Explaining Less Accountability: the Growth of Local Quangos

There has been substantial growth in the number of non-elected public bodies – or quangos – operating at the local level. This development presents a marked change from the model of elected local authorities as the main focus for the governance and delivery of local public services. Four interpretations of this change are examined: agency-type, ideological control, managerial restructuring and regulationist explanations. Agency-type explanations recognize a plurality of factors, but lack theoretical or predictive rigour. Ideological and managerial explanations have a stronger theoretical basis but fail to recognize the wider structural context. Regulationist explanations offer, but also suffer from the problems of, structuralist analysis. An integrating framework is developed. Three phases in the development of local quangos are presented as a process by which government has resolved tensions in the British state. A consequence, however, has been to raise questions about the state's longer term legitimacy.     

Social Identity and Educational Attainment: The Role of Caste and Religion in Explaining Differences between Children in India

The aim of this article is to gauge the size of the educational gap between children, aged 8–11 years, belonging to the different social groups in India. It is well established that educational attainments vary considerably between India's caste and religious groups with Muslims, Dalits (the Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (the Scheduled Tribes), and the ‘Other Backward Classes’ (the OBC) being the most backward. Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey of 2005 – which tested over 12,300 children, aged 8–11, for their ability to read, write, and do arithmetic at different levels of competence – this study examines inequalities within social groups in the test scores of children to argue that inter-group comparisons of educational attainment should take into account not just the mean level of achievement of the children in a group but, also, the degree of inequality in the distribution of achievements between children in the group. The article then proceeds to enquire why different children have different levels of educational achievement. The central conclusion is that, after controlling for a number of parental, household and school-related factors, children from all the different social groups, when compared to Brahmin children, were disadvantaged, in some or all of the three competencies of reading, arithmetic, and writing. However, this disadvantage was greatest for Muslim, Dalit, and Adivasi children. These children were disadvantaged with respect to all three competencies and their disadvantage embraced failure as well as success. Using a decomposition analysis, the article quantifies the ‘structural advantage’ that Brahmin and High Caste children enjoyed over their Dalit and Muslim counterparts.     

FTA战略:韩国经济发展的加速器

FTA是自由贸易协定(Free Trade Agreement)的简称,指两个或两个以上的国家(包括独立关税地区)根据WTO相关规则,为实现相互之间的贸易自由化所进行的地区性贸易安排.由自由贸易协定的缔约方所形成的区域称为自由贸易区,区内各成员国之间取消商品货物贸易的关税和数量限制,使区域内各成员的商品实现完全自由流动.     

Integrity Systems,Values, and Expectations: Explaining Differences in the Extent of Corruption in Three Spanish Local Governments

Our article attempts to explain the differences in the extent of corruption related to urban planning in three Spanish local settings, all of them being important touristic resorts: Marbella, a municipality in the Costa del Sol with a very high level of corruption; Lanzarote, in the Canary islands with a high incidence of corruption despite its pioneering role in establishing innovative policies to limit urban (touristic) growth; and Menorca, in the Balearic Islands where corruption has been very low. We argue that the explanations focusing on the different features of the local integrity systems (LISs) face difficulties to account for the variations in the incidence of corruption across these Spanish municipalities: despite some interesting differences, the LIS of the cases considered is basically quite similar. Thus, we turn to the analysis of social values and social expectations on the political system by local citizens, testing whether a different set of citizens’ values and expectations on the behavior of local decision makers may explain this local variation in corruption practices. The article presents the results of a public opinion survey on values and expectations administered in the three cases. Against our expectations and the literature on the topic, no significant difference in shared social values and expectations has been found. The article shows that, as for an empirically tested explanation of the cross-local variations in the degree of urban corruption in Spain, the jury is still out.     

Economic Growth and Convergence in Latin America

Little is known about the convergence process among developing countries in general and in Latin America in particular. For the period as a whole there is no evidence of a narrowing in the cross-country dispersion of income (sigma convergence). But there is evidence of convergence to different steady state income levels at a speed that is common to all countries (conditional beta convergence). The article also shows that the estimates of convergence are sensitive to the way in which GDP per capita is measured.     

Regional Growth in China Under Economic Reforms

This article uses both cross-section and panel data approaches to study regional growth in China. Inter-regional income inequality increased ((divergence), the rich regions became richer but poor regions poorer (b divergence), over the data period 1978-95. This contradicts results from other cross-region country studies shown by Sala-i-Martin [1996] and some earlier studies on China. Only after controlling for regional effects, population growth, and investment in both physical and human capital do the data show significant b-convergence. More interestingly, the degree of openness and transportation are two other important factors responsible for differences in regional growth. This finding has important implications for regional development policy.     

Institutions and Caribbean Economic Performance: Insights from Jamaica

We explore the impact of social institutions on economic performance in Jamaica through a reinterpretation of the plantation economic model. In its original form, the plantation model fails to develop a causal link between the plantation legacy and persistent underdevelopment. Despite its marginalization, the model remains useful for discussions on growth and development. Consequently, we offer a reappraisal using the causal insights from Kenneth Sokoloff and Stanley Engerman. We use two examples to demonstrate how inequality encourages the formation of institutions that are inconsistent with growth, and an empirical analysis to confirm the hypothesized relationship between inequality, institutions, and economic development. Since inequality is expected to influence growth indirectly, we use a structural specification, which follows William Easterly’s recent test of Sokoloff and Engerman’s argument. Our reliance on a time-series specification is unique. We demonstrate that the expectation that, on average, inequality and growth is negatively related and that institutions may compromise growth are accurate for Jamaica, the most cited Caribbean nation in the current discourse. Our results carry several policy implications, including support for the recent calls in Jamaica for political restructuring. However, both the paucity of similar studies and the importance of the implications for sustainable growth and development demand further analyses.

俄罗斯经济增长的多角度分析

持续10年的增长使俄罗斯成为世界各国学者关注的焦点,有关增长质量和原因的探讨出现诸多分歧.本文在俄官方和世界银行、国际货币基金组织公布的数据基础上对最近两年俄经济发展的结构特点进行了细致的追踪和梳理,从历史的纵向、地域的横向以及内、外部因素对增长的结构性贡献的角度阐释了俄罗斯经济增长的实质,并对最近两年俄罗斯经济发展的基本特点以及全球危机冲击下的俄经济状况进行了描述和解析.     

State lotteries: Explaining their popularity

This article provides a detailed explanation for the adoption of state lotteries as revenue measures. It focuses on Texas for examples. Relying on a previously published set of evaluative criteria for revenue sources, the authors explain why, despite generally negative treatment of state lotteries by revenue experts, lotteries are favored by legislatures and publics in thirty-four states and the District of Columbia. As revenue matters rather than general policy matters, lotteries are politically expedient and have sufficiently large yields to overshadow shortcomings noted by experts and critics: regressivity, high administrative costs, instability, lower than anticipated yields, and potential negative social consequences. This look at policy-maker and public evaluation of state lotteries explains their widespread utilitization.     

经济增长区域差异中的人力资源因素

区域经济增长取决于区域拥有的物质资本存量和人力资源存量的数量和质量,而区域的经济竞争能力越来越取决于该区域人力资源的质量.改革开放以来我国区域经济呈现出东、中、西部之间差距不断扩大的格局,较发达地区与相对落后地区经济差距拉大的马太效应正在引起社会的广泛关注,造成这种状况的原因很多,人力资源的区域差异是其中最重要的一个.探讨区域人力资源的差异及其成因,并制定出符合市场规则的人力资源配置对解决目前日益扩大的地区差距有着重要的意义.     

2019年世界经济形势：进入中低速增长轨道

2019年世界经济增速持续下滑,国际贸易与投资增长表现不佳,与此同时,主要经济体就业市场稳中向好、物价水平总体稳中有降,国际货币体系日益多元。特朗普政府推行单边主义和贸易保护主义政策,发达经济体货币与财政政策效果减弱,全球总需求不足,发达经济体陷入持续低迷等因素制约全球经济增长。展望未来,负利率的出现与扩散、国际金融市场风险与投资信心缺失、部分国家深陷社会动荡等因素将对2020年全球经济增长产生消极影响。以中国为代表的新兴经济体将在未来全球经济增长中继续扮演主引擎的角色。     

Economic Fluctuations and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Importance of Import Instability

The traditional thesis that export instability (XI) is deleterious to economic growth in developing economies has received mixed empirical results. For African countries, recent research suggests that the effect of XI is weak, but that capital (investment) instability (KI) adversely influences economic growth. The current study argues that in many of these nations, imports are likely to be critical to the growth process, while exports represent only one of the various sources of investment resources. Hence, import instability (MI) may pose a more serious problem than XI in hindering economic growth. Employing 1968-1986 World Bank data for 33 sub-Saharan African countries, XI, KI and MI variables are calculated for each country as the standard errors around the respective 'best-fitted' trends over the sample period. These instability measures and additional World Bank data are then used to estimate an augmented production function that controls for the effects of labour, capital, and exports. The study finds that although KI is still a relevant argument of the production function, MI appears to be even more important, while XI is extraneous.     

Economic Development,Foreign Aid and Neoclassical Growth: A Comment

The Democratic Process in a Developing Society. By A. H. Somjee. London: Macmillan, 1979. Pp. vi + 161. £12.

Pastoral Production and Society/Production Pastorale et Société. Edited by Équipe Écologie et Anthropologie des Sociétés Pastorales. Cambridge and Paris: Cambridge University Press/Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1979. Pp. 493. Hardback £15.50, paperback £5.95.

Rural Women at Work: Strategies for Development in South Asia. By Ruth Dixon. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978. £10.50.

Agricultural Modernisation, Poverty and Inequality: the Distributional Impact of the Green Revolution in Regions of Malaysia and Indonesia. By David S. Gibbons, Rodolphe De Koninck and Ibrahim Hasan. Farnborough, England: Saxon House, 1980. Pp. lx + 225. £12.50.

Agrarian Structures and Agrarian Reform. By S. I. Cohen. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. Pp. xiv + 136. Dfl. 28.50.

The Political Economy of Collectivised Agriculture: A Comparative Study of Communist and Non‐Communist Systems. Edited by Ronald A. Francisco, Betty A. Laird and Roy D. Laird. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1979. Pp. 251. £13.75.

Agrarian Systems and Rural Development. By Dharam Ghai, Azizur Rahman Khan, Eddy Lee and Samir Radwan. London: Macmillan for the ILO, 1979. Pp. xv + 375. £20.

Food Aid and the Developing World: Four African Case Studies. By Christopher Stevens. London: Croom Helm, 1979. Pp. 224. Hardback £9.95, paperback £4.95.

Population and Economic Development. By Yves Bizien. New York: Praeger, 1979. Pp. vi + 186. £12.25.

Short‐Term Macroeconomic Policy in Latin America. Edited by Jere Behrman and James A. Hanson. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger for NBER, 1979.

Inflation and Stabilisation in Latin America. Edited by Rosemary Thorp and Lawrence Whitehead. London: Macmillan, 1979. Pp. xl + 285. £20.     

Corruption,Privatisation and Economic Growth in Post-communist Countries

Abstract

This article empirically investigates the effects of corruption and privatisation on economic growth in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR. We use a corruption and privatisation augmented open-economy leader–follower endogenous growth model to derive our research hypotheses. In this setting, corruption, privatisation and external openness jointly determine the per capita income in the follower economy. This model predicts that economies with higher shares of private ownership, lower corruption, and higher external openness enjoy higher rates of growth. Our empirical verification of these predictions is based on a panel of 29 post-communist countries during the period 1996–2014. Our estimation results confirm the negative effects of corruption, while the positive effects of privatisation are limited to small-scale privatisation.     

State, Business, and Economic Growth in India

For the past 25 years, India’s economy has grown at an average rate of nearly 6% annually. The widely embraced argument that this growth acceleration results from the Indian state’s adoption of a pro-market strategy is inadequate for two reasons: the higher growth rate began a full decade before the liberalizing 2reforms in 1991; and post-1991 industrial growth has not accelerated. Instead, India’s economy has grown briskly because the Indian state has prioritized growth since about 1980, and slowly embraced Indian capital as its main ruling ally. This pro-business growth strategy is likely to have adverse distributional and political consequences.     

State Business Relations and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa by examining the effect of effective state-business relations on economic growth for a panel of 19 sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1970–2004. We propose a measure that we argue captures the various dimensions of effective state–business relations in sub-Saharan Africa. We then estimate standard growth regressions using dynamic panel data methods with this measure, along with the more conventionally used measures of institutional quality such as degree of executive constraints, the rule of law, the degree of corruption and the quality of the bureaucracy. Our results show that effective state–business relations contribute significantly to economic growth – countries which have shown improvements in state–business relations have witnessed higher economic growth, controlling for other determinants of economic growth and independent of other measures of institutional quality.     

The Effects of Democracy on Economic Growth and Inequality: A review

What effects does political democracy have on such development outcomes as economic growth and socioeconomic equality? Competing theoretical models have been proposed that represent each of the possibilities: democracy as facilitating development, democracy as a hindrance to development, and democracy as bearing no independent relationship to development outcomes. Each of these theoretical models is explicated and, then, the evidence from quantitative, cross-national tests of the effects is reviewed. Overall, the evidence provided by the approximately dozen studies for each outcome yields few robust conclusions with respect to the theoretical models. To guide in the evaluation of the evidence, the studies are in turn distinguished by such design characteristics as sample, period observed, measures used, and form of relationship specified. This procedure, while it does not produce definitive support for any of the models, does assist in interpreting the results of past research as well as generating fertile guidelines for future research.     

Explaining chronic inflation in Indonesia

This paper describes and analyses Indonesia's frustrating experience with chronic inflation, and demonstrates that the cause of continuing moderately high inflation is excessive growth of base money. It examines the central bank's current target growth rates for narrow and broad money and bank lending, and argues instead in favour of a single target rate for base money as the key to bringing inflation under control.     

Inequality and Economic Growth: The Empirical Relationship Reconsidered in the Light of Comparable Data

Almost all the recent empirical work on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth has used inequality data that are not consistently measured. This article argues that this is inappropriate and shows that the significant negative correlation often found between income inequality and growth across countries may not be robust when income inequality is measured in a consistent manner. However, evidence is found of a significant negative correlation between consistently measured inequality of expenditure data and economic growth for a sample of developing countries.