Regulatory reform,property rights,and economic development

Overcoming tradeoffs between the social benefits of regulation and the economic benefits of development has never been easy in practice. This article examines the economic development consequences of state and local regulation by developing a framework that provides a theoretical basis for expecting regulatory costs to influence the amount and location of new development. After elaborating the theory, I identify two ways state and local governments may be able to pursue regulatory goals without creating disincentives for economic development. One approach is for state or local government to socialize costs of regulatory compliance through public expenditures or subsidies. A second, and more promising, approach is to pursue regulatory reform which lessens private sector transaction costs by reducing regulatory uncertainty. This framework is illustrated using two cases: state regulation of the chemical industry, and growth management regulation.     

Japan,Russia, and the Northern Territories: Continuities,changes, obstacles,opportunities

The so-called collapse of communism has reinforced powerful North American- and Western-European-centred visions which continue to see 'Western' models of development as the key to modernization world-wide. The end of the Cold War has also drawn renewed attention to the rise of an increasingly dynamic capitalist East Asia, which has brought with it triumphant East Asian-centred discourses which celebrate East Asianstyle development models distinct from and superior to 'Western' models of development. At the same time, challenges to the dominant discourses and the emergent post-Cold War capitalist order continue to emerge from numerous angles and at multiple sites. Two recent books represent important efforts at critically examining global inequality and articulating alternative perspectives to the dominant international narratives on development and social change. In After the Revolution , Arif Dirlik attempts to recast and recuperate Marxism so that it can play a role in progressive politics at the end of the twentieth century. Meanwhile, Arturo Escobar's new work seeks to engage critically with the dominant Western discourse on 'development' and sketch out alternative post-development trajectories from a position that synthesises post-structural analysis with the insights and concerns of grassroots activists-writers and the new social movements. Beginning with Escobar's book, I will examine some of the key themes and draw out what I see as some of the main analytical strengths and weaknesses of these two contributions to the post-Cold War development debate.     

Psy-expertise,therapeutic culture and the politics of the personal in development

Expertise stemming from the psy disciplines is increasingly and explicitly shaping international development policy and practice. Whilst some policy makers see the use of psy expertise as a new way to reduce poverty, increase economic efficiency, and promote wellbeing, others raise concerns that psychocentric development promotes individual over structural change, pathologises poverty, and depoliticises development. This paper specifically analyses four aspects of psy knowledge used in contemporary development policy: child development/developmental psychology, behavioural economics, positive psychology, and global mental health. This analysis illuminates the co-constitutive intellectual and colonial histories of development and psy-expertise: a connection that complicates claims that development has been psychologized; the uses and coloniality of both within a neoliberal project; and the potential for psychopolitics to inform development.     

Transnationalization,Social Integration,and Capitalist Diversity in the East and the South

This article analyzes the deep and shallow modes of international integration, semicore, semiperipheral, and peripheral profiles of global insertion, and the presence and absence of transformative state capacity and social cohesion, as interacting dimensions of capitalist diversity in post-socialist Eastern Europe and Latin America. On these grounds, it is argued that Cardoso and Faletto’s dependent development paradigm maintains validity. When adapted to the new conditions, their approach is able to capture the overlapping and divergent aspects of capitalist development in both regions. Recent patterns of development demonstrate that although dependency, stemming from the unequal distribution of resources, roles, and opportunities, continues to be an important aspect of the international division of labor, it ceases to contradict even complex forms of industrialization. Similarly, notwithstanding the asymmetrical power relationships characterizing them, the new transnational integration regimes allow and sometimes help formation of new nation states with improved regulatory capacities. Finally, dependency does not necessarily undermine domestic social inclusion. Rather, it is up to the democratic competition to strike a balance between the requirements of promising international and socially acceptable domestic integration.     

Performance Management,Evaluation and Learning in ‘Modern’ Local Government

Public sector reforms throughout OECD member states are producing a new model of ‘public governance’ embodying a more modest role for the state and a strong emphasis on performance management. In the UK, the development of performance management in the context of the ‘new public management’ has been primarily ‘top‐down’ with a dominant concern for enhancing control and ‘upwards account‐ability’ rather than promoting learning and improvement. The development of performance management and evaluation in local government in the UK has been conditioned by external pressures, especially reforms imposed by central government, which have encouraged an ‘instrumental–managerial’ focus on performance measurement. The new Labour government's programme of ‘modernizing local government’ places considerable emphasis on performance review and evaluation as a driver of continuous improvement in promoting Best Value. However, recent research has indicated that the capacity for evaluation in local government is uneven and many obstacles to evaluation exist in organizational cultures. Local authorities need to go beyond the development of review systems and processes to ensure that the capacity for evaluation and learning is embedded as an attribute of ‘culture’ in order to achieve the purpose of Best Value.     

Performance Management, Evaluation and Learning in 'Modern' Local Government

Public sector reforms throughout OECD member states are producing a new model of 'public governance' embodying a more modest role for the state and a strong emphasis on performance management. In the UK, the development of performance management in the context of the 'new public management' has been primarily 'top-down' with a dominant concern for enhancing control and 'upwards account-ability' rather than promoting learning and improvement. The development of performance management and evaluation in local government in the UK has been conditioned by external pressures, especially reforms imposed by central government, which have encouraged an 'instrumental–managerial' focus on performance measurement. The new Labour government's programme of 'modernizing local government' places considerable emphasis on performance review and evaluation as a driver of continuous improvement in promoting Best Value. However, recent research has indicated that the capacity for evaluation in local government is uneven and many obstacles to evaluation exist in organizational cultures. Local authorities need to go beyond the development of review systems and processes to ensure that the capacity for evaluation and learning is embedded as an attribute of 'culture' in order to achieve the purpose of Best Value.     

Urbanization,personal income,and physical quality of life: The case of Kenya

This paper addresses a variety of methodological, theoretical, and historical problems associated with previous research on urbanization and development in Kenya. The first part of the paper discusses several general theories of Third World urbanization and development. Next, these perspectives are examined within the context of recent historical circumstances in Kenya. The final part of the paper presents an entirely new quantitative study of urbanization and development in Kenya. It improves on earlier research by using (1) data fromall urban regions of the country, (2) a statistical model that testschange over time, and (3) several new variables. Overall, the analysis shows that both the causes and effects of urbanization are more complex than what was indicated in previous studies. The quantitative findings can be explained by reference to various theoretical and historical concerns discussed in the paper.     

Explaining Kazakhstani identity: supraethnic identity,ethnicity, language,and citizenship

The demographic composition of Kazakhstan after the fall of the Soviet Union presented a dilemma to the new Kazakhstani government: Should it advance a Kazakh identity as paramount, possibly alienating the large non-Kazakh population? Or should it advocate for a non-ethnicized national identity? How would those decisions be made in light of global norms of liberal multiculturalism? And, critically, would citizens respond to new frames of identity? This paper provides an empirical look at supraethnic identity-building in Kazakhstan – that is, at the development of a national identity that individuals place above or alongside their ethnic identification. We closely examine the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan to describe how Kazakhstani policies intersect with theories of nationalism and nation-building. We then use ordered probit models to analyze data from a 2014 survey to examine how citizens of Kazakhstan associate with a “Kazakhstani” supraethnic identity. Our findings suggest that despite the Assembly of People’s rhetoric, there are still significant barriers to citizen-level adoption of a supraethnic identity in Kazakhstan, particularly regarding language. However, many individuals do claim an association with Kazakhstani identity, especially those individuals who strongly value citizenship in the abstract.     

Chinese Soft Power,Insecurity Studies,Myopia and Fantasy

This article is critical of a series of works on Chinese soft power which have garnered much attention in recent years. These works typically portray Chinese soft power, characterised by its disregard for Western models of development that propagate ‘democratic governance’, as a latent threat to global order. The article argues that such claims are premature, and to date there is little evidence of a systematic attempt by the Chinese to propagate a ‘Beijing model’ of autocratic development. These claims are substantiated by analysing China's participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, which are characterised by mandates aimed at transforming war-torn states into liberal democracies. I suggest that China's participation in these operations is a crucial component of its ‘charm offensive’ aimed at the West, and designed to allay fears of a ‘China Threat’. The article argues that Chinese understandings of soft power are diverse and directed at multiple audiences. The tendency to ‘look for potential threats’ in many Western policy-informed works, however, ignores the multifaceted nature and diverse views on Chinese soft power, and clouds our ability to understand this new phenomenon in Chinese foreign policy.     

Reconceptualising the migration – development nexus: diasporas,globalisation and the politics of exclusion

The presence of a sizeable expatriate African population constitutes a potentially exploitable, if undeveloped, resource that represents a significant developmental challenge for the continent. Problematically the global division of labour and power, as well as differences of region, class, generation, ethnicity and race, are not properly recognised within the existing scholarship or development policy. What is clear is that diasporas do have a substantial role to play in development on the African continent. Further theoretical and empirical investigation is necessary to investigate the practical significance, nature and content of diasporic identifications and activities. By setting these against the structural backdrop of the global economy and the closely associated ideology of globalisation, this paper seeks to provide a new basis for understanding the role of the diaspora in development. This has considerable policy implications as to which diasporic populations should be targeted for developmental purposes.     

Waiting for Godot: Sustainable development,international trade and governance in environmental policies

The current environmental crisis calls for a sustainable style of development and draws attention to a new ecological dimension in social life that poses hitherto unforeseen challenges to the social sciences and to the everyday concerns of citizens, governments and private interests. Consequently, it is appropriate to attempt a critical overview of governance issues around the formation and implementation of environmental policies designed under the framework of sustainable development. After a brief introduction on how global perceptions about sustainable development have evolved, this article subsequently focuses attention on the main thrust of the emerging international environmental regime, and the multilateral environmental treaties embodied in it. Specific governance issues pertaining to environmental policies are also critically reviewed, particularly interrelations with the trade regime. The article concludes by spelling out some comments on research issues for the future, with a view to charting the environmental governance agenda lying ahead of us.     

The Rise and Transformation of the Radical Right Movement in Denmark, 1980–2015

This article examines the rise and subsequent development and transformation of the new radical right movement in Denmark from 1980–2015. The Danish radical right emerged from xenophobic subcultures as a reaction to increasing immigration during the 1980s and evolved into a social movement of nationalist associations, militant skinheads, and neo-Nazis that attempted to conquer the streets. This attempt was met by an antiracist countermovement, which built up a coalition of left-wing militants and moderate political organizations that put a temporary end to the radical right as a social movement during the second half of the 1990s. However, from 2001 national and international circumstances offered new opportunities for the Danish radical right both in the streets and as a parliamentary voice.     

阿拉伯海湾国家对外援助的战略、特点与影响

阿拉伯海湾援助国是新兴援助国的重要成员,在国际发展援助中的贡献与日俱增。援助国的实践服务于政治、经济与文化战略需求,与石油红利、君主制政权、历史地缘关系、伊斯兰文化的宗教属性及地区安全环境密切相关。从外交战略看,援助政策被纳入国家总体战略,在保持对战略重点区域持续投入的基础上向全球扩展,主要体现为团结援助和南南合作;从经济战略看,在全球范围内部署和循环利用石油财富,旨在加速推进国家经济多元化政策;从文化战略看,宣扬伊斯兰传统文化中慷慨施舍的精神,达到提升国家地位、塑造地区影响力之目的;从援助特点看,以王室和中央政府主导的援助政策,兼顾双边和多边的援助渠道,援助分配聚焦受援国经济与社会发展领域、积极对接国际发展合作新机制。援助不仅通过人道主义援助缓解了贫困国家的发展难题,而且彰显了其在国际发展合作中的多重作用,与中国深入践行合作共享的发展理念息息相通。     

Transnational processes,development studies and changing social hierarchies in the world system: A Central American case study

Globalisation is bringing about changes in social hierarchies in the world capitalist system which traditional categories and frameworks in development studies and macro-sociologies are unable to capture. Under globalisation processes of uneven accumulation are unfolding in accordance with a social and not a national logic. The increasing subordination of the logic of geography to that of production and the rising disjuncture between the fortunes of social groups and of nation-states, among other processes, demand that we rethink development. The social configuration of space can no longer be conceived in the nation-state terms that development theories posit but rather as processes of uneven development denoted primarily by social group rather than territorial differentiation. Social polarisation, the fragmentation of national economies, and the select integration of social groups into transnational networks, suggest that development may be reconceived not as a national process, in which what 'develops' is a nation, but in terms of developed, underdeveloped and intermediate population groups occupying contradictory or unstable locations in a transnational environment. The shift to flexible accumulation worldwide and from an international to a global division of labour result in an increasing heterogeneity of labour markets in each locale. Labour market participation becomes a key determinant of new social hierarchies and of development conceived in social groups terms. Local and national labour markets are themselves increasingly transnationalised, part of a global labour market, in which differentiated participation determines social development. This article applies these propositions to a case study of Central America, examining the changing fortunes of one particular region under global capitalism and the lessons it offers for changing social hierarchies in the world capitalist system and for a renewal of the sociology of development.     

Globalization,governance, and Administrative Culture

ABSTRACT

Globalization forces are colliding with international and national systems of governance, giving rise to a limited sovereignty of the nation-state. Globalization has also negatively affected poor countries and, in its wake, contributed to violence, hunger, and deprivation despite its powerful technological innovations and new economic, cultural, administrative, and political initiatives. This study conceives globalization, good governance, and the culture of governing as inextricably connected. After reviewing positions by proponents and opponents, the authors conclude that the dysfunctions of globalization are threatening the very foundation of developing nations’ systems of effective governance. Based on a review of developments in countries of the Middle East and South Asia, the authors believe that to serve the transformative process, leading to good governance and democratic development, globalization has to take account of important indigenous value systems.     

Contract Scholars,Friendly Philanthropists and Feminist Activists: new development subjects in the Pacific

Abstract

Understanding new actors in development requires a reconsideration of how subjects come to be and how collectivities are formed. This paper works with post-structuralist notions of subjectivities and collectivities as ‘series’ in three distinct cultural historical geographies to show the subtle ambiguities in contemporary practices of development. Working with Iris Marion Young's conceptualisation of seriality, it provides an Antipodean perspective on the entanglements of contemporary critical geography with new development actors through case studies of indigenous scholars in Te Rarawa in Aotearoa/New Zealand, of contract scholars and a philanthropist in West Bengal and of feminist activist scholars in the Pacific. In doing so, it points to the need to radically rethink participation in development by closely analysing the ways in which the subjects are constituted, and the critical role of visions within development narratives, actions and practice.     

Global governance,development and human security: exploring the links

This article draws attention to the convergence of the global development and security agendas at the beginning of the new millennium. It explores the links between global governance, development and human security. It argues that material sufficiency lies at the core of human security. Hence, the problems of poverty and deepening inequality are central concerns, and the unfolding of these problems in the 1980s and 1990s is highlighted. During the closing decades of the 20th century, a neoliberal vision dominated the global development policy agenda, while these problems of inequality deepened. The policy was developed, championed and implemented by a range of global governance institutions, working through state governments. The idea and the institutions of global governance are examined critically, with a view to establishing in whose interest global governance and its associated development policies may be operating, and whether this is in support of human security.     

Shaping the Future of Mid-range Northern ngdos: ten challenges,ten proposals

In recent years the financial crisis in traditional donor countries, the aid effectiveness debate and the approaching end of the Millennium Development Goals agenda have opened the door to new goals, instruments and actors in development. This is shaping a new and more complex global aid system. As a consequence, traditional actors like mid-range Northern ngdos (nngdos), born and raised in an oda-based development system, face a challenging scenario. This paper has two aims. First, it aims to summarise the 10 most important challenges nngdos face today. As will be shown, such a complex landscape calls for adaptation, especially if nngdos want to keep playing a key role in the development aid system. The second aim therefore is to present 10 proposals which could help nngdos to overcome these threats, shaping the future this relevant actor could play in the new global aid system.     

台湾与东盟经济关系发展新趋势、成因与前景分析

近几年来台湾与东盟经济关系呈现出一些新的发展趋势，主要表现为台湾对东盟投资额和双方贸易额快速增长，东盟在台湾对外经贸格局中的地位不断攀升以及双方经贸交流合作日益密切，其中台湾与新加坡率先签订“经济伙伴协议”，标志着台湾与东盟国家的经济关系迈入新的发展阶段。双方经济关系的快速发展是东盟经济的“引力”、大陆经济转型升级的“推力”、两岸关系和平发展和台湾当局政策“助力”这三股力量共同作用的结果。未来台湾与东盟经贸往来有望继续保持平稳发展态势，东盟对台湾经济重要性将持续上升，台湾也将东盟及主要国家列为对外商签VrA的重点对象，但可预见的是，双方经济关系将继续在“一个中国”框架内运行，且不会从根本上影响两岸经济关系发展大局。     

The early development of the soviet government bureaucracy: Center,localities, nationality areas

The article presents and appraises the innovative performance of Greece from the 1990s to the present and argues that Greece's economic strategy up to now has had little if anything to do with entrepreneurship and innovation. It focuses on two new groundbreaking reform initiatives proposed by the ministries of development and education, that provide, for the first time, the dynamics that could enable the country's economy to overcome some of its crippling dysfunctions and steer it towards entrepreneurship, innovation, and business clusters. The article concludes that where public administration economic strategies and public universities have failed, privately owned universities and the newly proposed entrepreneurial parks could finally guide the economy towards the right path.