Suchergebnisse

Emerging Asian economies are at the cusp of marking a structural shift from being factor driven to the one driven by efficiency. This is translated into their actions towards strategising their growth drivers so as to achieve factor-based efficiency through industrial infrastructure creation, namely MSME clusters, economic corridors, economic cities, infrastructure enablers and logistics hub. While the traditional tenets of competitiveness are based on building competitive advantage in manufacturing of certain products and their integration in the global value chain, this article builds upon the concept of competitiveness as a function of its constituent pillars as defined by the World Economic Forum. The objective of this article is to present a holistic view on the constituent pillars of competitiveness that have contributed maximum to the increased per capita GDP and trade for East Asian economies. Through an examination of select countries as case studies and studying their development through time, this article presents policymakers with strategies that can be used for designing manufacturing development strategy for emerging economies.

This article addresses the definition of terrorism. It is intended to provide a foundation from which to understand the recent attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Although terrorism appears to be much less dangerous than other forms of violence, it seems to command more attention. In order to respond to terrorism, a clear definition is necessary. Terrorism is defined by Title 22 of the U.S. Code as politically motivated violence perpetrated in a clandestine manner against noncombatants. Experts on terrorism also include another aspect in the definition: the act is committed in order to create a fearful state of mind in an audience different from the victims. Whether or not an act is considered terrorism also depends on whether a legal, moral, or behavioral perspective is used to interpret the act. If a legal or moral perspective is used, the values of the interpreter are the focus rather than the act itself. A behavioral perspective appears to be best suited for interpreting and reacting to terrorism.

Background A need for a governance of genomics in healthcare among European Union (EU) countries arose during an international meeting of experts on public health genomics (PHG). We have conducted a survey on existing national genomic policies in healthcare among Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) of the 28 EU member states, plus Norway. Methods A questionnaire was sent to CMOs after a meeting on the policy implications of PHG held during the Italian presidency of the Council of EU in 2014. The survey was closed in November 2015. Results CMOs response rate was 65.5% (19/29). Twelve (63.2%) reported that their countries had a policy for genomics in healthcare in place, and 15 (78.9%) reported that public funding existed. Public research facilities for the development of such policies were documented in 13 (68.4%) countries, and 15 (83.3%) had working groups devoted to policy development. National agencies carrying out Health Technology Assessment of genomic-based technologies were present in nine countries (50%). Sixteen (88.9%) countries reported having agencies dealing with ethical issues related to genomic technologies. About 55% of countries disclosed the lack of information campaigns aimed at citizens, and 44.4% reported they had a legal framework for direct-to-consumer genetic tests. Conclusion Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and UK documented the presence of a policy on genomics in healthcare. While many caveats are necessary because of the methodology, results suggest a need for a co-ordinated effort to foster development and harmonization of dedicated policies across EU to responsibly integrate genomics policies into existing health systems.

AbstractAgriculture is responsible for 20%–25% of global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), which result from production practices and land use conversion. Supply‐side approaches for reducing emissions from agriculture rely on emissions‐saving technological change and environmental protection of carbon‐rich areas. This study investigates how productivity policies, in the form of higher agricultural research and development (R&D) spending, might affect GHG emissions from agriculture, and compares this to environmental policies that restrict agricultural land use or production practices that may cause environmental harm. Using simulations from a global economic model, we project outcomes in 2050 from a set of policy scenarios involving R&D and environmental policies, and combinations of the two. Outcomes of interest are net global GHG emissions, land use, agricultural production, food prices, the prevalence of food insecurity, and policy cost. We find that at the global level, more R&D spending to accelerate productivity growth reduces GHG emissions from land use change, but not as effectively as targeted environmental policies. However, accelerated productivity growth reduces the emissions intensity of agricultural production and, by lowering land rents, also reduces the cost of the environmental policy. Moreover, higher levels of productivity lower agricultural GHG emissions permanently, and by lowering global food prices, generally improve global food security. A policy scenario that is patterned after the EU Green Deal finds that policies that restrict agricultural factor inputs in order to reduce local environmental costs may, at the global level, increase agricultural GHG emissions and worsen food insecurity. These consequences could be avoided with higher EU R&D spending to accelerate agricultural productivity growth that is either factor neutral or biased toward saving production factors associated with negative environmental externalities.

"The European Union is today a major player in many policy areas, going from classic economic fields as competition policy, agriculture and fisheries policy to new emergent fields as environmental policy, arterial intelligence policy, security and foreign policy and criminal justice policy. These policies comes with an increasing level of EU regulation, having also a substantive impact on the harmonization of national policies and regulations. This expansion of EU competence naturally also places new demands on their enforcement, especially when it comes to investigations with the aim of imposing punitive administrative and/or criminal sanctions. In this expanded version of his valedictory lecture Prof. Vervaele is assessing 1) to what extent the EU and its Member States have a policy on punitive enforcement in the internal market and in the Area of Freedom Security and Justice and 2) how this policy translates into the harmonization of substantive administrative and criminal law and procedural law at the national level and into the elaboration of administrative and judicial cooperation instruments and the setting up of European enforcement agencies. The assessment includes to what extent this policy takes account of the human rights obligations. Vervaele concludes with a plea for a European model for punitive law enforcement with an increased alignment between the administrative enforcement tools in the internal market and the criminal enforcement tools in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In this model the national enforcement authorities are build in under a network cooperation scheme."--

Pension systems are under serious pressure worldwide. This pressure stems not only from the well-known trend of population aging, but also from those of increasing heterogeneity of the population and increasing labour mobility. The current economic crisis has aggravated these problems, thereby exposing the vulnerability of many pension schemes to macroeconomic shocks. This book reconsiders the multi-pillar pension scheme against the background of these pressures. It adopts an integral perspective and asks how the pension system as a whole contributes to the three basic functions of pension schemes: facilitating life-cycle financial planning, insuring idiosyncratic risks and sharing macroeconomic risks across generations. It focuses on the optimal balance between the various pension pillars and on the optimal design of each of the schemes. It sketches a number of economic trade-offs, showing that countries may opt for different pension schemes depending on how they react to these trade-offs.

This note assesses recent macroeconomic developments in Belarus and presents a medium-term economic outlook for 2013-2016 in three scenarios. These scenarios are sensitive to underlying assumptions and are provided to illustrate the main macroeconomic policy choices, available to Belarus. The first scenario (baseline scenario) assumes that the authorities continue macroeconomic policies of the past year, with alternating phases of policy loosening and tightening, motivated by attempts to balance growth and stability. The second scenario (expansionary scenario) assumes that the authorities pursue more aggressive expansionary policies (compared to the baseline scenario) to boost growth in the short term. Prioritizing growth at the expense of stability will reignite macroeconomic imbalances.The third scenario (sustainable growth scenario) assumes that the authorities put in place policies that ensure macroeconomic stability and provide a basis for sustainable growth. This includes a policy framework that (i) maintains the flexible exchange rate regime; (ii) sustains tight monetary policy, namely containing credit growth, including under government directed lending programs to contain inflation and real exchange rate appreciation; (iii) balances wage growth so that it does not exceed productivity growth; (iv) maintains tight fiscal policy and a balanced budget over the medium term. These three scenarios highlight the main macroeconomic trade-offs that Belarus is facing in the current environment. This note is organized as follows: Section one highlights recent macroeconomic trends; Section two provides the three macroeconomic scenarios; and Section three provides the Bank's recommendations for macroeconomic and structural policies. Annex one outlines the structural modernization agenda that could support sustainable medium term growth. Annex two provides detailed assumptions, underlying the three scenarios. Annex three presents the results of simple sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of price declines in potash fertilizer.

'Die Doha-Runde der WTO befindet sich mittlerweile im achten Verhandlungsjahr. Zuletzt verständigten sich die Staats- und Regierungschefs der 20 größten Wirtschaftsmächte im November 2008 beim Washingtoner Finanzgipfel darauf, noch vor Jahresende 2008 zu einer Einigung in den Kernpunkten der Verhandlungsrunde zu gelangen. Die Frist verstrich - wie viele andere zuvor - ergebnislos. Ein zügiger Abschluss der Verhandlungen ist angesichts der aktuellen Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise aber außerordentlich wünschenswert. Zwar sind hiervon keine unmittelbaren Wachstumsimpulse zu erwarten; diese würden erst mit einiger Verzögerung auftreten. Nicht zu unterschätzen ist jedoch die symbolische Wirkung, die von einem Abschluss der Runde ausginge, würde er doch die Handlungsfähigkeit sowohl der Staatengemeinschaft als auch der WTO unter Beweis stellen. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht die Studie zunächst Verhandlungskonstellation und politische Rahmenbedingungen der Doha-Runde und benennt die Ursachen der gegenwärtigen Blockadesituation. Daraus ergibt sich die zentrale Frage, die der zweite Teil der Studie zu beantworten sucht: Welche Reformen sind notwendig, um nicht nur einen Abschluss der Doha-Runde zu ermöglichen, sondern auch künftige Liberalisierungsrunden zu erleichtern?' (Autorenreferat)