F. Maupain,The Future of the International Labour Organisation in the Global Economy,Hart Publishers,Oxford 2013, xix + 300 pp. ISBN 978-1-84946-502-1.

Netherlands International Law Review -     

The collapse of the fisheries sector in Kyrgyzstan: An analysis of its roots and its prospects for revival

The disintegration of the Soviet Union had profound economic and social effects on many of the newly independent transition economies. Nowhere was this more so than in the fisheries sector – with one of the biggest production shortfalls occurring in Kyrgyzstan, following the collapse of lake capture and pond-culture production. In 2005, aggregate landings were just 48 tonnes – barely 3 per cent of the catch level recorded in 1989. This article has two objectives. First it analyses the extent to which the dissolution of the Soviet Union can explain the collapse of the fisheries sector in Kyrgyzstan. Second, in the light of these findings, it considers what practical steps, if any, might be taken to revitalize the sector.     

KOMMUNIKASIE EN DIE DEMOKRATISERING VAN TELEVISIE

SEKER die standhoudendste definisie van kommunikasie is al daardie opvattings wat verband hou met die ideale van die demokrasie. Ons begrip van kommunikasie is sedert die negentiende eeu vol van die voornemens van die goeie demokraat: daardie romantiese siening van die individu se betrokke oorgawe aan die samelewing. Kommunikasie het'n baie handige begrip geword om die individu se deelname en inspraak, sy medeseggenskap en medeleelsaamheid, kortom, sy maatskaplike betrokkenheid, ideologies te regverdig. Vandaar al die goeie bedoelings met kommunikasie van almal wat maar iets te sê het oor hedendaagse maatskaplike toestande en die begrip populariseer met selfversekerde uitsprake dat kommunikasie en demokrasie dieselfde is.     

China's Politics and Bilateral Trade Linkages

Abstract

China's position in the world economy during the past half-century provides vital information for investigating the relation between politics and trade. Although there is a substantial number of studies in this area, the current study extends the literature in at least three ways: (1) it is one of the first studies that investigates the problem of a potential sample selection bias—as a result of the fact that countries taken up in the analysis are not randomly sampled from all countries in the world; (2) it considers third-country effects that follow from the fact that China's relation with any two countries is affected by the relation between these countries themselves; and (3) it tests the impact of five political arrangements simultaneously, which is more comprehensive than any former study. By using data as to 78 of China's trade partners over the 1950–2002 period, this study provides empirical evidence for the hypotheses that the establishment of diplomatic relations, cooperation, visits of heads of states and political system similarity are associated with greater trade flows. The hypothesis that member countries of a Preferential Trading Agreement have had smaller trade flows with China, which is no member of any of these Preferential Trading Agreements, is not supported by the results.     

Consequences of Forced Residential Relocation: Early Impacts of Urban Renewal Strategies on Forced Relocatees’ Housing Opportunities and Socioeconomic Outcomes

Policymakers have actively pursued urban renewal and dispersal programs to deconcentrate poverty in urban neighborhoods. Relocation strategies lead to new housing opportunities and may encourage employment opportunities for relocated residents if resourceful contacts and job information become more easily available after the move. This study provides an innovative evaluation of the early impacts of involuntary relocation programs in the Netherlands on the housing careers, earnings and employment rates of forced relocatees. It establishes a quasi-experimental design by employing unique longitudinal individual-level population registry data from Statistics Netherlands: forced relocatees are tracked and matched to a control group consisting of similar residents that were not forced to move. A difference-in-difference design shows that forced relocatees are living in less deprived neighborhoods after the move. However, we find no conclusive evidence that this upgrade in housing leads to more socioeconomic opportunities for the forced relocatees.