In: Alcohol and alcoholism: the international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism (MCA) and the journal of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), Volume 44, Issue 2, p. 199-203
In: Alcohol and alcoholism: the international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism (MCA) and the journal of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), Volume 44, Issue 6, p. 607-614
In: Alcohol and alcoholism: the international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism (MCA) and the journal of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), Volume 44, Issue 5, p. 523-528
Der Verfasser analysiert die Entwicklungen im Sudan nach dem Ende des 22-jährigen Bürgerkrieges im Lande anhand seiner eigenen Erfahrungen. Rechtsgrundlage für die Beendigung der Kriegshandlungen stellte eine Friedensvereinbarung zwischen dem arabischen Norden und dem christlichen Süden des Lande dar. Trotzdem ist die Gewaltanwendung ein nicht weg zu denkendes Phänomen im Alltag des Landes, von dem vor allem die Opfer des Bürgerkrieges betroffen sind. Der Autor beschreibt eine Reihe von Berufsqualifizierungsmaßnahmen für junge Menschen, deren Ziel darin besteht, diese zu befähigen, aktiv an der Förderung des Friedensprozesses zu partizipieren. Die Maßnahmen leisten zugleich einen Beitrag zur Integration der Teilnehmer. In der Studie werden die involvierten Akteure und deren Rechtsgrundlage thematisiert: staatliche Rechtsvorschriften sollen das Stammesrecht ersetzen. Abschließend werden praktische Konsequenzen für die Tätigkeit in post-konfliktuellen Situationen abgeleitet. (ICF)
In this paper, the authors examine the political economy drivers of the variation in agricultural protection, both across countries and within countries over time. The paper starts by listing the key insights provided by both the theoretical and empirical literature on the political economy of trade policy formulation. The authors then set out a basic framework that allows us to put forth various testable hypotheses on the variation and evolution of agricultural protection. The authors find that both the political ideology of the government and the degree of income inequality are important determinants of agricultural protection. Thus, both the political-support-function approach as well as the median-voter approach can be used in explaining the variation in agricultural protection across countries and within countries over time. The results are consistent with the predictions of a model that assumes that labor is specialized and sector-specific in nature. Some aspects of protection also seem to be consistent with predictions of a lobbying model in that agricultural protection is negatively related to agricultural employment and positively related to agricultural productivity. Public finance aspects of protection also seem to be empirically important.
During the 1960s and 1970s most developing countries imposed anti-agricultural policies, while many high-income countries restricted agricultural imports and subsidized their farmers. Both sets of policies inhibited economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries, while doing little to assist small farmers in high-income countries. Since the 1980s, however, many developing countries began to reduce the anti-agricultural bias of sectoral policies, and from the early 1990s the European Union began to move away from price supports to more-direct forms of farm income payments. This paper summarizes a forthcoming book that seeks to explain this evolving pattern of distortions to incentives conceptually and econometrically by making use of new political economy theory and a new globally comprehensive and consistent set of estimates of the changing extent of annual distortions over the past half-century. The distortion estimates involve more than 70 products that cover around 70 percent of the value of agricultural output in each of 75 countries that together account for over 90 percent of the global economy, and they expose the contribution of the various policy instruments (both farm and non-farm) to the net distortion to farmer incentives. Such a widespread coverage of countries, products, years and policy instruments has allowed this collection of studies to test a wide range of hypotheses suggested by the new political economy literature, including the importance of institutions. As a set it sheds much new light on the underlying forces that have affected incentives facing farmers in the course of national and global economic and political development, and hence on how those distortions might change in the future - or be changed by concerted actions to offset political pressures from traditionally powerful vested interests.
International audience ; Recent catastrophic flood events such as Elbe in 2002 or Rhône in 2003 have shown limits of flood management policies relying on dykes protection: worsening of flood impacts downstream, increased damage by dykes rupture. Those events, among others, contributes to radical changes on the philosophy of flood prevention, with the promotion of new orientations for mitigating flood exposition. Two new trends may have a significant impact on rural areas: floodplain restoration and vulnerability mitigation. The Rhône River program, which is an contract of objectives signed between French Government and local collectivites,is highly illustrative of these new trends and their impact on agricultural sector. In this program, it appears that areas to be concerned by floodplain restoration are agricultural ones, because their supposed vulnerability to flood is expected to be less important to urban areas. As a consequence, agricultural sector is particularly concerned by planned actions on mitigation of assets vulnerability, an important part of the program (financial support of European Union of 7.5 Million euros). Mitigation of agricultural assets vulnerability reveals particularly interesting for two following reasons. Firstly, it is a way to maintain agricultural activities in floodplains yet existing, without promoting flood protection. Secondly, in case of floodplain restoration, vulnerability mitigation is a way for local authorities to compensate over-flooding impacts. In practice, local authorities may financially support farmers for implementing measures to mitigate their farm vulnerability. On the Rhône River, an important work has already been done to identify farm vulnerability to flooding, and propose measures to mitigate it. More than 3 000 farms exposed to flood risk have been identified representing 88 690 ha of agricultural areas which is estimated to generate damage between 400 and 800 Million euros depending on the season of occurrence for a catastrophic flood. In the case of farm activities, vulnerability mitigation consists in implementing measures which can be: physical (equipment or electric power system elevation), organizational (emergency or recovery plan) or financial (insurance). These measures aim at decreasing the total damage incurred by farmers in case of flooding. For instance, if equipment is elevated, it will not suffer direct damage such as degradation. As a consequence, equipment will be available to continue production or recovery tasks, thus, avoiding indirect damage such as delays, indebtedness. . . The effects of these policies on farms, in particular vulnerability mitigation cannot be appraised using current methodologies mainly because they do not consider farm as a whole and focus on direct damage at the land plot scale (loss of yield). Moreover, since vulnerability mitigation policies are quite recent, few examples of implementation exist and no feedback experience can be processed. Meanwhile, decision makers and financial actors require more justification of the efficiency of public fund by economic appraisal of the projects. On the Rhône River, decision makers asked for an economic evaluation of the program of farm vulnerability mitigation they plan to implement. This implies to identify the effects of the measures to mitigate farm vulnerability, and to classify them by comparing their efficacy (avoided damage) and their cost of implementation. In this presentation, we propose and discuss a conceptual model of vulnerability at the farm scale. The modelling,in Unified Modelling Language, enabled to represent the ties between spatial, organizational and temporal dimensions,which are central to understanding of farm vulnerability and resilience to flooding. Through this modelling,we encompass three goals: To improve the comprehension of farm vulnerability and create a framework that allow discussion with experts of different disciplines as well as with local farmers; To identify data which are needed to implement the model and to collect them, specifically using the focus group method; Based on the conceptual model, to program a mathematical model which will be used to simulate damage (direct and indirect) on farm due to flood. This last objective should enable us to appraise policy to mitigate vulnerability which is planned to be implemented on Rhône River at the individual and regional scale. Finally, we discuss the ossibility to use the UML modelling to develop a multi-agent system approach which could be interesting to take into account ties between farmers (solidarity, loan of equipment) or systemic effects due to the damage incurred by economic partners (loss of market share).
International audience ; Recent catastrophic flood events such as Elbe in 2002 or Rhône in 2003 have shown limits of flood management policies relying on dykes protection: worsening of flood impacts downstream, increased damage by dykes rupture. Those events, among others, contributes to radical changes on the philosophy of flood prevention, with the promotion of new orientations for mitigating flood exposition. Two new trends may have a significant impact on rural areas: floodplain restoration and vulnerability mitigation. The Rhône River program, which is an contract of objectives signed between French Government and local collectivites,is highly illustrative of these new trends and their impact on agricultural sector. In this program, it appears that areas to be concerned by floodplain restoration are agricultural ones, because their supposed vulnerability to flood is expected to be less important to urban areas. As a consequence, agricultural sector is particularly concerned by planned actions on mitigation of assets vulnerability, an important part of the program (financial support of European Union of 7.5 Million euros). Mitigation of agricultural assets vulnerability reveals particularly interesting for two following reasons. Firstly, it is a way to maintain agricultural activities in floodplains yet existing, without promoting flood protection. Secondly, in case of floodplain restoration, vulnerability mitigation is a way for local authorities to compensate over-flooding impacts. In practice, local authorities may financially support farmers for implementing measures to mitigate their farm vulnerability. On the Rhône River, an important work has already been done to identify farm vulnerability to flooding, and propose measures to mitigate it. More than 3 000 farms exposed to flood risk have been identified representing 88 690 ha of agricultural areas which is estimated to generate damage between 400 and 800 Million euros depending on the season of occurrence for a catastrophic flood. In the case of farm activities, vulnerability mitigation consists in implementing measures which can be: physical (equipment or electric power system elevation), organizational (emergency or recovery plan) or financial (insurance). These measures aim at decreasing the total damage incurred by farmers in case of flooding. For instance, if equipment is elevated, it will not suffer direct damage such as degradation. As a consequence, equipment will be available to continue production or recovery tasks, thus, avoiding indirect damage such as delays, indebtedness. . . The effects of these policies on farms, in particular vulnerability mitigation cannot be appraised using current methodologies mainly because they do not consider farm as a whole and focus on direct damage at the land plot scale (loss of yield). Moreover, since vulnerability mitigation policies are quite recent, few examples of implementation exist and no feedback experience can be processed. Meanwhile, decision makers and financial actors require more justification of the efficiency of public fund by economic appraisal of the projects. On the Rhône River, decision makers asked for an economic evaluation of the program of farm vulnerability mitigation they plan to implement. This implies to identify the effects of the measures to mitigate farm vulnerability, and to classify them by comparing their efficacy (avoided damage) and their cost of implementation. In this presentation, we propose and discuss a conceptual model of vulnerability at the farm scale. The modelling,in Unified Modelling Language, enabled to represent the ties between spatial, organizational and temporal dimensions,which are central to understanding of farm vulnerability and resilience to flooding. Through this modelling,we encompass three goals: To improve the comprehension of farm vulnerability and create a framework that allow discussion with experts of different disciplines as well as with local farmers; To identify data which are needed to implement the model and to collect them, specifically using the focus group method; Based on the conceptual model, to program a mathematical model which will be used to simulate damage (direct and indirect) on farm due to flood. This last objective should enable us to appraise policy to mitigate vulnerability which is planned to be implemented on Rhône River at the individual and regional scale. Finally, we discuss the ossibility to use the UML modelling to develop a multi-agent system approach which could be interesting to take into account ties between farmers (solidarity, loan of equipment) or systemic effects due to the damage incurred by economic partners (loss of market share).
The primary concern of this research is to enhance the understanding regarding inverse relation of governance and corruption in transitional societies of the developing world, while exploring the possibilities to seize the upward surge of corruption and concomitant downward slide of governance, through institutional restructuring with a special focus on Pakistan. Hoping, en route to the above stated destination, to unravel the riddle of the 'cultural embeddedness of corruption', this research demonstrate that: institutional restructuring can be instrumental in controlling corruption; and the institutional culture, rather than the culture of transitional societies, is responsible for the rampant corruption and decaying governance in transitional societies and developing states. This research builds it genesis in the rational choice neo institutional theory of political science and the agency theory of economics, and maintains that agents are rational actors and are predisposed to optimization of possible benefits, while making decisions; further, agents are inclined to be malleable with the changes in the institutional structures. This research takes corruption as an indicator of the level of governance and maintains that structured institutions, developed on the lines of Weberian bureaucratic model, are bound to be more efficient and comparably less prone to corruption. During the course of this research these assertions have been analyzed in the context of civil bureaucracy of Pakistan, where defying the rules of conduct is a normal behavior among the public servants; concurrently within the Motorway Police agents are collectively inclined to abide by the rules, despite functioning in the same socio-economic setting of a traditional society and a developing state. The results show that structured institutional settings help agents to follow the rules irrespective of their socio-cultural background, past experiences and habits. Apart from being the first exhaustive study of Pakistan, the seminal feature of this research is the employment of real stakeholders' perceptions for investigating the causes of bureaucratic corruption and the measures assisting in controlling this malady. These questions have been empirically explored with the help of qualitative and quantitative data, obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Major source of primary data was a survey, conducted by the author, in which 250 civil servants of 32 different departments of Government of Pakistan, including the Motorway Police, were surveyed. Results of this research divulge that the agent's perception, regarding corruption in bureaucracy, corresponds with the perceptions of general public. This study also establishes the authenticity of perceptions as a reasonably good indicator of corruption. Results of this research reveal that agents' perception regarding prevalence of corruption in bureaucracy and Pakistan is in congruence with the perceptions of the local public as well as the international experts of the region. Data analysis shows a significant negative correlation between the age and experience of the respondents and his perception of corruption in the country. Moreover, variables like gender, marital status, number of dependents, or the geographical origin do not have any significant impact on the agents' perception of corruption in the country. Agents rated Police, Land Revenue and Income Tax as three most corrupt institutions, while the Motorway Police was rated as the least corrupt institution in the country. Result shows that in agents' view insufficient financial remunerations is the primary most cause of widespread corruption, along with lack of accountability, greater opportunities, weaker system of check & balances, corrupt leadership, and discretionary powers. Further analysis of MP establishes that reasonable salaries, good leadership, effective accountability, and strong checks & balances are the three most effective tools in enhancing efficiency and reducing corruption in any institution. Results of this research also reveal that strict accountability and reward for honesty are considered, as the major indigenous tools, while, social disapproval and institutional restructuring are viewed, as primary exogenous tools for controlling corruption. After analyzing the functionalist and the moralist approach, this study concludes that both of these approaches suffer from inherent deficiencies. This study also investigates the evolution of corruption in South Asia with a focus on Pakistan. The study concludes with practical recommendations for the policy makers of the developing world, emphasizing on the need for inculcating the idea of social responsibility among the masses; giving due attention to petty corruption; limiting the perception of corruption in the society; prioritising efforts according to the potential cost of corruption; and efficient utilization of honest human resource.
This dissertation analyzes tax policy, corporations, and capital market effects. First, the Savings Directive, which has left a loophole by providing grandfathering for some securities, is examined. It can be shown that investors are not willing to pay a premium for bonds that are exempt from the withholding rate, so it may be concluded that the supply of existing loopholes is large enough to allow tax evaders to continue evasion at no additional cost. Second, tax neutrality towards alternative financing instruments for corporate investment is a ubiquitous demand in the political debate. However, the magnitude of possible efficiency costs of a departure from tax neutrality is hardly discussed. Against this background, this dissertation discusses the theory of capital structure and provides back-ofthe-envelope calculations of the possible efficiency cost of a tax distortion of the debt-equity decision. Third, the ex-dividend-day effect in relation to the Gennan tax reform of 2000/2001 is discussed. The abolishment of the imputation system allows reinvestigating the size of the exdividend- day effect. I find no structural break in the size of the German ex-dividend-day effect and no evidence of an ex-dividend-day price drop that exceeds the dividend paid. Fourth, an account of the quantitative development of tax legislation in post-war Germany is presented. It can be shown that the legislative output did not increase over the decades and is not affected by a split majority in the upper and lower houses. Finally, it turns out that an increasing fraction of this legislation is passed in December. ; Die Steuerpolitik ist eines der zentralen Forschungsgebiete im Bereich öffentlicher Finanzen. Diese Dissertation analysiert die Verknüpfungen zwischen Steuerpolitik, Unternehmen sowie deren Auswirkung auf den Kapitalmarkt. Steuern beeinflussen das Verhalten von Unternehmen und Privatpersonen. Änderungen in der Steuergesetzgebung können daher zu Ausweichreaktionen der Bürger bzw. der Unternehmen fuhren. Eine Folge dieser Ausweichreaktionen kann beispielsweise sein, dass eine Steuererhöhung zu Steuermindereinnahmen fuhrt. Für den Staat ist es daher elementar zu wissen wie Unternehmen und Privatpersonen auf Änderungen der Steuerpolitik reagieren. Da Finanzierungsentscheidungen von Unternehmen, und somit die Auswahl der Anlagen, ebenfalls durch Steuern beeinflusst werden, ist es auch fur die Prognose von Kapitalmarkteffekten erforderlich, die Reaktion der Wirtschaftssubjekte auf Änderungen der Gesetzgebungen abschätzen zu können. Ein fundamentales empirisches Problem bei der Untersuchung des Steuereinflusses liegt darin, dass gewöhnlich alle Unternehmen in einer Volkswirtschaft dem gleichen Steuersatz unterliegen. Es gibt also keine analysierbare Varianz in den Daten. Daher muss die Untersuchung von Steuereffekten auf natürliche Experimente wie eine Steuerreform oder auf internationale Vergleiche zurückgreifen. Das Forschungsziel dieser Dissertation ist eine detaillierte empirische Analyse der Steuerpolitik, Unternehmensbesteuerung und deren Kapitalmarkteffekte zu liefern. Dabei rücken in den ersten drei Kapiteln aktuelle Themen, die sich mit Kapitalmarkteffekten beschäftigen, in den Fokus. Im letzten Abschnitt wird das deutsche Steuersystem analysiert. Zu Beginn wird die Zinsrichtlinie der Europäischen Union (EU) diskutiert, welche die Koordination von Zinseinkünften innerhalb der EU ermöglicht. Diese Richtlinie erlaubt Mitgliedsstaaten der EU, Zinserträge ihrer Einwohner die im Ausland erwirtschaftet wurden, zu besteuern. Ohne die Koordination der Besteuerung in Europa könnte ein großer Anteil, der im Ausland erwirtschafteten Zinserträge, vom Steuerzahler vor dem inländischen Fiskus verschleiert werden und die Zinsbesteuerung wäre nicht vollständig. . Im zweiten Kapitel wird die Kapitalstruktur von Unternehmen untersucht. Die steuerliche Neutralität gegenüber alternativen Finanzierungsmethoden von Unternehmensinvestitionen ist eine allgegenwärtige Forderung in der wirtschaftspolitischen Debatte. Eine nicht-neutrale Steuer verzerrt die relativen Kosten der Finanzierungsmethoden. Dadurch beeinflussen sie die Finanzierungsentscheidung der Unternehmen, was in letzter Konsequenz zu einer ineffizienten Kapitalallokation fiIhrt. Das Ausmaß der möglichen Effizienzkosten solcher Verzerrungen kommt in der Literatur kaum zur Sprache . Das dritte Kapitel befasst sich mit der empirischen Auswertung des Ex-Dividend-Day Effekts im Rahmen der Steuerreform 2000/2001. Am I. Januar 2001 trat die deutsche Untemehmensteuerretorm in Kraft. Die zentrale Änderung war die Ablösung des Anrechnungssystems durch das Halbeinkünfteverfahren. Das alte Steuersystem bot eine Steuergutschrift fiir private Investoren an, die ihre Steuern in Deutschland zahlten. Unter dem Halbeinkünfteverfahren müssen lediglich die Hälfte der Dividendenzahlungen und die Hälfte der Veräußerungsgewinne versteuert werden. Möglicherweise hatte die Abschaffung des körperschaftsteuerlichen Anrechnungsverfahrens eine Veränderung des Ex-Dividend-Day Effekts am deutschen Aktienrnarkt zur Folge. McDonald (2001) legt nahe, dass das Ex-Dividend- Day Verhalten im deutschen Anrechnungsverfahren größer eins ist, d.h. der Kurssturz am Ex-Dividend-Day ist größer als die Dividendenzahlung. Dieses Ergebnis wurde bislang als Indiz für Dividenden-Stripping, den Handel mit Steuergutschriften zwischen ausländischen oder steuerbefreiten deutschen Investoren und steuerpflichtigen deutschen Investoren, gewertet. Allerdings konnte in der vorliegenden Arbeit nachgewiesen werden, dass dieses Ergebnis lediglich auf einem einzigen Ausreißer beruht. . Das abschließende vierte Kapitel der Arbeit untersucht die deutsche Steuergesetzgebung nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg. Vielfaltige Klagen über die Komplexität, den Umfang und insbesondere die steigende Kurzlebigkeit der deutschen Steuergesetzgebung beruhen meist auf subjektiven Empfindungen der Betroffenen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird der quantitative Output der deutschen Steuergesetzgebung untersucht. Aus den im Zeitverlauf verabschiedeten Änderungsgesetzen lässt sich per se nicht ablesen, ob diese das Steuerrecht vereinfachen oder verkomplizieren. Die Arbeitsintensität des Gesetzgebers wird analysiert, indem die absolute Zahl und der textliche Umfang der verabschiedeten Gesetze und Verordnungen gemessen werden. Als Datenquelle wird das Bundessteuerblatt (Teil I) verwendet, welches seit 1951 vom Bundesministerium der Finanzen herausgegeben wird. Die Information, ob eine Zustimmungspflicht des Bundesrats für das jeweilige Gesetz bzw. die jeweilige Verordnung bestand, wird auch in Betracht gezogen. Die Anzahl und der Umfang der jährlich erlassenen neuen Gesetze und Verordnungen sind in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten nicht gestiegen. Bezüglich der Verordnungen konnte sogar ein leicht rückläufiger Trend ausgemacht werden. Im Allgemeinen war die Gesetzgebungsaktivität in den 12 Monaten vor einer Wahl größer als in den 12 Monaten danach. Zudem zeigt die empirische Auswertung, dass die Gesetzgebungsaktivität nicht von gespaltenen Mehrheiten im Bundesrat und Bundestag abhängt. Allerdings wird der Anteil der Beschlüsse, die erst im Dezember eines Jahres erlassen werden, immer größer. Dieses steigende "Dezemberfieber" reduziert die verfügbare Zeit der Steuerzahler, Steuerberater und Finanzbehörden, sich auf Steuerbeschlüsse einzustellen und ist eine plausible Erklärung für den zunehmenden Unmut über die Steuerpolitik.
香港大学では、機関リポジトリである「香港大学スカラーズ・ハブ(研究者網の中核)」推進に向けた強固な手法を構築するために、様々な取組みがおこなわれてきました。香港の主要な研究資金提供機関である、大学補助金委員会(University Grants Committee)からの要請により、香港大学は現在、全ての学部に対して「知識交換(Knowledge Exchange)」への参加を義務付けています。この取組みには、香港大学が知識と技術を生み出し、それらを企業、政府および地域社会と共有するという活動が含まれています。スカラーズ・ハブを香港大学における「知識交換」の牽引役とするために、現在香港大学に属している各研究者のウェブページ「ResearcherPages」が開設されました。このページでは、現在のビブリオメトリクスおよびスコーパスとウェブオブサイエンスからの共同研究者の目録をインポートすることができます。共同研究者、文献引用者、そしてダウンロード数を表した図が、各著者毎に構築されており、データベースのフィールドには、各著者の契約研究分野およびメディア対応分野・言語が表示されます。スカラーズ・ハブでは、一貫性のある形で、香港大学の全ての研究者の指標を閲覧することができます。香港大学の「知識交換」に従事する必要性、同分野の研究者の中で突出したいと願う自然な気持ちが、指標そして読者数を増加させようという、香港大学の著者の強固な意欲を生み出しているのです。この結果として、スカラーズ・ハブへの論文登録数は増加しています。 ; At the University of Hong Kong, several endeavours have converged to create a robust method of populating its institutional repository, "The HKU Scholars Hub". At the request of the main funder of research in Hong Kong, the University Grants Committee, HKU now requires all its faculties to show "Knowledge Exchange (KE)", which includes the act of making HKU generated knowledge and skill sets accessible to business, government and the community. In order for the Hub to become a vehicle of HKU KE, ResearcherPages for each current HKU researcher have been added, which import current bibliometrics and lists of collaborators from Scopus and Web of Science. Maps of collaborators, citers, and downloads are created for each author. Fields are displayed for each author, for contract research, and subjects on which media spokesmanship are available. The Hub shows these metrics in a consistent manner for every HKU researcher across the university. The need to comply with HKU KE, and the natural desire to stand out among one's peers has created strong incentive among HKU authors to increase these metrics, and their readership. The population rate of the Hub has increased accordingly. ; published_or_final_version ; Digital Repository Federation International Conference 2009, Tokyo, 3-4 Dec 2009, p. 90-95
Die Staaten des Mercosur (Argentinien, Brasilien, Uruguay, Paraguay und Venezuela) sind die wichtigste Quelle für Rindfleischeinfuhren in die Europäische Union (EU). Die Zölle, die die EU auf Einfuhren von Rindfleisch erhebt, sind trotz des Abbaus von Handelsschranken im multilateralen Kontext noch immer hoch. Argentinien, Brasilien, Uruguay und Paraguay verfügen über präferenziellen Marktzugang im Rahmen von bilateralen und multilateralen Zollquoten (TRQs). Die TRQs sind überliefert und Quotenrenten entstehen, deren Verteilung zunächst unbekannt ist. Im Jahr 2005 haben die beiden Staatengruppen Verhandlungsvorschläge präsentiert. Die Mercosur Staaten forderten deutlich verbesserten Zugang zu den Rindfleischmärkten der EU, der Vorschlag der EU war weniger weitreichend. Beiden Vorschlägen ist gemein, dass sie eine Ausdehnung der bestehenden TRQs zusammen mit einer Senkung des präferenziellen Zollsatzes vorsehen. Sie unterscheiden sich im Ausmaß der vorgeschlagenen Quotenausdehnung und Zollsenkung. Bei wohl fast jeder Politikänderung gibt es Gewinner und Verlierer. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist eine ökonomische Analyse verschiedener Optionen für die Liberalisierung des Rindfleischhandels zwischen der EU und den Staaten des Mercosur. Drei Herausforderungen stellen sich in diesem Zusammenhang. Eine besteht in der sehr spezifischen Definition der Produkte, die unter den Quoten importiert werden können. Die zweite ist die zunächst unbekannte Verteilung der Quotenrenten, die die Wohlfahrtswirkung aber entscheidend mit beeinflussen kann. Das dritte Problem ist die Darstellung der stellenweise nicht stetigen Reaktion des Preises eines importierten Guts auf die Menge. Um dem ersten Problem zu begegnen, wurde ein partielles Gleichgewichtsmodell entwickelt, dessen Produktdeckung speziell auf die oben genannte Forschungsfrage angepasst ist. Die TRQs wurden über einen Mixed Complementarity Problem (MCP) – Ansatz dargestellt. Dieser erlaubt die endogene Abbildung der Quotenrenten. Zusätzlich wurde eine Befragung von Experten aus dem landwirtschaftlichen Sektor und der verarbeitenden Industrie durchgeführt, aus der Informationen über die Administration der Quoten, die herrschenden Marktstrukturen sowie der daraus resultierenden Verteilung der Quotenrenten gewonnen wurden. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass die Quotenrenten, die mit den bilateralen Quoten in Zusammenhang stehen, vollständig im exportierenden Land verbleiben. Die, die im Rahmen der multilateralen Zollquoten entstehen, fallen dagegen vollständig den Importeuren in der EU zu. Die Simulationsergebnisse legen nahe, dass die Auswirkungen des EU Vorschlags auf die Handelströme nur gering sind. Würde eine Einigung dagegen auf Basis des Mercosur Vorschlags erzielt, ist mit einem deutlich stärkeren Anstieg der Importe zu rechnen. Es zeigt sich, dass die Quotenrenten und ihre Verteilung für manche Länder und für manche ökonomischen Agenten entscheidend für die Gesamtwohlfahrtseffekte sind, d.h. eine alternative Verteilung der Renten würde zu anderen Wohlfahrtseffekten führen. ; The Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela) are the most important source of beef imports for the European Union (EU). Despite the reductions of tariffs in the multilateral context, the EU´s tariff on beef is especially high. Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay however enjoy preferential access to the European beef market through multilateral and bilateral tariff rate quotas (TRQs). These TRQs are overfilled, giving rise to quota rents whose distribution is a priori unknown. In the year 2005, the EU and the Mercosur countries exchanged their respective negotiation proposals. The Mercosur countries requested a significantly increased access to the beef markets of the EU. The EU responded with a less ambitious proposal. Both proposals have in common that expansion of the existing bilateral TRQs is envisaged. In addition, reductions of the in-quota tariffs are stipulated. The two proposals differ in the extent of both the TRQ expansions as well as the tariff reductions. For almost any policy change, there are winners as well as losers. The objective of this study is to provide an economic assessment of different options of beef trade liberalisation between the EU and the Mercosur countries. Three problems of analysis arise in this context. One is the low level of product aggregation on which the TRQs are defined. The second difficulty is the distribution of the quota rents both on international as well as on national level, which can have important consequences for the distribution of welfare. The third inconvenience is related to the non-continuous reaction of the domestic price to imports that needs to be included in any model that seeks to represent TRQs as accurately as possible. To provide an answer to the abovementioned research question, a partial equilibrium model operating at a very low degree of product aggregation was set up. Technically, the model is formulated as a mixed complementarity problem (MCP), which has the advantage of endogenously representing the quota rent. From a consultation of experts from the beef producing and exporting industry, insight into the market structure, the administration of the TRQs and the implications for the allocation of the rents was gained. It was found that the rents arising from the bilateral TRQs remain fully in the exporting country, whereas those from the multilateral schemes are captured by importers in the EU. The impact on trade is limited in the scenario based on the proposal made by the EU, and more pronounced in the one made by the Mercosur countries. The latter leads to de facto free trade for Argentina and Uruguay. It was found that the quota rents and their distribution are decisive for the welfare effect in some countries and for some economic agents, i.e. an alternative distribution of the quota rents would lead to a different welfare effect.
Author's introductionThis review of recent feminist analyses and theorizing of labor markets uses a global lens to reveal the forces shaping gender inequality. The first section introduces the key words of globalization, gender and work organization. Next, I examine gender as embodied labor activity in globalized worksites, and the effects of globalization on gendered patterns of work and life. Putting gender at the center of globalization discourses highlights the historical and cultural variability of gender relations intersecting with class, race and nationality, and highlights the impact of restructuring on workers, organizations and institutions at the local, national and regional as well as transnational levels. Then I turn to look at labor market restructuring through commodification of care, outsourcing of household tasks and informalization of employment to show how these processes shape the complexity of relationships between and the interconnectedness of social inequalities transnationally and in global cities. Place matters when analyzing how service employment alters divisions of labor and how these labor market changes are gendered. Global restructuring not only poses new challenges but also creates new opportunities for mobilization around a more robust notion of equality. The final section explores the development of spaces for collective action and the rise of new women's and feminist movements (e.g., transnational networks, non‐governmental agencies). The study of globalization, gender and employment has broad importance for understanding not only the social causes but also the social consequences of the shift to a post‐industrial society.Author recommendsAcker, Joan 2004. 'Gender, Capitalism and Globalization.'Critical Sociology 30, 1: 17–41.Feminist scholarship both critiques gender‐blind globalization discourses and an older generation of women and development theories. By tracing the lineage of current feminist literature on globalization to women and development research, Joan Acker shows both the continuities and distance traveled from the previous terrain of debate. New feminist scholarship on globalization owes a debt to these important, albeit limited, studies of women at work in Latin America, Africa and Asia, but acknowledges the need to go beyond the category of women to analyze specific forms and cultural expressions of gendered power in relationship to class and other hierarchies. One of the major advances in feminist theory comes under the microscope of Acker's keen analysis when she excavates how gender is both embodied and embedded in the logic and structuring of globalizing capitalism. This extends the case she made in her earlier pioneering research on gender relations being embedded in the organization of major institutions. For the study of globalization, Acker posits that the gendered construction (and cultural coding) of capitalist production separated from human reproduction has resulted in subordination of women in both domains. Acker uncovers the historical legacy of a masculine‐form of dominance associated with production in the money economy that was exported to and embedded in colonialist installation of large‐scale institutions. By the late 20th Century large‐scale institutions promoted images and emotions that expressed economic and political power in terms of new articulations of hegemonic masculinity. As an article outlining debates on the nature of globalization and of gender, it serves as a good introduction to the topic.Chow, Esther Ngan‐Ling 2003. 'Gender Matters: Studying Globalization and Social Change in the 21st Century.'International Sociology 18, 3: 443–460.Chow's introduction to the special issue on 'Gender, Globalization and Social Change in the 21st Century' in International Sociology (2003) reviews the literature on gender and globalization and provides an excellent overview of 'gender matters.' Her definition of globalization captures salient features of the current era. This definition encompasses the economic, political cultural and social dimensions of globalization. Further, she offers a framework for studying the 'dialectics of globalization', as 'results of conflicting interaction between the global and local political economies and socio‐cultural conditions…' A dialectics of globalization is a fruitful approach for studying transformative possibilities. This article could serve as background reading or as part of an introductory section.Arlie Russell Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2003. 'Love and Gold.' Pp. 15–30 in Global Women: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. Metropolitan Books.Hochschild's chapter in Global Women examines the transfer of traditional women's work to migrant women. Women in rich countries are turning over care work (nannies, maids, elder care) to female migrant workers who can be paid lower wages with few or no benefits and minimal legal protections. This global transfer of services associated with a wife's traditional role extracts a different kind of labor than in prior migrations based on agricultural and industrial production. Emotional, sexual as well as physical labor is extracted in this current phase of globalization; in particular, emotional labor and 'love is the new gold'. Women migrate not only to escape poverty, but also to escape patriarchy in their home countries by earning an independent income and by physical autonomy from patriarchal obligations and expectations. Many female migrants who leave poor countries can earn more money as nannies and maids in the First World than in occupations (nurses, teachers, clerical workers) if they remained in their own country. Thus, migration can be seen as having contradictory effects on women's well‐being and autonomy. This chapter can be used in a section dealing with the specific topic of globalization and care work or in a section introducing the topic of gendered labor activities.McDowell, Linda, Diane Perrons, Colette Fagan, Kath Ray and Kevin Ward. 2005. 'The Contradictions and Intersections of Class and Gender in a Global City: Placing Working Women's Lives on the Research Agenda.'Environment and Planning A 37, 441–461.This group of prominent social geographers from the UK collaborates to great effect in a welcome addition to the literature theorizing the complex articulations of gender and class in global cities. Their detailed research comparing three localities in Greater London is a corrective to the oft‐cited multi‐site study of global cities by Saskia Sassen. They find that Sassen underestimates gains and losses for both men and women in the 'new' economy. Place makes a difference when assessing the impact of women's increased rates of labor market participation on income inequality and patterns of childcare. The article outlines a new research agenda by 'placing' working women's lives at the center of analysis.Parrenas, Rhacel Salazar 2008. The Force of Domesticity: Filipina Migrants and Globalization. New York: New York University Press.Rhacel Salazar Parrenas brings together her influential research on Filipina migrants and extends her path‐breaking ethnographic analysis to include Filipina domestic workers in Rome and Los Angeles and entertainers in Tokyo. David Eng incisively captures the importance of Parrenas's analysis when he states, 'Extracted from home and homeland only to be reinserted into the domestic spaces of the global north, these servants of globalization exemplify an ever‐increasing international gendered division of labor, one compelling us to reexamine the neo‐liberal coupling of freedom and opportunity with mobility and migration'. The book is well suited to illuminate discussions of domesticity and migration, transnational migrant families, the impact of migration laws in 'home' and 'host' countries, and transnational movements among migrant women.Walby, Sylvia. 2009. Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities. London: Sage.This book introduces new theoretical concepts and tests alternative hypotheses to explain variation in trajectories of gender relations cross‐nationally. It synthesizes and reviews a vast literature, ranging from the social sciences to the natural sciences to construct a new approach to theorizing the development of gender regimes in comparative perspective. Sylvia Walby seeks to explain the different patterns of inequalities across a large number of countries. The analysis differentiates between neo‐liberal and social democratic varieties of political economy, and makes explicit the gender component of institutions and their consequences. The project builds on Walby's pioneering work on comparative gender regimes, and extends the research by operationalizing empirical indicators for a range of key concepts, and by analyzing links between a wide set of institutions (including economy, polity, education and violence) and how these are gendered in specific ways. As in the past, Walby is not afraid to tackle big questions and to offer new answers. Throughout the book, like in her previous body of research, Walby takes on the question of social inclusion/exclusion and critically interrogates concepts of democracy, political participation, equality and rights. Walby uses a comparative lens to examine the democratic 'deficit' in liberal and social democratic countries, and how migration restructures patterns of inequality and the consequent reconstitution of national and ethnic relations within countries. There is more to the book than abstract theoretical debates. Walby poses and assesses alternative political projects for achieving equality. The book is an original contribution that will likely influence sociology in general and theories of social change in particular.Online resourcesStatus of women in the world: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) http://www.unifem.orgUNIFEM was established at the United Nations in order to foster women's empowerment through innovative programs and strategies. Its mission statement summarizes UNIFEM's goals as follows: 'Placing the advancement of women's human rights at the center of all of its efforts, UNIFEM focuses on reducing feminized poverty, ending violence against women; reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls; and achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war'. The website includes information on global initiatives such as zero tolerance of violence against women, the impact of the economic crisis on women migrant workers, and strategizing for gender proportionate representation in Nigeria. Primary documents relevant to women's advancement appear on the website; these include the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. UNIFEM publishes monographs assessing the progress of women around the world. One notable example is the 2005 publication on Women, Work & Poverty by Martha Chen, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz with Renana Jhabvala and Christine Bonner. http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/PoWW2005_eng.pdf Gender equity index http://www.socialwatch.org/en/avancesyRetrocesos/IEG_2008/tablas/valoresdelIEG2008.htm Social Watch produces an up‐to‐date gender equity index composed of three dimensions and indicators: empowerment (% of women in technical positions, % of women in management and government positions, % of women in parliaments, % of women in ministerial posts); economic activity (income gap, activity rate gap); and education (literacy rate gap, primary school enrollment rate gap, secondary school enrollment gap, and tertiary education enrollment gap). These separate indicators in addition to the gender equity index are arrayed by country. There are 157 countries, representing 94% of the world's population, in the sample. Mapping these indicators across countries presents a comparative picture of the absolute and relative standing of women and gender equity in the world.Focus QuestionsKey words: Globalization1. What is meant by globalization?
a. To what extent is globalization new? Or is globalization another phase of a long historical process? b. Can we differentiate inter‐national (connections between) from the global (inter‐penetrations)?
Feminism and globalization
How do feminist interventions challenge globalization theories (for example the presumed relationship between globalization and homogenization and individualization)? How do different feminisms frame and assess the conditions of globalization around the world?
Gender and globalization
What role do women, and different women, play in the global economy? Are patriarchal arrangements changing as a result of greater economic integration at the world level?
Migration and mobilities
What does Parrenas mean by partial citizenship?
How does it relate to the case of Philippine migrant workers? What is the relationship between 'home' and 'host' nations? How important is a vehicle like the Tinig Filipino in forging 'imagined communities' and new realities?
What is the mix of choice and compulsion in the different migrations mobilities of men and women?
Globalization and politics
Are women subject to the same kinds of legal protections (and regulations) that evolved in earlier periods? Do new flexible production processes and flexible work arrangements undercut such legal protections?
Globalization and collective mobilization
Does globalization open spaces for new women's movements, new solidarities, new subjectivities and new forms of organizing?
Sample syllabusCourse outline and reading assignments Conceptualizing the 'Global' and 'Globalization' Dicken, Peter, Jamie Peck and Adam Tickell. 1997. 'Unpacking the Global.' Pp. 158–166 in Geographies of Economies, edited by Roger Lee and Jane Willis. London: Arnold.Amin, Ash and Nigel Thrift. 1996. 'Holding Down the Global.' Pp. 257–260 in Globalization, Institutions, and Regional Development in Europe, edited by Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Acker, Joan. 2004. 'Feminism, Gender and Globalization.'Critical Sociology 30: 17–42.Background Reading:Gottfried, Heidi. 2006. 'Feminist Theories of Work.' Pp. 121–154 in Social Theory at Work, edited by Marek Korczynski, Randy Hodson, Paul Edwards. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Peterson, V. Spike. 2008. 'Intersectional Analytics in Global Political Economy.' in UberKeruszungen, edited Cornelia Klinger and Gudrun‐Axeli Knapp. Munster: Wesfalisches Dmpfboot.Chow, Esther Ngan‐Ling. 2003. 'Gender Matters: Studying Globalization and Social change in the 21st Century.'International Sociology 18 (3): 443–460.Walby, Sylvia. 2009. Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modemities. London: Sage. Gender and Globalization Gottfried, Heidi. Forthcoming. 'Gender and Employment: A Global Lens on Feminist Analyses and Theorizing of Labor Markets.'Sociology CompassFernandez‐Kelly, Patricia and Diane Wolf. 2001. 'Dialogue on Globalization.'Signs 26: 1243–1249.Bergeron, Suzanne. 2001. 'Political Economy Discourses of Globalization and Feminist Politics.'Signs 26: 983–1006.Freeman, Carla. 2001. 'Is Local: Global as Feminine: Masculine? Rethinking the Gender of Globalization.'Signs 26:1007–1037. Theorizing Politics and Globalization Sassen, Saskia. 1996. 'Toward a Feminist Analytics of the Global Economy.'Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 4: 7–41.Parrenas, Rhacel Salazer. 2001. 'Transgressing the Nation‐State: The Partial Citizenship and 'Imagined (Global) Community' of Migrant Filipina Domestic Workers.'Signs 26:1129–1154.Bosniak, Linda. 2009. 'Citizenship, Noncitizenship, and the Transnationalization of Domestic Work.' Pp. 127–156 in Migrations and Mobilities: Citizenship, Borders, and Gender, edited by Seyla Benhabib and Judith Resnik. New York: New York University Press.Background Reading:Benhabib, Seyla and Judith Resnik. 2009. 'Introduction: Citizenship and Migration Theory Engendered.' Pp. 1–46 in Migrations and Mobilities: Citizenship, Borders, and Gender, edited by Seyla Benhabib and Judith Resnik. New York: New York University Press. Migrations, Mobilities and Care Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2003. 'Love and Gold.' Pp. 15–30 in Global Women: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. Metropolitan Books.Hondagneu‐Sotelo, Pierrette. 2001. Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring the Shadows of Affluence. Berkeley: University of California Press.Parrenas, Richard Salazar. 2008. The Force of Domesticity: Filipina Migrants and Globalization. New York: New York University Press.Pyle, Jean 2006. 'Globalizations, Transnational Migration, and Gendered Care Work.'Globalizations 3(3): 283–295.Qayum, Seemin and Raka Ray. 2003. 'Grappling with Modernity: India's Respectable Classes and the Culture of Domestic Servitude.'Ethnography 4: 520–555. Restructuring and Gender Inequality in Global Cities McDowell, Linda, Diane Perrons, Colette Fagan, Kath Ray and Kevin Ward. 2005. 'The Contradictions and Intersections of Class and Gender in a Global City: Placing Working Women's Lives on the Research Agenda.'Environment and Planning A 37: 441–461.McDowell, Linda. 1997. 'A Tale of Two Cities? Embedded Organizations and Embodied Workers in the City of London.' Pp. 118–129 in Geographies of Economies, edited by Roger Lee and Jane Willis. London: Arnold.Bruegel, Irene. 1999. 'Globalization, Feminization and Pay Inequalities in London and the UK.' Pp. 73–93 in Women, Work and Inequality, edited by Jeanne Gregory, Rosemary Sales and Ariane Hegewisch. New York: St. Martin's Press. Embodiment and Restructuring Halford, Susan and Mike Savage. 1997. 'Rethinking Restructuring: Embodiment, Agency and Identity in Organizational Change.' Pp. 108–117 in Geographies of Economies, edited by Roger Lee and Jane Willis. London: Arnold.Gottfried, Heidi. 2003 'Temp(t)ing Bodies: Shaping Bodies at Work in Japan.'Sociology 37: 257–276. Gender in the Global Economy: Post‐Socialist and Emerging Economies Salzinger, Leslie. 2004. 'Trope Chasing: Engendering Global Labor Markets.'Critical Sociology 30: 43–62.Kathryn Ward, Fahmida Rahman, AKM Saiful Islam, Rifat Akhter and Nashid Kama. 2004. 'The Nari Jibon Project: Effects on Global Structuring on University Women's Work and Empowerment In Bangladesh.'Critical Sociology 30: 63–102Otis, Eileen. 2007. 'Virtual Personalism in Beijing: Learning Deference and Femininity at a Global Luxury Hotel. Pp. 101–123 in Working in China: Ethnographies of Labor and Workplace Transformation, edited by Ching Kwan Lee. Routledge.Background Reading:Ferguson and Monique Mironesco (eds.). 2008. Gender and Globalization in Asia and the Pactific: Method, Practice, Theory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Globalization and Policy Developments Lenz, Ilse. 2004. 'Globalization, Gender and Work: Perspectives on Global Regulation.' Pp. 29–52 in Equity in the Workplace: Gendering Workplace Policy Analysis, edited by Heidi Gottfried and Laura Reese. Lexington Press.Woodward, Alison. 2004. 'European Gender Mainstreaming: Promises and Pitfalls of Transformative Policy.' Pp. 77–100 in Equity in the Workplace: Gendering Workplace Policy Analysis, edited by Heidi Gottfried and Laura Reese, Lexington Press.Fraser, Nancy. 2007. 'Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World.' in Global Inequality, edited by David Held and Ayse Kaya. Polity. Gender and the New Economy Walby, Sylvia, Heidi Gottfried, Karin Gottschall and Mari Osawa. 2006. Gendering and the Knowledge Economy: Comparative Perspectives, Palgrave, See chapters by Sylvia Walby, Mari Osawa, and Diane Perrons.Ng, Cecelia. 2004. 'Globalization and Regulation: The New Economy, Gender and Labor Regimes.'Critical Sociology 30: 103–108. Globalization and Transnational Organizing Ferree, Myra Marx. 2006. 'Globalization and Feminism: Opportunities and Obstacles for Activism in the Global Area.' Pp. 3–23 in Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights, edited by Myra Marx Ferree and Aili Mari Tripp. New York: New York University Press.Yuval‐Davis, Nira. 2006. 'Human/Women's Rights and Feminist Transversal Politics.' Pp. 275–295 in Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights, Myra Marx Ferree and Aili Mari Tripp. New York: New York University Press.Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. 2006. "Under Western Eyes" Revisited: Feminist Solidarity Through Anti‐Capitalist Struggles.' Pp. 17–42 in Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity, edited by Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.