The drugs economy and anti-drug policy in developing countries

The drugs economy has now developed into a major factor in many developing countries. What effects on the economies of the countries concerned do drugs production and the drugs trade have? How should the prospects of success for substitution policies be judged? What strategy to curb the demand for drugs in the industrial countries might carry the promise of success?     

The role of entrepreneurial cooperation

Entrepreneurial cooperation between industrial and developing countries has gained in significance during the past decade, both in practice and in academic discussion. To what factors can this trend be attributed? What forms of cooperation are available? Where do the opportunities and risks lie?     

Effects of world market oriented regional integration on developing countries

The inward-oriented wave of regionalisation in the mid-sixties in the so-called developing countries was judged, twenty years later, to have been a failure almost everywhere. Since the beginning of the nineties a new trend towards regionalisation has been emerging, this time more strongly oriented towards world markets. Do the new regional integration agreements complement the economic and development policy effects aimed at by the structural adjustment programmes of the international financial institutions? What effects do they have on the economic development and the industrialisation of the countries involved?     

Causes of the growth crisis in the EC countries and strategies for overcoming it

Whereas in 1970 most of the large EC countries were still recording real growth rates in excess of 5%, after the two oil crises there was an appreciable slowdown in economic expansion and at the beginning of the eighties even a real contraction. At the same time unemployment increased dramatically. Where do the causes of the crisis lie? What strategies promise success in overcoming it?     

The conduct of international enterprises in developing countries

Do multinational enterprises act in developing countries as a motive force for progress or do they perpetuate colonialism by different means? The fierce controversy on this question still continues, fuelled not only by basic ideological differences but by dearth of empirical evidence. Prof. Pausenberger is helping to overcome the lack of knowledge.     

Infrastructure or foreign direct investment?: An examination of the implications of MNE strategy for economic development

This paper explores the paradoxical relationship between MNE current strategies and economic development. There is evidence that positive developmental impacts of FDI flows are conditional on high levels of human capital and thus on the existence of ‘good’ infrastructure in recipient countries. In this paper we suggest that current MNE strategies have a negative impact on the development of infrastructure in LDCs. The justification for this argument arises from the low developmental impact of current FDI patterns and from rising costs of attracting increasingly footloose investment. The overall effect is to aggravate government financial constraints on the development of basic infrastructure. We develop propositions for future empirical research. We also consider implications for MNE strategy and argue that current MNE strategies are not only ineffective for delivering poverty reduction but that current strategies in developing countries do not necessarily serve the interest of MNEs either.     

Competitiveness of developing and state trading countries

The foreign trade policies of the industrialized countries have become increasingly complex. The states in question do not apply uniform policies to all other countries but operate different arrangements for different groups of countries. The divergencies can be easily adduced as evidence in support of charges of discrimination against one group of countries for the benefit of another group. The state trading countries for instance claim—in partial explanation of their relatively small export achievements—that the foreign trade policy of the industrialized western countries puts them at a disadvantage compared with the developing countries. Is this charge justified? The following study answers this question for the EC which is the most important market for both these groups of countries in the industrialized world.     

Information Content of Advertising in the United States,Japan, South Korea,and the People's Republic of China

The results of this four country-four media study indicate that different countries/cultures have varying degrees of information cues in their advertising. Broadcast media (television and radio) have lower information content than do print media (magazine and newspaper) in all countries. Overall, the average number of cues per advertisement for all four countries was: 3.10 for magazine, 2.91 for newspaper, 2.14 for television, and 2.05 for radio. The study found that the information content (number of cues) and the type of cues varied by media within each country. This implies that international advertisers need to consider their strategies in developing advertising themes for various target audiences in different countries.     

Financing the global environment

The international coordination of environmental protection is particularly difficult with regard to developing countries. How can the industrialized countries be persuaded that financial compensation to the developing countries is economically justified? How can external support for the developing countries be organized so that the incentives for environmental protection are strengthened effectively?     

由古典比较优势理论引发对贸易产业安全问题的思考

中国在对外贸易实践中一直采取以比较优势为指导思想的贸易发展战略。我国拥有大量廉价的劳动力资源,而资本和技术相对稀缺,因此以劳动密集型产品为主导的相关产业在我国拥有比较优势。但是,对于发展中国家来说,比较优势并不是一种真正意义上的优势,只是相对的静止的比较优势,是因为我国的劳动密集型产品价格较低所造成的。随着产业发展规模的扩大以及国际国内形势的变化,原有的比较优势战略呈现出了明显的不适应性,并且影响到产业安全。     

Marketing and distribution strategies for international organizations

Recently international organizations as e.g. the International Monetary Fund or the GATT have increasingly been criticized particularly by developing countries. Even the creation of a kind of super-UNCTAD is under discussion. Other institutions are also subjected to increasing pressure to justify the investments of their sponsors in terms of the “product” which they are offering. What about adequate strategies for the international organizations?     

The international debt problem: An analysis of the Brady plan

Recently the American Treasury Secretary, Nicholas Brady, launched a new initiative in which he proposed reducing the developing countries’ bank debt. What are the elements of the plan, and which countries would benefit? What problems does it entail? Can it bring about a decisive improvement in the international debt situation of the developing countries? The following two articles attempt to answer these questions.     

MNC strategies and linkage effects in developing countries

The study addresses the implications MNC strategies have for linkage effects in developing countries. Two contrasting MNC strategies, which reflect an integration-responsiveness dichotomy, are scrutinized in terms of their effects on jobs among local linkage partners in developing countries. It is hypothesized that the investments of MNCs pursuing local responsiveness create more jobs among local linkage partners, but imply less job upgrading, when compared to investments undertaken by MNCs following strategies of global integration. The hypotheses are tested on a sample of Danish MNCs with extensive investments in developing countries.     

Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility and the "Community": The Case of Rio Tinto, Richards Bay Minerals and the Mbonambi

Mining companies have long had a questionable reputation for social responsibility, especially in developing countries. In recent years, mining companies operating in developing countries have come under increased pressure as opponents have placed them under greater public scrutiny. Mining companies have responded by developing global corporate social responsibility strategies as part of their larger global business strategies. In these strategies, a prominent place is given to their relationship with local communities. For business ethics, one basic issue is whether such an approach to corporate responsibility is likely to effectively address the development concerns of local communities in developing countries. This paper addresses this question by investigating how the corporate social responsibility agenda of a major minor company has been implemented by one of its subsidiaries in South Africa.     

Growth policies in developing countries

Long-term growth in most developing countries is driven by the adaptation of technology from developed countries. The question, however, of how to promote technology adaptation is a difficult one. The following article introduces a transaction cost perspective and applies it to the concrete and—against the background of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in November 2001—topical question: how do WTO rules impact on development in terms of technology adaptation? This issue is of utmost importance to the EU, which put forward the argument that the new Trade Round had to become a “Development Round”.     

Competition regimes and air transport costs: The effects of open skies agreements

The relevance of transport costs has increased as liberalization continues to reduce artificial barriers to trade. Is it worthwhile to implement policies designed to increase competition in transport markets? Focusing on air transport, this paper quantifies the effects of liberalization of air cargo markets on transport costs. Between 1990 and 2003, the United States implemented a series of Open Skies Agreements, providing a unique opportunity to assess the effect that a change in the competition regime has on prices. In our sample, Open Skies Agreements reduce air transport costs by 9% and increase by 7% the share of imports arriving by air. Those results hold for developed and upper-middle-income developing countries but for lower-middle-income and low-income developing countries Open Skies Agreements do not reduce air transport costs.     

Foreign aid,new economic order and basic human needs

The maldevelopments due to aid-tied growth-maximisation strategies of the past decades have led to cynicism, and sometimes downright opposition to aid donation by taxpayers in the industrialised countries. On the other hand, radicals in the developing countries view aid as a Trojan horse to perpetuate neo-colonialism and dependency. Dr. Karunaratne reviews the shortcomings of conventional aid and presents a package of proposals for a reformed aid strategy.     

The non-oil developing countries and OPEC: Coalition or conflict?

For a time in the mid-1970s, “Third World solidarity” was at its zenith and the prospect of a new international economic order appeared to be within reach. But by the Cancun Summit in 1981 the schism between the oil exporting developing countries and the non-oil exporting developing countries had become apparent. What are the determinants of relationships between these two groups of countries? What are the prospects for the second half of the 1980s?     

Diversification as a commodity policy

The disparities between the economies of developing countries and those of industrialised nations are still widening. How can the economic process in the developing countries be accelerated as soon as possible? The following article examines this decisive question.     

The impact of agricultural price policy in developing countries

Agricultural price policies are under closer review now in many developing countries. There is a growing tendency to rely more on market forces. What impact have agricultural price policies had on the performance of the agricultural sector in developing countries until now?