Short notes on some books received

China's rural enterprises are economic units established by local government in the countryside or by the peasants and they operate outside the planning system. Rural enterprises have grown twice as fast as the rest of the economy since 1984. The rural enterprise sector has so far challenged the urban economy, in both product markets and markets for raw materials. What are the prospects for their relationship ‐ competition or cooperation? To answer the question, we develop a well‐specified but simple model of the rural and urban economies. The rural enterprise boom was caused in this model by the presence of barriers to factor mobility within China, price distortions and the pool of available labour in the countryside. The origins of the boom imply that rural enterprise exports tend to be relatively labour intensive. The complementarities between rural and urban enterprises are likely to dominate their future economic relationship and lead to further growth in the rural enterprise sector.     

Wage determination in Brazil: The growth of union bargaining power and informal employment

This article examines wage determination in Brazilian manufacturing during the 1980s and early 1990s. It presents evidence to show that the reduction in state regulation of collective bargaining has led to the development of a system of wage determination which is increasingly characterised by rent sharing and insider trade union bargaining power. Real wages appear increasingly inflexible with respect to movements in open unemployment, with a large informal sector disciplining formal sector wage bargaining and cushioning the impact of broader labour market conditions. An important consequence of this is that the employment costs of a successful counter‐inflationary strategy may be very severe.     

Measuring trade strategy in the presence of non‐tradeables: Theory and some evidence for the Caribbean

This article models trade policies in the presence of non‐tradeables, and investigates trade strategy interventions and outcomes where the price of non‐tradeables endogenously adjusts to trade interventions. Trade regime bias and neutrality issues are examined within a three‐sector, open economy model. The theoretical framework is operationalised using empirical evidence for Trinidad and Barbados. The robustness of partial equilibrium measures of protection for classifying trade strategies is challenged and evidence on alternative general equilibrium or ‘true’ measures of protection is reported. ‘True’ or revealed trade strategies are shown to differ from those apparently intended by policy‐makers.     

The significance of outcomes within european health sector reforms: towards the development of an outcomes culture

Recently, policy makers, managers and users of health services have focused their attention on questions about service outcomes and effectiveness. However, the stakeholders in health care-communities, patients, clinicians, insurers, purchasers, managers and policy-makers - may, for various reasons, desire different outcomes to be realised over different timescales. Whilst a focus on outcomes forms a key evaluative criteria within the reforms of European health care systems, the significance of information and the priorities given to outcomes vary across Europe. A central tension lies between the pursuit of individual as opposed to population health gain. Other key issues include the need to separate the evaluation tools from their use and the importance of user choice and user involvement. The article outlines a model of the possible roles and needs for outcomes information. It differentiates between the uses of outcomes information at the patient care and population levels and for considering individual and population health gain. The needs to enhance country-based outcomes databases and to aid the development of an outcomes culture across health care systems in Europe are discussed. The article also discusses issues relating to developing an outcomes culture as an essential element of the health care reform process.     

Indonesia: The politics of inclusion

Much commentary on Indonesian politics since the fall of President Suharto in May 1998 has suggested that Indonesia's political system has remained just as exclusionary as it was prior to his fall, despite becoming much more democratic and decentralised. In contrast to this view, we argue that Indonesia's political system has become more inclusive, if only somewhat more so. The fall of Suharto and the subsequent process of democratisation have removed key obstacles to organisation by poor and disadvantaged groups and their NGO allies, making it easier for them to engage in collective action aimed at achieving pro-poor policy change. By making attainment of political office dependent on the support of the voting public, many of whom are poor and disadvantaged, these developments have also created an incentive for politicians to pursue policy changes that favour these groups or at least that appeal to them. At the same time, however, we argue that poor and disadvantaged groups have not become major players in the policy-making process. Despite the fall of Suharto and democratisation, these groups continue to lack the resources possessed by other participants in the policy-making process. Whereas the politico-bureaucrats and well-connected business groups have been able to exercise influence over policy by buying support within representative bodies such as parliament and mobile capital controllers, the IFIs and Western governments have been able to exercise influence by virtue of their structural power, poor and disadvantaged groups have had to rely on less potent ways of exercising influence such as holding demonstrations, engaging in lobbying activity and participating in public debates. We illustrate these points with reference to two policy issues: land reform and mining in protected forests. The article concludes by considering the future prospects for inclusive policy-making in Indonesia.     

Imperialism’s effects on China

Abstract

Three years ago in this journal, James Peck argued that “the professional ideology of America’s China watchers” has tended to blind them to certain approaches to modern Chinese history that might be labelled “revolutionary Marxist” interpretations. As an example, Peck argued that the China watchers have explained China’s nineteenth and early twentieth century difficulties (prolonged economic and military weakness, failed reforms and revolutions) by reference to internal factors (culture, social structure), while a revolutionary Marxist perspective would seek explanations in the effects of imperialism. He provided several examples of the types of effects imperialism may have had on China: “The power of the metropolitan countries to block the formation of vital domestic industries in the dependent countries competitive with their own operations; the domination of mercantile over industrial capital; and the subordination of the economic life of a dependent nation to the severe fluctuations of the primary commodities market.” But he did not have space in his article, which was primarily concerned with a critique of existing work in the China field, to provide a fuller outline of what the imperialism approach to modern China might involve.     

The Conventional Missile Capabilities of China's Second Artillery Force: Cornerstone of Deterrence and Warfighting

Abstract

Since its establishment in the early 1990s, the conventional missile component of the People's Liberation Army's Second Artillery Force (SAF) has emerged as a centerpiece of China's accelerating military modernization program. The conventional missile force has grown in size and sophistication, and China has developed a doctrine for its employment. Chinese military publications emphasize that it plays an increasingly important role in deterrence and warfighting. In particular, Chinese sources underscore its role in achieving information dominance, air superiority, and sea control as well as countering third-party intervention. China's development of advanced conventional missile capabilities highlights the growing vulnerability of fixed bases and surface ships. Moreover, organizational tendencies, could fuel dangerous escalation. In response to these challenges, the United States must adapt its traditional approach to military operations and deterrence in the Asia-Pacific.     

An “Assertive” China? Insights from Interviews

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a more assertive China. What happened to China's “peaceful rise” and “charm offensive”? What explains the changes in China's foreign policy? According to interviews with Beijing and Shanghai-based analysts, China's assertiveness between 2008 and 2010 can be divided into two waves, each triggered by a different cause. The first wave seems triggered by a sense in Beijing that Washington, DC was more differential to China's interests, and less committed to East Asia. The second wave seems best explained as China's response to what it perceived as a far more assertive and threatening United States. Both waves were amplified by two domestic challenges: Chinese leaders’ hypersensitivity to popular nationalism and poor bureaucratic coordination among an expanding number of foreign policy actors.     

Kyrgyzstan between democratization and ethnic intolerance

The international community has expressed great concern about the treatment of the Uzbek minority in the south of Kyrgyzstan and has called on the majority community to make major efforts to improve the situation. The article compares the treatment of minorities in Kyrgyzstan with analogous situations in the Balkans and contends that, given the European-style ethno-national state model and democratic political system that have been adopted by independent Kyrgyzstan, such calls are unrealistic.