning computer-aided production automation. In previous decades states used to choose whether or not to adopt a liberal or mercantilist policy according to their level of technological development. However, since the restructuring race began in the 1970s there has been more attention paid to the question of how a country's overall economic structure compares with that of its competitors. In fact, the typologies used to differentiate between liberalism and mercantilism may have to be revised as the pressures for policy convergence prompt countries to recoalesce into new alliances.

The Israeli Economy: Maturing through Crises

For twenty-five years after its establishment in 1948, Israel was considered an economic miracle, with one of the highest rates of growth in the world. During the 1970s, however, the country became notorious for its economic problems: growth nearly ceased, inflation accelerated, and indebtedness grew. Here is the only comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of this troubled economy. The product of a cooperative research effort, it contains contributions by seventeen top Israeli economists, many of whom have served as advisers to the Israeli government and thus are able to draw on first-hand knowledge of the country's economic administration and policy making. Their interpretation makes use of original empirical data and emphasizes the unique political economy of the country and its institutional structure.The book considers both microeconomic and macroeconomic issues, with sections devoted to growth and structural change, human resources, the public sector (including defense), the problems of an open economy, and the dynamics of inflation. It becomes clear that Israel's current difficulties are rooted in its history and political culture. The authors' prescription for a cure is rigorous: Israel's administrators must be willing to alter their long-standing accommodating monetary policies, and the country must substantially change the organization of its major economic sectors in order to become more self-reliant.The book will be invaluable to scholars, professional economists, bankers, journalists, policymakers, and specialists in foreign affairs. Some sections would be ideal for course use. The less technical chapters such as the Introduction, which provides essential historical and political context will be useful to all general readers who are interested in the challenges facing Israel today.

Investment priorities and income distribution: The case of Brazil in 1970

In this paper, we study the conditions (ie., social disarticulation) by which choices in government policy priorities toward sectoral production may instigate increased income inequality. A dynamic multisectoral model is proposed in which the main link that is put forward is the necessary correspondence between rapid growth of production of certain types of goods and the expansion of demand for those same goods in the internal market. Application to Brazil illustrates the possibilities of such a tool for economic analysis and shows that the regressive wage policy implemented in Brazil was indeed consistent with that country's economic priorities and policy emphases.

Equalization of Regional Development in Socialist Countries: An Empirical Study

The equality of economic development among geographic regions, regardless of how defined, is an important goal in any country's economic policy. This is particularly true under socialism for the following three reasons. First, according to Socialist ideology, this system can be introduced only in a country that is economically well developed. It follows that all regions of such a country must be equally advanced; otherwise it becomes illogical for some more advanced regions to be Socialist while less developed regions are not. Second, one of the main characteristics of socialism is egalitarianism; therefore all citizens, no matter in which region they reside, should be assured equal opportunity for a higher standard of living and for social advancement. Third, the Socialists believe that in a multinational state, in which various nationalities inhabit their own ethnic territories, the economic equality of these regions is a precondition for achieving political, social, and cultural equality.1 Furthermore, Socialists claim that regional equality can be achieved only under socialism. In simplest terms, this goal of equality will be advanced when the backward regions grow at a faster rate than do the more developed regions. The growth of underdeveloped regions depends on many variables, such as construction of new enterprises, provision of social overhead, urbanization, and population migration. In order that these factors become effective, they should be introduced on a large scale and at the same time. The massive deployment of resources and simultaneous decision making, according to this line of thinking, are possible only under socialism, in which the state is the owner of material resources and in which more or less centralized planning and management of the national economy exist. In contrast, Socialists are convinced, the market forces in capitalist economies are too weak and too slow to obtain results comparable with those under socialism.