Suchergebnisse

Examines the responsibility of the competent state in regulating privatized activities, as encouraged by the New Public Management (NPM) model, to protect the interests of consumers of public services & to ensure that efficient market structures & behaviors are in place. Cases studies of the telecommunications sectors in Argentina & Venezuela, electricity sectors in Argentina & Chile, & water services in Argentina, Guinea, & Malaysia provide a comparative analysis of their privatization & regulation experiences. The privatization process must be accompanied with effective regulatory institutions, & if these institutions are not yet developed, an incremental approach to privatization should be taken to ensure state benefit & to provide stability for private sector investors. 47 References. L. A. Hoffman

Die Autorinnen diskutieren die Frage, in welchem Umfang eine statistische Unterstützung von internationalen Organisationen und nationalen Statistikbehörden bei empirischen Erhebungen in Entwicklungsländern erfolgt. Sie umreißen die Zielsetzungen des Wissenstransfers, die Bedeutung von länderspezifischen statistischen Analysen und die Verwendung der erhobenen Messdaten. Weitere Schwerpunkte ihrer Ausführungen bilden das Forschungsdesign bei Befragungen, Probleme der Übersetzung sowie die Qualität der Interviewerschulung. (ICI)

To begin, political & economic changes that have occurred in developing countries over the last quarter century are detailed. Attention turns to concomitant shifts in theory & method employed in the study of developing countries. The predominance of mainstream neoclassical economics in studies of postcommunist economies is noted, along with a consequent abandonment of dependency theories & structuralist approaches. There is also a trend away from small-n to large-n quantitative studies. Three topics dominate study of developing & postcommunist countries: democratic politics in situations of institutional flux & fluid loyalties; the politics of economic policy making in partly reformed economies; & the politics of ethnic mobilization. In this light, some of the most promising scholarship on the politics & political economy of developing countries is reviewed. New shifts in research center on the response to economic models of politics; relevant data quality, quantity, & availability; & standards of persuasive evidence. The extent that a convergence is taking place between scholarship & the real world is examined. J. Zendejas

Part II first provides (in Chapter 8) a quantitative assessment of the evolution and spatial distribution of the brain drain using updated data an emigration rates to the OECD by educational attainment. We expand the coverage of the database by introducing non-OECD host countries, study the age of entry structure of skilled emigration, and document the brain drain of scientists and of health-care professionals. In Chapter 9 we review the channels through which skilled emigration can affect the source countries. In particular, recent literature suggests that remittances, return migration, diaspora externalities, and network effects favouring international transactions and technology diffusion, as well as brain gain channels, may compensate the sending countries for their loss of human capital. We divide these channels into 'human capital', 'screening-selection', 'productivity', and 'institutional' channels, and also analyse the links between brain drain and remittances. The development of a simple partial equilibrium model allows us to combine these various channels in an integrated setting. Using numerical experiments and parameters taken from existing empirical studies, we then quantify the costs and gains of the brain drain for developing countries and analyse how these balance out. (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku).

"Part II first provides (in Chapter 8) a quantitative assessment of the evolution and spatial distribution of the brain drain using updated data an emigration rates to the OECD by educational attainment. We expand the coverage of the database by introducing non-OECD host countries, study the age of entry structure of skilled emigration, and document the brain drain of scientists and of health-care professionals. In Chapter 9 we review the channels through which skilled emigration can affect the source countries. In particular, recent literature suggests that remittances, return migration, diaspora externalities, and network effects favouring international transactions and technology diffusion, as well as brain gain channels, may compensate the sending countries for their loss of human capital. We divide these channels into 'human capital', 'screening-selection', 'productivity', and 'institutional' channels, and also analyse the links between brain drain and remittances. The development of a simple partial equilibrium model allows us to combine these various channels in an integrated setting. Using numerical experiments and parameters taken from existing empirical studies, we then quantify the costs and gains of the brain drain for developing countries and analyse how these balance out." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Through reviewing service delivery results in the application of New Public Management (NPM) in the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) countries, the author draws conclusions as to whether NPM can achieve better delivery of improved public service while reducing public spending. Reviewing performance management, the introduction of competitive mechanisms, & the use of quality-of-service initiatives, however, brings little evidence & mixed judgments, with only anecdotal evidence that NPM has improved services. NPM reforms are widely encouraged in developing countries & regions, where, often, they are mismatched with local needs & preferences or are used as weapons in local power struggles. The need, however, for improved public services in many developing countries is real, & is best achieved within a capable & honest state when state strength & economic performance are linked. Successful transfer of NPM principles requires the meeting of demanding conditions concerning resources, capacity, integrity, & motivation. Without this, creative experiment with new approaches is a starting point. 91 References. L. A. Hoffman

Argues that both human resource management (HRM) & New Public Management (NPM) reflect the New Right agenda, which serves powerful interests, &, therefore, questions the efficacy of transplanting them to less developed countries (LDCs). A selective examination of the general critiques of both NPM & HRM raises doubts as their validity even in the developed world. HRM, while rooted in the private sector, claims applicability to public sector employment, thus requiring a double transfer into public sector organizations in LCDs. Donor organizations that promote HRM practices, either in ignorance or in disregard for the political dynamics of LCD public organizations, reveal a sociological naivete. LDCs may have managers with low skills, while HRM practices require high levels of managerial guidance & oversight; further, the prospects for gaining commitment are reduced, & are also jeopardized by constant retrenchment exercises of the private sector. In light of a recent shift in NPM/HRM theory toward a more flexible, practical, & balanced approach, guidelines for practitioners are offered in relation to analysis, diagnosis, & practical application. 2 Tables, 1 Figure, 61 References. L. A. Hoffman

"In the second chapter, Anke Dahrendorf deals with a risk that can easily be called a global one. She examines the proliferation of bilateral agreements in the sphere of trade regulations and asks to what extent this development - both source and consequence of the standstill in multilateral trade negotiations (Doha-Round) - has to be considered a threat for the main multilateral institution in the field, the WTO. Serious weakening or even a breakdown of the WTO could indeed be qualified as a global risk. Given the global economic Integration and interdependence, in short: globalisation, inability to find viable means of regulation and/or the breakdown of existing regulation can affect the whole world economy - a lesson that we have learned only recently in the different but related financial crisis. But Dahrendorf's chapter points to a second set of risks, namely those faced by developing countries who are usually partners to the bilateral trade agreements. For the area of intellectual property protection, Dahrendorf argues that the threat to the WTO is quite limited, whereas the problems of developing countries are significant, ranging from the undermining of their policy space and the exploitation of their dependence from international trade to adverse agreements largely benefitting industrialised countries. It is interesting to note, as Dahrendorf suggests, that public/ academic awareness seems to focus much more on the risk for the WTO (e.g. end of multilateralism, spill-over effects) than on the risks for developing countries which are difficult to assess at this point." (extract)

The end of the Cold War had positive benefits for European security, but in the developing world, threats to security have increased since 1990 & the types of war, conflict, & insecurity have changed. Since 1990, large-scale conventional conflict is less likely, but internal wars are likely to have longer durations & more lethality. Because of the linkage between internal wars & regional stability, international or multinational intervention in civil conflicts is likely, as in the Balkans; international intervention raises issues of regime sovereignty. Terrorism, in particular, thrives on institutional weakness & state collapse. Environmental issues & population changes also pose threats to regional security & stability in the developing world. International organizations & developed states besides the US should play a larger role in peacekeeping & conflict resolution. M. Pflum

Argues that it is a mistake for new candidates for EU membership, like Poland, to lean too heavily on the experiences of nations that acceded earlier because, the rapid pace of integration changes, as well as shifts in economic policy, which could result in a misconceived accession strategy. The "traditional" approach to negotiating terms of membership based on the experiences of countries that joined the EU earlier is described. It is maintained that the EU has passed through five phases of enlargement & deepening integration that involved new principles related to terms of entry. Problems associated with these previous enlargements are discussed, along with possible future liberalization changes in EU relations with Third World countries; liberalization principles that the EU currently applies to countries in the process of transformation; the impact of EU membership on mutual relations between these countries; & Poland's relations with specific Third World countries. Prospects for Poland to secure symmetrical arrangements in the liberalization of trade with transforming countries are discussed. 4 Tables. J. Lindroth