Pre-reform Era Research Articles

Paths to Financial Policy Diffusion: Statist Legacies in Latin America's Globalization

AbstractThe dominant approaches to the study of capital account liberalization have highlighted institutional barriers to reform and have also demonstrated an important role for interdependence, or the diffusion of a policy innovation from one country to another, as a causal force. Our approach contrasts with the institutional approach and seeks to clarify the political mechanisms of international policy diffusion. Specifically, we develop and test hypotheses that posit that structural economic legacies of the pre–reform era both condition the way in which international diffusion operates, and create the societal and economic interests that help produce varying capital account policy outcomes in the domestic political sphere. Analysis of capital account liberalization strategies in post–debt-crisis Latin America (1983–2007) reveals that capital account opening and the channels through which this innovation diffuses are conditioned by the legacy of a country's pre–debt crisis economic development model. Specifically, the degree to which advanced import-substituting industrialization was pursued prior to the reform era affects capital account policy by shaping both the relevant international peer groups through which policy models diffuse, and the sorts of domestic interests that are likely to influence the liberalization process. International diffusion also varies in its impact depending on domestic political and economic conditions.

Human Capital, Economic Growth, and Inequality in China

China's rapid growth was fueled by substantial physical capital investments applied to a large stock of medium skilled labor acquired before economic reforms began. As development proceeded, the demand for high skilled labor has grown, and, in the past decade, China has made substantial investments in producing it. The egalitarian access to medium skilled education characteristic of the pre-reform era has given rise to substantial inequality in access to higher levels of education. China's growth will be fostered by expanding access to all levels of education, reducing impediments to labor mobility, and expanding the private sector.

Competition Law and Competition Issues Affecting the Energy Sector in India

India faces endemic electrical energy and peaking shortages. The power sector is plagued with mounting commercial losses due to various inefficiencies, colossal commercial and technical losses and increasing subsidy burden on the states. These shortages have had a very detrimental effect on the overall economic growth of the country. In order to revitalise the sector and improve the techno-economic performance, the Government of India initiated the reform process in 1991. This article analyses the pre-reform era and identifies the key concerns which led to the initiation of the reforms. It also analyses the likely impact of the major policy and regulatory initiatives that have been undertaken since 1991 including the provisions of the new enactments which have come into force eventually in the form of the Electricity Act, 2003. This article details out the key features of the Act and its likely impact on the Indian electricity industry in the emerging scenario. The article also discusses major issues like role of the regulator in the new regime, issue of open access, power trading, introduction of power markets and role of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity in harmonising the orders of the various regulators. JEL Classification: K21, Q43

Internal migration in India: Are the underprivileged migrating more?

India embarked on its new economic policy, popularly known as the liberalization of the Indian economy, in 1991. The basic features of the new economic policy were a reduction in government expenditures in order to reduce fiscal deficit, an opening up of the economy for export-oriented growth, the removal of government control and licensing, and a push for private participation to enhance competition and efficiency. Both supporters and critics of the new economic policy believed that economic reforms would increase internal migration. Proponents believed that the new impetus would boost the economy and job opportunities, leading to increased pull factors conducive to accelerated rural-to-urban migration. By contrast, the opponents of this policy were of the view that economic reforms would adversely affect the village and cottage industries and impoverish rural populations, leading to increased rural-tourban migration (Kundu, 1997). Although there was considerable success in achieving economic growth, from 2 to 3 per cent of growth in gross domestic product in the pre-reform era to over 6 per cent during the period 1991-2001, the impact of this enhanced growth on internal migration in general and rural-to-urban migration, in particular, has not been assessed. The latest census of 2001 reveals several interesting results in relation to internal migration, its regional pattern and the contribution of rural-to-urban migration to urban growth, as discussed by Bhagat and Mohanty (2009). They argue that the push factor has not significantly influenced internal migration. As a result, it appears inaccurate to state that the poor and disadvantaged are migrating more than those that are more well off.

“That was Then, but This is Now”: Historical Perspectives on Intercountry Adoption and Domestic Child Adoption in Australian Public Policy

This paper brings historical perspectives to bear on the ambivalent and contradictory position of adoption in Australian public policy. It examines the divergent histories of Australian domestic and intercountry adoption (ICA) since the mid-1970s and the impact of these histories on adoption policy in Australia. It identifies tendencies in contemporary ICA to repeat elements of pre-reform era domestic adoption. In particular, it is argued that the resistance of ICA to the move to openness in local adoption has been an unacknowledged driver of ICA for many Australian families. We offer corrective readings of the rise of ICA in relation to domestic adoption and conclude by offering alternatives for adoption policy which better align the two kinds of adoption, focusing on the needs of children, as distinct from the desires of adults.

Episcopal Office in the Italy of Liudprand of Cremona, c.890-c.970

FOR at least a generation in the early tenth century, according to Liudprand of Cremona, the bishop of Rome was to be found in the bedchamber of the House of Theophylact. In his Antapodosis, composed c. 958–62, Liudprand reports that Theodora and Marozia, Theophylact's wife and daughter, were the lovers respectively of Pope John X and of his predecessor Pope Sergius III. Sexual and political intrigue came to a head in 928, when John X was murdered by Marozia, soon to be succeeded in office by her son with Sergius (Pope John XI).1 This lubricious account has divided its modern readers. Some, for sure, have been scandalised, memorably branding the early tenth-century Roman Church a ‘pornocracy’.2 Others, more sanguine, have been inclined to dismiss Liudprand as a malicious gossip.3 The suggestion advanced here is that Liudprand's account of the Roman Church, whether true or false, was designed to make a wider point about careerism in the higher clergy; it forms part of a learned and animated discussion of episcopal office and the terms of its legitimate tenure sustained throughout the Antapodosis. Liudprand, often understood as a chronicler of clerical decadence in the ‘pre-Reform era’, was rather, I suggest, a witness and a participant at a key juncture in the definition of what it meant to be a bishop, and not least, bishop of Rome.4

Impact of ACGME Work-Hour Restrictions on the Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in a Cohort of 600,000 Patients

Background: Since the mandated resident physician 80-hour/week restriction was implemented on July 1, 2003, little has been learned about the nationwide impact of this work-hour reform on patient outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Therefore, we compared the outcomes of CABG procedures performed before and after the implementation of the work-hour reforms. Methods: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, we identified 614,177 patients who underwent isolated CABG from 1998 through 2007. Of the 374,947 patients who underwent CABG at a teaching hospital, 133,285 (36%) belonged to the post-reform group. Hierarchic logistic and multivariable regression models were used to assess the independent effect of the reforms after adjusting for 36 potential confounding factors, including age, sex, race, Charlson-Deyo score, hospital size, the use of intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, and emergency vs elective operation. Outcomes assessed were operative in-hospital mortality, morbidity, length of stay, and hospital costs. Because of the large sample size, effect sizes were computed to measure the strength of the relationships. Outcomes of CABG patients at non-teaching hospitals were used to control for time bias. Results: In teaching hospitals, after risk adjustment, the post-reform era was associated with lower CABG mortality (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.56-0.63; P<0.001) but a higher incidence of postoperative complications (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.43-1.58; P<0.001) than the pre-reform era. Post-reform patients were more likely to have postoperative deep vein thrombosis (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.28-1.73; P<0.001), pneumothorax necessitating chest tube insertion (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.24-1.41; P<0.001), respiratory complications (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.51-1.63; P<0.001), and renal complications (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.33-1.43; P<0.001) but had a lower incidence of neurologic complications (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.67-0.80; P<0.001). Although the implementation of work-hour reforms was correlated with shorter lengths of stay, there were fewer routine home discharges (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.73-0.76; P<0.001). Inflation-adjusted hospital charges were higher in the post-reform era (mean, $105,044.93±83,017.83) than in the pre-reform era (mean, $76,776.68±63,330.99; P<0.001). Outcomes at non-teaching hospitals were similar, except that overall complication rates were lower during the post-reform era and the incremental increase in cost was significantly higher than at teaching hospitals. Conclusions: The implementation of resident work-hour reform in teaching hospitals did not affect CABG mortality but was associated with increased overall morbidity. Further studies are needed to identify the reasons for the increase in postoperative complications in teaching hospitals during the post-reform period so that corrective measures can be implemented to rectify this trend.

From a legal perspective to see the evolution and transformation of land tenure institutions in China

Through the discussion of property rights of land in the People’s Republic of China by examining the evolution of legal frameworks governing land institutions and that of the rights embodied, it traces out the development of urban and rural land tenure changes during the pre-reform era (pre-1978) and post-reform era (post-1978). Analysis shows that after thirty years of opening up and orientation towards a market economy, there is still a wide divergence of rights between urban and rural land tenure. Quasi-leasehold system of urban land tenure, accompanied by relatively well-established titling and registration procedures as well as an open market for transaction, has been established. In contrast, although the rural land contracting system has endowed farmers with thirty years of agricultural land usufruct rights and attempts to strengthen farmers’ tenure security have been made progressively over the years, farmers are yet not enjoying the full bundles of land rights. Imminent reforms in rural land tenure includes, but not restricted to, the following crucial areas: Farmers’ right to mortgage their land, a well-functioning land market, well-defined and just causes for land requisition written in law, a clear delineation of the different roles and rights of the collective and individual farmers.

Serve the People: Understanding Ideology and Professional Ethics of Medicine in China

The article explores the communist ideology that has guided the formation of professional ethics of medicine in China. It first explores the constitutions of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party and codes of practice for medicine enforced since 1949, showing that the core of the ideology in relation to health provision and doctor-patient relationship has always been 'serving the people wholeheartedly'. The ideological undertaking, however, has never been successfully exercised. In the pre-reform era, the bureaucratisation of health professionals led to the emergence of 'bureaucratic medicine' featuring negligence of patients' interests. In the reform era, the prevailing commercialisation of health care is in fundamental conflict with the ideological commitment to serving the people. As a result, the socialist professional ethics of medicine has not been satisfactorily practiced in reality.

Exploring job accessibility in the transformation context: an institutionalist approach and its application in Beijing

There is a strong need to explore the determinants of worker’s commuting time as the declines in job accessibility associated with the dramatic growth of commuting time have become a serious negative effect on the quality of urban life in megacities of China. Most well-developed theories exploring change in commuting time are based on neo-classical economic theory. This paper argues however that in the case of China institutional factors of the housing provision system and labour mobility management have been more important. The paper conceptualizes an institutionalist approach incorporating housing and controls over labour mobility and applies it to analyse these influences on workers’ commuting time in Beijing. The analysis shows that the interaction of housing provision, the market system and the Hukou system together have significant impact upon individual commuting time allowing for worker’s annual household income, occupation and transport mode. The findings suggest that the market-oriented housing reforms have changed the local jobs–housing balance that prevailed in pre-reform era and have thus induced growth of commuting time; the remaining the unfair treatment of residents according to their Hukou status may influence the floating worker’s ability to connect housing and workplace opportunities that could reduce commuting time. With respect to future studies, the institutionalist approach seems to be an efficient means of exploring particular factors that emerge in the transformation of an economy.

“The terms for common justice”: Performing and Reforming Confession in Measure for Measure

This essay aims to extend recent critical interest in the theatrical presence of religious confession in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Whilst the traditions of confession in drama are recognized, the presence of confession on stage does not make the play necessarily nostalgic for the pre-Reformation era. The play, I argue, dramatizes a multiplicity of ways in which both individuals and communities deal with the problem of sin in a post-Reformation context of doctrinal plurality. As the performance of, and allusions to, various modes of confession are presented in productive juxtaposition a dramatic dialogue emerges that critiques their respective approaches to ethical evaluation and in so doing their capacity to expose hypocrisy, to save lives, spiritual and temporal, and to restore communal harmony.

From Maoist self-reliance to international oil consumer: a resource-based appraisal of the challenges facing China's petrochemical sector

Resource-based theories of the firm argue that the success of one firm over another is largely due to its resource endowments. Large enterprises have long been recognised as leading sources of learning innovation and growth. This is not just restricted to large firms in developed economies, but also applies to firms in developing economies such as China, where large firms have long and complex histories in the state bureaucracy. Focusing on the case of China's petrochemical sector, this paper argues that even if a sector has a long history in central planning, the critical resources of a firm matter. It shows how existing organisational resources inherited from the pre-reform era, when provided with the correct incentive structures, can survive economic transition and be successfully applied under market conditions. In the petrochemical sector a key inducement was the commitment of the state to expose the sector to international developments where possible. The paper describes how this commitment has resulted in a mostly positive adjustment, but has also created ambiguities over how resources should be developed in future in a rapidly changing global industry.

Barn Burning Barn Building: Lessons of Lone Star Politics that Can Improve Our Country's Future (review)

362Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJanuary Barn BurningBarn Building: Lessons ofLoneStarPolitics that Can Improve Our Country 's Future. By Ben Barnes with Lisa Dickey. (Albany, Texas: Bright Sky Press, 2006. Pp. 256. Illustrations, bibliography, index. ISBN 1931721718. $24.95.) The English essayist Cyril Connolly once wrote—bitterly—"whom die gods wish to destroy, they first call promising." Few political careers have begun as promisingly as diat of Ben Barnes, who became Speaker of die Texas House of Representatives at age twenty-six and was elected lieutenant governor at age thirty. Yet by 1972, at age thirty-four, Barnes finished out of the running in a divisive Democratic gubernatorial primary dominated by the Sharpstown scandal and calls for reform. While Barnes was never implicated in that scandal, after twelve years in office he was widely viewed as a symbol of the tainted Democratic Party establishment in Austin. In his own words, after 1972, "my career in elective politics was over." Barn Burning Barn Building is an engaging memoir of Barnes's tumultuous years in elective office—1961 to 1973. The tide is loosely derived from a political maxim attributed to Sam Rayburn—any mule can kick down a barn, but it takes a real carpenter to build one. The author, who cites Rayburn as an early influence, observed or participated in a remarkable series of events of state and national significance, including the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, die chaotic ig68 Democratic Convention, and the "assisted" enrollment ofyoung George W. Bush in the Texas Air National Guard during the peak of die Vietnam draft. While these episodes make for fascinating reading, die book's mostvaluable contributions are the detailed recountings of Barnes's close working relationships with Texas giants Lyndon Johnson, John Connally, and BarbaraJordan, and of his adversarial relationship with Richard Nixon, as well as his dealings with the Nixon-eraJustice Department and many lesser lights ofTexas politics. The audior tells his story in a frank, opinionated, and anecdotal style. Only one chapter is footnoted, and Barnes relies sparingly on secondary sources—one exception being a 1969 front-page story in die Wall StreetJournal that deemed him "Heir Apparent" to dieJohnson legacy, and anodier being a transcribed White House tape showing Nixon's determination to block diat succession. Given Barnes's central role in die Texas politics of his era, diis anecdotal format serves die audior and reader well. Barnes says litde about some controversial episodes of his career, including his business ventures after 1973. Nor does he dwell on his personal life outside of politics. He briefly discusses the remunerative, subsidized investments that kept him solvent while living on a legislator's meager pay, noting that this was common practice in that freewheeling, pre-reform era. Barnes's memoirs essentially end with his 1972 primary defeat, but he closes with two briefchapters lamenting the destructive, overly partisan state of contemporary politics and recommending measures to foster moderation, integrity, and fairness in Austin and Washington. Barnes, who has remained a loyal Democrat, clearly understands this subject matter, and many of his observations on die perceived excesses of recent one-party rule (written in 2005) have been borne out by die political upheavals of 2006. Barn Burningshould provide useful raw material for serious historians ofTexas politics in tiieJohnson-Connally era, but it does not really resolve a central question 2??8Book Reviews363 about die controversial audior's own role in history: will Ben Barnes be remembered primarily as the promising young phenomenon who became a protégé ofJohnson and Connally, or will he be recognized as a force in his own right in the events and transformations he chronicles? That answer will await a work ofgreater depth and broader perspective. AustinJames E. Cousar Mestizo inAmerica: Generations ofMexicanEthnicity in tL·Suburban Southwest. ByThomas Macias. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2006. Pp. 194. Tables, graphs, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 0816525048. $45.00, cloth. ISBN 0816525056. $19.95, paper.) Mestizo in America examines die social integration ofthe U.S. Mexican community from 1965 to the present. While its sources are both qualitative and quantitative , its richest source for quantitative data is the Current Population Survey (CPS) from igg4 to 2002. In addition, the author interviewed more...

Enforcing Wildlife Protection in China

Since China enacted the Wildlife Protection Law in 1988, its wildlife has been threatened with the most serious survival crisis. In the prereform era, wildlife was a neglected policy area. Serving the objective of reform, the Wildlife Protection Law upholds the “protection, domestication, and utilization” norm inherited from past policies. It establishes rules for wildlife management and protection. This law provides for penalties against violations. Yet, its ambiguous objectives, limited protection scope, and decentralized responsibilities have made its enforcement difficult. Political factors such as institutional constraints, national obsession with economic growth, shortage of funding, and local protectionism have made the Wildlife Protection Law enforcement an uphill struggle. This study calls for a revision in the Wildlife Protection Law to drop the “protection for human use” objective, expand protection scope, introduce anticruelty provisions, and nationalize protection responsibilities. Understanding that the current one-party state will continue in the foreseeable future, this article calls for moves to open up China's policymaking to advocacy groups. China's wildlife crisis requires both short-term legislative and long-term political solutions.

Indian business groups: Evolution and transformation

Business groups are an important constituent of many emerging economies. In this paper, we focus on the evolution and transformation of Indian business groups (IBGs) over two economic eras — pre-reform era (pre 1991) and reform era (post 1991). To this end, we analyze IBG behavior during these periods, and explain the implications of such behavior on IBG value creation. Our conceptualization of IBG dynamics utilizes the perspectives of product relatedness and institutional relatedness, and undertakes a broad review of the extant literature.

Health Care Regime Change in Urban China: Unmanaged Marketization and Reluctant Privatization

has experienced a dramatic transition from a planned to a market economy since 1979. Within this context, the health care regime in urban China is now rapidly moving towards marketization. As in other economic areas, health care reforms have proceeded in a gradual manner, and the legacies of the old regime still mark the new regime. Sluggish and incomplete institutional changes have produced a distorted new system. While most types of health care provision have now been marketized, the government still follows the old manner of administrative control over the sector rather than adopting new ways of regulation. During the pre-reform era, the health care sector in urban China was an integral part of the planned economy, manifesting many characteristics of what Kornai calls classical socialism1 while displaying Chinese characteristics in other aspects. In urban areas, the pre-reform Chinese health care regime was very similar to those found in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union. Almost all health care providers were owned and operated by the state, all health care professionals were state employees, and most Chinese urban residents enjoyed free health care services. The only difference was that the provision of these services, unlike in Eastern Europe, was delivered through the workplace rather than the state.2 Each workplace unit operated as a small-scale welfare state, and free health care services were one of many non-wage benefits offered to unit members.3

The Indian Business Scene, Challenges of Change, and Capacity-Building through People-Management Strategy

In today's business world of chaotic high incidence of competition, managing change is one of the most critical factors for corporate success. Studies show that Indian corporate leaders of the pre-reform era have not been able to sustain their growth rate in sales and profit. They have not been able to withstand the winds of change caused by the new economic realities. Even those players who have demonstrated greater incidence of success have not been seriously considering internationalization of their businesses. This paper discusses the opportunities offered by the new economic policy (NEP) to corporates in India; some of the achievements attained by them; and the problems and challenges they face in this regard. It identifies the need for change as a corporate strategic priority. The paper argues that for organizational capacity-building for performance excellence, Indian companies need to invest in learning and benchmarking in different spheres of organizational working; and also resort to leveraging the empowerment model of human resource management (HRM) strategy as a way of organizational life.

Corporate Governance in India - Evolution and Challenges

While recent high-profile corporate governance failures in developed countries have brought the subject to media attention, the issue has always been central to finance and economics. The issue is particularly important for developing countries since it is central to financial and economic development. Recent research has established that financial development is largely dependent on investor protection in a country - de jure and de facto. With the legacy of the English legal system, India has one of the best corporate governance laws but poor implementation together with socialistic policies of the prereform era has affected corporate governance. Concentrated ownership of shares, pyramiding and tunneling of funds among group companies mark the Indian corporate landscape. Boards of directors have frequently been silent spectators with the DFI nominee directors unable or unwilling to carry out their monitoring functions. Since liberalization, however, serious efforts have been directed at overhauling the system with the SEBI instituting the Clause 49 of the Listing Agreements dealing with corporate governance. Corporate governance of Indian banks is also undergoing a process of change with a move towards more market-based governance.

Chinese Organizations in Transition: Changing Promotion Patterns in the Reform Era

Since the 1980s, the People's Republic of China has embarked on a path of economic transformation that has led to profound changes in organizations. Based on work histories of a sample of urban residents drawn from 14 Chinese cities in six provinces, we assess the extent and direction of organizational transformation by analyzing changes in promotion patterns between the prereform era (1949–1979) and the reform era (1980–1994). We begin with Walder's dual-path model and examine distinctive mechanisms for promotion along two institutionalized—administrative and professional—career lines. We enrich Walder's model by considering the impact of macropolitical processes on career dynamics and the effect of emerging market mechanisms on different organizational sectors. Our findings show that there have been both continuity and significant changes in the criteria and opportunities of promotion in Chinese organizations across the two periods. In the reform era, more educated managers who were recently recruited into the organizations had the highest probability of being promoted. There were also significant variations in promotion patterns across career lines and organizational sectors, reflecting the impacts of both institutional persistence and emerging market forces.

Migration and Gender in China: An Origin‐Destination Linked Approach

During the past 2 decades, major social and economic transformations have occurred in China. One of the demographic consequences of these changes is the large increase in the migrant population. In the prereform era, the Chinese government strictly controlled and regulated migration through the household registration system (hukou) and other mechanisms. Since the late 1970s, however, the role of household registration has weakened so much that one does not need to obtain local hukou in order to migrate. Migration, especially floating migrant population, is clearly on the rise. Social scientists are quick to take the opportunity to study different aspects of migration. Not surprisingly, with few exceptions, most studies of migration focus on migrant men even though women constitute a high proportion of the migrant population. According to the 1990 China Population Census, migrant women account for 46% of intraprovincial migrants and 42% of interprovincial migrants in China. The most recent data from the 2000 Chinese census show that 52% of migrants are women. Although the subject of female migration is relatively neglected for other countries as well, the Chinese case promises a particularly interesting comparison because of its current hukou system. Originally designed and implemented in the late 1950s, hukou was and continues to be an important institution that is associated with entitlements, such as housing, medical care, and jobs, as well as children’s education. Before 1978, not having hukou meant that migrants would not be able to find jobs and housing, let alone benefits such as medical care and pension. Notwithstanding, since China initiated market reforms in the late 1970s, the function of China’s hukou system has been gradually declining but still plays an important role in the receipt of