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18752. Money, Politics, and the Post-War Business Cycle
- Author:
- Jon Faust and John S. Irons
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- While macroeconometricians continue to dispute the size, timing, and even the existence of effects of monetary policy, political economists often find large effects of political variables and often attribute the effects to manipulation of the Fed. Since the political econometricians often use smaller information sets and less elaborate approaches to identification than do macroeconometricians, their striking results could be the result of simultaneity and omitted variable biases. Alternatively, political whims may provide the instrument for exogenous policy changes that has been the Grail of the policy identification literature. In this paper, we lay out and apply a framework for distinguishing these possibilities. We find almost no support for the hypothesis that political effects on the macroeconomy operate through monetary policy and only weak evidence that political effects are significant at all.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Political Economy, and Politics
18753. The Accumulation of Human Capital: Alternative Methods and Why They Matter
- Author:
- Ann L. Owen and Murat F. Iyigun
- Publication Date:
- 05-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- We show how the ability o accumulate human capital through formal education and through a learning-by-doing process that occurs on the job affects the dynamic behavior of the human capital stock under a liquidity constrained and a non-constrained case. When there are alternatives to formal schooling in the accumulation of human capital, investing resources in increasing school enrollment rates in low-income countries may not be the most efficient means of increasing the human capital stock. In addition, removal of the liquidity constraints may not be sufficient to escape a development trap.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, Education, and International Trade and Finance
18754. Hazards in Implementing a Monetary Conditions Index
- Author:
- Neil R. Ericsson, Kari H. Eika, and Ragnar Nymoen
- Publication Date:
- 10-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- Some recent studies have suggested constructing a Monetary Conditions Index (or MCI) to serve as an indicator of monetary policy stance. The central banks of Canada, Sweden, and Norway all construct an MCI and (to varying degrees) use it in conducting monetary policy. Empirically, an MCI is calculated as the weighted sum of changes in a short-term interest rate and the exchange rate relative to values in a baseline year. The weights aim to reflect these variables' effects on longer-term focuses of policy — economic activity and inflation. This paper derives analytical and empirical properties of MCIs in an attempt to ascertain their usefulness in monetary policy.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North America
18755. Regime Switching in the Dynamic Relationship between the Federal Funds Rate and Innovations in Nonborrowed Reserves
- Author:
- Chan Huh
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the dynamic relationship between changes in the finds rate and nonborrowed reserves within a reduced form framework that allows the relationship to have WO distinct patterns over time. A regime switching model a la Hamilton (1989) is estimated. On average, CPI inflation has been significantly higher in the regime and volatile changes in funds rate. Innovations in money growth are characterized by large associated with a strong anticipated inflation effect in this high inflation regime, and a moderate liquidity effect in the low inflation regime. Furthermore, an identical money innovation generates a much bigger increase in the interest rate during a transition period from the low to high inflation regime than during a steady high inflation period. This accords well with economic intuition since the transition period is when the anticipated inflation effect initially gets incorporated into the interest rate. The converse also holds. That is, the liquidity effect becomes stronger when the economy leaves a high inflation regime period and enters a low inflation regime period.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
18756. Broad Money Demand and Financial Liberalization in Greece
- Author:
- Neil R. Ericsson and Sunil Sharma
- Publication Date:
- 07-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- This paper develops a constant, data-coherent, error correction model for broad money demand (M3) in Greece. This model contributes to a better understanding of the effects of monetary policy in Greece, and of the portfolio consequences of financial innovation in general. The broad monetary aggregate M3 was targeted until recently, and current monetary policy still uses such aggregates as guidelines, yet analysis of this aggregate has been dormant for over a decade.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18757. American-Ukrainian Nuclear Relations
- Author:
- Roman Popadiuk
- Publication Date:
- 10-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- On June 1, 1996, the last strategic missiles were shipped from Ukraine to Russia, bringing to an end a contentious issue that had marred the early stages of U.S.-Ukraine relations. In welcoming this development, President Clinton stated, “I applaud the Ukrainian government for its historic contribution in reducing the nuclear threat .... We remain committed to supporting Ukraine through its ambitious and far-sighted reforms and to working with Ukraine and our European partners to promote Ukraine's integration into the European community.”
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Johannesburg
18758. Caribbean Security on the Eve of the 21st Century
- Author:
- Ivelaw L. Griffith
- Publication Date:
- 10-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- This study assesses the Caribbean security landscape on the eve of the fast-approaching new century with a view to considering what the future portends in the security arena. Engaging in even guarded prospection during this period of history is particularly difficult, but also exciting, partly because of dramatic changes that the world began undergoing during the 1980s. These changes make scholars and statesmen approach the new century with a combined sense of expectancy and apprehension. The expectancy stems from the anticipated benefits of the end of the Cold War, among other things; the apprehension is driven by them may unknowns that tile dynamics of changing international relations hold for the future. This is true for the Caribbean as it is for other regions of the world, and it holds true for security as it does for other issue areas.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean
18759. Defiant Again: Indigenous Poeples and Latin American Security
- Author:
- Donna Lee Van Cott
- Publication Date:
- 10-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The cycle of Indian rebellion and government repression that characterized the first centuries of contact between European and Amerindian peoples cannot yet be consigned to the history books. The eruption of an armed movement in southern Mexico, comprised primarily of destitute Maya Indians, as well as smaller demonstrations of resistance in Brazil, Ecuador, and elsewhere speaks eloquently to this fact. While the majority of conflicts between the estimated 40 million indigenous peoples in Latin America and the societies in which they live are now played out in the political arena, security issues continue to generate violent interethnic conflict. Since the Conquest, the interests of indigenous communities usually have conflicted with national governments' security policies. These include a dimension explicitly intended to control the autonomous tendencies of indigenous communities, suppress Indian political organizing, and erase the independent identity of Indian nations.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, South America, Latin America, and Central America
18760. Clausewitzian Friction and Future War
- Author:
- Barry D. Watts
- Publication Date:
- 10-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- Since the end of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, there has been growing discussion of the possibility that technological advances in the means of combat would produce ftmdamental changes in how future wars will be fought. A number of observers have suggested that the nature of war itself would be transformed. Some proponents of this view have gone so far as to predict that these changes would include great reductions in, if not the outright elimination of, the various impediments to timely and effective action in war for which the Prussian theorist and soldier Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) introduced the term "friction." Friction in war, of course, has a long historical lineage. It predates Clausewitz by centuries and has remained a stubbornly recurring factor in combat outcomes right down to the 1991 Gulf War. In looking to the future, a seminal question is whether Clausewitzian friction would succumb to the changes in leading-edge warfare that may lie ahead, or whether such impediments reflect more enduring aspects of war that technology can but marginally affect. It is this question that the present essay will examine.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Cold War, Government, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States, Soviet Union, and Southeast Asia
18761. The Major Powers in Northeast Asian Security
- Author:
- Ralph A. Cossa
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The political, economic, and security environment of the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st century will be shaped in very large part by the interrelationships among the United States, Japan, China, and Russia. To the extent these four nations can cooperate, a generally benign environment can develop in which the challenges sure to develop in the region can be managed. Conversely, tensions and conflict among the four will have a profoundly destabilizing impact regionally, if not globally.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Japan, China, Asia, and Northeast Asia
18762. Mobilizing U.S. Industry in World War II: Myth and Reality
- Author:
- Alan L. Gropman
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- At a dinner during the Teheran Conference in December 1943, Joseph Stalin praised United States manufacturing: I want to tell you from the Russian point of view, what the President and the United States have done to win the war. The most important things in this war are machines. The United States has proven that it can turn out from 8,000 to 10,000 airplanes per month. Russia can only turn out, at most. 3,000 airplanes a month .... The United States, therefore, is a country of machines. Without the use of those machines, through Lend-Lease, we would lose this war.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Industrial Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States and Vietnam
18763. Trouble in Paradise? Europe in the 21st Century
- Author:
- Steven Philip Kramer and Irene Kyriakopoulos
- Publication Date:
- 03-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- When political observers talk about European security, they invariably refer to the challenges Western Europe faces on its peripheries from a renationalized Russia, conflicts in the Balkans, and Islamic fundamentalism in North Africa. Rarely do they imagine that the greatest dangers to the new Europe may come from within, that the kind of stability Europe has enjoyed since World War II could be merely a passing chapter in history, not a transcendence of history. Without suggesting that there is necessarily a worst case ending, this study will argue that there is indeed a series of crises converging on post-Cold War Europe that threaten its stability and that need to be addressed by European policy makers and taken into account by Americans.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, International Law, and War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and North Africa
18764. Khomeini's Incorporation of Iranian Military
- Author:
- Mark Roberts
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- In her book, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China (1979), revolutionary authority and sociologist Theda Skocpol states: The repressive state organizations of the prerevolutionary regime have to be weakened before mass revolutionary action can succeed, or even emerge. Indeed, historically, mass rebellious action has not been able, in itself, to overcome state repression. Instead, military pressures from abroad … have been necessary to undermine repression.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, International Law, Nuclear Weapons, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Middle East, and France
18765. The New Great Game in Muslim Central Asia
- Author:
- M.E. Ahrari and James Beal
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The dismantlement of the Soviet Union also brought about the liberation of six Central Asian Muslim republics—Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (figure 1). Although Azerbaijan is part of the Caucasus region, it is included in this study because: The independence of that country, like that of the Central Asian states, was brought about as a result of the dismantlement of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan, like its Central Asian counterparts, is a Muslim state, and faces similar politico-economic problems. Azerbaijan's conflict with Armenia involving Nagorno-Karabkh reminds one of a number of conflicts in the Central Asian region. These include a seething ethnic conflict in Kazakhstan (involving the Khazaks and the Slavs), the ongoing civil war in Tajikistan "along ethnic, national, and religious lines (since the Russian forces are "also involved in this civil war), and the ethnic conflict in the Fargana valley that cuts across the borders of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Like the economies of its Central Asian neighbors, the Azeri economy was largely dependent on the economy of the former Soviet Union. Consequently, like its other neighbors, Azerbaijan is also busy establishing economic self-sufficiency, along with strengthening its religious political, linguistic, and ethnic identities.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, International Law, Nuclear Weapons, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Middle East, and Soviet Union
18766. Armed Conflict in Georgia: A Case in Humanitarian Action and Peacekeeping
- Author:
- S. Neil MacFarlane, Larry Minear, and Stephen D. Shenfield
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- This is a study of the world's response to internal armed conflicts in the Republic of Georgia. The principal features of that response on the humanitarian side were the delivery of emergency assistance and the protection of human rights. That response also included the establishment of peacekeeping operations, both by the Commonwealth of Independent States, with the United Nations' blessing, and by the United Nations itself. This report assesses the performance and effectiveness of humanitarian and peacekeeping activities and reviews the interaction between the two.
- Topic:
- Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Georgia
18767. Imagining a Free Cuba: Carlos Manuuel de Cespedes and José Martí
- Author:
- Wayne S. Smith, Cathy L. Jrade, Geaorge Monteiro, Nelson R. Orringer, Louis A. Pérez,Jr, Ivan A. Schulman, and Thomas E. Skidmore
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- Thirty-five years ago, Cuba was at the center of a Cold War confrontation that brought us closer to the brink of a nuclear holocaust than we had ever been before. The 1962 missile crisis, eventually solved by diplomacy, was the highest point of danger in the troubled history of mankind since World War II. That terrifying experience alone should justify our efforts to understand how Cuba has reached its present moment in history.
- Political Geography:
- Cuba
18768. The Policies of Mercy: UN Coordination in Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Rwanda
- Author:
- Antonio Donini
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- As it struggles through the first decade of the post-Cold War era, the international community is confronted with an unprecedented increase in the number of internal conflicts and complex emergencies. With some 120 active wars and more starting each year than are ending, the world is a much less safer place than ten years ago. Never since the end of World War II has conflict-related displacement reached such levels. Fifty million refugees and internally displaced persons, or one in every 115 living human beings, require assistance. Tens of millions more do not show up on the statistics, such as the direct and indirect casualties of conflict and violent or forgotten crises. More than 90 percent of the casualties are civilians.
18769. Responses to the Quest for Nationhood, 1986-1996
- Author:
- Larry Minear, Thomas G. Weiss, William G. O'Neill, Robert Maguire, Edwige Blutansky, Jaques Fomerand, and Sarah Zaidi
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- In his inaugural speech February 7, 1991, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told representatives of the international community that Haiti “will be looking forward to a close cooperation of our countries with mutual support and assistance.” That cooperation would help the country fulfill its dreams of becoming “a democracy [that] will mean justice and well-being for all.
18770. War and Humanitarian Action in Chechnya
- Author:
- Greg Hansen and Robert Seeley
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- The war in Chechnya has presented unique obstacles to effective humanitarian action. The continued precariousness of the humanitarian effort points to the need to reflect upon the experiences of humanitarian actors in this perilous setting and to identify and clarify lessons to be learned from unfolding events. This report appraises the context and effectiveness of humanitarian action associated with the war in Chechnya and offers several recommendations.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid and War
- Political Geography:
- Chechnya
18771. Global Cooperation in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
- Author:
- Susan Raymond and Rodney Nichols
- Publication Date:
- 02-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- New York Academy of Sciences
- Abstract:
- Many experienced observers have noted a persistent fatigue in current systems of international cooperation on research in science, engineering, and medicine. The institutions designed to serve global science since the end of World War II are not keeping pace with the changes sweeping science and technology. In the mid–1990s, the unease and uncertainty has become acute. Yet, simultaneously, research and education in science, engineering, and medicine are themselves becoming increasingly international in scope. This trend is not created by formal collaborative institutions. Instead, the factors setting the global pace include the rise of high–capacity, rapid modes of electronic communications; the end of the Cold War and the defense–based motivations that drove much innovation; the expanding scientific capacity throughout the world; and the emergence of new scientific problems that are increasingly global in nature and widely acknowledged as common priorities among scientists and nations. The uncertain “fit” between traditional institutional arrangements and tomorrow's generation of scientific activities has engendered widespread concern. A central question is how best to re–tool existing mechanisms to serve most effectively international collaboration in addressing the societal goals and research frontiers of the 21st century. The prescription for possible therapies, however, must be accompanied by a clear understanding of the nature of the symptoms and a careful analysis of the current state of existing, collaborative mechanisms.
- Topic:
- Government, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- New York
18772. Caribbean Basin Economic Development and the Section 936 Tax Credit
- Author:
- Richard L. Bernal and Stephen E. Lamar
- Publication Date:
- 12-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- In 1986, as part of a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code, the U.S. Congress made a valuable source of private sector financing available for Caribbean economic development. Less than 10 years later, as part of a series of measures to balance the U.S. federal budget and enact a package of tax cuts for small businesses, the Congress approved legislation to terminate this source of funds for the Caribbean.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Development, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United States and Caribbean
18773. Intellectual Property, Trade, and Economic Development: A Road Map for the FTAA Negotiations
- Author:
- Carlos A. Primo Braga and Robert M. Sherwood
- Publication Date:
- 09-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- Intellectual property (IP) protection is becoming increasingly crucial in the context of new international commitments, the competition for private investments, and global “technology racing.” This paper examines the common base for a Western Hemisphere IP arrangement and notes the most prominent existing regional integration accords that include IP commitments. It assesses the recent Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Law, and International Trade and Finance
18774. The Politics of Free Trade in the Western Hemisphere
- Author:
- Manuel Pastor and Carol Wise
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- Just as the 1980s now stand out as the decade of the debt crisis in Latin America, the 1990s have become the free trade decade. After a number of failed attempts at trade liberalization during the 1970s, many states in the region now have made dramatic progress in their efforts to reduce tariffs and eliminate quantitative restrictions (QRs) (see Table 1). The strongest evidence of this new openness is reflected in Mexico's 1994 entry into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada, the stated intention at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami to develop a plan for the full expansion of hemispheric free trade, and the ongoing consolidation of such subregional trade pacts as South America's Southern Cone Common Market (MER - COSUR), including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, Brazil, South America, Uruguay, Caribbean, North America, and Paraguay
18775. The Binational Center and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Author:
- Louis P. Falino
- Publication Date:
- 06-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- The binational center (BNC) has been one of the most successful elements in U.S. cultural programs overseas and, as such, has made important contributions to U.S. foreign policy. Through the historical study of binational centers, one sees that contemporary issues in cultural relations and public diplomacy have been dealt with on many occasions in the past, and they resurface according to the demands of the moment. This historical study of BNCs thus provides a way of reflecting upon and reconsidering perennial issues involving cultural programs and the effective conduct of U.S. foreign policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- United States
18776. Strategic Global Repositioning and Future Economic Development in Jamaica
- Author:
- Richard L. Bernal
- Publication Date:
- 04-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The North-South Center, University of Miami
- Abstract:
- Strategic global repositioning is a process of r epositioning a country in the global economy by implementing a strategic plan. Such plans are designed to consolidate and improve existing production lines while reorienting the economy toward new types of economic activities. In most developing countries, this involves structural transformation (not adjustment) to achieve economic diversification, including export diversification. The need for strategic global repositioning derives from trends in the global economy that portend limited opportunities for industrialization in developing countries.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
18777. International Conferences: Considerations on the Evolution of the French and American Industrial Societies
- Author:
- Monique Borrel, Stephen Bornstein, Pierre-Eric Tixier, Chris Benner, Julia E. Kopich, and W. Norton Grubb
- Publication Date:
- 02-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- From the beginning of the industrial era to the present time, French social history has been characterized by recurrent strikes of great magnitude. Contrary to most postwar industrialized countries where large strikes ceased to play a key role in sociopolitical changes, the French case presents an important anomaly. This research demonstrates that strikes have been instrumental in reshaping French society since the early 1950s. First, strike waves and generalized disputes supported the rapid expansion of the Welfare State throughout the postwar period. They also prompted leftist parties and unions to achieve coordination in their strategies and to orchestrate national demonstration strikes, which resulted in the emergence of a leftist electoral majority. Besides, the 1968 strike waves and the leftist strategy to achieve political power supported the upward trend in unionization in the 1970s. Beginning in the early 1980s, this French pattern of strikes has resulted in a number of perverse effects that account for the crisis of the mid1990s. In that respect, the French experience supports the idea that advanced industrial societies cannot afford recurrent general strikes without damaging the very fabric of democracy and without jeopardizing their economic future.
- Topic:
- Education and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- America, Europe, and France
18778. Co-Sponsored Projects: Transformation of German Party System
- Author:
- Wolfgang Seibel, Christopher S. Allen, Hans-Georg Betz, Henry Kreikenbaum, John Leslie, Andrei S. Markovitz, Ann L. Phillips, and Michaela W. Richter
- Publication Date:
- 03-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- According to West German standards, there is only a weak nonprofit sector in East Germany today. The East German quasi-nonprofit sector nonetheless is an indispensable institutional ingredient of political integration. It is characterized by an amazing degree of structural and ideological continuity. Much of its organizational setting dates back to the pre-1989 era. Both funding and managerial attitudes are shaped by state-centeredness. Nonprofit institutions are heavily engaged in mitigating the social costs of economic transformation. Many of them, especially at the local level, are controlled by members of the former-communist PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism). Thus, the East German quasinonprofit sector presumably integrates two important societal groups more effectively than the regular polity: those alienated from the new democracy due to economic disappointment or deprivation and those alienated from the new democracy due to ideological reasons (former communists in particular). This indicates a remarkable institutional elasticity whose main function is to "synchronize" the dramatically accelerated pace of political change and the much slower pace of societal change.
- Topic:
- Cold War and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18779. Co-Sponsored Projects: Germany's Role In Shaping the New Europe: Architect, Model and Bridge
- Author:
- Daniel N. Nelson, Andrei S. Markovits, Thomas Banchoff, Patricia A. Davis, Christian Deubner, Lily Gardner Feldman, JoEllyn Murillo Fountain, Stefan Immerfall, Michael Kreile, Carl Lankowski, Barbara Lippert, Susanne Peters, Elke Thiel, and Wolfgang Wessels
- Publication Date:
- 04-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- This paper seeks to explain the continuity in German policy in Europe across the 1990 divide. Although the collapse of the Soviet bloc and reunification transformed the context of German foreign policy, its fundamental direction remained unchanged. The new Germany, like the old, made solidarity with the western allies the cornerstone of its policy in Europe. Chancellor Helmut Kohl did address new policy challenges in the East. But he made stronger western institutions, and a deeper European Union in particular, his top priorities. Neorealism and neoliberalism, this paper argues, cannot adequately explain the strong western orientation of the Federal Republic in the early 1990s. The constellation of power and institutions at the international level left German leaders with different ways to combine association with the West and engagement in the East. In order to explain the priority accorded solidarity with the West, it is necessary to bring in the foreign policy priorities espoused by Kohl and the views of history and its lessons that informed them.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Germany
18780. Discourse Analysis as Foreign Policy Theory
- Author:
- Ole Wæver
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
- Abstract:
- Where is Germany heading? So we have been asking ourselves since the wall fell. We had been reasonably calmed down: they were apparently not out for new adventures of their own. No Eastward going it alone -- neither in Eastern Europe, nor with the Russians. Nor any autonomous power politics. On the contrary, Germany has primarily made itself noticed in global politics through its continued restraint, from half-hearted support in the Gulf War to qualms over participation in UN operations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and Germany
18781. Supranational Governance: The Institutionalization of the European Union
- Author:
- Wayne Sandholtz and Alec Stone Sweet
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
- Abstract:
- We posit a continuum of modes of governance, anchored at the poles by intergovernmental and supranational politics. Movement from intergovernmental politics toward the supranational pole implies the increasing importance of three factors in EU policymaking: EU rules, EU organizations, and transnational society. We propose that an increase in one of the three factors creates conditions that favor growth in the other two. We also offer a theory as to what drives initial movement toward supranational governance: increasing levels of cross-border transactions and communications by societal actors will increase the perceived need for European-level rules, coordination, and dispute resolution mechanisms. The theory provides a coherent answer to the question of why integration proceeds faster in some domains than in others. We expect movement toward supranational governance in sectors where the intensity and value of cross-border transactions is rising.
- Topic:
- Government and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18782. From Free Trade to Supranational Polity: The European Court and Integration
- Author:
- Alec Stone Sweet and James A. Caporaso
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
- Abstract:
- In this paper, we propose a dynamic theory of legal integration, test the model quantitatively, and then cross-check it by way of process tracing. We show that transnational exchange, litigation, and the production of Euro-rules have evolved interdependently, and argue that this interdependence provokes and reinforces the spillover effects that partly drive the construction of supranational governance. In case studies of the impact of the legal system on outcomes in two areas, the free movement of goods and European social provisions, we show that our model outperforms the dominant framework for understanding how the EC legal system operates - intergovernmentalism. In each of these areas, the data show that the legal system functions to reduce member-state government control over policy outcomes, and to enhance the influence of supranational institutions, national judges, and private actors.
- Topic:
- Government, International Law, International Organization, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18783. The Institutional Terrain of the European Union
- Author:
- Neil Fligstein and Jason McNichol
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- One of the central issues in making sense of the European Union is the question of the degree to which it functions as an autonomous state. One pole of this debate conceives of the EU as a supranational entity while the other argues that it remains an intergovernmental bargain. Here, we propose to analyze the EU in terms of the structuring of its policy domains. 12 of 17 domains appear organized by nongovernmental organizations. We conclude that while the governments retain direct control over important parts of the EU, they have allowed most policy domains at the EU level to become autonomous.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18784. The Path to European Integration
- Author:
- Paul Pierson
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Many European and American observers of the EC have criticized "intergovernmentalist" accounts for exaggerating the extent of member state control over the process of European integration. This essay seeks to ground these criticisms in a historical institutionalist" account that stresses the need to study European integration as a political process which unfolds over time. Such a perspective highlights the limits of member state control over long-term institutional development. Losses of control result from member state preoccupation with short-term concerns, the ubiquity of unintended consequences, and processes that "lock in" past decisions and make reassertions of member state authority difficult. Brief examination of the evolution of EC social policy suggests the limitations of treating the EC as an institutional "instrument" facilitating collective action among sovereign states. It is more useful to view integration as a path-dependent process that has produced a fragmented but still discernible multi-tiered European polity.
- Topic:
- International Organization, Politics, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- America and Europe
18785. Emergence of a Supranational Telecommunications Regime
- Author:
- Wayne Sandholtz
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
- Abstract:
- The patchwork of national telecommunications monopolies in the EU was incapable of meeting a rapidly growing need on the part of societal actors for efficient, technologically advanced, cross-border telecommunications. The Commission mobilized various transnational actors -- equipment manufacturers, business users, providers of new services, suppliers of alternative infrastructures -- to support its plans for EU-level liberalization and harmonization. Whereas in a first phase the Commission acted as a source of initiatives and models for states whose policies were in flux, the second phase saw a dramatic shift in the nature of governance. Employing its powers under Article 90 of the Treaty (which does not require Council approval), the Commission set out to abolish national monopolies in telecoms equipment, services, and, finally, infrastructures. The telecoms case thus supports three of the project's central propositions: that societal transactions drive movement toward supranational governance; that changes in EU rules, organizations, and transnational society are interlinked; and that member states do not always control these processes of institutionalization.
- Topic:
- Government, International Political Economy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18786. Economic Structure and the Decision to Adopt a Common Currency
- Author:
- Jeffrey A. Frankel and Andrew K. Rose
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Everyone studing EMU cites the theory of Optimum Currency Areas: whether a country like Sweden should join the currency union depends on such parameters as the extent of Swedish trade with other EU members and the correlation of Sweden's income with that of other members. Few economists have focused on what we consider one of the most interesting aspects of this issue. Trade patterns and income correlation are endogenous. Sweden could fail the OCA criterion for membership today, and yet, if it goes ahead and joins anyway, could, as the result of joining, pass the Optimum Currency Area (OCA) criterion in the future. (Further, even if Sweden does not enter EMU quickly, it will be more likely to satisfy the OCA criteria in the future as a result of its recent accession to the EU.) The few economists who have identified the importance of the endogeneity of trade patterns and income correlation are divided on the nature of the relationship between the two. This is an important empirical question, which may hold the key to the answer regarding whether it is in Sweden's income interest to join EMU. We review the OCA theory, highlighting the role of trade links and income links. Then we discuss and analyze the endogeneity of these parameters. We present econometric evidence suggesting strongly that if trade links between Sweden and the rest of Europe strengthen in the future, then Sweden's income will become more highly correlated with European income in the future (not less correlated, as some have claimed). This has important implications for the OCA criterion. It means that a naïve examination of historical data gives a biased picture of the effects of EMU entry on Sweden. It also means that EMU membership is more likely to make sense for Sweden in the future than it does today.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Sweden
18787. The European Commission's Ability to Act under European Competition Law: The Example of Telecommunications and Electricity Policy
- Author:
- Susanne K. Schmidt
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- European competition law allocates far-reaching competences to the European Commission. The paper asks for the conditions under which the Commission may use these rights against the member states, focusing on the most powerful provision - the right of the Commission under Article 90 to issue directives by itself in those cases where member-state governments have allocated specific rights to undertakings that conflict with the Treaty's rules. In addition the Commission may pursue Treaty violations on a case-by-case basis. In European telecommunications policy the Commission has used its powers rather successfully, with all liberalization decisions being based on Article 90. But for European electricity policy the Commission has shrunk away from using these powers in favor of initiating council legislation. The paper analyzes the conditions of the Commission's ability to act under European competition law in a multi-level framework, drawing among others on a principal-agent approach.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Government, International Law, International Political Economy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18788. Legitimate Rule in the European Union
- Author:
- Frank Schimmelfennig
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Two seemingly contradictory trends dominate the European debate over legitimate rule. On the one hand, there appears to be no ideologically viable alternative to liberal democracy following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. On the other, the rapid progress of European integration has triggered an intense public debate over the European Union's "legitimacy deficit" and active popular opposition in many Western European countries. This paper asks whether these two seemingly contradictory developments can be reconciled. It argues that they can once it is recognized that the modern inter-state system is undergoing profound change. State sovereignty is being undermined by the trans-nationalization of foreign policy and the inter-nationalization of governance. In particular, the European Union has crossed the border from horizontal (or anarchical) interstate cooperation to vertical (or hierarchical) policy making in a multi-level political system in which states are but one level of the policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, Government, International Organization, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- Europe
18789. The Revival of the Nation-State?
- Author:
- Susanne Lutz
- Publication Date:
- 12-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- The debate on economic 'globalization' suggests that the blurring of territorial boundaries shifts the power relations between nation-states and domestic market constituencies in favour of the latter. States have lost autonomy since policies are increasingly formulated in supranational or global arenas. Market actors may use their wider choice of geographic location in order to lobby for low regulated market environments. The paper seeks to differentiate this common view considerably. It argues that economic internationalization weakens the capacity of domestic market actors to engage in self-binding agreements that formerly had solved regulatory problems. Networks of interstate collaboration in turn lack the ability to monitor and enforce negotiated agreements. Both developments impose new duties of market supervision on the nation-state. Empirical reference is drawn from the stock exchange sector that went through a process of transformation which has led to an enhanced role of the nation-state in the model of sectoral governance.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, Government, and International Trade and Finance
18790. Mending the Ozone Layer: The Role of Transnational Policy Networks
- Author:
- Reiner Grundmann
- Publication Date:
- 12-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Successful international cooperation is a puzzling problem for social scientists. The ozone layer has been subject to both international treaties and domestic legislation. It is one of the foremost success stories in international relations, yet insufficiently understood. In this paper I argue that existing approaches - including the sophisticated and highly acclaimed epistemic community approach - do not take the underlying theoretical problems seriously enough. Departing from the epistemic community approach, I propose a framework for a network analysis combining interests, knowledge and power into a coherent model, which is derived from this case but can apply to similar cases sharing similar characteristics. It is argued that one of two rivaling policy networks gained hegemony over the other, mainly by winning over allies from the competing network. Ultimately this contributed to the competing network's breakdown.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Environment, and International Cooperation
18791. Nigeria: Country Profile
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Policy Information Center
- Abstract:
- Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, was a pioneer in the movement for African independence. In past centuries, its territory was home to a series of powerful and technically-advanced societies, renowned for their artistic, commercial, and political achievements.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, Ethnic Conflict, Government, Nationalism, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
18792. Africa on the Internet: Starting Points for Policy Information
- Publication Date:
- 07-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Policy Information Center
- Abstract:
- Electronic networks—and particularly the new tools of e-mail and the World Wide Web (see below for an overview of basic concepts and a glossary with short definitions)—have great potential for enhancing global democratic access to policy-making processes. But de facto access to effective use of these technologies is biased in all the predictable directions: by race, gender, economic status, and location. Africa, to date the least connected continent, is particularly disadvantaged. By cutting the costs of long-distance communication, however, the information revolution is also opening up new possibilities. How well Africa and Africa's friends take advantage of these opportunities will depend at least as much on our collective capacity to learn as on the material resources available to us.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Africa
18793. Thinking Regionally: Priorities for U.S. Policy Toward Africa
- Author:
- Salih Booker
- Publication Date:
- 03-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Policy Information Center
- Abstract:
- Recent Congressional action to significantly cut aid to Africa is only one sign among many of a trend to reduce U.S. involvement on the continent. How much further Africa is marginalized in the U.S. will ultimately depend on the ability of Africa's multiple constituencies to reverse this trend. Nevertheless, events on the continent are likely to compel a greater commitment of resources than U.S. policymakers currently contemplate. And engagement at any level needs to be based on clear identification of U.S. interests in Africa and well-defined criteria for establishing priorities.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Africa and United States
18794. The Syndrome of the Ever-Higher Yen, 1971-95: American Mercantile Pressure on Japanese Monetary Policy
- Author:
- Ronald McKinnon, Kazuko Shirono, and Kenichi Ohno
- Publication Date:
- 12-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- From 1971 through mid-1995, the yen continually appreciated against the U.S. dollar because the Japanese and American governments were caught in a mutual policy trap. Repeated threats of a trade war by the United States caused the yen to ratchet up in 1971-73, 1977-78, 1985-87, and 1993 to mid-1995. While temporarily ameliorating commercial tensions, these great appreciations imposed relative deflation on Japan without correcting the trade imbalance between the two countries. Although resisting sharp yen appreciations in the short run, the Bank of Japan validated this syndrome of the ever-higher yen by following a monetary policy that was deflationary relative to that established by the U.S. Federal Reserve System. The appreciating yen was a forcing variable in determining the Japanese price level. After 1985, this resulted in great macroeconomic instability in Japan--including two endaka fukyos (high-yen-induced recessions).
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, America, Israel, and East Asia
18795. The China-United States Bilateral Trade Balance: How Big Is It Really?
- Author:
- K.C. Fung and Lawrence Lau
- Publication Date:
- 04-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- There are huge discrepancies between the official Chinese and U.S. estimates of the bilateral trade balance. The discrepancies are caused by different treatments accorded to re-exports through Hong Kong, re-export markups, and trade in services. Deficit-shifting between China, on the one hand, and Hong Kong and Taiwan, on the other, due to direct investment in China from Taiwan and Hong Kong, is partly responsible for the growth in the China United States bilateral trade deficit.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Taiwan, Asia, and Hong Kong
18796. A United States Policy for the Changing Realities of East Asia
- Author:
- Donald Emmerson, Henry Rowen, Michel Oksenberg, Daniel Okimoto, James Raphael, Thomas Rohlen, and Michael H. Armacost
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- Since the end of the Cold War, the power and prestige of the United States in East Asia have suffered a worrisome degree of erosion. The erosion is, in part, the by-product of long-run secular trends, such as structural shifts in the balance of power caused by the pacesetting growth of East Asian economies. But the decline has been aggravated by shortcomings in U.S. policy toward East Asia, particularly the lack of a coherent strategy and a clear-cut set of policy priorities for the post-Cold War environment. If these shortcomings are not corrected, the United States runs the risk of being marginalized in East Asia--precisely at a time when our stakes in the region are as essential as those in any area of the world. What is needed, above all, is a sound, consistent, and publicly articulated strategy, one which holds forth the prospect of serving as the basis for a sustainable, nonpartisan domestic consensus. The elements of an emerging national consensus can be identified as follows:
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Israel, East Asia, and Asia
18797. Trojan Horse or Boomerang: Two-Tiered Investment in the Asian Auto Complex
- Author:
- Gregory W. Noble
- Publication Date:
- 11-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
- Abstract:
- The last decade has witnessed a momentous transformation in the political economy of East and Southeast Asia. From the 1950s until the early 1980s transnational production played a limited role in the strategies of Northeast Asian governments and firms. Ubiquitous policies of protection and promotion aimed to increase domestic investment, production and exports. Governments discouraged outward investment through financial controls, particularly over foreign currencies; they limited inward foreign investment to narrowly confined niches, and then often subjected it to onerous restrictions to prevent foreigners from gaining a major foothold in the national economy. The few exceptions involved areas in which domestic production was inadequate: investments in Southeast Asian raw materials and energy; investments by Japanese and Western firms in Korea and Taiwan for some labor-intensive products to be sold in local or third-country markets (but rarely in Japan); and a handful of high-tech investments by Western firms such as IBM which enjoyed such strong patent positions that they could not be forced to license their technology. Since the mid-1980s the combination of rapid currency appreciation, rising costs of labor, land and pollution control in Northeast Asia, and liberalizing economic reforms in Southeast Asia led to a huge surge of direct foreign investment, mainly for the production of labor-intensive manufactured goods. The focal point of Northeast Asian economies shifted from export-led growth based on protected domestic markets to management of regional production networks spread throughout Asia.
- Topic:
- Economics and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- Japan, Taiwan, Asia, and Korea
18798. The Era of Microsoft? Externalities, and the Seattle Factor in the US Software Industry
- Author:
- Edmund A. Egan
- Publication Date:
- 01-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
- Abstract:
- Microsoft Corporation, the largest company in the US software industry, has been under anti-trust scrutiny from the Department of Justice for most of the 1990s. In 1995, its planned acquisition of Intuit, Inc. prompted a Silicon Valley law firm, on behalf of unnamed complainants, to submit a White Paper to the DOJ, on the subject of Microsoft's long-term strategy. The White Paper, relying on the theoretical concepts of network externalities and lock-in effects, argues that Microsoft will use Intuit's products to attain monopolistic positions in network operating systems, on-line services, and electronic commerce, and will eventually be in a position to affect the content transmitted over electronic networks.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
18799. 1995-1996 State of World Conflict Report
- Author:
- Andrew Young
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- This year, the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympiad. Consider this vision of a world at peace: The opening ceremonies in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Stadium, where more than 10,000 athletes from 197 countries gathered to demonstrate the highest ideals—teamwork, sportsmanship, and recognition of personal achievement. All invited countries participated, free of the ideological and political restraints that prevented many from attending in years past. For 16 days in July and August the world came together to honor those striving to surmount universal standards of excellence. Our hearts reached out to the hurdler who stumbled just before the finish line, the marathon runner who shook off fatigue, the Paralympian who rose above all expectations. We saw, for a brief moment, the potential all of us have to better ourselves and our world.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
18800. Meeting on the Viability of International Economic Sanctions
- Publication Date:
- 03-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- The Carter Center convened a small, informal meeting to examine the question of whether there might be developed "more effective" international economic sanctions -- those which better achieve desired political goals without causing great suffering to innocent people. President Carter and others have expressed frustration that recent sanctioning efforts have fallen short of their objectives, yet sanctions appear to be one of the only tools available to the international community short of a resort to force. This meeting, chaired by Harry Barnes, Director of the Conflict Resolution and Human Rights programs at The Carter Center, set out to identify 1) what factors might be involved in designing more effective sanctions; 2) what obstacles must be overcome; 3) what steps governments and international bodies such as the United Nations might take to improve sanctions; and 4) what steps might be taken by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The following is a summary of the discussion and possible follow-up actions, paying particular attention on potential roles for NGOs.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United Nations