Kirit S. Parikh
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198286356
- eISBN:
- 9780191718465
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198286356.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Despite significant progress in terms of food security and human development indicators the substantial problem of chronic undernutrition — an outcome of national and international policies — ...
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Despite significant progress in terms of food security and human development indicators the substantial problem of chronic undernutrition — an outcome of national and international policies — persists in different corners of the world. This chapter examines the extent to which the hunger of poor countries is influenced by policies of other countries. It shows that: the nutritional consequences of a crop failure, wherever it occurs, will be borne by a developing country's poor consumers; the rich countries' protection on agricultural products is reducing hunger in the poorer countries; and the developed countries' policy of ‘labour market protection’ is having the most adverse impact on world-hunger. For developing countries, a combination of targeted aid and targeted food program can be a viable option to eradicate hunger.Less
Despite significant progress in terms of food security and human development indicators the substantial problem of chronic undernutrition — an outcome of national and international policies — persists in different corners of the world. This chapter examines the extent to which the hunger of poor countries is influenced by policies of other countries. It shows that: the nutritional consequences of a crop failure, wherever it occurs, will be borne by a developing country's poor consumers; the rich countries' protection on agricultural products is reducing hunger in the poorer countries; and the developed countries' policy of ‘labour market protection’ is having the most adverse impact on world-hunger. For developing countries, a combination of targeted aid and targeted food program can be a viable option to eradicate hunger.
Jagdish Bhagwati and Gordon Hanson (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195382433
- eISBN:
- 9780199852352
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195382433.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Skilled immigration into rich countries and competition for talent and professional skills are of major concern among nations today. Comprehensive immigration reform addressed to illegal immigration ...
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Skilled immigration into rich countries and competition for talent and professional skills are of major concern among nations today. Comprehensive immigration reform addressed to illegal immigration predictably foundered in Congress last year. This revived the question of skilled immigration and was hastily added to the proposed reform agenda in the hope that it would bring more pro-immigration troops into battle. Immigration reform still failed but it will not die. The specific issue of skilled immigration, and how to redesign it, will remain one of the central issues before the world community as well. How important is this phenomenon? How do the legal-immigration systems of rich countries address this need? How do professional associations that may find such inflows a threat to their members' earnings seek to curtail these flows? What are the implications on the sending countries, which are generally less developed, when rich countries admit skilled professionals from them? Is it correct to object that the rich countries are depriving the poor ones of badly needed professionals (especially in Africa)? What should our immigration policies be in this regard? How should tax policy, for example, be changed in light of the growing phenomenon of skilled migrant flows? These and a host of related policy questions are addressed in this book.Less
Skilled immigration into rich countries and competition for talent and professional skills are of major concern among nations today. Comprehensive immigration reform addressed to illegal immigration predictably foundered in Congress last year. This revived the question of skilled immigration and was hastily added to the proposed reform agenda in the hope that it would bring more pro-immigration troops into battle. Immigration reform still failed but it will not die. The specific issue of skilled immigration, and how to redesign it, will remain one of the central issues before the world community as well. How important is this phenomenon? How do the legal-immigration systems of rich countries address this need? How do professional associations that may find such inflows a threat to their members' earnings seek to curtail these flows? What are the implications on the sending countries, which are generally less developed, when rich countries admit skilled professionals from them? Is it correct to object that the rich countries are depriving the poor ones of badly needed professionals (especially in Africa)? What should our immigration policies be in this regard? How should tax policy, for example, be changed in light of the growing phenomenon of skilled migrant flows? These and a host of related policy questions are addressed in this book.
HAROLD L. WILENSKY
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520231764
- eISBN:
- 9780520928336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520231764.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter discusses evidence for convergence theory, the idea that as rich countries got richer, they developed similar economic, political, and social structures and to some extent common values ...
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This chapter discusses evidence for convergence theory, the idea that as rich countries got richer, they developed similar economic, political, and social structures and to some extent common values and beliefs. The analysis reveals that high levels of economic development and related changes in the occupational and industrial composition of the labor force result in two areas of convergence: the gradual spread of nonstandard schedules of work and the substantial and rapid growth of contingent labor in both manufacturing and service. Total annual hours of work declined from the late nineteenth century until about 1960, a trend that has continued in all rich democracies ever since.Less
This chapter discusses evidence for convergence theory, the idea that as rich countries got richer, they developed similar economic, political, and social structures and to some extent common values and beliefs. The analysis reveals that high levels of economic development and related changes in the occupational and industrial composition of the labor force result in two areas of convergence: the gradual spread of nonstandard schedules of work and the substantial and rapid growth of contingent labor in both manufacturing and service. Total annual hours of work declined from the late nineteenth century until about 1960, a trend that has continued in all rich democracies ever since.
Ha-Joon Chang
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231175180
- eISBN:
- 9780231540773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231175180.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The feasibility of industrial policies in Africa: the constraints of political economy and institutions are much exaggerated. Nor is there any basis for the “Afro-pessimism” steming from some alleged ...
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The feasibility of industrial policies in Africa: the constraints of political economy and institutions are much exaggerated. Nor is there any basis for the “Afro-pessimism” steming from some alleged peculiarities of Africa in terms of climate, geography, culture or history.Less
The feasibility of industrial policies in Africa: the constraints of political economy and institutions are much exaggerated. Nor is there any basis for the “Afro-pessimism” steming from some alleged peculiarities of Africa in terms of climate, geography, culture or history.
Holly Sutherland and Panos Tsakloglou
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860586
- eISBN:
- 9780199932948
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860586.003.0005
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy, Children and Families
This chapter extends previous analyses of the distributional effects of welfare programs in rich countries, focusing on three of the most important public transfers in kind, namely, public education ...
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This chapter extends previous analyses of the distributional effects of welfare programs in rich countries, focusing on three of the most important public transfers in kind, namely, public education services, public health care services, and public housing. It analyzes their short-term distributional effects in a strictly comparable framework in five EU countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the UK). The chapter begins by describing the methods of calculating the value of each of the three sources of in-kind benefits and identifying beneficiaries. This is followed by a presentation of the main results of the distributional analysis, showing the effects of the three noncash elements of income in terms of their relative importance in aggregate and across the cash income distribution. Their effects are compared with those of the cash benefits systems, and their overall impact on measures of inequality and poverty are estimated. The next section discusses the welfare interpretation of the empirical findings and outlines an alternative approach using different sets of equivalent scales.Less
This chapter extends previous analyses of the distributional effects of welfare programs in rich countries, focusing on three of the most important public transfers in kind, namely, public education services, public health care services, and public housing. It analyzes their short-term distributional effects in a strictly comparable framework in five EU countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the UK). The chapter begins by describing the methods of calculating the value of each of the three sources of in-kind benefits and identifying beneficiaries. This is followed by a presentation of the main results of the distributional analysis, showing the effects of the three noncash elements of income in terms of their relative importance in aggregate and across the cash income distribution. Their effects are compared with those of the cash benefits systems, and their overall impact on measures of inequality and poverty are estimated. The next section discusses the welfare interpretation of the empirical findings and outlines an alternative approach using different sets of equivalent scales.
Brian Nolan and Christopher T. Whelan
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860586
- eISBN:
- 9780199932948
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860586.003.0016
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy, Children and Families
Research and monitoring of poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish the poor. Significant efforts have been made to broaden the ...
More
Research and monitoring of poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish the poor. Significant efforts have been made to broaden the measure of financial resources and capture the dynamics of income over time. At the same time, there is increasing interest in using nonmonetary information to improve the measurement and understanding of poverty. Such nonmonetary indicators are increasingly used in individual European countries, as well as at the EU level, with the suite of indicators employed to monitor the EU's social inclusion process recently expanded to include a summary deprivation measure. This chapter focuses on the rationales underpinning the use of measures of material deprivation and at the variety of ways they are employed in research and monitoring poverty. It looks at some key patterns revealed by deprivation indicators across the EU, and then discusses the implications for capturing poverty and its multidimensionality. Finally, it highlights some challenges in the further development and use of such measures.Less
Research and monitoring of poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish the poor. Significant efforts have been made to broaden the measure of financial resources and capture the dynamics of income over time. At the same time, there is increasing interest in using nonmonetary information to improve the measurement and understanding of poverty. Such nonmonetary indicators are increasingly used in individual European countries, as well as at the EU level, with the suite of indicators employed to monitor the EU's social inclusion process recently expanded to include a summary deprivation measure. This chapter focuses on the rationales underpinning the use of measures of material deprivation and at the variety of ways they are employed in research and monitoring poverty. It looks at some key patterns revealed by deprivation indicators across the EU, and then discusses the implications for capturing poverty and its multidimensionality. Finally, it highlights some challenges in the further development and use of such measures.
David M. Wight
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781501715723
- eISBN:
- 9781501715747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501715723.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
This chapter addresses the US-led petrodollar economy. This order produced new points of contact and cooperative networks among Americans and Arabs and Iranians, broadening the number of individuals ...
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This chapter addresses the US-led petrodollar economy. This order produced new points of contact and cooperative networks among Americans and Arabs and Iranians, broadening the number of individuals and kinds of actors involved in MENA (Middle East and North Africa)–US relations. Yet petrodollar interdependence also proved to be a double-edged sword. While little appreciated by US leaders at first, the influx of American people and products produced hostility in many MENA communities, particularly when they served the repressive functions of local regimes. In becoming increasingly tied to the oil-rich Arab countries, the United States also became even further tied to the repercussions arising from the Arab–Israeli conflict. When the Lebanese Civil War threatened to ignite another full-scale Arab–Israeli war, US policymakers feared that petrodollars could be used as a financial weapon against the United States and its allies. And while petrodollar aid assisted in the US effort to reform the political and economic orientation of Egypt, it also produced unintended social consequences that undermined Anwar Sadat's regime.Less
This chapter addresses the US-led petrodollar economy. This order produced new points of contact and cooperative networks among Americans and Arabs and Iranians, broadening the number of individuals and kinds of actors involved in MENA (Middle East and North Africa)–US relations. Yet petrodollar interdependence also proved to be a double-edged sword. While little appreciated by US leaders at first, the influx of American people and products produced hostility in many MENA communities, particularly when they served the repressive functions of local regimes. In becoming increasingly tied to the oil-rich Arab countries, the United States also became even further tied to the repercussions arising from the Arab–Israeli conflict. When the Lebanese Civil War threatened to ignite another full-scale Arab–Israeli war, US policymakers feared that petrodollars could be used as a financial weapon against the United States and its allies. And while petrodollar aid assisted in the US effort to reform the political and economic orientation of Egypt, it also produced unintended social consequences that undermined Anwar Sadat's regime.
Douglas A. Irwin
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780691201009
- eISBN:
- 9780691203362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691201009.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
This chapter takes a look at developing countries and confirms whether free trade is beneficial in promoting economic development. It analyzes whether countries such as Japan, Korea, and China grow ...
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This chapter takes a look at developing countries and confirms whether free trade is beneficial in promoting economic development. It analyzes whether countries such as Japan, Korea, and China grow rich by rejecting free trade and instead pursuing closed markets and industrial policies. The chapter addresses the issue of fairtrade and how rich-country agricultural subsidies and import tariffs harm developing countries. It also assesses how developing countries harm themselves with their own anti-trade policies. It discusses whether protectionist trade policies contributed to the East Asian growth miracle, whether labor standards should be used to address worker exploitation in sweatshops, and whether “fair trade” offers a satisfactory route to development.Less
This chapter takes a look at developing countries and confirms whether free trade is beneficial in promoting economic development. It analyzes whether countries such as Japan, Korea, and China grow rich by rejecting free trade and instead pursuing closed markets and industrial policies. The chapter addresses the issue of fairtrade and how rich-country agricultural subsidies and import tariffs harm developing countries. It also assesses how developing countries harm themselves with their own anti-trade policies. It discusses whether protectionist trade policies contributed to the East Asian growth miracle, whether labor standards should be used to address worker exploitation in sweatshops, and whether “fair trade” offers a satisfactory route to development.
HAROLD L. WILENSKY
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520231764
- eISBN:
- 9780520928336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520231764.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter discusses theories concerning post-industrial society. It evaluates research evidence concerning the limits of the structural aspects of post-industrial theory and suggests that its ...
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This chapter discusses theories concerning post-industrial society. It evaluates research evidence concerning the limits of the structural aspects of post-industrial theory and suggests that its account of industrial and occupational trends is too gross to be useful. It argues that the major structural and cultural trends in rich countries are better captured by convergence theory with its accent on the universal and specific effects of continuing industrialization.Less
This chapter discusses theories concerning post-industrial society. It evaluates research evidence concerning the limits of the structural aspects of post-industrial theory and suggests that its account of industrial and occupational trends is too gross to be useful. It argues that the major structural and cultural trends in rich countries are better captured by convergence theory with its accent on the universal and specific effects of continuing industrialization.
HAROLD L. WILENSKY
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520231764
- eISBN:
- 9780520928336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520231764.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter examines the contrasting responses of the government of rich countries to the problems concerning family policy. It shows that national differences in family policy and the politics of ...
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This chapter examines the contrasting responses of the government of rich countries to the problems concerning family policy. It shows that national differences in family policy and the politics of the family can be explained by types of political economy and the power and ideology of mass-based political parties. It suggests that the story of changes in family structures, functions, and lifestyles, as well as government responses to those changes, is the story of divergent paths of development to a convergent outcome and explains that convergence is driven by the demographic and organizational accompaniments of continuing industrialization.Less
This chapter examines the contrasting responses of the government of rich countries to the problems concerning family policy. It shows that national differences in family policy and the politics of the family can be explained by types of political economy and the power and ideology of mass-based political parties. It suggests that the story of changes in family structures, functions, and lifestyles, as well as government responses to those changes, is the story of divergent paths of development to a convergent outcome and explains that convergence is driven by the demographic and organizational accompaniments of continuing industrialization.
David M. Wight
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781501715723
- eISBN:
- 9781501715747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501715723.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
This chapter discusses the US international empire in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since the 1920s. Constructed by both US multinational oil companies (MNOCs) and the US government, US ...
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This chapter discusses the US international empire in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since the 1920s. Constructed by both US multinational oil companies (MNOCs) and the US government, US empire in the MENA sought to ensure the cheap, plentiful flow of oil from the region to Western consumers. However, US and European empires in the MENA generated popular local resistance to client regimes and their Western backers. This resistance to the US-led order developed in part due to poor labor and human rights conditions, cultural and religious alienation toward encroaching foreign social systems (including capitalism), and nationalist aspirations. This situation increasingly led oil-rich US allies in the MENA to collaborate with each other and additional oil-rich countries to challenge the US-dictated terms of the global petroleum economy. Growing US support for Israel would likewise increasingly push US-allied, oil-rich Arab governments to join Arab countries more hostile to Washington in challenging the United States.Less
This chapter discusses the US international empire in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since the 1920s. Constructed by both US multinational oil companies (MNOCs) and the US government, US empire in the MENA sought to ensure the cheap, plentiful flow of oil from the region to Western consumers. However, US and European empires in the MENA generated popular local resistance to client regimes and their Western backers. This resistance to the US-led order developed in part due to poor labor and human rights conditions, cultural and religious alienation toward encroaching foreign social systems (including capitalism), and nationalist aspirations. This situation increasingly led oil-rich US allies in the MENA to collaborate with each other and additional oil-rich countries to challenge the US-dictated terms of the global petroleum economy. Growing US support for Israel would likewise increasingly push US-allied, oil-rich Arab governments to join Arab countries more hostile to Washington in challenging the United States.
David M. Wight
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781501715723
- eISBN:
- 9781501715747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501715723.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
This chapter examines how, in 1973, US president Richard Nixon faced anger and distrust from the US public because of high rates of inflation and the contributing factor of rising oil prices. While ...
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This chapter examines how, in 1973, US president Richard Nixon faced anger and distrust from the US public because of high rates of inflation and the contributing factor of rising oil prices. While the Nixon administration accepted a moderate increase in the cost of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) oil, it opposed a major price rise that would harm the Western economies. Moreover, it expected MENA allies to not challenge key US strategic prerogatives. In October of 1973, the oil-rich countries would defy the United States on both counts. First, the Gulf countries would unilaterally raise the price of their oil by 70 percent, the opening salvo in a series of price hikes that ended the period of cheap global petroleum for over a decade. Second, the Arab countries, including US allies, openly threatened US influence in the MENA by launching an impactful oil embargo against the United States in response to its support for Israel during the latest Arab–Israeli War. These two overlapping events attacked the foundations of US cooperative international empire in the MENA and the larger geopolitical and economic order the United States had instituted over much of the world since World War II.Less
This chapter examines how, in 1973, US president Richard Nixon faced anger and distrust from the US public because of high rates of inflation and the contributing factor of rising oil prices. While the Nixon administration accepted a moderate increase in the cost of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) oil, it opposed a major price rise that would harm the Western economies. Moreover, it expected MENA allies to not challenge key US strategic prerogatives. In October of 1973, the oil-rich countries would defy the United States on both counts. First, the Gulf countries would unilaterally raise the price of their oil by 70 percent, the opening salvo in a series of price hikes that ended the period of cheap global petroleum for over a decade. Second, the Arab countries, including US allies, openly threatened US influence in the MENA by launching an impactful oil embargo against the United States in response to its support for Israel during the latest Arab–Israeli War. These two overlapping events attacked the foundations of US cooperative international empire in the MENA and the larger geopolitical and economic order the United States had instituted over much of the world since World War II.
J. C. Sharman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450181
- eISBN:
- 9780801463198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450181.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines whether anti-money laundering (AML) policy works by testing two alternative views. The first is whether AML policy has produced a major reduction in predicate crime, in line ...
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This chapter examines whether anti-money laundering (AML) policy works by testing two alternative views. The first is whether AML policy has produced a major reduction in predicate crime, in line with the logic first used to justify a “follow the money” approach (effectiveness in absolute terms). The second is whether the AML system has delivered benefits to society greater than the costs the system itself has imposed (cost-effectiveness). The chapter evaluates the effectiveness of AML policy as well as the costs and benefits of the AML system in rich countries compared with developing countries such as Barbados, Mauritius, and Vanuatu. It also considers the disconnect between standard policy prescription and local circumstances by focusing on the experience of Nauru. Finally, it assesses the effectiveness of the global AML system in dealing with corruption and kleptocracy in poorer countries.Less
This chapter examines whether anti-money laundering (AML) policy works by testing two alternative views. The first is whether AML policy has produced a major reduction in predicate crime, in line with the logic first used to justify a “follow the money” approach (effectiveness in absolute terms). The second is whether the AML system has delivered benefits to society greater than the costs the system itself has imposed (cost-effectiveness). The chapter evaluates the effectiveness of AML policy as well as the costs and benefits of the AML system in rich countries compared with developing countries such as Barbados, Mauritius, and Vanuatu. It also considers the disconnect between standard policy prescription and local circumstances by focusing on the experience of Nauru. Finally, it assesses the effectiveness of the global AML system in dealing with corruption and kleptocracy in poorer countries.
Brian Nolan and Christopher T. Whelan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199588435
- eISBN:
- 9780191731327
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588435.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Research on poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish those in poverty, and this is also true of official poverty measurement and ...
More
Research on poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish those in poverty, and this is also true of official poverty measurement and monitoring. However, awareness of the limitations of income has been heightening interest in the role that non-monetary measures of deprivation can play. This book takes as its starting-point that research on poverty and social exclusion has been undergoing a fundamental shift towards a multidimensional approach; that researchers and policy-makers alike have struggled to develop concepts and indicators that do this approach justice; and that this is highly salient not only within individual countries (including both Britain and the USA) but also for the European Union post-enlargement. The difficulties encountered in applying a multidimensional approach reflect limitations in the information available but also in the conceptual and empirical underpinnings provided by existing research. The central aim of this book is to contribute to the development of those underpinnings and to productive ways of employing non-monetary indicators of deprivation. The book maps out the current landscape and the best way forward, concluding by offering a critical evaluation of the EU's 2020 poverty reduction target.Less
Research on poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish those in poverty, and this is also true of official poverty measurement and monitoring. However, awareness of the limitations of income has been heightening interest in the role that non-monetary measures of deprivation can play. This book takes as its starting-point that research on poverty and social exclusion has been undergoing a fundamental shift towards a multidimensional approach; that researchers and policy-makers alike have struggled to develop concepts and indicators that do this approach justice; and that this is highly salient not only within individual countries (including both Britain and the USA) but also for the European Union post-enlargement. The difficulties encountered in applying a multidimensional approach reflect limitations in the information available but also in the conceptual and empirical underpinnings provided by existing research. The central aim of this book is to contribute to the development of those underpinnings and to productive ways of employing non-monetary indicators of deprivation. The book maps out the current landscape and the best way forward, concluding by offering a critical evaluation of the EU's 2020 poverty reduction target.
Francis Teal
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- March 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198870142
- eISBN:
- 9780191912979
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198870142.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
In this chapter we begin by examining the sources of poverty in the two waves of globalization, the first from 1700 to 1913 and the second from 1950 to the present. We then ask whether, during this ...
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In this chapter we begin by examining the sources of poverty in the two waves of globalization, the first from 1700 to 1913 and the second from 1950 to the present. We then ask whether, during this second wave, absolute poverty has been falling? The answer turns out to depend on how we define the absolutely poor due to how incomes across the world have been rising. Under either of the definitions proposed from 2003 to 2008 the number of the absolutely poor has fallen. The data shows that, in percentage terms, the poorest of the poor have seen faster growth in incomes than the richest of the rich. Further, this pattern of growth has ensured that inequality has increased far more in poor than in rich countries.Less
In this chapter we begin by examining the sources of poverty in the two waves of globalization, the first from 1700 to 1913 and the second from 1950 to the present. We then ask whether, during this second wave, absolute poverty has been falling? The answer turns out to depend on how we define the absolutely poor due to how incomes across the world have been rising. Under either of the definitions proposed from 2003 to 2008 the number of the absolutely poor has fallen. The data shows that, in percentage terms, the poorest of the poor have seen faster growth in incomes than the richest of the rich. Further, this pattern of growth has ensured that inequality has increased far more in poor than in rich countries.
James Cust
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198817369
- eISBN:
- 9780191858871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198817369.003.0019
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The governance of natural resource wealth is considered to constitute a key determinant in whether the extraction of natural resources proves to be a blessing or a curse. In response to this ...
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The governance of natural resource wealth is considered to constitute a key determinant in whether the extraction of natural resources proves to be a blessing or a curse. In response to this challenge, a variety of international initiatives have emerged to codify successful policies pursued by countries, and promote global norms and best practices to guide decision-makers. These initiatives, such as the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative, have seen success in spreading and embedding governance norms, ranging across revenue transparency, contract disclosure, and the creation of instruments such as resource funds and building institutions for checks and balances. However, evidence for causal impact remains weak and sometimes limited to anecdotal cases. The end of the super-cycle of commodity prices, and the prospect of permanently lower prices for fossil fuels, creates new challenges for resource-rich countries but may also allow space and time for reflection, lesson-learning and improvements in governance.Less
The governance of natural resource wealth is considered to constitute a key determinant in whether the extraction of natural resources proves to be a blessing or a curse. In response to this challenge, a variety of international initiatives have emerged to codify successful policies pursued by countries, and promote global norms and best practices to guide decision-makers. These initiatives, such as the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative, have seen success in spreading and embedding governance norms, ranging across revenue transparency, contract disclosure, and the creation of instruments such as resource funds and building institutions for checks and balances. However, evidence for causal impact remains weak and sometimes limited to anecdotal cases. The end of the super-cycle of commodity prices, and the prospect of permanently lower prices for fossil fuels, creates new challenges for resource-rich countries but may also allow space and time for reflection, lesson-learning and improvements in governance.
Raphael Espinoza, Ghada Fayad, and Ananthakrishnan Prasad
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199683796
- eISBN:
- 9780191763373
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199683796.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
The GCC countries have thus far managed to leverage their large natural resource wealth to achieve economic prosperity and finance social advances, and have also emerged as important sources of funds ...
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The GCC countries have thus far managed to leverage their large natural resource wealth to achieve economic prosperity and finance social advances, and have also emerged as important sources of funds for the wider region. Nevertheless, much remains to be done, and there are challenges ahead in terms of structural long-term issues (growth, labor markets and immigration, diversification, and market efficiency) and of management of macroeconomic cycles (role of fiscal and monetary policies, performance of banks and financial markets). The book focuses on these two fronts in its core seven chapters, combining data and econometric analysis with theoretical discussions. The book concludes with an analysis of the importance of the GCC to the wider region.Less
The GCC countries have thus far managed to leverage their large natural resource wealth to achieve economic prosperity and finance social advances, and have also emerged as important sources of funds for the wider region. Nevertheless, much remains to be done, and there are challenges ahead in terms of structural long-term issues (growth, labor markets and immigration, diversification, and market efficiency) and of management of macroeconomic cycles (role of fiscal and monetary policies, performance of banks and financial markets). The book focuses on these two fronts in its core seven chapters, combining data and econometric analysis with theoretical discussions. The book concludes with an analysis of the importance of the GCC to the wider region.
Roger Gordon and Wei Li
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226386812
- eISBN:
- 9780226387062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226387062.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
Economic policies in developing countries often differ sharply from those commonly advocated by economists, generating advice to adopt policies more consistent with both the successful practices in ...
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Economic policies in developing countries often differ sharply from those commonly advocated by economists, generating advice to adopt policies more consistent with both the successful practices in richer countries and/or those that appear best based on existing economic theories. Taxes certainly require some interference with market transactions, so the advice would be to enact them with a broad base and low rates so as to lessen the efficiency costs resulting from the distortions created by the tax structure. Broad-based taxes, such as a value-added tax, certainly do play an important role in poorer as well as richer countries. However, a much larger share of revenue in developing than in developed countries comes from taxes with a narrow base. This chapter provides a derivation of the forecasted tax policy coming from a Grossman-Helpman (1994) style political economy model, and compares these forecasts with those derived in the Gordon-Li model. It then reviews the empirical evidence to compare it with the forecasts from these two models.Less
Economic policies in developing countries often differ sharply from those commonly advocated by economists, generating advice to adopt policies more consistent with both the successful practices in richer countries and/or those that appear best based on existing economic theories. Taxes certainly require some interference with market transactions, so the advice would be to enact them with a broad base and low rates so as to lessen the efficiency costs resulting from the distortions created by the tax structure. Broad-based taxes, such as a value-added tax, certainly do play an important role in poorer as well as richer countries. However, a much larger share of revenue in developing than in developed countries comes from taxes with a narrow base. This chapter provides a derivation of the forecasted tax policy coming from a Grossman-Helpman (1994) style political economy model, and compares these forecasts with those derived in the Gordon-Li model. It then reviews the empirical evidence to compare it with the forecasts from these two models.
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226470436
- eISBN:
- 9780226470627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226470627.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Foreign aid, which began as an instrument of Cold War diplomacy, became a permanent element in relations between states, reflecting a strengthening norm that the governments of rich countries should ...
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Foreign aid, which began as an instrument of Cold War diplomacy, became a permanent element in relations between states, reflecting a strengthening norm that the governments of rich countries should help poor countries improve the well-being of their peoples. Such a norm was hardly imagined at the beginning of the foreign aid era; it is seldom contested today. The path by which that norm developed involves the domestic political processes of aid-giving countries, international trends and events, and pressures from international organizations that supported the use of aid for human betterment. This chapter describes the history of foreign aid over the past threescore years from a global perspective.Less
Foreign aid, which began as an instrument of Cold War diplomacy, became a permanent element in relations between states, reflecting a strengthening norm that the governments of rich countries should help poor countries improve the well-being of their peoples. Such a norm was hardly imagined at the beginning of the foreign aid era; it is seldom contested today. The path by which that norm developed involves the domestic political processes of aid-giving countries, international trends and events, and pressures from international organizations that supported the use of aid for human betterment. This chapter describes the history of foreign aid over the past threescore years from a global perspective.
Francis Teal
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- March 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198870142
- eISBN:
- 9780191912979
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198870142.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Just as unemployment dominated the political agenda of the 1930s, so inequality has come to dominate the concerns of both rich and poor countries in the twenty-first century. Contrary to what is ...
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Just as unemployment dominated the political agenda of the 1930s, so inequality has come to dominate the concerns of both rich and poor countries in the twenty-first century. Contrary to what is widely believed, inequality across countries has been declining since the 1980s, driven primarily, but not exclusively, by the rise in incomes in China. Looking at inequality within countries, on average inequality is much higher in poor than in rich countries. Changes over time in inequality are modest, compared with differences across countries. We observe a world with countries which have policies, or politics, which generate high inequality and ones which generate much lower inequality. There is little link between inequality and growth on average across the world.Less
Just as unemployment dominated the political agenda of the 1930s, so inequality has come to dominate the concerns of both rich and poor countries in the twenty-first century. Contrary to what is widely believed, inequality across countries has been declining since the 1980s, driven primarily, but not exclusively, by the rise in incomes in China. Looking at inequality within countries, on average inequality is much higher in poor than in rich countries. Changes over time in inequality are modest, compared with differences across countries. We observe a world with countries which have policies, or politics, which generate high inequality and ones which generate much lower inequality. There is little link between inequality and growth on average across the world.