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55162. Tracking Trade Votes
- Author:
- Lael Brainard
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
55163. China's New Military Elite
- Author:
- Li Cheng and Scott W. Harold
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Analyses of the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have largely focused on the policy and personnel changes taken at the leadership conference. 1 Much less has been said about the implications of the massive turnover among the military representatives who sit on the Party's 17th Central Committee (CC), including its powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). While generational turnover is leading to a new Chinese political leadership that is less technocratic and more broadly trained in economic and legal fields, the Chinese military elites on the Party's top bodies are becoming ever more functionally-specialized in their areas of military expertise. Meanwhile, various forms of patron-client ties and political networks have played crucial roles in the rapid rise of young and technocratic officers.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Defense Policy, and War
- Political Geography:
- Israel and East Asia
55164. Free Distribution Or Cost-Sharing? Evidence From A Randomized Malaria Prevention Experiment
- Author:
- Jessica Cohen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- It is widely believed that cost-sharing—charging a subsidized, positive price—for a health product is necessary to avoid wasting resources on those who will not use or do not need the product. We explore this argument in the context of a field experiment in Kenya, in which we randomized the price at which pregnant women could buy long lasting anti-malarial insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) at prenatal clinics. We find no evidence that cost-sharing reduces wastage on those that will not use the product: women who received free ITNs are not less likely to use them than those who paid subsidized positive prices. We also find no evidence that cost-sharing induces selection of women who need the net more: those who pay higher prices appear no sicker than the prenatal clients in the control group in terms of measured anemia (an important indicator of malaria). Cost-sharing does, however, considerably dampen demand. We find that uptake drops by 75 percent when the price of ITNs increases from 0 to $0.75, the price at which ITNs are currently sold to pregnant women in Kenya. We combine our estimates in a cost-effectiveness analysis of ITN prices on infant mortality that incorporates both private and social returns to ITN usage. Overall, given the large positive externality associated with widespread usage of insecticide-treated nets, our results suggest that free distribution to pregnant women is both more effective and more cost-effective than cost-sharing.
- Topic:
- Development, Globalization, Health, and World Health Organization
- Political Geography:
- Kenya
55165. Engagement with the Muslim Community and Counterterrorism: British Lessons for the West
- Author:
- H.A. Hellyer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Historians will undoubtedly record that the events of September 11th, 2001 were a turning point for policy makers and politicians in the United States of America. America faced a new kind of security threat, the response to which would spark a series of difficult chain-reactions and challenge core national values. More than six years on, America is still grappling with the question of how to respond, both domestically and internationally, to the terrorist threat.
- Topic:
- Ethnic Conflict, Islam, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, America, and Europe
55166. Better Workers for Better Jobs: Improving Worker Advancement in the Low-Wage Labor Market
- Author:
- Harry J. Holzer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- This paper proposes a new federal funding stream to identify, expand, and replicate the most successful state and local initiatives designed to spur the advancement of low-wage workers in the United States. In the Worker Advancement Grants for Employment in States (WAGES) program, the federal government would offer up to $5 billion annually in matching funds for increases in state, local, and private expenditures on worker advancement initiatives. To gain funding, states would have to develop local advancement “systems,” which would provide career-oriented education and training to youth, working poor adults and “hard-to-employ” workers. Partnerships would be developed between local training providers (like community colleges), employer associations, and intermediaries. Additional financial supports for the working poor—including child care, transportation, and stipends for working students—would have to be funded as well. Initially, the WAGES program would require states to compete for federal grants, which would ultimately be renewable. The program would generate a “learning system” in which states would have an incentive to innovate and use information from other initiatives. The federal government would provide substantial technical assistance and oversight. Performance measurement and rigorous evaluation would be required for program renewal; states achieving substantial worker advancement would be awarded major bonuses and more rapid renewal of funding.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States
55167. Modernizing the Intelligence Surveillance Act
- Author:
- David Kris
- Publication Date:
- 11-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In December 2005, the New York Times reported, and President Bush confirmed, that the National Security Agency (NSA) had been conducting electronic surveillance of international communications, to or from the United States, without obeying the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The disclosure ignited a wildfire of political and legal controversy, which continues to generate heat, if not light, today.
- Topic:
- Government, Intelligence, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- United States and New York
55168. Is The “Surge” Working? Some New Facts
- Author:
- Michael Greenstone
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- There is a paucity of facts about the effects of the recent military “Surge” on conditions in Iraq and whether it is paving the way for a stable Iraq. Selective, anecdotal and incomplete analyses abound. Policy makers and defense planners must decide which measures of success or failure are most important, but until now few, if any, systematic analyses were available on which to base those decisions. This paper applies modern statistical techniques to a new da ta file derived from more than a dozen of the most reliable and widely-cited sources to assess the Surge's impact on three key dimensions: the functioning of the Iraqi state (including civilian casualties); military casualties; and financial markets' assessment of Iraq's future. The new and unusually rigorous findings presented here should help inform current evaluations of the Surge and provide a basis for better decision making about future strategy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and War
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Middle East
55169. Iraq Trip Report
- Author:
- Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack
- Publication Date:
- 08-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- From July 17-25 we travelled extensively in central, western and nor thern Iraq. The trip was sponsored by the Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) command and so afforded unparalleled access to U.S. and Iraqi military personnel. We spoke at length with the four principal American division commands in those sectors, as well as nearly half of the brigade commanders and their staffs, as well as several battalion and even company commanders. We also met with senior U.S. personnel from the Detainee Forces command, and from the training command known as MNSTCI, as well as a number of Iraqi police and army officers. Similarly, MNF-I saw to it that we were able to meet with key civilian personnel in a variety of PRTs/EPRTs, the U.S. Ambassador, the President's Special Envoy, the CIA station, the US AID mission, and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq. Both through our own contacts and those of the military, we also were able to meet with a number of the senior most members of the current Iraqi government (including President Talabani, Vice President 'Abd al-Mahdi, Foreign Minister Zebari, Deputy Prime Minister Salih, and National Security Adviser ar-Rubaie).
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, and Middle East
55170. Immigration: Wages, Education and Mobility
- Author:
- Ron Haskins
- Publication Date:
- 08-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The idea of economic mobility in America often evokes a personal story. For many Americans, it is one of immigrant parents or grandparents, or even one's own journey and arrival. In recent decades, immigration has been rising steadily, with nearly one million legal immigrants entering the country per year throughout the 1990s and in the early years of this century, compared to only about 300,000 per year in the 1960s. In addition to legal immigrants, it is estimated that about 500,000 illegal immigrants now arrive each year.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- United States