Rich Nations Research Articles

Zentrale Fragen der globalen Gerechtigkeit vor dem Hintergrund der Flüchtlingskrise

Two mainstreams can be roughly distinguished within the discussion on global justice: one is characterised by an interactional cosmopolitan moral conception and emphasizes the individual duty of the wealthy to aid those in extreme need, wherever and whoever they may be. In contrast, the second stream of thought emphasizes the impact of global institutions on the increasing disparity between rich and poor nations. The current article presents the main arguments of both positions and, against the backdrop of the current refugee crisis, suggests a pragmatic moral approach close to the institutional interpretation.

Freedom of Religion, Religiosity, and GDP per Capital

Past studies have found a link between the level of religious freedom or religiosity in a nation and GDP per capita. These s0074udies have found GDP per capita is higher in nations with higher levels of religious freedom or that countries with increasing levels of GDP per capita have increasing levels of religious freedom. Studies of religiosity are consistent in that countries with higher levels of religiosity have lower levels of GDP per capita. This study expands on these previous studies by combining these two factors using multiple measures of religious freedom and religiosity. Countries that have more religious freedom suggests they also have freedom in other areas with many of these freedoms important to produce higher levels of income, while nations that have the higher level of religiosity are willing to sacrifice higher levels of GDP per capita to be able to practice their religion. Along with the multiple measures of religiosity and religious freedom considered, additional variables were included to isolate their relationship with GDP per capita. Additional control variables not related to the religion variables included economic freedom, civil liberties, political rights, and percent of GDP from natural resources. Many of the measures of religious freedom and religiosity were similar to the results from previous studies or were insignificant. Consistent with the previous study the results showed that increased levels of religiosity in a nation were related to lower levels of GDP per capita. However, contrary to previous studies this study found that having a state religion had a strong positive relationship with GDP per capita. The often heard argument is that many of the nations with a state religion are also resource rich nations which could override other factors that limit income per capita was not found to be the case. In the various models considered, the most significant model included both state religion and natural resources as a percent of GDP with the two having a very low level of correlation.

Utilization of Exotic Plant Genetic Resources in Wheat Registered Germplasm

Utilization of Exotic Plant Genetic Resources in Wheat Registered Germplasm Genetic Resources (PGRs) are material of plant origin which are of value for present and future generations of human kind. Since times immemorial these resources are being collected and conserved for further utilization in crop improvement programmes. Countries are highly interdependent on these genetic resources including the diversity rich nations where the major food production is dependent on crops which have actually originated in other countries. Thus, PGRs are continually exchanged for use in developing better crop varieties, resistant to various pests and diseases and to improve quality, quantity and other valuable or desirable traits. This unique germplasm is provided soft protection and registered at ICARNational Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources since 1996 through the Plant Germplam Registration Committee. An analysis on the extent of utilization of exotic germplasm in for developing trait specific unique germplasm was done. To start with the data was analysed for wheat germplasm registered from year 1996-2014, and it was found that 75% of the exotic germplasm was used as parents for the lines which were registered at ICAR-NBPGR.. .

Africa is Often Seen as an Appendage of the Western Capitalists in Terms of Development Experience: Why is it Largely Influenced by Rich Dominant Families, Cartels, Nations and Regions?

From a stronger view point, one of the major reasons for the lack of development in Africa is linked to the changes in Western ideological movements and forces which emerged in the early 1980’s. Some scholars such as Rodney claim that Africa has always relied upon western economic development models in order to develop. Undoubtedly, the western economic models have contributed to dependency trap on Africa’s development front (Rodney 1972, p.215). The models have given the impression that Africa’s development process is an appendage to the west. Thus, it is generally agreed that if Zambia implemented homegrown oriented economic models not the imported western ones it could have recorded positive and tangible development. The western capitalists promoted western economic theory of development on the continent of Africa which was wrong because not one size fits all development approach can work in all the countries. This is to say that the western economic theory is not the blue-print for the development of Zambia (Rodney 1972, p.216).It is also claimed that Africa should follow homegrown development policies if it is to achieve the desired development for its people. On the other hand, it can be stated that globalization has increased the dominance of market forces in the global economy resulting into uneven income distribution between the rich dominant families, cartels, nations and regions. The world has been under the influence by many rich dominant families and cartels of this society both individuals and large corporations who are usually very wealthy. In many countries, rich dominant families and cartels end up controlling considerable proportions of countries economies in way one or the other. It has emerged that they extensively control corporate assets which actually distorts capital allocation among the different groups of the society. This portrays also that political influence is the agency which controls, rather than which owns. The rich dominant families and cartels do acquire power and self-enrichment because they are advantaged in wealth creation. It cannot be deny that some societies live in the era of Empire Rule which is heavily influenced by wealthy families and cartels.

Paris climate talks, day 6: What we're reading

Germany backs a 1.5 oC warming limit, China calls out rich nations, and Arctic residents say that climate change threatens their way of life.

Cancer prevention as part of precision medicine: 'plenty to be done'.

Cancer burden worldwide is projected to rise from 14 million new cases in 2012 to 24 million in 2035. Although the greatest increases will be in developing countries, where cancer services are already hard pressed, even the richest nations will struggle to meet demands of increasing patient numbers and spiralling treatment costs. No country can treat its way out of the cancer problem. Consequently, cancer control must combine improvements in treatment with greater emphasis on prevention and early detection. Cancer prevention is founded on describing the burden of cancer, identifying the causes and evaluating and implementing preventive interventions. Around 40-50% of cancers could be prevented if current knowledge about risk factors was translated into effective public health strategies. The benefits of prevention are attested to by major successes, for example, in tobacco control, vaccination against oncogenic viruses, reduced exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens, and screening. Progress is still needed in areas such as weight control and physical activity. Fresh impetus for prevention and early detection will come through interdisciplinary approaches, encompassing knowledge and tools from advances in cancer biology. Examples include mutation profiles giving clues about aetiology and biomarkers for early detection, to stratify individuals for screening or for prognosis. However, cancer prevention requires a broad perspective stretching from the submicroscopic to the macropolitical, recognizing the importance of molecular profiling and multisectoral engagement across urban planning, transport, environment, agriculture, economics, etc., and applying interventions that may just as easily rely on a legislative measure as on a molecule.

Agriculture Production and Economic Growth

Post world-war II global economy is growing at steady pace and most of nations have been experiencing rise in per capita income whether they are rich or poor. Agriculture industry is major employer of poor people in low income nations where large segment of population work as an agriculture labourers. While in rich nations less than one percentage population is occupied in agriculture activity. In this article relationship between economic growth and agriculture production is evaluated for rich, middle-income and poor nations on datasets for period 1960 to 2014.

Searching for new Sources of growth. Are the Developing Countries Catching up with the Developed ones?

This paper examines the trajectory of growth in the Global South. Before the 1500s all countries were roughly at the same level of development, but from the 1500s Western countries started to grow faster than the rest of the world and PPP GDP per capita by 1950 in the US, the richest Western nation, was nearly 5 times higher than the world average and 2 times higher than in Western Europe. Since 1950 this ratio stabilized - not only Western Europe and Japan improved their relative standing in per capita income versus the US, but also East Asia, South Asia and some developing countries in other regions started to bridge the gap with the West. After nearly half of the millennium of growing economic divergence, the world seems to have entered the era of convergence. The factors behind these trends are analyzed; implications for the future and possible scenarios are considered.

How Profit Maximization of the Capitalists and Rich Nations Has Affected the Poor in the Developing Countries: Is It Compromise of the Right to Development?

Many analysts of development discourse have argued that underdevelopment does not mean absence of development because every society has developed in one way or the other. Notably, all nations of the world have developed in one way or the other. But while some nations have achieved significant levels of development that add value to life of their citizens and, others have dragged their people in severe poverty trap. Obviously, some experts claim that underdevelopment means insufficient degree of development due to economic mismanagement by those charged with the power to govern. There are a number of factors that can be attributed to profits maximization of capitalists and rich nations at the expense of the poor countries where the majority live in object poverty. It can be argued that development paradigms of today in Africa are as a result of imperialism, corruption, bad leadership, war and crisis as well as under-utilization of locally generated resources. Consequently, human right to development of most less developed countries have been compromised as evident in the following challenges; poverty, inadequate social amenities, high rate of unemployment and social vices, low life expectancy, poor standard of living etc. These are major problems that are facing the developing countries particularly those in Africa for many decades now.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND ENVIRONMENT

Without self-understanding we cannot hope for
 Enduring solutions to environ­mental problems,
 Which are fundamentally human problems.
 —Yi-Fu Tuan, 1974 
 Human beings interact both with the social world and nature. Both, economic development and stable environment are required for the continual improvement of lifestyle and living standards of the people in the society and for the Earth Community as a whole. But until now, the development was human oriented and limited to rich nations. The development was achieved by damaging the environment and over exploitation of natural resources which were nonrenewable. That caused instability of environment and crossed the threshold limit of environmental damage.
 The major challenge of our times is to find new and practical ways of drawing inspiration from the rich diversity of human experience as well as modern scientific insights in order to establish effective means of governing human behavior to ensure that we contribute to the prosperity of the whole Earth Community instead of destroying it.

Does the trade gravity model depend on trading partners? Some evidence from Vietnam and her 54 trading partners

This paper finds that the influence of trade gravity variables is dependent on trading partners. For instance, trade with rich nations is more sensitive to distance, economic size, and trading partners, openness of trading partners, and exchange rate, than trade with low income nations. Nonetheless, the paper suggests that the trade policy should not ignore the importance of the level of development, maintenance of close economic ties, and the influence of the ASEAN, APEC, and the WTO on trade in the long and short run. This is found for the bilateral trade relations between Vietnam and her top 54 trading partners over the period 1986 to 2010.

Basic Approaches and Main Thrust About the Nature, Methods and Aims of Development Efforts: A Perspective of Africa's Underdevelopment Concept

In contemporary times of socio-economic dimension it cannot be denied that we live in a society where people are extremely poor, while few others are exceedingly rich. In many African countries millions of people are living in abject poverty. Lack of development has been said to be responsible for this prevailing situation (Thirlwall 1994, p.9). Generally, development can be defined as a holistic process through which a society experiences economic and socio-political transformation which improves the living conditions of its inhabitants. Theorists argue that development has winners and losers. In this perspective, development of the rich countries led to the underdevelopment of the poor countries so they say (Thirlwall 1994, p.10). It is still the rich and powerful nations who are in the position to be able to promote development and their key agenda is to benefit themselves. Despite the huge differences surrounding the concept of development, what a clear question is how it is to be achieved and the essence is to tackle poverty and underdevelopment (Bodunrin, 1991; Thirlwall, 1994).

International Environmental Law and the Global South -- Introduction

The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, indigenous rights, trade, investment, extractive industries, human rights, land grabs, hazardous waste, and climate change. Born out of the recognition that global inequality and profligate consumerism present threats to a sustainable planet, this books makes a unique contribution to international environmental law by emphasizing the priorities and concerns of the global South.

Global Development and Happiness: How Can Data on Subjective Well-Being Inform Development Theory and Practice?

While research on subjective well-being (SWB) has recently attracted much attention in richer nations, its potential in a development context remains underexploited. This paper, therefore, considers conventional development theory through an SWB lens. The Human Development approach with its three key elements of material conditions, health and education is re-assessed by examining to what extent these factors actually matter for people's life satisfaction in different nations. Using data from the World Values Survey for 100 000 people from 70 nations, considerable heterogeneity is identified and a new country ranking in the form of an SWB-adjusted Human Development Index, or ‘Happy Development Index’, is devised.

Development-based public procurement policies: a selective survey of literature, cross-country policy experience and the Turkish experience

Technological gap (Posner, 1961) is a critical determinant of income gap between developing and developed nations. Public authorities in developing countries are preoccupied with developing and implementing policies to increase per capita income. Public procurement of machinery and other manufactured products can be utilized by public authorities to foster technological development with a view to close the technology and income gap with richer nations. Such “development-based public procurement” (DBPP) policies are considered by developed economies as well (Yülek and Tiryakioğlu 2013; Taylor and Yülek 2014) to further their technological development. This article presents a selective literature survey of academic research and policy experience on public procurement policies utilized to foster technological development and examine a country case study on Turkey.

Latin American Inequality: Colonial Origins, Commodity Booms or a Missed Twentieth-Century Leveling?

Most analysts of the modern Latin American economy have held the pessimistic belief in historical persistence—they believe that Latin America has always had very high levels of inequality, and that it is the Iberian colonists' fault. Thus, modern analysts see today a more unequal Latin America compared with Asia and most rich post-industrial nations and assume that this must always have been true. Indeed, some have argued that high inequality appeared very early in the post-conquest Americas, and that this fact supported rent-seeking and anti-growth institutions which help explain the disappointing growth performance we observe there even today. The recent leveling of inequality in the region since the 1990s seems to have done little to erode that pessimism. It is important, therefore, to stress that this alleged persistence is based on an historical literature which has made little or no effort to be comparative, and it matters. Compared with the rest of the world, inequality was not high in the century following 1492, and it was not even high in the post-independence decades just prior to Latin America's belle époque and start with industrialization. It only became high during the commodity boom 1870–1913, by the end of which it had joined the rich country unequal club that included the USA and the UK. Latin America only became relatively high between 1913 and the 1970s when it missed the Great Egalitarian Leveling, which took place almost everywhere else. That Latin American inequality has its roots in its colonial past is a myth.

Structural and Electrochemical Characterization of New Hexagonal Form of NaMn2O4 Cathodes for Sodium Ion Batteries

Introduction Lithium ion batteries have thus far been the torchbearers in the field of electrochemical energy storage for mobile applications. The large scale commercialization of lithium ion batteries, however has the associated ‘cost of business’ including possible socio-economic concerns to various lithium rich nations such as Bolivia(1). There has therefore been a gradual realization in the battery community at large for the need to switch to more abundant raw-material based chemistries. Sodium and magnesium batteries are the fore-runners therein(2). In order for the smooth transition and for Na-ion to compete with the Li-ion batteries, considerable improvements in cathode and anode energy density, cyclability and rate capability are still required. Nanocrystalline NaMn2O4 has been synthesized by a high energy mechano-chemical milling process (HEMM) using Na2O2 and Mn2O3 as starting materials for use as cathodes for sodium ion batteries. As previously reported by this group(3), the material exhibits a new close packed hexagonal crystalline form, different from the commonly known stable orthorhombic or monoclinic structures in the Na–Mn–O system, identified for the first time. In this work, we study the stabilization of the hexagonal phase and its evolution to an orthorhombic phase upon heat treatment. Using in-depth solid-state NMR studies in conjunction with detailed electrochemical evaluation, the nature of the charge-storage behavior of this phase is evaluated herein. Figure 1 depicts the evolution of the hexagonal NaMn2O4 to a conventional orthorhombic phase upon heat-treatment. Alteration in sodium co-ordination chemistry and its effect on insertion/deinsertion and capacity will be presented and discussed. Captions Figure 1: Evolution of structure of hexagonal NaMn2O4 into the more known orthorhombic phase upon heat-treatment as observed using scanning electron microscopy.

Brain Drain or Brain Exchange: Developing Country Implications

Many industrialized countries are looking to keep foreign graduates to fill jobs for which there are shortages. This article argues that these practices are a continuation of the "brain drain." The developing world is subsidizing the economies of the rich nations.

Mossadegh Madness: Oil and Sovereignty in the Anticolonial Community

This essay argues for the shared origins of the 1973–1974 energy crisis and the 1974 Declaration of a New International Economic Order in the United Nations. According to many contemporary actors, the energy crisis was part of a larger problem of international justice—that of unequal economic relationships between rich and poor nations. The article excavates that shared political and intellectual history from the failed Iranian oil nationalization in the early 1950s to the successful supply gambit of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council in the early 1970s. Central throughout was an anti-colonial reading of the recent past and the present, according to which a persistent imperial influence impeded an economic equivalent to political decolonization.

Progress with the global tobacco epidemic

During the 20th century, tobacco smoking killed some 100 million people, most of them in high-income countries. 1 Jha P Avoidable global cancer deaths and total deaths from smoking. Nat Rev Cancer. 2009; 9: 655-664 Crossref PubMed Scopus (364) Google Scholar In the 21st century the corresponding figure is likely to be about 1 billion, most in low-income and middle-income countries. 1 Jha P Avoidable global cancer deaths and total deaths from smoking. Nat Rev Cancer. 2009; 9: 655-664 Crossref PubMed Scopus (364) Google Scholar , 2 Mathers CD Loncar D Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med. 2006; 3: e442 Crossref PubMed Scopus (7392) Google Scholar Similar to the evolution of smoking within populations of high-income countries, the global smoking epidemic is now moving from the rich to the poor. Driven by the financial heft of transnational tobacco companies with a combined income higher than most individual countries, 3 Callard C Follow the money: how the billions of dollars that flow from smokers in poor nations to companies in rich nations greatly exceed funding for global tobacco control and what might be done about it. Tob Control. 2010; 19: 285-290 Crossref PubMed Scopus (32) Google Scholar built on a business model of peddling an addictive product to children and young people, and sustained by practices that prioritise corporate profit over health, the current global epidemic of smoking represents a triumph of corporate self-interest over human wellbeing. 4 Gilmore AB Fooks G Drope J Bialous SA Jackson RR Exposing and addressing tobacco industry conduct in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet. 2015; 385: 1029-1043 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (199) Google Scholar It is also a challenge that national and international health systems remain ill-equipped to face. What will it take to create a tobacco-free world?Last month, British American Tobacco released their preliminary results for 2014. “I am delighted with the excellent progress we have made”, said chief executive, Nicandro Durante. It has been “another strong performance in 2014”, he added. The Group's revenue continued to grow by 2·8% and its adjusted profit from operations increased by 4·4%. Of the 667 billion cigarettes sold in 2014, 197 billion were sold in the Asia-Pacific and 227 billion were sold in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—regions known as “high-growth markets”. Full-Text PDF Deaths and taxes: stronger global tobacco control by 202510 years ago the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) entered into force, and more than 170 countries have now signed this treaty.1 This anniversary marks an appropriate time to review progress on global tobacco control. Full-Text PDF Global trends and projections for tobacco use, 1990–2025: an analysis of smoking indicators from the WHO Comprehensive Information Systems for Tobacco ControlOur findings show that striking between-country disparities in tobacco use would persist in 2025, with many countries not on track to achieve tobacco control targets and several low-income and middle-income countries at risk of worsening tobacco epidemics if these trends remain unchanged. Immediate, effective, and sustained action is necessary to attain and maintain desirable trajectories for tobacco control and achieve global convergence towards elimination of tobacco use. Full-Text PDF Exposing and addressing tobacco industry conduct in low-income and middle-income countriesThe tobacco industry's future depends on increasing tobacco use in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), which face a growing burden of tobacco-related disease, yet have potential to prevent full-scale escalation of this epidemic. To drive up sales the industry markets its products heavily, deliberately targeting non-smokers and keeps prices low until smoking and local economies are sufficiently established to drive prices and profits up. The industry systematically flaunts existing tobacco control legislation and works aggressively to prevent future policies using its resource advantage to present highly misleading economic arguments, rebrand political activities as corporate social responsibility, and establish and use third parties to make its arguments more palatable. Full-Text PDF