Distributional effects of dollarisation: the Latin American case

Over the past two years Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala have adopted the US dollar as a legal currency in their countries. Several other Latin American countries, including Argentina, are currently discussing dollarisation. In this policy paper we look at the existing evidence for answers to two basic questions. First, under what general circumstances might dollarisation make sense? Second, are there clearly differentiated winners and losers from dollarisation and, if so, can we identify them, so that policy can take these political economy factors into consideration? Our review of the evidence demonstrates that there are consistent patterns of distributional effects, both positive and negative, from the choice of exchange rate regime. These effects are presently not considered in exchange rate policy decision making, but should be. While the effects are not as pronounced as those from major trade liberalisation agreements, they are significant. Ways to cushion the effects of exchange rate regime choice should be considered in the future by policy makers. Moreover, we find that dollarisation is embedded in the politics of the region. Dollarisation is often sold as a substitute for the deeper institutional reforms needed to improve economic performance and distribution in Latin America.     

Disinvesting in the administrative capacity for public action

Recurring cutbacks in the public sector have received extensiveattention. Most of the emphasis has been on how to adjust to declinein support for public programs. Cutback Management andcon-tracting-out are examples of this approach. This article focuseson the negative consequence of cutbacks. It suggests that inadequateattention is being given to the decrease in the capacity of agenciesto act. An administrative disinvestment is occurring in much the sameway as it has for roads, bridges and other parts of our public infrastructure. Now, we are disinvesting in another critical social asset--our public bureau-cracies. The nature and implictions ofadminis-trative disinvestment are explord.     

Crystallizing and Emancipating Identities in Post-Communist Estonia

This article concerns collective identities in the context of EU enlargement and the post-Soviet transition of Estonian society, particularly of the two main ethno-linguistic groups: ethnic Estonians and the Russian-speaking population in Estonia. The empirical basis of the study is formed by factor structures of self-identification. The data were obtained from nationally representative surveys carried out in 2002, before Estonia joined the EU, and in 2005. The thinking patterns behind the structures of self-categorization are discussed mainly on the basis of theoretical concepts of individualization and transition culture. For background information, comparative data collected in Latvia (2006) and in Sweden (2003) are used. The survey results reveal that in the post-communist transformation, EU integration and spread of global mass culture have homogenized the mental patterns of the Estonians and the Russians. It is characteristic of post-communist Estonia that both minority and majority groups have utilized trans-national and civic identity and individualistic patterns of self-identification in terms of (sub)culture and social and material achievement, extracted from social norms and existing structures. Surveys confirm that for political actors in both Estonia and Russia it is hardly possible any more to create a common umbrella identity for the Russians in Estonia—the self-designation patterns of the Estonian Russians have been emancipated during the transition period.     

Book reviews

One World to Share: selected speeches of the Commonwealth Secretary‐General, 1975–9. Shridath Ramphal, London: Hutchinson Benham. 1979. 444 pp. £10.95

The White House Years. Henry Kissinger, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson &; Michael Joseph. 1979. 1545 pp. £14.95

Kissinger and the Meaning of History. Peter W Dickson, Cambridge University Press. 1978. 207 pp. £8.95

Beyond Kissinger: ways of conservative statecraft. George Liska, London: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1975. 169 pp. $2.95

Where the Grass is Greener. David M Smith, Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. 1979. 386 pp. £2.25

Small‐Scale Irrigation. Peter Stern, London: Intermediate Technology Publications. 1979. 152 pp. np

The Social and Ecological Effects of Water Development in Developing Countries. Edited by Carl Widstrand, Oxford: Pergamon. 1978. 120 pp. £10.00

Water in a Developing World: the management of a critical resource. Edited by Albert E Utton &; Ludwik Teclaff, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press (distributed in the UK by Ernest Benn). 1978. 282 pp. £13.75

Marx and the End of Orientalism. Bryan S Turner, London: George Allen &; Unwin. 1978. 98 pp. £3.50

Project Planning for Developing Economies. WW Shaner, New York: Praeger. 1979. 235 pp. £14.25

International Development Administration: implementation analysis for development. Edited by G Honadle &; Rudi Klaus, New York: Praeger. 1979. 221 pp. £13.00

Nutrition and National Policy. Edited by Beverly Winikoff, London: MIT Press. 1979. 580pp. £15.75

The Nuclear Question: the United States and nuclear weapons, 1946–76. Michael Mandelbaum, Cambridge University Press. 1979.277 pp £12.50

Force Without War: US armed forces as political instruments. Barry M Blechman &; Stephen S Kaplan, Washington DC: Brookings Institution (distributed in the UK by Blackwells). 1978. 584 pp. £15.00. £6.50 pb

Nuclear Arms in the Third World: US policy dilemma. Ernest W Lefever, Washington DC: Brookings Institution (distributed in the UK by Blackwells). 1979. 154 pp. £8.50. £3.25 pb

The Nonaligned Movement: the origins of a Third World alliance. Peter Willetts, London: Frances Pinter. 1978.310 pp. £12.50

Coups and Earthquakes: reporting the world for America. Mort Rosenblum, New York: Harper &; Row. 1979. 230 pp. £5.95

Nations and States. Hugh Seton‐Watson, London: Methuen. 1979.563 pp. £12.00

Rich World, Poor World. Geoffrey Lean, London: George Allen &; Unwin. 1978.335pp. £4.50 pb

Your Own Pigs You May Not Eat: a comparative study of New Guinea societies. Paula G Rubel and Abraham Rosman University of Chicago Press. 1978.368pp. £14.40

Afterthoughts on Material Civilisation and Capitalism. Fernand Braudel, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1977.120 pp. $7.95

Women in the Muslim World. Edited by Lois Beck &; Nikki Keddie, Harvard University Press. 1979. 698 pp. £18.00

The Economics of Multinational Enterprise. Neil Hood &; Stephen Young, London: Longman Group. 1979. 412 pp. £7.95 pb

The Social and Cultural Impacts of Transnational Enterprises. Krishna Kumar, University of Sydney. Transnational Corporations Research Project (Working Paper No 6). 1979. 183 pp.

A New Stage in International Relations. N I Lebedev, Oxford: Pergamon. 1978. 253 pp. $20.00

The Political and Military Laws of War. J Lider, Farnborough, England: Saxon House. 1979. 266 pp. £10.50.

Becoming Modern. Alex Inkeles &; David H Smith, London: Heinemann Educational. 1974.436 pp. £5.00

The Capitalist World Economy. Immanuel Wallerstein, New York: Cambridge University Press. 1979. 305pp. £15.00

South Africa: the method in the madness. John Kane‐Berman, London: Pluto Press. 1979. 265 pp. £2.95 pb

White Man, We Want to Talk to You. Denis Herbstein, London: Andre Deutsch. 1979. 270 pp. £4.95

Africa Undermined: a history of the mining companies and the underdevelopment of Africa. G Lanning with M Mueller, Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. 1979. 590 pp. £3.50

Africanisation, Nationalisation and Inequality: mining labour and the copper belt in Zambian development. Philip Daniel, Cambridge University Press: 1979.202 pp. £12.50. £5.95 pb

Nasser and His Generation. PJ Vatikiotis, London: Croom Helm. 1978. 375 pp. £11.95

Politics Mainly Indian. W H Morris‐Jones, Bombay: Orient Longman. 1978. 392 pp. Rs 60.00

Papua New Guinea: its economic situation and prospects for development. G W Baldwin et al, London: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1978.223 pp. £4.50 pb

Paradise Postponed: essays on research and development in the South Pacific. Edited by Alexander Mamak &; Grant McCall, Oxford: Pergamon. 1978. 277 pp. £11.25

Urbanisation in Papua New Guinea: a study of ambivalent townsmen. Hal B Levine &; Marlene Wolfzahn Levine, Cambridge University Press. 1979.161 pp. £8.95. £3.95 pb

The Land of Promise: A critique of political Zionism. Abdelwahab M Elmessiri, New Brunswick, New Jersey: North American. 1977.255 pp. $6.95 pb

ASEAN Economies in Perspective: a comparative study of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. John Wong, London: Macmillan. 1979.217 pp. £3.95 pb

China's Role in World Affairs. Michael B Yahuda, London: Croom Helm. 1978. 300 pp. £10.95. £4.95 pb

Mao's China: a history of the People's Republic. Maurice Meisner, New York: Free Press. 1977. 416 pp. np

China and the Major Powers in East Asia. A Doak Barnett, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution (distributed in the UK by Blackwells). 1977. 416 pp. np

Chinese Politics After Mao. Edited by Jurgen Domes, Cardiff, Wales: University College Cardiff Press. 1979. 291 pp. np

São Paolo: growth and poverty. A Report from the São Paolo Peace and Justice Commission, with an introduction by Cardinal Arns, Archbishop of Säo Paulo. London: The Bowerdean Press (in association with The Catholic Institute for International Relations). 1978.128 pp. £3.40

Frontier Development Policy in Brazil: a study of Amazônia. Dennis J Mahar, New York: Praeger. 1979.182 pp. £10.50

Arise Ye Starvelings: the Jamaican labour rebellion of 1938 and its aftermath. Ken Post, London: Institute of Social Studies/The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1979.502 pp. np

The Future of the Inter‐American System. Edited by TJ Farer, London: Praeger. 1979. 290 pp. £13.00     

Information technology and education for the public service

Nation-wide surveys of graduate programs in public administration/affairs support assertions by critics that most programs do not provide students with adequate preparation for coping with information technology. This paper identifies the computer-related knowledge and skills demanded by the contemporary administrative workplace and, after analyzing the sufficiency of current curricula offerings, proposes three goals for education in the use and management of information technology and suggests curriculum revisions necessary to reach these goals. Finally, implementation problems associated with curricula revisions are identified and discussed.