Suchergebnisse

México y los capitales extranjeros (1918), del economista Carlos Díaz Dufoo, fue la primera crítica integral de la "riqueza secundaria de México", la noción tradicional de que México contenía inmensas riquezas debido a su tamaño Jorge, su clima variado y su valiosa riqueza natural. recursos, popularizado por el Ensayo Político sobre el reino de la Nueva España de la época de la independencia de Alexander von Humboldt. El ataque de Díaz Dufoos tuvo sus raíces en una noción contemporánea de riqueza que influyó en sus percepciones de la economía mexicana. Pero su polémico texto también estaba enredado en una política revolucionaria. Por lo tanto, al examinar el asalto de Díaz Dufoo a la leyenda y la recepción de los revolucionarios de su controvertida crítica, este ensayo proporciona información sobre las ideas económicas y los vínculos entre la ideología económica y la política política en el México revolucionario. ; Economist Carlos Díaz Dufoo's México y los capitales exrranjeros ( 1918) was the first comprehensive critique of "Mexico 's Jegendary wealth "-the time-honored notion that Mexico contained immense riches due to i ts Jorge size, varied clima te, and valuable natural resources, popularized by Alexander von Humboldt's independence-era Ensayo Político sobre el reino de la Nueva España. Díaz Dufoos attack was rooted in a contemporary notion of wealth which colored his perceptions of the Mexican economy. But his contentious text was also enmeshed in revolutionary poli tics. Thus, by examining Díaz Dufoo's assault on the legend and revolutionists' reception of his controversial critique, this essay provides insights into economic ideas and the links between economic ideology and political policy in Revolutionary Mexico. ; A obra México y los capitales extranjeros (1918) do economista Carlos Díaz Dufoo foi a primeira crítica abrangente sobre o "mito da riqueza do México" - a noção que se tinha na época de que o México possuía imensas riquezas por causa do seu tamanho, do seu clima variado e dos seus recursos naturais valiosos, que fo¡ popularizada pelo ensaio na época da Independéncia, Ensayo Político sobre el reino de la Nueva España, de Alexander von Humboldt. O argumento de Diaz Dufoo está enraizado em urna nosção contemporânea de riqueza que orientou suas percepções da economía mexicana. Mas o seu texto controverso está tambérn envolvido como contexto revolucionário.Assim, examinando tanto o ataque de Diaz Dufoo ao mito quanto a recepção de suas críticas pelos revolucionários, este ensaio possibilita novas visões a respeito das idéias económicas e das ligasções entre ideologia econômica e a política no México revolucionário. ; peerReviewed

In response to Executive Order S-3-05, this paper examines California's opportunities and constraints for managing the impacts of climate change. It reviews the extant literature on adaptation and provides examples from selected sectors in California to illuminate the constraints and, in some cases, limits to the ability to adapt to climate change. Based on these insights, recommendations are made for how government, research, and civil society can help California most effectively prepare for climate change impacts. The key findings are: Key Finding #1: California's response to climate change is not a simple choice between mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Adaptation and mitigation are necessary complementary strategies for managing climate change. The state must determine the portfolio of solutions that will best minimize potential risks and maximize potential benefits. Key Finding #2: Today's climate variability and weather extremes already pose significant risks to California's citizens, economy, and environment. They reveal the state's vulnerability and existing challenges in dealing with the vagaries of climate. Continued climate changes, and the risk of abrupt or surprising shifts in climate, will further challenge the state's ability to cope with climate-related stresses. Key Finding #3: Adaptation is being addressed by the international community and largely ignored within the U.S. A deeper discussion is needed about the costs and challenges of adaptation in California and elsewhere in the U.S. Key Finding #4: To enhance Californians' preparedness for climate variability and change, decision-makers in the private and public sectors require greater awareness of the risks they face, increased capacity to analyze such information and use it in decision-making, and the ability to remove any institutional, financial, political, and other barriers in the way of turning good intentions into actions. Key Finding #5:Many opportunities exist to enhance California's adaptive capacity and resilience in the face of change, even in the absence of perfect foresight about future climatic changes. In fact, California's adaptive capacity—the ability to adapt—is significant. However, implementing that capacity into real adaptive actions on the ground is actually quite difficult and requires special attention and long‐term commitment at all levels of government, across climate‐sensitive industries, and throughout society. Key Finding #6: The ability to cope and adapt is differentiated across population, economic sectors, and regions within the state. The state has an opportunity to ensure and enhance "environmental justice" while fostering California's adaptive capacity to climate change and other interactive stressors

(This paper is the result of a research program that was carried out by the Laboratory for Evaluation of Development Policies and Programs, University of Thessaly, for the Greek Ministry of Economics and National Economy). Does size matter? Is regional competitiveness affected by the regions size? Are regional problems in Greece the same or differentiated among regions? Could an administrative reform create better development preconditions? The designation of the 13 Regions in the 80s in Greece basically stemmed from the need to create development units for programming and managing the development planning. Nonetheless, the designation of regions under the effect of historical factors and political expediency led to uneven area as well as population sizes. Moreover, up to today, Greece has put its major developmental effort in the infrastructures sector, while the new 4th programming period 2007-2013 imposes competitiveness objectives and an integration of the Lisbon Strategy in the Coherence policy that constitute an innovation for the Greek reality. Thus, the question occurs whether the Greek Regions are capable to formulate and implement corresponding strategies and programmes. This paper discusses the performance of the 13 Greek regions against other comparable EU regions and presents indexes reflecting the relative progress of the Greek regions, through critical review of statistical data concerning development level and regional competitiveness. At the same time the paper considers how a restructure of resources, competences, and geographical boundaries will enable: i. Concentration of managerial effort ii. Better control of programme implementation. iii. Better utilization of the limited available personnel . iv. More economical use of equipment and facilities. And finally programme operation monitoring at the regional level through the formation of larger and more powerful regional entities, vis-vis the central Administration. To this purpose administrative decentralization schemes of various EU Countries are reviewed. The paper proposes a restructuring as follows: All the competences concerning decision-making and management of the programming are concentrated to Regional Unions. The Regions retain only proposal functions, as centers of local bodies¢ consensus and local initiatives' mobilization. The paper also elaborates on a generalized administrative scheme for the Unions and the Regions. Summing up the discussion highlights the necessity to form larger and more powerful regional units in Greece, where one¢s strategic disadvantages will be compensated by the advantages of the other and through them many local economies altogether will build a scale capable to integrate their productive structure, to cause the emergence of new functions and to constitute their negotiatory advantage for FDI and activities attraction.

This paper deals with contemporary planning projects that are correlated with community-university partnerships. It studies the ways in which the socio-spatial and national conflict in Belgium in the '60 led to an innovative resolution which is correlated with planning projects (the transformation of rural space) and a new form of contemporary 'new cities'. The main subject of work is the new city named Louvain-la-neuve that was created in order to accomodate the French-speaking university of Leuven after the linguistic conflict of 1968 and the social problem of the difficulties of the coexistence of two different nationalities. Through this project of the city in question, which was mobilized by the administration of the university (UniversitéCatholique de Louvain), the French-speaking Belgian government also aimed in the creation of a new pole of development in the French-speaking region (Wallonie) which would force the development of the whole region and would restore the French-speaking community in the limelight (as it was in an earlier time). More specifically, the research surveys the characteristics of the project according to some parameters: b) the role of the university in the planning processes c) the way that education consists the motivating force of a city and creates agglomeration economies d) and the planning theory in practice and the knowledge of university in planning matters, e)the results of the project in the national and regional economy in the local society and in the sustainability of the city. The local research including living in the area for several months took place in the year 2001 and the main research was made between September 2003 and August 2004 and the analysis of the data followed. The research was based on the local research as well as in two structured interviews with two off the main staff of both the French and Dutch-speaking administration committee of the university of Leuven, visual and photographical survey and group discussions with the local population permanent and temporary, and collection of all possible planning and policy documents as well as surveys concerning the project and the city. The outcome of the research shows the way in which the well-known Belgian national problem resulted in a partnership between the community and the university and in the creation of a new contemporary city that in our days tries to survive and ameliorate its environment through the knowledge-theory and the resources that the university can continuously ensure for the city's development. The research has shown a new innovative approach of the Belgian planning processes that is deeply correlated to a socio-political problem.

The central question explored in this paper is: has the post-Cold-War rule of law (ROL) reform agenda in sub-Saharan Africa enhanced or impeded gender equality? Rule of law (ROL) reforms are seen as indispensable to establishing a market economy and democratic rule, the two prongs of the neo-liberal project. In sub-Saharan Africa, legal and institutional reforms that originated with the 'second wave' of political reform in the immediate post-Cold-War era have been justified in terms of these twin goals. The overwhelming emphasis and investment has been in creating a suitable legal and institutional environment for the market. Some attention has been given to the democratic-rule prong, for instance through reform of electoral laws and of institutional structures such as courts and national human rights commissions. The bulk of substantive legal reforms have focused on areas such as commercial codes, bankruptcy, banking, tax and property laws (including intellectual property), corporate governance and freedom of information. In this same period, the region has seen a significant rise in the profile and impact of movements concerned with gender equality. Some of the concerns of the gender equality movement do overlap with the ROL agenda. Examples include ending the vicious effects of corruption, ineptitude and institutionalized bias (including gender bias) in the functioning of institutions that administer justice; and progressive constitutional reforms that have the potential to enhance legal protection from gender-based discrimination. However, a juxtaposition of the law reform priorities with the priorities articulated by gender equality advocates shows that ROL reforms have not automatically translated into reforms that enhance gender equality. The gains for gender equality have been limited and hard won. A large part of the gender equality agenda remains unaddressed by the legal and institutional reforms undertaken so far. The main gaps identified are: Constitutional guarantees of rights have only a limited reach, particularly where customary and religious laws are not only allowed to regulate family matters but to supersede anti-discrimination laws. Reforms to property law have at worst deepened gender inequality and at best left existing biases intact. Official discussion of gender and land tenure remains disconnected from broader processes of economic restructuring, such as those affecting the financial services industry. Financial sector reforms have not been co-ordinated with reform of land and family legislation and practice, yet land and family law are at the heart of women's ability to access financial services.

The European Forecasting Network (EFN) is a research group of European institutions, founded in 2001 under the auspices of the European Commission. ; • In 2005 the upswing of the world economy slows down to moderate growth. Expansion dynamics are high in most emerging market economies and close to potential in the US; however, high commodity prices, in particular for crude oil, continue to dampen world economic growth. Moreover, China gives weaker impulses for world trade due to the restrictive measures of Chinese economic policy. • Rising interest rates and more cautious household spending behaviour will stabilise the current account deficit in the US at the end of 2005. As a result, the chances are good that the recent appreciation of the dollar versus the euro will last. Our forecast is an exchange rate of 1.27 for 2005 and 1.24 for 2006. • Despite quite favourable financial conditions, business investment will only gradually gain momentum in the euro area. In 2005, the y-o-y rates are positive, but show a slight downward trend. Acceleration is expected not before 2006. Private consumption will modestly increase. Consumers in the euro area appear to be cautious in view of the budget problems in many member states, as well as of sustainability problems affecting pay-as-you-go pension and health insurance systems, and the weak performance of national labour markets. • Since the first quarter of national accounts data indicated only a slow acceleration in the euro area, this outlook is a bit more cautious than the one published by the EFN in March. Also, oil prices are again on record levels, and economic sentiment indicators point to a reduction of economic growth in growth in 2005. • Due to the pressure of international oil prices, our inflation forecasts for the euro area have been revised upwards to 2.1% in 2005 in spite of a significant improvement in goods core inflation. In view of this figure, we continue to forecast that the European Central Bank is unlikely to change its reference interest rate until mid-2006. For this year we expect an inflation rate of about 2.0%. • The forecast is also slightly more pessimistic than some others, possibly due to our strictly econometrically based approach, with models not taking into account the recent structural reforms in some member countries. We think that the positive effects of these reforms will not materialise in a short period of time but rather gradually over the coming years. Neither is the burden of political turbulence inside the euro area on economic sentiment captured by these models.

Das östliche Tiefland von Bolivien, der so genannte Oriente, wird seit nunmehr einem halben Jahrhundert von umfangreichen Zuwanderungen aus den benachbarten Provinzen und dem Hochland heimgesucht. Dabei ist die Binnenmigration ein demographisches Phänomen, das den Oriente auf unterschiedliche Weise in seiner Regionalentwicklung beeinträchtigt. Einerseits kommt es zu einer tiefgründigen Modifikation der Landschaft durch Nutzung und Ausbeutung der natürlichen Ressourcen. Anderseits führen die Wanderungsbewegungen zu einer sukzessiven Transformation der Aufnahmegesellschaft. Intensität und Ausmaß der Gesellschaftsveränderungen hängen vom Grad der Integration der beteiligten Akteure ab. Es ist davon auszugehen, dass sowohl das gesellschaftliche als auch das ökologische Gleichgewicht davon abhängen, inwieweit eine Eingliederung der zugewanderten Individuen und Gruppen in das soziale System (soziale Integration) gelingt, – und inwieweit die verschiedenen Teilbereiche der Gesellschaft (politisches, ökonomisches, soziales und edukatives System) im Austausch miteinander stehen bzw. harmonieren. Die empirische Feldforschung im Agrarkolonisationsgebiet San Julián (Departamento de Santa Cruz) bezog sich auf den Zusammenhang zwischen der Integration von Zuwanderern und den Auswirkungen auf die regionale Kulturlandschaft. ; Internal rural migration is a demographic phenomenon which affects the eastern Bolivian lowlands mainly in two different ways. On the one hand the migrations provoke a profound modification of the landscape by exploitation and potential degradation of the natural resources. On the other hand massive inflows of migrants cause the transformation of the local society. Intensity and dimension of those modifications depend on the level of integration of the individuals and groups which are involved. Consequently, the inclusion of the actors into the social system (social integration) as well as the relationship between the parts of the society (systemic integration) determine the societal as well as the ecological equilibrium. An empirical analysis of the integration process of migrants from the Andean highlands was realised in the colonisation area of San Julián, Dpt. of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. One main aspect of the investigation focused on the rural poverty and different standards of living of migrant and local households. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews as well as standardised interviews in two villages (98 households). The results show a latent correlation between social integration and individual management of common natural resources. A high degree of personal integration about the four dimensions of social integration, which are "cultural adaptation", "positioning", "interaction" and "identification", encourages the sensitivity for common socioeconomic welfare through specific livelihood strategies. The current situation in the research area is characterised by the fragile systemic integration of the colonisation area into the regional economy and society. This fact complicates not only social integration and intercultural living together between migrants from the Andean highlands and the lowland people, but also threatens the ecological balance of the region. Consequently, without the political and civil intentions to resolve the systemic disintegration there will not be a sustainable socio-economic development. ; research

Scientific advances over recent years have had a marked effect in lowering mortality at very old ages in the developed countries, opening the prospect of routine achievement of significantly extended life spans. Some immediate responses to these trends, such as a rethinking of the actuarial assumptions underlying social security system finances, have already been required. But in the longer run many other and more fundamental accommodations would also be called for. In the paper reproduced below, from 1965, Kenneth Boulding points to some of these by means of a casual thought experiment in which longevity is set at 200 years. A striking misfit emerges between the new age distribution of the population, assumed stationary, and the age‐specific role structure that the society had evolved, forcing adjustments in the latter. Age patterns of education and working life, life‐cycle savings and consumption behavior, and intergenerational economic relations would be strongly affected. While the extreme longevity assumption (although modest compared to the Struldbrugs of Gulliver's Travels) underlines the lightheartedness of the exercise, the issues are real ones. The paper, entitled "The menace of Methuselah: Possible consequences of increased life expectancy," was originally an address to the Washington Academy of Sciences in March 1965 and published in October of the same year in the Academy's Journal (Vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 171‐179). It is reproduced here by permission of the Academy. Some minor arithmetical corrections to the savings calculations have been made.Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–93) was a distinguished economist and social scientist. Born in England, he was educated at Oxford and the University of Chicago, and subsequently taught at a series of North American universities, the longest periods at the University of Michigan and University of Colorado. He was president of the American Economic Association, as well as of a number of other learned societies, but increasingly came to play a maverick role in his profession. His prolific writings–some 40 books and hundreds of articles–spanned a wide range of subjects: Keynesian theory, the grants economy, evolutionary economics, and beyond economics to general systems theory, resources and ecology, environmental quality, social justice, and (a life‐long concern) peace and disarmament. Demographers often know of Boulding through his much‐reprinted article "Toward a general theory of growth" (Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, Vol. 19, no. 3, 1953). Another of his papers appeared in PDR 14 (Suppl.), 1988. Six volumes of his Collected Papers were published by Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, CO, over 1971–85.

This article brings regulation theory and the broader post‐Fordist debate together with an empirical study of the emergence and consequences of tourism in Harlem. It shows that the valorization of cultural diversity, as well as under‐served markets, has helped reposition this formerly unmarketable area in relation to city, state and capital markets. Moreover, as development occurs, the nature of regulation pertaining to Harlem begins to change. The author argues that the failure to disaggregate – to link the elements of the restructuring economy to outcomes for specific areas and residents, leads to an overly pessimistic view. Tourism‐based development may act as an equalizing force, helping to rebalance the uneven urban spatial development characteristic of Fordism and symbolized by the social isolation and concentrated poverty of the racial ghetto in the US. The role of cultural capital as the engine of growth in Harlem, has meant that revitalization promotes cultural differentiation along with standardization. Overall, cultural tourism requires substantial civic engagement. This gives the community control, but at the same time disciplines and stabilizes. Urban tourism thus incorporates a new mode of regulation, making for greater social/political and economic inclusion, but with the associated costs as well as benefits.Cet article allie la théorie de la régulation et le débat plus large du post‐Fordisme, à une étude empirique sur l'apparition et les conséquences du tourisme à Harlem. Il montre que la valorisation de la diversité culturelle, de mäme que les marchés sous‐approvisionnés, ont aidéà repositionner cette zone auparavant sans attrait commercial dans une relation avec les marchés de la ville, de l'État et des capitaux. En outre, avec l'expansion, la nature de la régulation propre à Harlem a commencéà changer. L'absence de désagrégation – qui associe les éléments de l'économie en restructuration aux résultats en faveur de zones et résidents particuliers – conduit à une vision des plus pessimiste. Toutefois, un essor basé sur le tourisme peut avoir une force compensatrice, aidant à rééquilibrer l'aménagement spatial urbain inégal, caractéristique fordienne symbolisée par l'isolement culturel et la pauvreté concentrée dans les ghettos raciaux aux Etats‐Unis. Le rôle du capital social en tant que moteur de croissance d'Harlem s'est traduit par une revitalisation favorisant à la fois différenciation culturelle et normalisation. Le tourisme culturel implique surtout un engagement civique réel, celui‐ci donnant la maä'trise à la communauté, tout en apportant discipline et stabilité. Le tourisme urbain amène donc un nouveau mode de régulation, créant une meilleure inclusion socio‐politique et économique, mais avec les coûts (et avantages) associés.

The changes experienced by the contemporary society have a particular manifestation in the rural areas of our countries. In is in these social spaces where the most relevant impact of the accelerated economic, political and cultural integration takes it toll; it is in the rural communities, where the consequences of the open economic policies adopted by governmental authorities, are best reflected. These social processes aftermath brings about a substantial change in the rural world that contributes to enlarging the existing divide, as far as human development, between urban and rural areas. In Costa Rica, the redefinition of its development strategy started in the 1980´s. Two decades later, without a clearly defined vision and a growing uncertainty about the future on part of the population, it is an unfinished process. The national economy structural adjustment began in the 1980's. Currently, there are opposing technical opinions as to its results. In this analysis, it is important to emphasize the impacts of the economic policies implemented in the 1980-2000 period, and the changes in the agrarian structure and social relations originated with the modernization processes experienced by the Costa Rican society as of the 1950´s decade. ; Los cambios experimentados por la sociedad contemporánea tienen una expresión particular en las áreas rurales de nuestros países. Se presenta en estos espacios sociales el impacto más relevante de la acelerada integración económica, política y cultural del presente y las consecuencias más notorias de las políticas de la apertura económica adaptadas por las autoridades gubernamentales. Los efectos de estos procesos sociales provocan una modificación sustancial del mundo rural y tienen a ensanchar las brechas existentes en cuanto al desarrollo humano en relación con las áreas urbanas.En Costa Rica, la redefinición de su estrategia de desarrollo se inicia en la década de los años ochenta. Dos decenios más adelante, es un proceso incompleto, sin una ruta claramente trazada y con una incertidumbre creciente ante el futuro por parte de la población. El ajuste estructural de la economía nacional se inicia en los años ochenta y al arribar al año 2000 prevalecen criterios técnicos contrapuestos sobre sus resultados. En este análisis interesa destacar los impactos en el sector rural de las políticas económicas impulsadas en el período 1980-2000 y los cambios en la estructura agraria y las relaciones sociales originadas con los procesos de modernización vividos por la sociedad costarricense a partir de la década de los años cincuenta.

Books reviewed:The monastic order in Yorkshire, Sandra RabanThe demography of early modern towns: York in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, John S. MooreInventories of Worcestershire landed gentry, 1537‐1786, Vivienne LarminieTenant right and agrarian society in Ulster, 1600‐1870, S. J. ConnollyRogues,Thieves and the rule of law: the problem of law enforcement in north‐east England, 1718‐1800, Garthine WalkerNewspapers, politics and public opinion in late eighteenth‐century England, Owen JacksonInsanity, institutions and society, 1800‐1914: a social history of madness in comparative perspective, Bill LuckinFree trade and its reception, 1815‐1960: freedom and trade: vol. 1, Mark Wickham‐JonesPolicing provincial England, 1829‐1856: the politics of reform, Roger SwiftWriting the Irish Famine, David FitzpatrickThe end of hidden Ireland: rebellion, famine, and emigration, David FitzpatrickThe municipal government of Bristol, 1851‐1901, Barry DoyleThe history and practice of Britain's railways: a new research agenda, John ArmstrongEducation and economic decline in Britain, 1870 to the 1990s, John Maloney'The battle for health': a political history of the Socialist Medical Association, 1930‐1951, Virginia BerridgeGresford: the anatomy of a disaster, Joseph MellingHealth and society in Britain since 1939, Bernard HarrisMastering the market: the state and the grain trade in northern France, 1700‐1860, Colin HeywoodRevolution and environment in southern France: peasants, lords, and murder in the Corbières, 1780‐1830, Hugh CloutThe role of banks in monitoring firms: the case of Crédit Mobilier, Geoffrey E. WoodRepertorium Columbianum, IV, Christopher Columbus and his family: the Genoese and Ligurian documents, Trevor DeanSpain's men of the sea: daily life on the Indies fleets in the sixteenth century, Marcus RedikerChristianity under the ancien régime, 1648‐1789, Linda KirkIdentity and intolerance: nationalism, racism and xenophobia in Germany and the United States, Eve RosenhaftEuropean culture and the Great War: the arts, entertainment and propaganda, Adrian GregoryWestern Europe: economic and social change since 1945, J. Adam ToozeGotham: a history of New York City to 1898, Karen WillsCopper for America: the United States copper industry from colonial times to the 1990s, Peter McleayManufacturing the future: a history of Western Electric, John CantwellUS trade policy: history, theory and the WTO, Ranald MichieLa economiá argentina en el largo plazo: ensayos de historia económica de los siglos XIX y XX , Rory MillerProgress, poverty and exclusion: an economic history of Latin America in the twentieth century, Paul HendersonThe Chinese business elite in Indonesia and the transition to independence, 1940‐1950, Anne BoothJapan's war economy, Kenneth D. BrownEconomic crises and restructuring in history: experiences of small countries, Alan S. MilwardThe gold standard and related regimes: collected essays, Derek H. Aldcroft

Der Essay zielt auf eine kritische Bewertung des Beitrags institutionalistischer Ansätze in der sozioökonomischen Transformationsdebatte. Diese Ansätze interessieren sich für die konkreten Formen der entstehenden Kapitalismen in Osteuropa. Sie richten ihre Aufmerksamkeit auf die ererbten Organisationsformen und Institutionen und warnen vor möglichen Entwicklungsblockaden, wenn diesen in den Transformationsstrategien nicht Rechnung getragen wird. Damit leisten sie eine zentrale Kritik an den neoliberalen Reformen in Osteuropa und der ihnen zugrundeliegenden Annahme, daß unabhängig vom geschichtlichen und sozialen Ausgangspunkt einer konkreten Gesellschaft marktwirtschaftliche Basisinstitutionen Effizienz- und Wohlfahrtsgewinne zeitigen. In dem Papier wird jedoch argumentiert, daß die institutionalistische Kritik zu kurz greift, da sie eine wesentliche Determinante der entstehenden osteuropäischen Kapitalismen vernachlässigt, nämlich ihre forcierte Integration in die Weltwirtschaft. Dieser "blinde Fleck" zieht eine Reihe weiterer Probleme nach sich. Institutionalistische Ansätze setzten sich für politische Strategien im nationalstaatlichen Rahmen zu einem historischen Zeitpunkt ein, in dem nationalstaatliche Entwicklungskonzepte durch neoliberale Transnationalisierung zunehmend in Frage gestellt werden. Institutionalisten tendieren dazu, die Bandbreite der zur Verfügung stehenden nationalen Strategien zu überschätzen und die ihnen durch westliche Regimeziele und machtvolle globale Akteure auferlegten "constraints" zu unterschätzen. Durch ihren Fokus auf die historische Erbschaft tendieren sie dazu, Phänomene und Institutionen als osteuropäische Spezifika zu konzeptualisieren, die nur transitorische Phänomene sind. Das Papier endet mit einem Plädoyer, auch in der Transformationsforschung nach den Verbindungsmustern zwischen externen und internen Entwicklungsprozessen zu suchen, und, über diese duale Sichtweise hinausgehend, eine Forschungsperspektive zu entwickeln, die stärker die neuartige, transnationale Form des gegenwärtigen Kapitalismus in den Blick nimmt. ; The aim of this essay is to assess the contribution of institutionalist approaches in the socio-economic transformation debate. These approaches focus on the concrete historical forms of emerging capitalisms in Eastern Europe. By emphasising the role of inherited organisations and institutions in the transformation process and by warning against possible blockages and lock-ins due to these factors, institutionalist approaches provide a powerful criticism of the neoliberal reforms and the underlying assumption that, no matter when in history and where in social geography, the presence of core market institutions predicts welfare and efficiency. However, institutionalists tend to neglect the problem of how integration into the world economy shapes the restructuring of Eastern European political economies and their prospects. This neglect results in a number of further shortcomings. Path dependentists argue for policy strategies tailored to national pathways at the very historical period when national autonomy is being increasingly questioned through the ongoing processes of neoliberal transnationalisation. When referring to policy choices, path-dependency approaches tend to overestimate the actually attainable range of systemic diversity and to underestimate the constraints imposed by Western regime goals and powerful global actors. By concentrating on the past and origins, path dependentists run the risk of conceptualising phenomena and institutions as building blocks of new capitalisms which prove to be transitory. The paper ends by arguing for a research perspective which elaborates on the relationship and interaction between the external and internal dimension of transformation and ultimately arrives at a more proper understanding of the new transnational form of contemporary capitalism.

Inflation and increased fuel economy have reduced the buying power of the revenues collected from state and federal motor fuel taxes. Because fuel taxes are almost always collected on a per-gallon basis, in most states they must be raised by specific acts of the legislature and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the political support necessary to raise them. A number of states have experimented with fuel taxes that adjust automatically by being indexed to the price of gasoline, to the consumer price index, or to some indicator of highway construction and maintenance costs. This paper reviews experience with indexed motor fuel taxes in the United States, and finds that in many cases indexed taxes have failed to produce the anticipated results because declines in fuel prices often cause declines in indexed fuel taxes. Indexing gas tax rates to the Consumer Price Index appears to be the best way of insuring that fuel tax revenues keep pace with inflation. Fuel taxes are the mainstay of transportation finance in the United States. The federal government and every state levy taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. Motor fuel taxes have much to recommend them fiscally, politically, and administratively. First and foremost, as a "user fee" this tax is widely regarded to be inherently fair. It can be assumed that we benefit from the transportation system in proportion to the extent to which we use it, and motor fuel taxes charge us roughly in proportion to our use of the road and highway system. Furthermore, the tax is paid by motorists in small increments and is relatively hidden in the sales price of motor fuel. This has tended to minimize organized public opposition to it. The tax is also easy to administer and collect from both the taxpayer's and the government's point of view. The motor fuel tax is usually collected from fuel distributors rather than from retailers or consumers. This minimizes opportunities for evasion and reduces the cost of collection to an historical average of one-half of one percent of tax proceeds. By contrast, prior to the advent of electronic toll collection, highway tolls could often involve collection and administrative costs that amounted to as much as twenty percent of the proceeds. As motor fuel consumption has soared over the past eight decades, so have tax proceeds, enabling users of the nation's highway system to finance its construction and maintenance.

After disintegration of the USSR the State lost ca. 50% of its sea ports. The ports that remained under Russia's control are to the great extent old-fashioned and underinvested. The loss of ports of Tallinn, Riga and Klaipeda was the reason for concentration of servicing Russian international shipments on the Baltic in the three ports of St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad and Vyborg. Transhipment capabilities of Russia's sea trade ports on the Baltic are presently estimated to be 20m tons and they have turned out to be insufficient for the country. Accordingly, a decision has been taken to increase such capabilities and to build new ports. The development programme assumes that before 2005 all import and export cargoes should be serviced by own ports. The modernisation plan for St. Petersburg assumes building of new container terminals, universal and specialist transhipment complexes, including a new base for liquid fuels, sugar, heavy and large cargoes. Its transhipment capabilities are to be increased up to 29m tons yearly. Within rebuilding of the port complex several new transhipment ports come to being around Sankt Petersburg. The most important of them are: Ust-Luga, Batareynaya, Primorsk, Lomonosov and Kronshtadt. Minor ports are: Bronka, Gorskaya and Otradnoye. The rebuilding programme for Russian ports also forecasts an increase in transhipment capabilities of the ports: Vyborg up to 3m tons and Vysotsk - up to 4m tons yearly. The planned investments are a new wood port, two terminals for transhipment of metals and a general cargo terminal. Growth forecasts for the port of Kaliningrad assume an increase in transhipments up to 6.7m tons in 2000 and 11-12m tons in 2005. The disastrous condition of economy in the District of Kaliningrad and a difficult economic situation in Belarus - constituting a potential supply base for the port, suggest that such forecast should be assumed very carefully. The present political and economic situation in Russia makes a large gap between projects to build new ports and to modernise the existing ones, and their implementation. Plans concerning building new ports in Russia are often wishful declarations for potential investors. Russian investors do not have sufficient capital; Western entrepreneurs fear to invest their capital in Russia. In 1994 there was a decision to separate the operation of ports from their ownership status, i.e. the proprietary right of the State to premises, port infrastructure, grounds and waters. It contributed to flourishing of criminal activity and corruption in Russian ports, and competence of new authorities is not strictly specified. ; Marcin Polom

An early large scale privatization for China would have been totally unthinkable for obvious political, ideological and economic reasons and a large-scale privatization in China right now may still be ill advised. The experiences of the eastem European countries suggest that privatization is not the panacea that many believed it to be. Privatization turned out to be the most complex part of the change of economic system for these countries politically, practically, and legally (Aalsund, 1992). There seems to be strong evidence, based on the experiences of the eastem European countries that it may very well be in the best interest of China to wait before engaging in a large scale privatization scheme (DaCosta, 1995). There are sound economic reasons why it may still be too soon for a large scale privatization to take place: 1) mass privatization will result in massive layoffs; 2) underdevelopment of capital markets would make privatization unwise; 3) lack of domestic capital; 4) ideological and institutional obstacles. However, China's unique transition strategy engendered innovative altematives to privatization. China, arguably less the govemment than its people found ways of dealing effectively with the limitations, and within the constraints, set by China's own transition policies. The "contract responsibility system," by effectively separating ownership and control, is an innovative altemative to individual privatization. It has been described as "a halfway house to privatization" (Fischer, 1991). And the TVEs were China's (rather effective) altemative to early privatization. ln fact, the TVEs fall between private and public. They arose because of China's own strategy and because the Chinese development model prior to the reform created conditions favorable to their establishment. They prospered, to the point of being referred to as the major engine of China's success, because of considerable autonomy, flexibility, competition (at all levels) and special ties to the govemment and community. And maybe more importantly, since they do not operate under a "soft constraint" like SOEs, they must thrive for efficiency in order to survive. However, as transition progresses, and China's economy and society change, they too are changing. ln fact, insofar as TVEs can use local governments to behave like countries and erect all sorts of barriers to trade and factor flows, they may be regarded as an hindrance to the establishment of a single market. China, far from being an integrated internal market, has yet to reap the benefíts of economies of scale and the benefits derived from industrial "clusters" (World Bank, 1994).