Technology assessment and developing countries

The assessment of technologies may be of great importance to developing countries in their present process of industrialization in the framework of the New International Economic Order. The main criteria for the assessment of the technologies most relevant to the needs of developing countries are reviewed from the point of view of employment, scarce capital, and energy resources. The design of appropriate technologies should take into account the tastes, culture, needs, purchasing power, and raw materials available in developing countries. A systems approach should therefore be used to assess technologies. The programs undertaken by several agencies of the United Nations System are described which may contribute to build up technology assessment capability in developing countries.     

Banking business models and risk: Findings from the ECB's comprehensive assessment

We use the results of the ECB's comprehensive assessment to evaluate the importance of the bank business model on risk assessment and the persuasive effectiveness of different supervisory styles on banks’ recapitalization. Our analysis reveals inconsistencies in the information content provided by the various regulatory measures used for assessing bank stability. Moreover, opposite to CET1 ratio, the leverage ratio provides assessments on business models more consistent with a market-based measure of bank risk exposure and Z-SCORE. Accounting for several control variables both at the bank and country level, we also find evidence that the effectiveness of the supervisory action depends on the specific type of supervisory model. In particular, countries adopting the hybrid model seem more effective in persuading banks to recapitalize preventively. Differently, countries adopting the integrated and the sectorial model seem less effective in their requests.     

Intrafirm trade and the developing countries: an assessment of the data

The state of general empirical knowledge of the extent of and trends in intrafirm international trade are surveyed with attention concentrated on United States and Canadian data sources. Focus is on conceptual and definitional distinctions, U.S. trade with U.S. majority-owned foreign affiliates, U.S. related-party imports, international subcontracting and value added tariffs, aggregative data from individual developing countries, and customs documents as micro-level data soruces. In this effort to outline the reasons for the growing concern with the phenomenon of intrafirm trade and to summarize the most readily available data on its nature and growth, the following were among the important points made: 1) it is essential to arrive at clear and uniform definitions as to what is meant by "intrafirm trade"; 2) the share of U.S. non-petroleum imports from developing countries which originates in majority-owned foreign affiliates of U.S. firms is declining; 3) very high proportions of some U.S. imports from developing countries originate with "related parties," and there are frequently large differences between import unit values in related-party trade and those in non-related-party trade; 4) international subcontracting, as indicated by the usage of value added tariff provisions, continues to be a rapidly growing element in manufactured goods trade between the U.S. and developing countries; and 5) further data should be collected and empirical research conducted.     

Health technology assessment in Japan: a work in progress

Abstract

Background: In Japan, pharmacoeconomic requirements for list-price adjustment were institutionalized in April 2019 following provisional implementation of a new Health Technology Assessment (HTA) program 2016–2019. Since April 2019, submission of cost-effectiveness evidence to the Central Social Insurance Medical Council (Chuikyo) as part of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has been mandatory for selected pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Methods: Based on a review of publications and commentaries since April 2019, together with views from a group of experts on key issues to be addressed, this report provides an update on recent HTA developments and key challenges still to be addressed.

Results and Discussion: Japan’s new HTA program is a first step toward development of a universal healthcare system that can be sustainable for many years into the future. Currently, Japan’s HTA program requires provision of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) as evidence, with quality-adjusted life years as the preferred outcome measure. Prices can be adjusted both upward and downward according to the degree of the ICER estimate. Japan is the first country to have adopted an algorithmic method for “ICER-based” pricing; however, HTA measures that extend beyond a single ICER estimate are needed to take full advantage of HTA in the future. In particular, generation of evidence of value should support changes to the healthcare system so that incentives for innovation are not diminished while industry and government are not overburdened by the generation or assessment of evidence. There is a need to ensure scientifically sound HTA expertise across all sectors in Japan, and therefore enhancement of HTA literacy and capability among healthcare professionals, academia, government, and industry should be a priority.     

A taxonomic review of methods and tools applied in technology assessment

Technology Assessment (TA) has been a growing field of management study for the past four decades. An increasing number of studies have been carried out over the years contributing to the development of TA literature. Some of these studies summarized the history and growth of the field during its evolution. However, there has been no effort made to present an overview of the methods and tools that have been cited in TA literature. This paper attempts to fill that void. A thorough review of the TA articles published in leading journals in the management of technology field is conducted to identify the research methods or tools in those studies. The paper provides an introductory review of the use of technology assessment terminology during its development, which helps the readers avoid the confusion of the TA concept since its origination in public decision making forty years ago and where it is now — widely adopted in other sectors. A thorough presentation of the approaches, methods and tools that have been introduced or employed in both mainstream TA and “inverted TA” studies is then provided. The main content of the paper is related to the works published in leading international journals that involve certain research methods or techniques.     

An assessment of telecommunications reform in developing countries

This paper analyzes the impact of policy reform in basic telecommunications on sectoral performance using a new panel data set for 86 developing countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean over the period 1985 to 1999. We address three questions. First, what impact do specific policy changes—relating to ownership and competition—have on sectoral performance? Second, how is the impact of change in any one policy affected by the implementation of the other, and by the overall regulatory framework? Third, does the sequence in which reforms are implemented affect performance? We find that both privatization and competition lead to significant improvements in performance. But a comprehensive reform program, involving both policies and the support of an independent regulator, produced the largest gains: an 8 percent higher level of mainlines and a 21 percent higher level of labor productivity compared to years of partial and no reform. Interestingly, the sequence of reform matters: mainline penetration is lower if competition is introduced after privatization, rather than at the same time.     

Industry-specific competencies and converging technological systems: evidence from patents

Utilising patent data, this empirical paper draws upon the notion of technological path-dependence at the industry level and finds that industry-specific competencies have endured strongly over the twentieth century — industrial sectors patent most in their corresponding technological fields, and differences in overall technological profiles remain quite marked. However, in an increasingly complex technological environment, paradigms developed within one industry may spill over into others as firms seek to absorb them. Eventually, after long periods of time the spillovers may become large as firms go beyond the development of new applications of their core technologies into the absorption of new modes of technological behaviour originally developed elsewhere. Technological profiles therefore show a pattern of ‘convergence’ under such conditions. Firms unable to attain this second stage of spillover may become ‘industrial dinosaurs’.     

浅议发展社会工作对社会管理创新的意义

在欧美国家社会工作在社会管理方面担任着重要的角色。当前中国社会转型时期是把社会工作引入到社会管理创新的极好契机。应当通过传播社会工作理念、建设社会工作人才队伍、培育民间社工组织机构、推行政府购买服务等途径推动社会工作发展,充分发挥社会工作具有亲和力和实效性、整合社会资源、调整社会心理和社会关系、推动党的群众工作变革等方面的优势和作用,为社会群体与居民提供专业化、个体化的优质社会服务,从而有力地推动了社会管理创新。     

Regional sustainability: How useful are current tools of sustainability assessment at the regional scale?

Sustainability assessment methods are primarily aimed at global, national or state scales. However, modelling sustainability at finer spatial scales, such as the region, is essential for understanding and achieving sustainability. Regions are emerging as an essential focus for sustainability researchers, natural resource managers and strategic planners working to develop and implement sustainability goals. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of current sustainability assessment methods - ecological footprint, wellbeing assessment, ecosystem health assessment, quality of life and natural resource availability - at the regional scale. Each of these assessment methods are tested using South East Queensland (SEQ) as a case study. It was selected because of its ecological and demographic diversity, its combination of coastal and land management issues, and its urban metropolitan and rural farm and non-farm communities. The applicability of each of these methods to regional assessment was examined using an evaluation criteria matrix, which describes the attributes of an effective method and the characteristics that make these methods useful for regional management and building community capacity to progress sustainability. We found that the methods tested failed to effectively measure progress toward sustainability at the regional scale, demonstrating the need for a new method for assessing regional sustainability.     

基于层次分析的灰色模糊综合评价法在节能住宅技术经济评价中的应用

随着建筑节能的推广,迫切需要适合各地区的节能住宅技术评价方法。文章根据寒冷地区节能住宅特点,设计相应的技术经济评价指标体系,引入层次分析法、灰色关联度和模糊综合评价法对节能住宅设计方案进行评价,最后通过实例说明如何运用基于层次分析法的灰色模糊综合评价法进行节能设计方案的优选。分析模型可供节能住宅设计方案优选时参考。     

Poverty, political freedom, and the roots of terrorism in developing countries: An empirical assessment

We find that political freedom has a significant and non-linear effect on domestic terrorism, but has no statistically significant effect on transnational terrorism. Geography and fractionalization limit a country’s ability to curb terrorism, while strong legal institutions deter terrorism.     

Foresight tools for participative policy-making in inter-governmental processes in developing countries: Lessons learned from the eLAC Policy Priorities Delphi

The paper shows how international foresight exercises, through online and offline tools, can make policy-making in developing countries more participatory, fostering transparency and accountability of public decision-making. A five-round Delphi exercise (with 1454 contributions), based on the priorities of the 2005-2007 Latin American and Caribbean Action Plan for the Information Society (eLAC2007), was implemented. This exercise aimed at identifying future priorities that offered input into the inter-governmental negotiation of a 2008-2010 Action Plan (eLAC2010). It is believed to be the most extensive online participatory policy-making foresight exercise in the history of intergovernmental processes in the developing world to date. In addition to the specific policy guidance provided, the major lessons learned include (1) the potential of Policy Delphi methods to introduce transparency and accountability into public decision-making, especially in developing countries; (2) the utility of foresight exercises to foster multi-agency networking in the development community; (3) the usefulness of embedding foresight exercises into established mechanisms of representative democracy and international multilateralism, such as the United Nations; (4) the potential of online tools to facilitate participation in resource-scarce developing countries; and (5) the resource-efficiency stemming from the scale of international foresight exercises, and therefore its adequacy for resource-scarce regions. Two different types of practical implications have been observed. One is the governments' acknowledgement of the value of collective intelligence from civil society, academic and private sector participants of the Delphi and the ensuing appreciation of participative policy-making. The other is the demonstration of the role that can be played by the United Nations (and potentially by other inter-governmental agencies) in international participatory policy-making in the digital age, especially if they modernize the way they assist member countries in developing public policy agendas.     

Policy impact assessment in developing countries using Social Accounting Matrices: The Kenya SAM 2014

This paper describes the structure and estimation of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Kenya for the year 2014. Among its specificities, this SAM includes a very high disaggregation of the agri‐food sector and accounts for the double role of households as producers and consumers. Accounting for these characteristics is crucial to provide robust socioeconomic analysis in the context of developing countries. Indeed, this type of database is valuable to perform ex‐ante evaluations of economic policies with various economic models and techniques. In this paper, we present an application with a linear multiplier analysis (backward linkages and value chain decomposition). The results show the capacity of the primary sector in Kenya to generate value added and employment, with this growth distributed more intensely in rural households whose main livelihood is semi‐subsistence agriculture.     

商业银行开展行业分析工作探讨

行业分析是金融从业人员、大众投资者为获取行业本质规律、信贷承载能力和价值回报水平等而进行的分析工作。商业银行开展行业分析工作具有重要意义。行业分析的内容不但要包括行业发展趋势,还要深入分析行业的物流、资金流和信息流等运营特征;不但要把握行业的信贷风险,还要组合设计合适的产品,同时对银行所维护的行业客户质量有清晰的认识。对于商业银行来说,开展行业分析是以常态化、组织化和实用化为基础的。     

浅谈如何做好国有企业综合治理工作

稳定是从事一切工作的基础和前提条件,是加快企业改革发展的重要保障。综合治理工作是维护企业稳定最有效的措施,是企业发展的基础保证。因此,必须不断加强企业综合治理工作力度,确保企业快速健康和谐发展。     

Electricity sector reform in developing countries: an econometric assessment of the effects of privatization,competition and regulation

Electricity sectors in both developed and developing countries have been subject to restructuring to introduce private capital and increase competition. Although the effects of such reforms in a number of the developed economies are now well documented, the experience of developing countries is much less well researched. This paper provides an econometric assessment of the effects of privatization, competition and regulation on the performance of the electricity generation industry using panel data for 36 developing and transitional countries, over the period 1985–2003. The study identifies the impact of these reforms on generating capacity, electricity generated, labor productivity in the generating sector and capacity utilization. The main conclusions are that on their own privatization and regulation (PR) do not lead to obvious gains in economic performance, though there are some positive interaction effects. By contrast, introducing competition does seem to be effective in stimulating performance improvements.