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Policy Environment (policy + environment)
Selected AbstractsThe ,Neoliberal Turn' and the New Social Policy in Latin America: How Neoliberal, How New?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 5 2008Maxine Molyneux ABSTRACT The term neoliberal is widely used as shorthand to describe the policy environment of the last three decades. Yet the experience of the Latin American region suggests that it is too broad a descriptor for what is in fact a sequenced, fragmented and politically indeterminate process. This article examines the evolution of social protection in the region, and argues for a more grounded, historical approach to neoliberalism, and for some analytic refinement to capture the different ,moments' in its policy evolution, its variant regional modalities, and its co-existence with earlier policies and institutional forms. It suggests that totalizing conceptions of neoliberalism as imposing an inexorable market logic with predetermined social and political outcomes fail to capture the variant modalities, adaptations and indeed resistance to the global diffusion of the structural reforms. This article outlines the systems of social welfare prevailing in Latin America prior to the reforms, and then examines the principle elements of what has been termed the ,New Social Policy' in Latin America, engaging three issues: the periodization of neoliberalism; the role of the state; and the place of politics in the neoliberal reform agenda. [source] Beijing Plus Ten: An Ambivalent Record on Gender JusticeDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 6 2005Maxine Molyneux The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (the ,Beijing Conference') was a landmark in policy terms, setting a global policy framework to advance gender equality. Ten years after Beijing, in March 2005, the UN's Commission on the Status of Women presided over an intergovernmental meeting in New York to review the progress achieved on the commitments made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This ,Plus 10' event was decidedly low key. Its aim was not agenda setting but agenda confirming; not policy formulation but policy affirmation. Whether it proves to be part of an ongoing worldwide movement in support of gender equality, or whether it marks the decline of that process, is a question that many in international women's movements are asking. This article, drawing on research undertaken for the UNRISD report, Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World, reflects on the ambivalent record of progress achieved by women over the last decades and considers how the policy environment has changed over the period since the high point of global women's movements. It examines how the changing international policy and political climate over this period has given rise to new issues and challenges for those active in global women's movements. [source] The Shaping of San Livelihood Strategies: Government Policy and Popular ValuesDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2002Michael Taylor The importance of understanding the livelihood strategies of poor people has received a fresh impetus over the last few years with the emphasis by many Western donors on poverty reduction. This article examines the livelihood strategies of San people in three villages on the northern peripheries of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Their economic marginalization is compounded by their ethnic background; a stigma that also marginalizes them politically and socially. The analysis presented here not only challenges stereotypes commonly associated with San by demonstrating the interconnectedness of different means of ,looking for life', but it also brings to the fore the importance of considering institutional factors that regulate livelihood strategies. The article focuses on some of the unexpected consequences of the wider policy environment, and on how the values associated with different ways of life affect material subsistence strategies. These are particularly pronounced for people with a heritage of hunting and gathering living in a society that regards such practices as ,backward'. [source] Policy Reform and Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: Absolute Progress but Relative DeclineDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2004Elizabeth Asiedu Despite improvements in the policy environment, sub-Saharan Africa's share of foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries continues to decline. This article provides an explanation for the deterioration in SSA's FDI global position. It argues that, although SSA has reformed its institutions, improved its infrastructure and liberalised its FDI regulatory framework, the degree of reform has been mediocre compared with the reform implemented in other developing countries. As a consequence, relative to other regions, SSA has become less attractive for FDI. An important implication of these results is that in a competitive global economy, it is not enough just to improve one's policy environment: improvements need to be made both in absolute and relative terms. [source] Learning Spaces: an ICT-enabled model of future learning in the Knowledge-based SocietyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007YVES PUNIE This article presents elements of a future vision of learning in the knowledge-based society which is enabled by ICT. It is not only based on extrapolations from trends and drivers that are shaping learning in Europe but also consists of a holistic attempt to envisage and anticipate future learning needs and requirements in the KBS. The ,learning spaces' vision puts learners at the centre of learning, but, at the same time, conceives learning as a social process. The potential of ICT-enabled learning spaces can only be realised, however, if it is embedded in a social and institutional context that is open to innovation and supported by a favourable policy environment. [source] Equality Bargaining: Where, Who, Why?GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 6 2006Edmund Heery It is common to identify a role for trade unions in combating sex inequality at work through collective bargaining. This article uses a survey of paid union officers to identify the context in which equality bargaining by unions is likely to occur, using the specific issue of bargaining on equal pay. It concludes that equality bargaining is a function of women's voice within unions, the characteristics and preferences of bargainers themselves and of a favourable public policy environment. Bargaining on equal pay is also more likely in centralized negotiations that cover multiple employers. [source] Reterritorilizing the Relationship between People and Place in Refugee StudiesGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2001Cathrine Brun The article discusses different conceptions of space and place in refugee studies, especially contributions from anthropology and geography. A main distinction is drawn between two understandings of space and place; an essentialist conception, stating a natural relationship between people and places and an alternative conception attempting to de-naturalize the relationship between people and places. The consequences of applying different conceptions of space and place for the development of refugee policies and representations of refugees and displaced persons are addressed. For many displaced persons, displacement is experienced as being physically present at one place, but at the same time having a feeling of belonging somewhere else. It is argued that though attempts to de-naturalize the relationship between people and places have been important for how the refugee experience is conceptualized, there has been too much focus on imagination accompanied by a neglect of the local perspective of migrants and displaced people. In the local perspective of forced migration, the present lives of displaced people are emphasized. Especially the attitudes from the host communities, the policy environment that displaced people are part of, and their livelihood opportunities are the focus of regard. ,Territoriality' and ,reterritorialization' of the relationship between people and places are discussed as tools to analyse the local perspective of forced migration in general and the strategies of internally displaced persons and their hosts in Sri Lanka in particular. [source] Does Global Liquidity Matter for Monetary Policy in the Euro Area?,INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2009Helge Berger Global excess liquidity prevalent across the world's financial markets (or its sudden absence) is sometimes believed to limit sovereign monetary policy even in large economies such as the euro area. However, there is still discussion about what constitutes global excess liquidity and how exactly it shapes the policy environment. Our approach adjusts liquidity for a longer-term interest rate and output effects and focuses on US and Japanese liquidity as relevant proxies for global developments from a euro area perspective. We find that, in particular, excess liquidity in the US tends to lead developments in euro area liquidity. US excess liquidity is also consistently positive as a determinant of euro area inflation and is shown to be Granger-causal for euro area inflation in an out-of-sample forecasting exercise. There is some evidence that, at least in part, this result seems to be related to a weakening of the effectiveness of monetary policy in the euro area interest during times of excessive US liquidity. In contrast, the influence of euro area excess liquidity on euro area inflation is more limited. [source] Consumers' views on generic medicines: A review of the literatureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 2 2009Mohamed A. A. Hassali Abstract Objectives To review the literature on consumers' knowledge, attitudes and opinions of the use of generic medicines. Method A narrative review of studies conducted from 1970 to 2008 on consumers' perceptions and views towards generic medicines was performed. An extensive literature search was undertaken using indexing services available at the authors' institution library. The following keywords were used for the search: brand, generic, multisource, medications, medicines, drugs, pharmaceuticals and consumers, customers, and patients. Electronic databases searched were Medline, Inside Web, ISI Web of Knowledge, Science Direct, Springer Link, JSTOR, Proquest, Ebsco Host and Google Scholar. These electronic databases were searched for full text papers published in English from 1970 to October 2008. Key findings Twenty studies were identified. Eleven were from the USA, four were from Europe, two were from Canada and one each was from Australia, Brazil and Malaysia. In general, consumers showed mixed reactions towards the use of generic medicines. This was evident from the divergence of views observed by country development level, consumers' socioeconomic characteristics, drug product characteristics, pharmaceutical reimbursement system, policy environment, contact with health care professionals, past experience with medications, and knowledge of the seriousness of a medical condition. Conclusions Patient confidence and knowledge pertaining to generic medicines use have increased over the past four decades, especially in developed countries. Mass educational efforts, financial incentives, and greater communication among patients and health care professionals were seen as major drivers to the uptake of generic medicines among consumers. [source] Trade and associated groups in the English tourism policy arenaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 6 2001Duncan Tyler Abstract The role and influence of trade and associated groups in England's tourism policy environment is of increasing importance given recent changes in the consultative processes undertaken by the Department of Culture Media and Sport (the government department sponsoring the tourism industry in Parliament). Yet researchers working within the realm of tourism studies have paid little attention to their characteristics, objectives and tactics. This article, therefore, sets out to address these issues by drawing on the results of phase one of a two-phase research project into the influence of trade and associated groups on policy development. The article reports the findings of a survey into the objectives and tactics used by the groups in policy communications and links this to structural changes in the landscape of the tourism policy. In doing this it suggests how certain relationships have developed between government and groups, how groups collaborate on policy issues and how this may have influenced the direction of tourism policy in the England. Using the results of this research and an analysis of government policy related announcements over the past two years we hypothesise on how successful the groups have been to data, and proposes areas for future research. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The policy environment and relative price efficiency of Egyptian private sector manufacturing: 1987/88,1995/96JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMETRICS, Issue 4 2007Lullit Getachew We study the impact of policy and institutional constraints, and reforms undertaken to remedy them, on relative price efficiency and cost of the private manufacturing sector of Egypt. We undertake this study using a generalized cost function, which subsumes the standard neoclassical cost function as a special case. This approach allows us to assess the impact of such constraints, which include labor market, energy and financial sector ones, on relative prices and the structure of production, including factor demands, shares and cost. Our findings indicate the presence of substantial distortions in relative prices, and hence on cost, due to the policy environment. We also find improvements in relative price efficiency and cost performance as a result of policy reforms initiated to remove the constraints. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] How has a shortage of census and geological information impeded the regularization of artisanal and small-scale mining?NATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 1 2004Gavin Hilson Abstract There is growing consensus that a combination of laissez-faire policies, ad hoc regulation and debilitating support services has perpetuated socio-economic and environmental deterioration in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) industry. However, a lack of anthropological and geological information on ASM prevents many governments both from improving the policy environment of the industry, and from providing more robust extension services to its operators. This article aims to examine more precisely how a deficiency of baseline census and geological data has inhibited industry formalization and undermined many of the measures implemented to address pressing problems at ASM sites. Specifically, it is argued that insufficient knowledge of artisanal mining populations , including their demographic structure , and of areas suitable for ASM activities affects the ability of a government to regularize, as well as to improve, the organization of this largely informal sector of industry. Case studies of Ghana and Zimbabwe are used to illustrate how the undertaking of low-budget projects in areas of geological prospecting and population analysis could improve the efficiency of ASM assistance. [source] The influence of foreign direct investment on contracting confidence in developing countriesREGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2008John S. Ahlquist Abstract This paper examines whether foreign direct investment (FDI) influences confidence in commercial contracts in developing countries. While the research on how host countries' policy environments encourage FDI inflows has flourished, scholars have paid less attention to how the policy environment and local actors' beliefs might, in turn, be affected by FDI. This is surprising because multinational enterprises are well-recognized political and economic actors across the world. We expect that their increasing economic salience will influence the policy environments in which they function. By employing an innovative measure of property rights protection , contract-intensive money , we examine how foreign direct investment influences host countries' contract-intensive money ratio in a large panel time series of both developed and developing countries from 1980 to 2002. Our analysis suggests that higher levels of FDI inflows are associated with greater confidence in commercial contracts and, by extension, the protection of property rights in developing countries. [source] Comment expliquer le déclin de Montréal comme centre de transports aériens: une question de géographie économique?THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER/LE GEOGRAPHE CANADIEN, Issue 1 2007CARINE DISCAZEAUX L'objectif de cet article est de comprendre l'évolution des activités aériennes à Montréal. Plaque tournante majeure dans les années 1960, Montréal voit ses activités aériennes ralentir dès le milieu des années 1970. Quelles sont les origines véritables de ce ralentissement? Ce déclin est souvent attribuéà la construction d'un second aéroport international à Montréal-Mirabel en 1975. Mais qu'en est-il exactement? Ceci nous amène à nous interroger sur les facteurs de localisation des activités aériennes de manière générale. S'agit-il d'une activité de service qui se localise selon une logique de places centrales, en fonction de la taille des villes? Faut-il plutôt chercher ailleurs, par exemple dans les conditions technologiques et réglementaires propres à l'industrie? Pour y répondre, nous proposons une analyse en deux temps. D'abord, nous nous servirons des outils de régression afin d'évaluer l'importance du poids de l'économie locale comme facteur explicatif du trafic aérien. Cette première partie est essentiellement statique. Dans un deuxième temps, nous effectuerons une analyse à caractère davantage historique des activités aériennes de Montréal depuis 1945, pour renouer à la fin avec les résultats de l'analyse de régression. This paper explores the evolution of air traffic levels in Montréal. While Montréal was a major hub-airport in the 1960's, its level of air traffic dropped in the mid-1970s. This decline is often blamed on the construction of a second International airport at Montréal-Mirabel in 1975. Is this the right explanation? We raise the question whether the spatial organization of air traffic in general can explain the decline. Does the geography of air travel correspond to central place theory, and as a function of city size? Or should we examine the technological and policy environment within the air transport industry? In considering these questions, we follow a two step analysis. First, regression techniques are used to assess the importance of the local economy as a predictor of the level of air traffic. This section is essentially static. Second, an historical analysis of aviation activity in Montréal since 1945 is presented in order to corroborate the regression results. [source] Aid and Growth in the Pacific IslandsASIAN-PACIFIC ECONOMIC LITERATURE, Issue 2 2006Vlad Pavlov The literature on the aid,growth relationship has recently been reinvigorated through the application of growth equations that seek to explain growth as a function of institutions, policies and aid. This approach has generally led to the conclusion that aid has contributed to growth, albeit with decreasing returns. Some studies have found that there is only a positive relationship between aid and growth when there is a favourable policy environment,a finding that has been used to provide a reason for the reallocation of aid to better-performing countries and an increased emphasis by donors on aid conditionality. It is unclear whether these conclusions apply to the Pacific island countries given their unusual features: notably, small populations, remote locations and a high level of aid. This paper draws on the recent literature in examining the aid,growth relationship in seven Pacific island countries. A positive relationship between aid and growth is identified, although it is subject to decreasing returns. The study is unable to provide an adequate explanation for the role of institutions and policy in growth in the countries studied, or determine whether aid only contributes to growth when favourable policy environments are in place. [source] The Digital Divide in East AsiaASIAN-PACIFIC ECONOMIC LITERATURE, Issue 2 2001Alexandra Sidorenko The concept of a ,digital divide',inequality in access to modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) between industrialised and developing countries, and between urban and rural populations,has attracted much attention from policymakers, aid organisations, media and the general public. This paper places discussion of the digital divide in a broader economic context, linking it with the theory of economic growth and technological change. The network effects of diffusion of the Internet are related to the possibility of leap-frogging by latecomers. This is seen as a ,digital opportunity' presented to developing countries by the ,new economy'. This paper discusses the appropriate policy environment for bridging the digital divide, and concludes that the East Asian region has much to gain from the complementarities of its economies, their openness to trade in ICT products, and policy cooperation. [source] The Search for Common Ground: Developing Emergency Medicine in IranACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 5 2007Jeffrey P. Smith MD Academic ties between Iran and the United States were extensive before the 1979 revolution in Iran. After 20 years of negligible academic exchanges, there has been a growing trend of professional contacts between the two countries over the past few years. The genuine warmth of friendship and commitment to excellence in emergency medicine (EM) among Iranians has transcended the political barriers to allow international contribution of EM development in the country. Since 1999, there has been a successful academic collaboration between Iranian and U.S. universities to help develop EM in Iran. Today, remarkable progresses have been achieved through recognition of EM as a distinct profession, developing EM residency programs, improving emergency medical services, establishing qualified emergency departments, training faculty and staff, starting physician exchange programs, and building mutual contributions with professionals throughout the world. A supportive policy environment and a high-quality health care system have had incredible impacts on EM development in the country. [source] A Strategic Approach to Multistakeholder NegotiationsDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2001David Edmunds Environment and development practitioners increasingly are interested in identifying methods, institutional arrangements and policy environments that promote negotiations among natural resource stakeholders leading to collective action and, it is hoped, sustainable resource management. Yet the implications of negotiations for disadvantaged groups of people are seldom critically examined. We draw attention to such implications by examining different theoretical foundations for multistakeholder negotiations and linking these to practical problems for disadvantaged groups. We argue that negotiations based on an unhealthy combination of communicative rationality and liberal pluralism, which underplays or seeks to neutralize differences among stakeholders, poses considerable risks for disadvantaged groups. We suggest that negotiations influenced by radical pluralist and feminist post-structuralist thought, which emphasize strategic behaviour and selective alliance-building, promise better outcomes for disadvantaged groups in most cases, particularly on the scale and in the historical contexts in which negotiations over forest management usually take place. [source] AFRICAN, RUSSIAN, AND UKRAINIAN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT IN PORTLAND, OREGONGEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2005SUSAN E. HUME ABSTRACT. The residential patterns, adaptation experiences, and impacts of immigrants on North American cities have been well documented in the geographical literature. In this article, we build on prior work by testing the theories of Gaim Kibreab, who identified three factors that shape the experiences of recent refugees: attitudes of the receiving society; current policy environments; and employment opportunities in local communities. We analyze some of the ways in which these factors operate as interrelated systems for two comparative groups of foreign-born migrants in Portland, Oregon: sub-Saharan Africans; and Russians and Ukrainians. Using a mixed-methods approach, we triangulate data from a blend of in-depth interviews, participant observation in the community and at refugee and immigrant social service agencies, census and other statistical records, and cartographic analyses to report on the findings of our work. Data suggest that the residential, economic, and social spaces of new refugees are constructed as a complex multiplicity of networks and relationships that link time and place [source] Educational Policy, Politics, and Mixed Heritage Students in the United StatesJOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 1 2009Kristen A. Renn This article describes local, state, and federal policies related to collecting, aggregating, and reporting data on student race and ethnicity in U.S. K-12 and postsecondary education. It traces data policy from the 1997 decision by the Office of Management and Budget to change from single-race reporting to a format that permits respondents to choose more than one race, to the October 2007 issuance of final guidance from the Department of Education. Taking a K-20 perspective, I consider how policies for data collection and reporting may affect educational and developmental outcomes for students, as well as local, state, and national education policy environments. [source] The influence of foreign direct investment on contracting confidence in developing countriesREGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2008John S. Ahlquist Abstract This paper examines whether foreign direct investment (FDI) influences confidence in commercial contracts in developing countries. While the research on how host countries' policy environments encourage FDI inflows has flourished, scholars have paid less attention to how the policy environment and local actors' beliefs might, in turn, be affected by FDI. This is surprising because multinational enterprises are well-recognized political and economic actors across the world. We expect that their increasing economic salience will influence the policy environments in which they function. By employing an innovative measure of property rights protection , contract-intensive money , we examine how foreign direct investment influences host countries' contract-intensive money ratio in a large panel time series of both developed and developing countries from 1980 to 2002. Our analysis suggests that higher levels of FDI inflows are associated with greater confidence in commercial contracts and, by extension, the protection of property rights in developing countries. [source] Aid and Growth in the Pacific IslandsASIAN-PACIFIC ECONOMIC LITERATURE, Issue 2 2006Vlad Pavlov The literature on the aid,growth relationship has recently been reinvigorated through the application of growth equations that seek to explain growth as a function of institutions, policies and aid. This approach has generally led to the conclusion that aid has contributed to growth, albeit with decreasing returns. Some studies have found that there is only a positive relationship between aid and growth when there is a favourable policy environment,a finding that has been used to provide a reason for the reallocation of aid to better-performing countries and an increased emphasis by donors on aid conditionality. It is unclear whether these conclusions apply to the Pacific island countries given their unusual features: notably, small populations, remote locations and a high level of aid. This paper draws on the recent literature in examining the aid,growth relationship in seven Pacific island countries. A positive relationship between aid and growth is identified, although it is subject to decreasing returns. The study is unable to provide an adequate explanation for the role of institutions and policy in growth in the countries studied, or determine whether aid only contributes to growth when favourable policy environments are in place. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||