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Capital Management Techniques in Developing Countries: Managing Capital Flows in Malaysia, India, and China

Gerald Epstein, Ilene Grabel, and K. S. Jomo

in Capital Market Liberalization and Development

This chapter uses the term capital management techniques to refer to two complementary and often overlapping types of financial policies: policies that govern international private capital flows, and ... More

This chapter uses the term capital management techniques to refer to two complementary and often overlapping types of financial policies: policies that govern international private capital flows, and those that enforce prudential management of domestic financial institutions. While the management of inflows has recently gained some respectability, those policies affecting capital outflows, especially if they have been in place for long periods of time, are still controversial. The chapter presents case studies of the capital management techniques employed in India, China, and Malaysia — three countries that managed capital outflows during the 1990s. The cases reveal that policymakers were able to use capital management techniques to achieve critical macroeconomic objectives, including the prevention of maturity and locational mismatch, attraction of favoured forms of foreign investment; reduction in overall financial fragility, currency risks, and speculative pressures on the economy; insulation from the contagion effects of financial crises; and enhancement of the autonomy of economic and social policy. The chapter examines the structural factors that contributed to these achievements, and weighs the costs associated with these measures against their macroeconomic benefits.Less

Managing Capital Surges in Emerging Economies

Stephany Griffith-Jones, Manuel F. Montes, and Anwar Nasution

in Short-Term Capital Flows and Economic Crises

Because of technological advances in terms of communications, and because of the liberalization of capital accounts, private capital flows experienced rapid growth at the end of the 20th century ... More

Because of technological advances in terms of communications, and because of the liberalization of capital accounts, private capital flows experienced rapid growth at the end of the 20th century across developing economies. This final chapter looks into the differences between the capital flows to Asia and Latin America that seem to have gained much importance during the earlier years of this study rather than in 1990s. Analyzing the scale and the prominent characteristics of global private capital flows aids in identifying the key elements involved in managing capital flows and policy making procedures especially in developing countries. Also, this chapter attempts to provide a comparison of the various policy responses implemented by different developing countries in addressing such issues.Less

Managing Capital Inflows in Chile

Manuel R. Agosin and Ricardo Ffrench-Davis

in Short-Term Capital Flows and Economic Crises

As private capital inflows resurged in Latin America during the later part of the 1980s, Chile was one of the first countries to attract such foreign capital flows and was also the one to attract the ... More

As private capital inflows resurged in Latin America during the later part of the 1980s, Chile was one of the first countries to attract such foreign capital flows and was also the one to attract the largest supply. Although the reemergence of such was in a way embraced because it relaxed the foreign exchange constraint, the composition and the large amount of new capital flows posed certain problems for the unprepared recipient countries. Such countries were faced with problems of domestic absorption since capital inflows are supposed to result in increases in the investment rate. Policy makers were also faced with dilemmas since the absence of regulations causes the real exchange rate to appreciate but intervention would lead to an increased money supply and inflation control. This chapter examines how massive capital inflows were dealt with in Chile during the 1990s, the policy responses, and the effects that were imposed on the domestic economy.Less

The Interaction between Capital Markets and Corporate Governance of Chinese Listed Companies

Leng Jing

in Corporate Governance and Financial Reform in China's Transition Economy

The term “capital markets” refers to the stockmarket in China and overseas as the country's listed companies utilize equity financing for capital accumulation. The country's stockmarket during the ... More

The term “capital markets” refers to the stockmarket in China and overseas as the country's listed companies utilize equity financing for capital accumulation. The country's stockmarket during the transition period represents a promising financial institution that contradicts China's “socialist market economy.” This contradiction is reflected in the state's aspirations of acquiring foreign and private capital that may strengthen the financial base of firms through adopting full privatization. The Chinese government has been able to create a properly functioning stockmarket as the economy's commanding heights were still dominated by state monopolies. As such, the stockmarket's inefficiency was attributed to political logic remainin the dominating theme. This chapter shows how an improved stockmarket is able to bring about significant and good impacts not only on the state-owned enterprise sector but on the banking system as well.Less

Lecture 2

T.N. Srinivasan

in Growth, sustainability, and India's Economic Reforms

This chapter discusses the period from 1980–1 to 1991–2. In this period, fiscal and monetary conservatism of 1950–80 gave way to fiscal profligacy with rising fiscal deficits financed in part by ... More

This chapter discusses the period from 1980–1 to 1991–2. In this period, fiscal and monetary conservatism of 1950–80 gave way to fiscal profligacy with rising fiscal deficits financed in part by borrowing from external lenders, particularly from the private capital market at a high and variable interest rate and domestic borrowing. This unsustainable fiscal situation along with the consequences of the first Iraq war contributed to a severe macroeconomic and balance of payments crisis in 1991. Roughly in the mid-1980s, a series of hesitant, piecemeal reforms of the planned, heavily state-controlled, and insulated economy was initiated. The 1991 crisis led to systemic reforms. This was the period when growth averaged around 5.7 per cent a year.Less

Paying for the First Italian Motorways (1923–41)

Enrico Berbenni

in Infrastructure Finance in Europe: Insights into the History of Water, Transport, and Telecommunications

The origins of the European motorway network date back to the beginning of the century, but it was only after the First World War that these projects were regarded with greater interest in several ... More

The origins of the European motorway network date back to the beginning of the century, but it was only after the First World War that these projects were regarded with greater interest in several European countries. This chapter discusses how the construction of the first European motorways took place in Italy between the two wars, thanks to direct state intervention or through concessionaries that were still widely supported by the public authority, according to a scheme that would substantially be repeated in the second half of the century. The Italian experience between the two wars is of particular interest due to the precocity of motorways and the close partnership between public and private capital. The main objective of this chapter is thus to evaluate this interaction in motorway financing, trying to provide an interpretation of the long-term effectiveness of the provisions.Less

Existing Pipeline Studies and Private Pipeline Capital

in The Political Economy of Pipelines: A Century of Comparative Institutional Development

This chapter evaluates the existing literature on pipelines and the origins of the unique role of private capital in pipeline development in the United States versus the rest of the world. The ... More

This chapter evaluates the existing literature on pipelines and the origins of the unique role of private capital in pipeline development in the United States versus the rest of the world. The congressional regulation of pipelines has attracted the attention of political scientists. Private capital has played a key role in the development of pipelines. Its use for pipelines has facilitated the eventual transition to competitive point-to-point gas transport markets. The regulations of 1938 prompted producers to hold back gas supplies for in-state uses, Congress to temporize in only partially relaxing gas price controls, and pipelines to overreact by buying whatever supplies they could find at seemingly whatever terms were demanded by producers. Gas pipeline rate cases were generally perfunctory affairs, and licensing cases were uncontroversial.Less

Learning the Hard Way: IBM and the Sources of Innovation in Early Computing

Steven W. Usselman

in Financing Innovation in the United States, 1870 to the Present

This chapter adds certain moderate adjustments to the body of work promulgated by the National Academy of Science, and also the work of David Mowery, that deals with the notion of modern computing ... More

This chapter adds certain moderate adjustments to the body of work promulgated by the National Academy of Science, and also the work of David Mowery, that deals with the notion of modern computing being the product of massive public investment and government funding. The goal of the chapter, however, is to suggest that private enterprise and private capital—and not just government funding—played certain roles in influencing computing. IBM, in particular, is given more focus here to determine how the firm has contributed to the emergence and refinement of the storage capacity of the computer from the end of World War II until the development of the System/360. The conclusion arrived at is that while certain activities of the government may have benefited IBM, the government also drew IBM away from various opportunities that might have allowed them to blossom without the required intervention from the public sector.Less

Introduction

Takatoshi Ito and Anne O. Krueger

in Regional and Global Capital Flows: Macroeconomic Causes and Consequences

This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the growth in private capital flows between nations since the 1960s. It suggests that in light of the financial crises taking place in Asia ... More

This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the growth in private capital flows between nations since the 1960s. It suggests that in light of the financial crises taking place in Asia and other countries over the past several years, where the behavior of private capital flows was deemed by most to be an important part of the story of crises, understanding the macroeconomic impact of capital flows and their behavior has become a central concern of policy makers everywhere. This volume addresses issues pertinent to understanding the macroeconomic dimensions of capital flows, the origins of the 1990s-style crises, the linkages between the foreign exchange variables and the financial variables, and the key questions associated with efforts to solve the crises. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less

Introduction

Japonica Brown-Saracino

in A Neighborhood That Never Changes: Gentrification, Social Preservation, and the Search for Authenticity

This chapter introduces the concepts of gentrification and social preservation. For more than three decades, sociologists, planners, and policymakers have paid attention to gentrification: “an ... More

This chapter introduces the concepts of gentrification and social preservation. For more than three decades, sociologists, planners, and policymakers have paid attention to gentrification: “an economic and social process whereby private capital (real estate firms, developers) and individual homeowners and renters reinvest in fiscally neglected neighborhoods or towns through housing rehabilitation, loft conversions, and the construction of new housing.” Importantly, gentrification is also supported by public investment of funds preceding or following the moving in of the gentry: typically young, highly educated individuals. Social preservation is in some ways analogous to environmentalism. Like environmentalists, who seek to preserve nature, social preservationists—those who adhere to the preservation ideology and engage in related practices—work to preserve the local social ecology.Less

Utilitarian Perspectives on Private Property

Joseph Persky

in The Political Economy of Progress: John Stuart Mill and Modern Radicalism

Despite the cleverness of Bentham’s writings on usury, the early utilitarians never constructed a full-scale apology of laissez-faire capitalism or a thick defense of private ownership of industrial ... More

Despite the cleverness of Bentham’s writings on usury, the early utilitarians never constructed a full-scale apology of laissez-faire capitalism or a thick defense of private ownership of industrial capital. The lack of such a defense might be due to irrelevance, triviality, impossibility, and/or ambivalence. The utilitarian commitment to equality makes irrelevance improbable. The thinness of work in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century political philosophy and history suggests the early utilitarians could not reasonably treat the issues as already dealt with, and hence trivial. While a case can be made for impossibility, the social science of the times was capable of impressive empirics. In the end, ambivalence seems very much in evidence in the works of early utilitarians like Bentham and Paley. J. S. Mill, while himself demonstrating some ambivalence, launched a full-scale critique of private property in the form of industrial capital.Less

Women Workers in India: Issues and Debates

M.S. Sreerekha

in State Without Honour: Women Workers in India's Anganwadis

This chapter examines the changes in the nature and politics of women’s work in the context of women workers in India. It contains a review of some of the writings on women’s work in India, ... More

This chapter examines the changes in the nature and politics of women’s work in the context of women workers in India. It contains a review of some of the writings on women’s work in India, addressing issues like the status and growth in women’s paid work, the process of feminization and informalization, and the ramifications of these on women’s work in the informal sector. The chapter also briefly discusses the increasing need for more social welfare policies especially women specific social welfare policies and programmes in contemporary India. It reviews how women in paid work have figured in the state-welfare policies while trying to understand the relevance of these policies in the context of economic restructuring, globalization, and the entry of private capital.Less

Net Neutrality Is Bad Broadband Regulation

Robert E. Litan and Hal J. Singer

in The Economists' Voice 2.0: The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More

In 2010, private-sector job creation was a paltry 100,000 per month. At that pace, it would take over three years to restore just the nearly four million private-sector jobs lost during the first six ... More

In 2010, private-sector job creation was a paltry 100,000 per month. At that pace, it would take over three years to restore just the nearly four million private-sector jobs lost during the first six months of 2009, let alone absorb new and discouraged workers coming into the labor force. Jobs require private investment but private capital is waiting on the sidelines. The trepidation among investors can be partially attributed to their uncertainty over the government’s appetite for further regulation. Experience shows that in order to preserve private-sector incentives to invest, especially in a capital-intensive industry like telecom, policy makers should intervene only to correct a market failure. This chapter argues that the Obama administration’s evolving policies in the telecom arena do not meet these criteria. It then discusses what the Federal Communications Commission should do to encourage investment by both Internet providers and content providers.Less

Larch Autarky

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

in Enlightenment's Frontier: The Scottish Highlands and the Origins of Environmentalism

This chapter discusses a scheme that involved the planting of several million seedlings of larch, which was intended to secure the naval timber supply of the Perthshire Highlands, and of the whole of ... More

This chapter discusses a scheme that involved the planting of several million seedlings of larch, which was intended to secure the naval timber supply of the Perthshire Highlands, and of the whole of Scotland, into the distant future. The scheme, which proposed by the fourth duke John Murray, highlights the centrality of forestry to the politics of the natural order in the Scottish Enlightenment, and combined natural expertise and private capital with the priorities of national self-sufficiency in the spirit of civil cameralism. A rival Scottish strategy, however, impeded the duke's efforts; Henry Dundas, now Lord Melville, commissioned a global survey to identify accessible stands of naval timbers. A closer look at these strategies reveals that they both relied on naturalist expertise to solve a national crisis of resource exhaustion by setting up a timber reserve, and were merely variations on a common theme.Less

How Much Land Does a Capitalist Need?: Historical Patterns of Land Acquisition and Indian Industrialization

Mircea Raianu

in The Land Question in India: State, Dispossession, and Capitalist Transition

This chapter examines patterns of land acquisition in the establishment of two enterprises that obtained the status of proto-national industries before independence in 1947: the Tata hydro-electric ... More

This chapter examines patterns of land acquisition in the establishment of two enterprises that obtained the status of proto-national industries before independence in 1947: the Tata hydro-electric power companies in the Western Ghats, and the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur. The chapter comparatively shows how the legal instruments of dispossession varied according to the distribution of power, arguing that the entry of Indian capital in the industrial sector in the early twentieth century made possible two seemingly contradictory but mutually constitutive trends: the legal designation of private capital as capable of fulfilling a “public purpose,” and the increasingly direct involvement of the state in resource capture and management for the purpose of industrial development. The chapter uncovers the origins of key aspects of the “land question” in India, including the predominance of domestic over foreign capital, the enabling role of the state, and the persistence of surplus labor.Less

Coup d'état, 1964–1967

James Edward Miller

in The United States and the Making of Modern Greece: History and Power, 1950-1974

This chapter focuses on the Athens French ambassador's analysis of the “American presence in Greece” for his superiors in Paris. By announcing that it would terminate all its grant-aid programs, the ... More

This chapter focuses on the Athens French ambassador's analysis of the “American presence in Greece” for his superiors in Paris. By announcing that it would terminate all its grant-aid programs, the United States was moving further away from its role as protector power. “Since 1952 we can document no U.S. interventions, and our files are quite complete.” The United States, of course, remained by far the most significant foreign presence in Greece. Its military assistance programs enabled the Greeks to field and pay for a respectable modern army. Its economic assistance programs helped Greece avoid balance-of-payment problems while they fueled economic growth. Overall, U.S. private capital had played a relatively limited role in the Greek economy, with the exception of the movie industry.Less