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Other Governments (other + government)
Selected AbstractsCurrent Status of Surge ResearchACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2006Sally Phillips RN The dramatic escalation of bioterrorism and public health emergencies in the United States in recent years unfortunately has coincided with an equally dramatic decline in the institutions and services we rely on for emergency preparedness. Hospitals in nearly every metropolitan area in the country have closed; those that remain open have reduced the number of available beds. "Just in time" supplies and health professional shortages have further compromised the nation's overall surge capacity. Emergency departments routinely operate at capacity. These circumstances make evidence-based research on emergency preparedness and surge capacity both more urgently needed and more complex. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other government and private agencies have been rapidly widening the field of knowledge in this area in recent months and years. This report focuses primarily on the work of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. [source] Delegating Differences: Bilateral Investment Treaties and Bargaining Over Dispute Resolution ProvisionsINTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2010Todd Allee Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have become the dominant source of rules on foreign direct investment (FDI), yet these treaties vary significantly in at least one important respect: whether they allow investment disputes to be settled through the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Through the compilation and careful coding of the text of nearly 1,500 treaties, we identify systematic variation in "legal delegation" to ICSID across BITs and explain this important variation by drawing upon a bargaining framework. Home governments prefer and typically obtain ICSID clauses in their BITs, particularly when internal forces push strongly for such provisions and when they have significantly greater bargaining power than the other signatory. Yet some home governments are less likely to insist upon ICSID clauses if they have historical or military ties with the other government. On the other hand, although host governments are often hostile toward ICSID clauses, particularly when sovereignty costs are high, they are more likely to consent to such clauses when they are heavily constrained by their dependence on the global economy. Our findings have significant implications for those interested in FDI, legalization, international institutions, and interstate bargaining. [source] Emigration from China: A Sending Country PerspectiveINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2003Xiang Biao This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the policies pursued by the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the emigration of Chinese nationals. Most of the available literature on migration management has focused on receiving countries. With a few exceptions, little attention has been directed at migration management policies pursued in countries of origin. In the case of the PRC, policies regarding overseas Chinese have been fairly well documented and researched, but very little has been written about how the Chinese authorities manage ongoing emigration flows. This gap becomes particularly salient as the importance of the "partnership with the countries of origin" in devising migration policies is being increasingly acknowledged by receiving countries in Europe (Commission of the European Communities, 2000). Over the last 20 years, there have been significant changes in the Chinese Government's policies and perspectives on emigration. But, just like most other governments, the Chinese authorities do not have a single blanket policy covering all categories of emigrants. Emigration is normally managed on a case-by-case basis and the Government's attitude toward the same type of emigration may vary depending on different cases and circumstances. Because of this, this article examines China's major emigration-related policy spheres one by one. Specifically, six issues will be discussed: (1) exit control; (2) diaspora policy; (3) student migration; (4) labour export; (5) regulations on emigration agencies and, finally (6) the Government's response to human smuggling. This article shows both the coherence and the fragmentation in China's policies toward emigration. The coherence is due to the fact that all the policies are inherently linked to China's overall economic and social development strategy. The emigration management regime is sometimes fragmented partly because emigration consists of different streams and is handled by different Government departments, partly because some emigration issues (such as regulations on emigration agents) are very new for the Chinese Government and the authorities are still exploring them. Overall, the Chinese authorities increasingly see emigration as a means to enhance China's integration to the world and are keen to avoid conflicts with the international community over migration issues. At the same time, China's emigration policies need to be more balanced, in particular, the emigration of unskilled labour should be given more priority. [source] Ending Wars and Building Peace: International Responses to War-Torn Societies1INTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 1 2008Charles T. Call Scholars and practitioners of international relations have devoted increasing attention to how cease-fires, once achieved, may be translated into sustained peace. In recent years, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the United States and other governments have revamped their institutional architecture for addressing post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding. The creation in 2006 of a UN Peacebuilding Commission exemplifies these changes. The relationship between weak states and the durability of peace has acquired new emphasis in IR research. This article analyzes recent conceptual developments in post-conflict peacebuilding, relating them to new thinking about fragile states. It then analyzes the international architecture for addressing post-conflict peacebuilding, identifying gaps, and analyzing likely policy challenges in the near future. We argue that despite important analytic insights and institutional changes, serious challenges persist in efforts to prevent wars from recurring. [source] The impact of farm credit in PakistanAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2003Shahidur R. Khandker Agricultural credit; Rural financial institutions; Impact of credit on income and productivity; Cost-effectiveness of credit delivery system Abstract Both informal and formal loans matter in agriculture. However, formal lenders provide many more production loans than informal lenders, often at a cost (mostly loan default cost) higher than what they can recover. For example, the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP), providing about 90% of formal loans in rural areas, incurs high loan default costs. Yet, like other governments, the Government of Pakistan supports the formal scheme on the grounds that lending to agriculture is a high risk activity because of covariate risk. Hence, such policies are often based on a market failure argument. As farm credit schemes are subsidised, policy makers must know if these schemes are worth supporting. Using a recent large household survey data from rural Pakistan (Rural Financial Market Studies or RFMS), we have attempted to estimate the effectiveness of the ADBP as a credit delivery institution. A two-stage method that takes the endogeneity of borrowing into account is used to estimate credit impact. Results reveal that ADBP contributes to household welfare and that its impact is higher for smallholders than for large holders. Nevertheless, large holders receive the bulk of ADBP finance. The ADBP is, thus, not a cost-effective institution in delivering rural finance. Its cost-effectiveness can be improved by reducing its loan default cost and partially by targeting smallholders in agriculture where credit yields better results. [source] The Anglo-American Origins and International Diffusion of the "Third Way"POLITICS & POLICY, Issue 1 2003Donley T. Studlar Although much has been written about the meanings of the "Third Way," a term popularized by Prime Minister Tony Blair in Britain and U.S. President Bill Clinton to characterize their similar approaches to governing, little analysis has been done of the phenomenon of the rapid diffusion of this concept internationally. Although the Democratic Leadership Council used the term first in the United States in 1991, it was decided at a high-level meeting between Clinton and New Labour executive officials in 1997 to popularize the term to describe their common approach to governing. This paper describes both the intellectual and political sources of this concept and how it has spread, not only as a label for its originators, but also to other governments and parties in the world. The test of whether the Third Way becomes recognized as a coherent ideology will be whether, over time, those who advocate it become identified with distinctive, consistent policies. [source] Searching for a Role for Citizens in the Budget ProcessPUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE, Issue 1 2004Carol Ebdon Citizen participation in the local budget process is not prevalent, despite encouragement from scholars and professional organizations. This case study of two Kansas cities that have used a variety of input mechanisms in the budget process analyzes the effectiveness of citizen budget participation. Limited effectiveness was found, which may largely be due to the timing of the input, unstated or unclear goals, implementation difficulties, and political and environmental constraints. Citizen input appears to have had little effect on budget decisions, and neither city has institutionalized participation in the process. However, the input mechanisms serve other purposes, such as education and support for specific proposals. Describing the benefits as well as the difficulty of involving citizens in a meaningful way is beneficial to other governments as they wrestle with the issue of defining the citizens' role in the budget process. [source] Business Cycle Volatility, Uncertainty and Long-run GrowthTHE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 5 2001Richard Kneller Using data for 24 OECD economies from 1961 to 1997 we investigate whether the empirical relationship between business cycle volatility and long-run growth is positive, as Blackburn (Economic Journal, Vol. 109, No. 1 (1999), pp. 67,77) suggests, or negative, the view of the UK and other governments. The existing empirical literature is ambiguous on this issue. Here we account for the disparate results and find a significant negative relationship. This relationship is found to depend crucially on the time dimension of the data. We also find that oil price volatility and inflation uncertainty, as indicators of world and general shocks, are robustly correlated with growth. [source] Government perspective, statutory protection and the direction of future research and co-operation in the context of the marine environmentAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2002T.W. Eggeling Abstract 1.The Falkland Islands Government is proud of the successful development of its commercial fishery and sees no reason why it should not continue to be managed in a responsible and sustainable way. However, it recognizes that the fishery is vulnerable to over-fishing, changes in the migration patterns of the principal commercial species and the health of world markets. 2.To widen its economic base, the Falkland Islands Government is seeking to promote farm diversification and eco-tourism, to further develop its commercial fishery, and to encourage offshore oil exploration and development in areas under its jurisdiction. 3.It recognizes the value and importance of its wildlife populations and habitats but sees no reason why economic development and environmental protection should be mutually exclusive, provided that suitable measures are adopted to control development and protect the environment, a precautionary approach is applied, all potential risks to the environment are carefully assessed and remedial measures taken to avoid or minimize any adverse impacts. Extensive new legislation has already been enacted, baseline survey work undertaken and further environmental research commissioned. 4.The Government accepts that additional wildlife habitats and populations need to be afforded environmental protection through designation as National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Marine Nature Reserves (MNR) and thereafter managed effectively. It recognizes that much more environmental research needs to be carried out and, to that end, is willing to seek expert guidance on the future direction of that research, to co-operate with other governments or organisations in the carrying out of that research and to contribute financially to further environmental research in and around the Falkland Islands. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||