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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Vientiane Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growt, Institute For Societal Leadership, Lai Cheng Lim Dec 2014

The Vientiane Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growt, Institute For Societal Leadership, Lai Cheng Lim

Institute of Societal Leadership Research Collection

Laos is a small, landlocked, mountainous country in Southeast Asia. As a country, it shares borders with Myanmar and the People’s Republic of China to the Northwest, Vietnam to the East, Cambodia to the South and Thailand to the West.


The Dili Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, Lai Cheng Lim Dec 2014

The Dili Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, Lai Cheng Lim

Institute of Societal Leadership Research Collection

Timor-Leste, Asia’s newest nation, is located in Southeast Asia, on the southernmost edge of the Indonesian archipelago. The country was colonised by the Portuguese for over 450 years, occupied by the Indonesians for 24 years and administered by the United Nations for two and a half years. As a nation, Timor-Leste has had a very traumatic birth.


The Yangon Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, John W. Ellington Oct 2014

The Yangon Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, John W. Ellington

Institute of Societal Leadership Research Collection

Since its independence from British rule in 1948, Myanmar has struggled with multiple obstacles, including a series of violent internal ethnic and sectarian conflicts, isolationist fiscal policies instituted by an increasingly distrustful military government and international sanctions and condemnation following government crackdowns in 1988 and 2007. In spite of all these setbacks, President Thein Sein’s decision in 2011 to liberalise the country’s political and economic systems has created a new wave of optimism for what was once commonly regarded as a failed state.


Notes On The Policy Seminar On Inequality And Development, Held On The 26th Of September 2014 At The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Of Finland, J. G. A. Saviranta Sep 2014

Notes On The Policy Seminar On Inequality And Development, Held On The 26th Of September 2014 At The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Of Finland, J. G. A. Saviranta

Akseli Saviranta

The following document presents summarised key notes from the United Nations University – World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) policy seminar titled “Inequality and Development – Trends and Policies”. This policy seminar represented a follow-up to a prior two-day conference organised earlier in the same month by the same institute, in which the author has participated as well.


Essays On The Evolution Of Inequality, Cem Oyvat Aug 2014

Essays On The Evolution Of Inequality, Cem Oyvat

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the evolution of inequality during the development process. Specifically, the study will focus on two factors that crucially in influence the evolution of distribution: 1) industrialization and urbanization, and 2) agrarian structures and land inequality. The dissertation consists of three essays: The first essay examines the impact of the initial conditions of agrarian structures on income inequality over the long run. It develops a model showing that at the same level of national income, countries with more unequal land distribution can be expected to experience greater agglomeration in the urban sector. The excess labor in the urban …


The Cost Of Conscience: Quantifying Our Charitable Burden In An Era Of Globalization, Frank A. Pasquale Jul 2014

The Cost Of Conscience: Quantifying Our Charitable Burden In An Era Of Globalization, Frank A. Pasquale

Frank A. Pasquale

Development economists have long debated the proper targets for foreign aid contributions from wealthy countries. Philosophers like Peter Singer and Peter Unger now suggest that these countries' citizens have a parallel moral responsibility to tithe a portion of their income directly for the relief of the suffering of the poorest. These thinkers would prefer a systematic global redistribution of income - some public mechanism for accomplishing worldwide what the tax systems of egalitarian social democratic states accomplish. But they all realize that such global governance is unlikely to come about in any of our lifetimes. So they turn their attention …


From Antipolitics To Post-Neoliberalism: A Conversation With James Ferguson, Nils Gilman, Miriam Ticktin, James Ferguson Jul 2014

From Antipolitics To Post-Neoliberalism: A Conversation With James Ferguson, Nils Gilman, Miriam Ticktin, James Ferguson

Publications and Research

Humanity co-editors Nils Gilman and Miriam Ticktin spoke with James Ferguson on May 31, 2013, at Stanford University.


China's Unbalanced Development, And What We Can Learn From It, Manfredo F. Camperio Ciani Apr 2014

China's Unbalanced Development, And What We Can Learn From It, Manfredo F. Camperio Ciani

Senior Theses and Projects

This paper argues that China’s development is unbalanced, and to see the unbalance we must divide the concept of development into different categories representing its different aspects, such as economic, urban, social, and sustainable. By looking at the different characteristics of development through time, it is possible to see where the unbalance lies. Furthermore, we learn that by categorizing the nature of development, we can gain a more comprehensive insight into the development of individual countries. In conclusion, this paper proposes the creation of a possible Development Index, as it can provide greater understanding of each country’s development.


The Evolution Of Poverty And Inequality In Sub-Saharan Africa Over The Period 1980-2010: What Do We (And Can We) Know Given The Data Available?, Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu Mar 2014

The Evolution Of Poverty And Inequality In Sub-Saharan Africa Over The Period 1980-2010: What Do We (And Can We) Know Given The Data Available?, Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

No abstract provided.


Drilling In The Drought: The Industrial Organization Of Groundwater, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, E. Somanathan Jan 2014

Drilling In The Drought: The Industrial Organization Of Groundwater, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, E. Somanathan

Ujjayant Chakravorty

China and India together produce about half the world's rice and a third of the world's wheat, but production in both countries is heavily dependent on depleting groundwater resources. A large proportion of farmers buy and sell groundwater - the trading facilitated by small farm sizes and fragments land holdings. The economics of groundwater, when farm sizes are small, is little understood. This paper develops a simple, spatial model of the industrial organization of groundwater markets appropriate for smallholder agriculture. We show that if water is abundant, then equilibrium with free entry results in Bertrand competition, with water sellers charging …


Meeting The Challenge Of Reconstruction And Development In Fragile States: Lessons From Aceh, Haiti, And South Sudan, Josef Leitmann Jan 2014

Meeting The Challenge Of Reconstruction And Development In Fragile States: Lessons From Aceh, Haiti, And South Sudan, Josef Leitmann

International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) Conference

Reconstruction and development in poor, fragile countries present a double challenge: tackling the issues of poverty and underdevelopment as well as the constraints posed by instability, poor governance, and weak capacity. This context generates a range of problems that include: insecurity, insufficient planning, inadequate implementation capacity, poor financial management, misprocurement, corruption, a volatile fiscal environment, ineffective donor coordination, and negative environmental and social impacts. The paper draws lessons from positive and negative experiences in meeting these challenges in three conflict- and/or disaster-affected cases: Aceh Province, Indonesia (postdisaster reconstruction and postconflict development following the tsunami and earthquakes of 2004), Haiti (postdisaster …


Microcrédito Y Desarrollo Local : El Caso Del Sector De Los Cueros En Bogotá Entre 2006 2011, Diego Alejandro Martínez Jiménez, Miguel Ángel Rincón Chuscano Jan 2014

Microcrédito Y Desarrollo Local : El Caso Del Sector De Los Cueros En Bogotá Entre 2006 2011, Diego Alejandro Martínez Jiménez, Miguel Ángel Rincón Chuscano

Economía

Esta investigación contiene los resultados de un estudio del caso del sector de los cueros en Bogotá en el barrio Restrepo, Bogotá durante el periodo 2006-2011. Para lograr esto, en un comienzo se hace una contextualización histórica partiendo del concepto del microcrédito y su evolución a través del tiempo observando cómo este tiene incidencia sobre el desarrollo local. Posteriormente se realizó una caracterización del sector de microcrédito, partiendo de la Banca de las Oportunidades y algunas de las entidades encargadas de promover el desarrollo del sector a través de esta alternativa de financiamiento dentro de la aglomeración productora y comercializadora …


Nets Or Vaccines: Malaria Vaccine Research, David Ernenwein Jan 2014

Nets Or Vaccines: Malaria Vaccine Research, David Ernenwein

Pepperdine Policy Review

The global battle against malaria has seen many victories in the developed world but the undeveloped world and particularly Africa continue to suffer from this disease. The development of the RTS,S vaccine and ongoing research into additional vaccines have been touted as the solution to the crisis. However, the news of the successful RTS,S trial should be viewed with caution. Concerns over the effectiveness of the existing vaccine and the cost of further development may not be justified, especially given the known effectiveness of current treatment methods. This research must be watched carefully lest the allure of the vaccine blind …


Beyond Deterrence And Decline Towards A General Understanding Of Peace Economics, Raul Caruso Dec 2013

Beyond Deterrence And Decline Towards A General Understanding Of Peace Economics, Raul Caruso

Raul Caruso

The aim of this short article is to provide elements for a general discussion on peace economics and its potential contribution to economics and economic policy. I first present a discussion on deterrence equilibria and consequent allocation of resources. Eventually I expound five economic channels through which military expenditures turn to be detrimental for economic development. Finally some elements to build a framework for a peaceful economic policy are presented.