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56602. Market Integration in the North and Baltic Seas, 1500-1800
- Author:
- David Jacks
- Publication Date:
- 10-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- Ever since the time of Adam Smith, the attribution to foreign trade of the ability to affect the wholesale transformation of the productive powers of an economy has remained a very powerful concept in both economics and economic history. At the heart of this interpretation is the observation that improvements in productivity are generated by the expansion of trade through the spreading of fixed costs and an increasing international division of labour.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom
56603. Development History
- Author:
- N.F.R. Crafts
- Publication Date:
- 10-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- This paper discusses some aspects of the changing relationship between the study of economic history and development economics. Forty years ago the subjects seemed to be quite closely linked in the sense that senior figures straddled both areas, the development history of the advanced countries was frequently studied with a view to deriving lessons for development policy and economic historians made big generalizations as to what these were. In the 1990s, things appear to have been very different. There is much less overlap between the fields of development and history, historians have largely retreated from the brash claims of the early postwar generation and less- developed countries have their own well-documented recent history from which to draw lessons. This state of affairs is clearly reflected in the most recent edition of Meier (1995) where the historical perspective on development is still derived largely from Gerschenkron and Rostow.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom
56604. Altruism and Imperialism: The Western Religious and Cultural Missionary Enterprise in the Middle East
- Author:
- Eleanor Doumato, Andrew Porter, Samir Khalaf, Reeva Simon, Elizabeth Thompson, Carolyn Goffman, Hans-Lukas Kieser, Jeremy Salt, Ruth Kark, Paul Sedra, Michael Zirinsky, Mahmoud Haddad, Linda Herrera, and Eleanor H. Tejirian
- Publication Date:
- 08-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Middle East Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Western missionary enterprise in the Middle East, while in theory altruistic, has generally been considered part and parcel of Western imperialism and colonialism as it evolved in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, deconstruction of this enterprise reveals that it was by no means monolithic, nor was it necessarily directly related to or supportive of Western imperial ambitions. This project, of which a conference at the Rockefeller Foundation Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, in August 2000 is a part, seeks to examine all aspects of the Western missionary enterprise in the Middle East, focusing on its political and social impact on the region as well as on its entanglement with the political and social currents of the Western countries from which it came. Furthermore, the premise of the project is that the missionary enterprise was also the forerunner of the activities of Western nongovernmental organizations in the region, setting the agenda and establishing the categories of these activities in areas including human rights, education, and economic development.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Rights, Non-Governmental Organization, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
56605. Institutional Challenges and Opportunities in Environmentally Sound Trade Expansion: A Review of the Global State of Affairs
- Author:
- Aaron Cosbey
- Publication Date:
- 04-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- This paper surveys some of the key trade-sustainable development issues likely to be addressed in the coming years at the multilateral level that may have implications for the Americas. The study looks further to opportunities and threats at the domestic level and recommends a number of ways in which sustainable development might be advanced, striving to achieve environmental improvement and improved development prospects North and South. Whether in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), or other similar forums, these are the types of solutions that will pass the acid test of political acceptability.
- Topic:
- Environment, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- America
56606. Moving Beyond Privatization in Latin America: The Government/Business Relationship
- Author:
- Robert Grosse
- Publication Date:
- 03-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- The outcomes of regulatory policies and regimes in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico since 1990 in the telecommunications, electric power, and banking sectors are explored in this paper. How should governments regulate these oligopolistic industries, once ownership of the sectors has been passed to private hands? How can governments manage these relationships successfully and see that the greatest benefits accrue to the country? What institutional structures can best handle the problems that arise in these situations? The paper addresses these questions and concludes that, while privatizations in these sectors have been predominantly positive in the 1990s, there is still considerable room for more competition.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- Latin America, Central America, and Mexico
56607. Making Sense of Environmental Security
- Author:
- Frank McNeil
- Publication Date:
- 02-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- The concept of environmental security—even after more than two decades of discussion—has no widely agreed-upon formulation. However, in the metaphor used by environmentalists, environmental security can be a “canary in the mine,” signaling conflicts within nations and across borders. While environmental insults may foster violence, conflicts short of war also impose high costs, wreaking damage to economies, to societal stability, to the effectiveness of political institutions, and to international cooperation. Recent examples of such conflicts and their costs can be seen in locales as diverse as the Western Hemisphere and Southeast Asia (for example, in Guatemala, the Philippines, Colombia, Indonesia, and Nicaragua's maritime and riparian disputes with Honduras and Costa Rica).
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Environment, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Central America and Caribbean
56608. Transnational Organized Crime: The Caribbean Context
- Author:
- Anthony T. Bryan
- Publication Date:
- 10-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- Were it not for the illegitimate character of their actions, transnational criminals could be lauded as pioneers and visionaries in the age of globalization. They have adopted facilitative and exacting measures to remain competitive, fashioned an enviable organizational culture of efficiency and accountability, and maximized the opportunities provided by globalization. They have been able to innovate, expand, and flourish in a furiously changing international scenario and have done so while being relatively cloaked, so that there is an aura of mystery and ambiguity about their operations.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean
56609. An Essay on Child Labor in Sub-Saharan Africa—A bargaining approach
- Author:
- Jens Chr.1 Andvig
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The separation of children from their families have a large number of social and economic aspects. At least the economic aspects are under-researched. At the point of transition of leaving their families somehow the children have to be considered as separate decisionmakers. This is the perspective I adopt in this essay. The question raised is whether poverty, changes in social norms or external shocks to the family system such as the AIDS epidemic, lead the children to prematurely fend for themselves in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Rights, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa
56610. Security, integration and identity change
- Author:
- Pernille Rieker
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In this working paper Pernille Rieker attempts to contribute to a better understanding of both how the EU functions as a security system and what kind of impact the integration process has on national security identities. While security has always been the main reason behind the integration process, security and integration have usually been studied separately. Integration specialists have given more attention to economy than to security, and security experts have studied traditional security institutions and overlooked the EU. Rieker attempts to combine these two theoretical traditions by drawing on a combination of recent work on security communities and international socialisation. While the development in the Nordic countries will be used as brief examples in the final part of the paper, a more detailed analysis of these countries' security identities will follow in a forthcoming study.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and Government