Post-conflict pro-poor private-sector development: The case of Timor-Leste

Post-conflict economic development is central to reducing poverty and improving local livelihoods. In this regard, many post-conflict development plans place a high priority on private-sector development. This paper examines the role of the private sector in post-conflict situations and discusses possible interventions for economic recovery based on a review of the literature and fieldwork in Timor-Leste. The paper identifies key factors critical to pro-poor private-sector development in post-conflict situations, with particular reference to Timor-Leste, considers some of the major obstacles, and suggests public policies to identify promising export products and to strengthen small and micro enterprises that might help the country to achieve pro-poor economic recovery and growth.     

Security sector reform: bringing the private in

As the links between security and development have been increasingly recognized, Security Sector Reform (SSR) has become a central part of development policy. Following a traditional Weberian conception of the state, these programmes are almost exclusively focused on the public security sector, neglecting the extent to which people in developing countries have come to rely on private security providers for their day-to-day security needs. While the reform of public security institutions is undoubtedly important, this article argues that a strict public/private distinction is a poor guide to security sector reform. Focusing on Sierra Leone and Kenya, the article argues that ‘bringing the private in’ is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of the security situation in most countries and that any attempt to ensure better security for all must take account of private actors. Private security companies and their integration into SSR matter not simply in terms of the maintenance of law and order, but also in terms of who has access to security, and ultimately, for the legitimacy of social and political orders.     

Is foreign direct investment good for the poor? A review and stocktake

Few issues in the development process raise as much heat as the role of the international private sector in the form of transnational corporations (TNCs) and foreign direct investment (FDI). This article reviews the most recent research on the impact of FDI on economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries. A brief history of FDI is given. This is followed by discussion of the conceptual transmission mechanisms linking FDI, growth, and poverty. The available empirical evidence is then discussed. It is argued that it is not a question of whether FDI is good or bad for social and economic development, but that its impact is determined by the terms upon which FDI is accepted. Although overall the evidence on FDI, growth, and poverty is not conclusive, research has had a tendency to suggest that the benefits of FDI are linked to the FDI policy regime; and that the current orthodoxy of maintaining a highly liberal FDI policy regime leads to a situation whereby developing countries have a precarious trade-off to make between attracting FDI and maintaining policy instruments to extract the benefits of any inflows.     

How can the poor benefit from private investment in agricultural research? A case study from Bolivia

This article evaluates potential mechanisms for facilitating increased private-sector engagement in agricultural research for development and technology transfer (ARDTT), with particular emphasis on Bolivia. It reviews the mixed results of efforts, in developed and developing countries alike, to decentralise ARDTT and to encourage private-sector investment. Potential mechanisms for Bolivia are considered within three broad categories: taxation schemes; co-funding arrangements; and output-based approaches. The constraints to participation in ARDTT by the private sector that arise from concerns over high transaction costs, intellectual property rights, and the legal and regulatory environment are also assessed. The article concludes that compliance, or a hybrid of compliance and a competitive co-funding scheme, is most suited to Bolivia's needs. A flexible approach to intellectual property rights systems is required, although it remains a challenge to identify appropriate taxation regimes.     

越南税收制度与经济发展关系分析

越南自1986年实行革新开放政策以来，经济社会发展迅速。分析越南税收制度与经济发展的关系，深入探讨经济转轨国家税收制度改革的路径，对于了解越南发展的经验教训，为我国完善税收制度提供借鉴有着重要现实意义。     

Local government and housing in South Africa: managing demand and enabling markets

Redressing the inherited inequalities of apartheid has established a complex and challenging context for meeting basic needs in contemporary South Africa. Given the physical and political segregation of apartheid, meeting the demand for housing has been a central development challenge since 1994. But even as local government has been drawn into more responsibility in this area, it must do so while managing complex relationships with private‐sector actors seeking access to basic service delivery previously associated with the public sector. The result is that not only has the structure of local government been dramatically reformed since 1994, it has also acquired a new responsibility to enable markets to work in the name of poverty alleviation.     

越南加入WTO对该国汽车工业的影响及评介

汽车工业的发展状况是一个国家工业化程度的重要经济指标，对国家综合国力的提升发挥着极为重要的作用。从历史上看，在一个国家进入工业化中期阶段，到最后完成工业化和实现现代化，没有一个大国不是靠汽车工业的高速发展来完成这一过程的。加入WTO后，越南的汽车市场必须对外开放，那些汽车工业大国必然会选择时机进入越南市场，这无疑对越南幼小的汽车工业形成严重的冲击和威胁。     

Veterinary services in the Horn of Africa: where are we now?

Pastoralists are marginalised in the Horn of Africa and receive inadequate veterinary services. Under economic structural adjustment programmes, public veterinary services became increasingly ineffective and, in response, community-based NGO programmes were established in some pastoral areas. While these programmes were often considered to be effective, with few exceptions they were small in scale, isolated from central government, and based on subsidised systems of drug distribution. Consequently, their sustainability was questionable. Governments now have incentives to improve veterinary services to pastoralists because of new possibilities for increasing livestock exports alongside new concerns about protecting consumers from livestock-related diseases. Current policy and institutional reform is encouraging a greater role for the private sector in service delivery but this is developing slowly, particularly in pastoral areas where future provision is likely to involve public–private partnerships.     

Contradictions between economic liberalization and democratization: The case of South Korea

This article examines the relationships between economic liberalization and democratization in South Korea. The two processes are often correlated, but in Korea liberalization has been problematic for democratization. Domestic liberalization initially expanded space for labour organizations, but after they appeared to become too active, the process was so managed as to block political activity. This also resulted from pressures brought on by international liberalization, which made competitive wage costs increasingly important and raised the prospect of disinvestment by Korean and foreign firms. Liberalization has not reduced the power of business (the chaebol). Deregulation and privatization have encouraged a transfer of public economic power to the private sector. The increased political role of business is not necessarily beneficial, and the chaebol's economic power represents a threat to democratization in a variety of ways. In previous decades state power rested on economic controls; and the main impetus for democratization has come from the expansion of civil society through economic development, rather than from economic liberalization. State intervention in the economy may continue to be required to protect the position of certain civil society groups and to control business power, but domestic and international liberalization have challenged both of these functions and may increasingly curtail them in the future. Thus, close examination of the specifics of liberalization in South Korea show no automatic positive correlation can be made between economic and political reform without risking either reductionism or reification.     

Anti-Corruption Strategies and Democratization in Bosnia-Herzegovina

There is an international consensus that corruption undermines the democratic process and the legitimacy of government. Anti-corruption strategies are increasingly becoming an integral part of democratization programmes in non-western states. Where there are doubts over the effectiveness of these programmes they have tended to be expressed in relation to the level of social and economic development necessary to ensure a separation between private and public spheres. The experience of extensive international anti-corruption policies in Bosnia provides an opportunity to assess the relationship between anti-corruption initiatives and democratization in the European context. Taking a broad systemic approach to tackling political corruption, it was assumed that international policy in this area could strengthen the authority of democratic political institutions, encourage public participation and rebuild relations of trust within and between communities. This study of the impact of systemic anti-corruption strategies focuses on the effectiveness of these initiatives in meeting democratization goals. The results have been disappointing. The reasons for this may lie in the initial assumptions, not because they assume a higher level of social and economic development than Bosnian society has attained but because they have a narrow reductive view of the political process.     

社会论证——越南公民参与政府政策制定的重要形式

制定周延而明智的公共政策的能力和发展不同方案以执行政策的能力是构成当代政府治理能力的两大要素。目前,对越南而言,实行社会论证既是公民有效地参与政府政策制定的重要途径,也是推进民主治理的重要方式。本文旨在分析当前越南实行社会论证的机制、特点与实践价值。     

Economic Planning as an Integrative Mechanism in India: Changes and Challenges After Economic Liberalization

Besides its principal purpose to plan for economic development, India's Planning Commission has also served as an influential integrative mechanism for the economy and nation, both spatially and socially. Despite economic liberalization, the state found the commission to be an eminently useful public policy instrument and has continued to retain it. The commission has proven to be a flexible and adaptable organization, receptive to new ideas. Since liberalization, its approach to planning has changed (a) from comprehensive planning to indicative planning; (b) from planning for state hegemony to adapting to private sector expansion; (c) from planning for a producer state to planning for a quasi-welfare state; and (d) from centralization to coordination in planning. Challenges abound, however. The commission's key role in economic integration both over the short and long run, particularly as a link between the center and states, nonetheless makes it worthy of strengthening, not weakening.     

中国和越南边境政策的发展、演变及对云南的影响

中国和越南实施改革开放政策以来,加快了边境地区的经济社会发展。中国与越南国情不同,所实行的边境政策也不同。但两国都注重促进边境地区的经济社会发展,两国在中越边境地区实行的边境政策,都有利于云南边境地区的社会经济发展与和谐社会的构建。     

Job creation in fragile states through SME financing: notes from post-war Liberia

Sustainable job creation in post-conflict environments often involves financing private-sector development. However, a poor business climate and the erosion of capacity in the domestic private sector reduce the effectiveness of traditional financing strategies in post-conflict environments. Using the experience of post-war Liberia, this article discusses strategies for improving small and medium enterprise (SME) development projects in post-conflict environments through innovative financing which takes into account the effects of conflict on managerial and entrepreneurial capacity and the business climate. Implementation strategies that support conflict-sensitive post-conflict development are also discussed.     

越南进口贸易与经济增长的互动效应研究:1990～2010年

1986年越南政府实施革新开放政策,大力发展外向型经济发展战略,积极融入世界经济体系。20多年来,越南进口贸易保持了高速增长。实证研究表明,进口贸易是越南国内经济快速增长的重要引擎;同时,越南国内经济发展也进一步推动了进口贸易的快速增长,两者之间存在着互动效应关系。     

Role of business in India’s foreign policy

The paper examines if the business sector in India has had a tangible influence on India’s foreign policy. It suggests several factors for which private business failed to have any influence on India’s foreign policy during the first three decades after Independence. It suggests a conceptual typology of the principal drivers of India’s foreign policy, which, according to the author, provides an effective framework for understanding the role of the private sector since it began to wield some influence in the mid-1980s. The paper uses this threefold classification to argue that, in the period from the 1980s to today, contrary to the general perception, the role of the Indian business sector (and especially of industry associations) on India’s foreign policy has been marginal and restricted to some specific sectors.     

越南加入世界贸易组织后贸易制度的变迁

一、加入世界贸易组织后越南对外贸易的表现 加入世界贸易组织(以下简称WTO)后,越南对外贸易发展迅速,2007年和2008年出口都大幅增长,但由于全球金融危机的影响,从2008年8月开始,出口逐月下降,同时贸易逆差仍然巨大.     

越南革新开放以来电力业的发展及相关制度的建立完善

自越共“六大”提出“革新”战略以来，越南的经济社会步入了一个前所未有的快速发展时期①。对电力的需求也El益扩大，但越南电力业的发展相对滞后，电力业的发展成为制约越南经济社会发展的重要因素。21世纪以来，越南把电力业的发展放到了战略性的高度，制定了《电力法》，并把电力发展作为战略性领域纳入越南中长期经济社会发展规划，取得了较大成就，为越南经济社会的发展提供了保障。多年来，中国电力企业积极进入越南电力市场进行投资和贸易。研究越南近年来电力业的发展及其制度，有利于我国企业进一步拓展越南电力市场，促进我国对外投资和贸易。     

Corporate social responsibility: A challenge for the donor community

As corporate social Responsibility (CSR) increases in large corporate organisations, a genuine approach to sustainable development is often best achieved through the supply chain. This is directly applicable to North–South supply-chain interactions (private-sector organisations, NGOs, and donors). CSR has adopted techniques from their ‘development’ usage, yet a reverse flow is not observed back to the ‘development’ sector. This is unfortunate. Private-sector organisations and NGOs (especially the larger ones) are well placed to take advantage of the increase in CSR relating to developing countries. More importantly, donors of all types would have increased influence if they took up CSR principles. Opportunity costs are not high and the advocacy potential is huge. This paper reviews CSR techniques and argues for donors to accept the challenge of incorporating them into their operations to influence more efficiently the process they seek to change.