The making of Amerexico: (mis)handling illegal immigration

The border and social policies that the United States shares with Mexico have had only a modest impact on the level of illegal immigration. Alternative methods could reduce the social backlash against Mexican immigrants in US states of destination. Federal Relief Aid to states affected by new arrivals would ameliorate hostility. Although economic stagnation may depress the flow of immigrants or job opportunities, legal or illegal, economic recovery is dependent on the hard work of immigrants. The political solution has been to tighten border controls. Other options are possible. There should be pressure placed on multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to incorporate immigration issues in economic policy decisions. Many market reforms have contributed to greater emigration. The US has the option to use both supply and demand side options. Enforcement of workplace rules on minimum wages and health and safety standards would make it more difficult to exploit immigrant workers and would decrease the incentive to hire illegal workers. In a deregulated market stricter work standards were considered difficult to attain. A 1993 opinion poll revealed that 65% thought immigration was not beneficial. Border apprehension rates have increased dramatically over the past 30 years. The most recent policies aim to encourage the mobility of capital and trade through the NAFTA free trade agreement while trying to discourage human resource mobility. The push factors in Mexico are identified as high levels of poverty and unemployment, overpopulation, and economic stagnation. NAFTA and prior economic development efforts have not addressed the push factors. Disruption of traditional ways and changes toward greater industrialization spur emigration. The US program to develop border export industry encouraged migration from the interior of Mexico to border areas. Recent Mexican policies have changed the incentives for small farmers to stay on their lands, and Mexican urban areas are overpopulated. Experience has taught that migration flows are easier to start than stop.     

Private Water,Public Good: Water Privatization and State Capacity in Chile

In the global policy debate over whether water services in developing countries should remain public or be privatized, advocates for privatization call for reducing the role of the state in water services, while civil society groups argue that privatization violates the human right to water. This article examines water privatization in Chile, a crucial case in the debate over the role of markets and states in water services. Chile is known as a water privatization success story due to its high coverage of drinking water and sanitation under a fully privatized system. The article addresses two questions: How effectively does Chile meet the standard for fulfilling the human right to water within the privatized system? To what extent has privatization in Chile reduced the role of the state in water service provision? I find that the human right to water, narrowly defined, is fulfilled in Chile; however, this outcome is not attributable to the merits of privatization. Chile’s strong state capacity to govern the water sector in the public interest by embedding reforms in state interventions explains the relative success of the Chilean water sector. These findings support the argument that a strong state role is necessary to fulfill the human right to water, even in a privatized water sector.     

Public administration implications of the north american free trade agreement

The emerging North American trade bloc presents both challenges and opportunities for Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Free trade among disparate partners is a complex undertaking. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will bring important benefits to all three countries, but it will also raise many important issues. The sharp differences in wage rates, worker productivity, and education levels among the partners has fueled fears of job losses on both sides of the border. Disparity among NAFTA nations on labor practices, health and occupational safety laws and regulations are also sources of conflict. Effective dispute resolution mechanisms must exist for both the trade and non-trade issues. Practical guidance, in this regard, can come from the experience of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and the European Economic Community (EEC; European Union since 1993). New political and administration mechanisms will be required to deal with each of these challenging issues.     

The latin american business environment: patent protection issues

Considers the issue of patent rights in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Reviews both theoretical and empirical literature on fitting patent systems to national circumstances. Data are considered shedding light on trade flows and capital formation, two areas impacted by strong or weak protection. Recommends a general hybrid system for Latin American nations, meeting GATT standards while remaining adaptable to individual country needs.     

Epistemology and ‘evidence’ in development studies: a review of Dollar and Kraay

This paper examines the constraints on state policy autonomy engendered by globalisation. It evaluates the three major competing hypotheses on the decline in the state's inability to bargain with multinational corporations for the purpose of promoting economic development in light of two case studies of state – firm bargaining. The case studies are drawn from the mining sectors in Argentina and Chile in the late 1990s.     

Industrial Wage Inequality in Latin America in Global Perspective, 1900–2000

Standard economic theories of wage inequality focus on the factor-biased nature of technological change and globalization. This paper examines the long-run development of industrial wage inequality in Latin America from a global comparative perspective. We find that wage inequality was comparatively modest during the first half of the twentieth century, but rising much faster during the post-war era than in other industrial countries. In-depth analyses of wage inequality trends in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile confirm this pattern, but also reveal notable country peculiarities. In Argentina and Chile, trend breaks coincided with large political–institutional shocks while in Brazil, wage inequality increased unabated under the wage regulation policies of successive post-war administrations. We argue that without taking national policies with respect to education and the labor market into account, economic theory cannot explain “Latin American” patterns of wage inequality.     

The US--Caribbean apparel connection and the politics of 'NAFTA parity'

This article utilises a 'commodity chains' approach in order to examine the growth in the role of Caribbean offshore assembly operations in the North American apparel production complex. It specifically focuses on the recently enacted Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), which was designed to address the diversionary consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in terms of apparel-related investment in the Caribbean. In the process, it highlights the domestic coalition of forces within the USA which have been actively pushing for NAFTA parity for the Caribbean since 1993. In particular, it notes that contradictions within this NAFTA parity coalition account for the skewed nature of the CBTPA, as it was eventually passed. For this reason it is ultimately argued that, while this legislation is likely to enhance regional integration and further the competitiveness of US apparel firms, any developmental consequences accruing to the Caribbean from this package are likely to be fairly limited, given the restrictive nature of the legislation as well as the competitive logic of the export processing zones (EPZs) in which Caribbean apparel assembly is invariably located.     

Overview of economy-wide nafta models

In the recent debate about the costs and benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), both proponents and opponents used the empirical results of several economic models to support their arguments. Most of the quantitative estimates were provided by computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, which are part of the growing literature known as applied general equilibrium.

The CGE model is a powerful tool that can make important contributions to policy debates. Compared to other approaches, CGE models rest on a relatively more solid theoretical foundation. However, the numerical analysis has to be interpreted properly. Quantitative estimates are highly tentative and contingent on the assumptions of the models. Thus, estimates should not be interpreted as predictions but rather as providing some indication of the direction of the various economic changes induced by a certain policy change.

This paper provides an overview of the CGE approach, and of its application to NAFTA. After outlining how a CGE model works, it reviews some of the quantitative results of CGE models used to assess the impact of NAFTA. The paper is intended for an audience not trained in economics.     

Gender,Land and Sexuality: Exploring Connections

This article explores links between the issues of sexuality and gendered control over agricultural land. It discusses gendered land rights in several settings, concentrating particularly on agrarian and land reforms. I argue that land redistribution in the “household” model, discussed for Chile and Nicaragua, tends to entrench male household and agricultural control. In contrast, more collective forms, discussed for Vietnam, have displayed economic weaknesses but had potential to undercut such control by socialising women’s labour. Fears about and visions of female sexuality have much to do with backlashes against inclusion of women, either through allowing them membership of cooperatives and collectives or through granting rights such as joint titling to land. In sub-Saharan Africa, there currently exists much discussion of improving women’s control over agriculture and its products. These continue to meet opposition, despite female predominance in agriculture in the region. Thus, even though women work on the land in many societies, this does not give them any automatic “closeness” to nature or say within households. Control over women’s, especially wives’, labour within peasant households, is linked to the manner that their persons and their labour are bound up in this socio-economic form. The article also examines two feminist attempts to configure alternative agricultural forms: the case of a lesbian agricultural collective in the west of the USA and an Indian model of new female-centred households for single women. Heterosexuality as an institution and gender subordination more broadly, as the examples here indicate, have to do not only with sexual practices or identity but extend also to issues of labour and access to crucial resources.     

Multinationals as Stabilisers? Economic Crisis,Access to Finance,and Employment Growth

This article examines the comparative response of multinationals and domestic firms to an economic crisis, using the empirical setting of a well defined case of economic slowdown in Chile. We find that employment in manufacturing plants has been drastically reduced during the economic crisis. Our findings reveal that multinationals are more likely to exit contributing to the employment contraction during the crisis, but surviving foreign firms experience lower employment reductions than domestic enterprises. These results are not fully consistent with the idea that multinationals are less affected by an economic crisis and that they may act as stabilisers.     

Hispanics and foreign policy

Difficulties abound in any attempt to generalize about the role of ethnicity in foreign policy-making in the United States. First, some ethnic groups have become more iduential than others. Second, those that have succeeded have seen their influence rise and fall, depending on multiple factors and circumstances. Still other groups, despite their increasing numbers, have yet to attempt to influence foreign policy.

The Hispanic experience in iniluencing foreign policy belongs to the last category. Several factors account for the limited Hispanic influence in foreign policy, such as their fragmentation and their lack of clout in domestic issues. Other factors are more specifically political and have to do with the fact that active involvement by Hispanics in politics has yet to come.

The end of the Cold War has displaced security issues from the top of the foreign policy agenda of the United States. The overarching rationale granted by anti-communism is no longer available.

Simultaneously, the Summit of the Americas, of December 1994, has recognized that economic issues, such as trade and investment, have gained ascendancy in the Hemispheric agenda.

The primacy of economics in Hemispheric relations furnishes an opportunity for Hispanic businesses to participate more actively in trade and investment relations in the Hemisphere.

However, as revealed by the debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade and investment have proven to be very divisive issues for Hispanics. Consequently, the Hispanic business community, particularly those small and medium size companies that are already active in international trade and investment, will have to act deliberately to benefit fiom the opportunities that are emerging.     

Poverty and Inequality in a Rapid Growth Economy: Chile 1990-96

Using parametric and non-parametric methods this article examines the evolution of poverty and inequality in Chile between 1990 and 1996. This period is interesting because of the rapid growth exhibited by the Chilean economy. Using the Datt-Ravallion decomposition economic growth accounts for over 85 per cent of poverty reduction. The evidence suggests that the sustained level of high inequality is not necessarily associated with a lower welfare level. By comparing the evolution of poverty and inequality over time, we observe a continuous decrease in poverty, while inequality remains stable. This pattern has left everyone (both poor and rich individuals) better off.     

Public official associations and professionalism

Associations of public officials have been an important element of public professionalism in the United States since the reform era. This paper examines the ways in which associations of public officials are helping to redefine public professionalism. The focus on the paper is on the promotion of professionalism by association activities, the sense of professional identity fostered by association involvement, and the ways in which associations integrate issues of policy, management, and professional expertise to contribute to the development of true public professionalism. The paper examines ways that professional/specialist and political/generalist associations are converging on issues of policy, strategic thinking, and role effectiveness.     

Management by Measurement? Public Management Practices Amidst Ambiguity

In the public sphere, a management by measurement (MBM) movement can be traced. Practitioners attempt to strengthen the transparency and effectiveness of administrative systems by introducing rational measurement cycles. When issues are managed, ambitions must be stated, options must be assessed, optimal options must be chosen and performance must be monitored and evaluated. This cycle rests upon assumptions that are often untenable. When issues are ambiguous, interpretative spaces exist; when interpretative spaces exist, strict measurement cycles do not work because required conditions and assumptions cannot be met. This article explores the nature of interpretative spaces by identifying three types of public management practice. In this typology of public management, practices differ in terms of the extent to which issues can be classified, as well as the extent to which standards are contested. Management by measurement fits canonical practices where issues are known and standards are shared, it is argued, but is less appropriate for evaluating non-canonical practices and practices-in-transition where such a classification of issues is weak and consensus on standard is absent. MBM focuses on data; the other practices require dialogue in order to manage ambiguity and interpretative spaces.     

POLICY ISSUES IN MANAGING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This symposium examines several public policy and management issues that are important to economic development. The symposium introduction paper consists of two major sections. The introduction section provides a brief review of the literature related to economic development management. The second section summarizes the major issues and findings emphasized in each symposium paper.     

The Emperor’s new clothes: Labor reform and social democratization in Chile

This article analyzes the relationship between political and social democratization in recent democratic transitions by illustrating how the two processes were at odds in the case of labor reform in Chile (1990–2001). Labor reform served simultaneously to consolidate political democracy and slow down the momentum of social democratization. It was a tool for signalling policy change to legitimate the democratic regime, but at the same time leaving the liberal economy intact. The Chilean case calls into question the thesis of a natural progression from political to social rights prevalent in democratic theory, and allows us to generalize about the way marketization places limits on democratic deepening. The article first discusses what would be appropriate criteria of social democratization considering contemporary labor issues and labor relations in Chile. It then investigates the political process of labor reform. Ongoing legal debates through the 1990s show the extent of path dependence set in motion by the timid nature of the first social reforms in Chile’s new demoncracy and their muting effect on citizenship. Louise Haagh obtained her doctorate from the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College) in 1998, and for the next three years held a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the College. In 2001 she began a lectureship at the University of York.     

从NAFTA到USMCA:投资争端解决机制的变化、成因及启示

2020年7月生效的《美国—墨西哥—加拿大协定》在投资争端解决机制上一改《北美自由贸易协定》下偏重对投资者权利保护的“新自由主义”精神,回归对国家规制权能的重视。在适用对象、适用争议、适用程序上作出变化与革新。全球价值链收缩及“慢球化”、投资争端解决机制的内在合法性危机以及对东道国规制权力的削弱,是国际投资争端解决机制发生变化的深层次经济、法律与政治动因。《美国—墨西哥—加拿大协定》投资争端解决机制的变化与革新将进一步推动“卡尔沃主义”的回归以及加剧国际投资法体制内部的碎片化趋势。中国应积极支持及推进投资争端解决机制改革,使其发挥正面作用,同时辩证吸收“卡尔沃主义”的合理因素,积极探索诸如前置协商、投诉与帮助以及调解等解决投资者与东道国之间投资争议的多元渠道。     

Ceremonial regionalism,institutions and integration in the Americas

Latin America's recent integrationist proposals have been presented as part of a new commitment to increasing living standards and international competitiveness. However, the frustrating results of integration in the past three decades should caution us against placing excessive emphasis on the technical aspects of trade. The author argues that important lessons can be learned from previous attempts to promote integration in this region while neglecting the political dimensions of integration. Inadequate organizational forms, weak institutional arrangements ruled by technocratic elites, may be more helpful as ceremonial devices in the legitimation of those elites than in advancing the substance of the integration project. Verónica Montecinos is assistant professor of sociology at The Pennsylvania State University, McKeesport Campus. She has researched the consequences of economic reforms on women as well as the growing involvement of professional economists in government and party politics. Her book on the economic bureaucracy in Chile is forthcoming.     

Solidarity forever? ABC,ALBA and South–South Cooperation in Haiti

The growing influence of the global South in international affairs has prompted a passionate discussion about the role of South–South cooperation (SSC). SSC is sometimes uncritically portrayed as a uniform phenomenon that presents a superior alternative to North–South Cooperation (NSC). To problematise and deepen our knowledge about SSC, this article examines the intriguing case of Haiti, which has seen a wealth of SSC cooperation since the international intervention in 2004. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the study compares the approaches of two distinct Southern groupings working in Haiti: Argentina, Brazil and Chile (the so-called ABC countries) and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) led by Venezuela. We argue that ABC and ALBA display marked differences and that, while their approaches have distinct strengths and weaknesses, they do not necessarily represent a fundamental improvement over NSC.     

Debt relief through debt conversion: A critical analysis of the Chilean debt conversion programme

The purpose of this study is to look at the effects of debt conversion transactions in the case of Chile. The decision to centre on Chile lies in the fact that Chile is nowadays considered to have the most successful programme of debt conversion among debtor countries. However, the Chilean debt conversion programme presents some shortcomings. In fact, as this study shows, the conversion scheme may have negative effects regarding direct foreign investment and the balance of payments.