International commodity policy: UNCTAD and NIEO in search of a rationale

This paper concentrates on a critique of international commodity policy from a non-neoclassical perspective. It is argued that, despite the formulation of international commodity policy in UNCTAD and NIEO in terms of broad perspectives for major structural and institutional change, both the theoretical weakness of the formulation of the proposals and the realities of relatively weak bargaining power of Third World countries have led to negotiation almost exclusively in terms of narrowly defined price objectives. The discussion of the theoretical weaknesses is illustrated with reference to simulation studies of commodity markets and empirical evidence on terms of trade movements. It is argued that the UNCTAD/NIEO policies proposed are unsuitable for and unlikely to achieve the desired ends. The final section of the paper examines briefly and finds in the literature on ‘unequal exchange’ a possible hidden rationale for the indexation aspects of UNCTAD/NIEO policy. The paper concludes that the discussion of international commodity policy to date remains outside the realm of serious appraisal of the operation of the world capitalist system and the possibilities therein for major structural and/or institutional change.     

Gender and local economic policy

Booth, C., Darke, J. and Yeandle, S. 1996: CHANGING PLACES: WOMEN'S LIVES IN THE CITY. London: Paul Chapman, £14.95 paper.

Gardiner, J. 1997: GENDER, CARE AND ECONOMICS. Basingstoke: Macmillan, £15.99 paper.

Dijkstra, G. and Plantenga, J. (eds) 1997: GENDER AND ECONOMICS. A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE. London: Routledge, £45.00 cased, £14.99 paper.     

Time consistency,asymmetric information and monetary policy design: An overview

Summary This paper surveys the literature on monetary policy in the context of asymmetric information game theory. It distinguishes between the earlier literature focusing on finding reputational equilibria, the literature analyzing the possibilities of using announcements to influence expectations, and the principal-agent approach to the institutional design of monetary policy. The focus is on the institutional implications of the various studies. The conclusion is that institutional reforms directed at independent central banks with a mandate for price stability are not in line with the recommendations from the theory.I would like to thank Willem Boeschoten and an anonymous referee for valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Telecommunications and the local economy: Some emerging policy issues

This paper provides a brief overview of the issues which surround local economic development and telecommunications. The implications of telecommunications for urban and regional development in the present “information-based” era are outlined and the seven basic features of this development are described. Some necessary steps and conceptual approaches to developing specifically local development policies in this new area are then expounded by way of the development of a “framework for the local policy maker”. Finally, several leading attempts at developing locally controlled telecommunications infrastructures in the UK, as agents of economic and social development, are briefly analysed.     

Public policy and health-care delivery: A practitioner’s perspective

Primary health care for inner-city residents is generally provided in institutional settings. This article describes a successful alternate model for health-care delivery: privately owned, for-profit, fee-for-service ambulatory care facilities. The Paul Robeson Health Organization in Harlem is described as an example of such a facility. Most of PRHO’s patients are black; 55% are adult females. Some of the special health needs of inner-city women and the range of services available to them at PRHO are described. A conclusion of this article is that the economic and social benefits derived from a health delivery center like PRHO make this model one worth consideration for replication in other communities.     

Innovation centres: The policy options for local authorities

Over the last few years a growing number of local authorities have set up Innovation Centres (ICs) as part of their repertoire of initiatives aimed at local economic regeneration. According to the recently formed Association of Innovation Centre Executives, ICs exist to provide assistance to both individuals and small firms with the creation and development of new and improved products and processes which can demonstrate market potential. Yet a review of the experience of ICs to date reveals that there is no standard model of an IC that can be taken off the shelf. Roger Leigh and David North seek to clarify the various options and choices that are available to a local authority contemplating setting up an IC, using information and insights gained from a series of interviews with IC managers carried out in 1985.     

The challenges of policy coordination at a programme level: Why joining-up is hard to do

This article examines obstacles to policy coordination to promote development at a programme level. Contemporary efforts to promote coordination or ‘joined-up’ working across government entities highlight attempts to promote policy synergy and resource maximisation for achieving objectives that straddle the sector-specific boundaries of multiple departments. This paper assessed efforts to coordinate the actions of multiple departments towards achieving a single cross-cutting policy objective. Programme-level analysis of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa revealed various reasons why joining-up is difficult to negotiate in practice. This consisted of policy goal and operational incompatibility between specialised entities, which appears sensitive to the specificity and stringency of policy goals and implementation regimens; as well as a host of difficulties related to how coordination is formally defined and designated. This included role definition and confusion, as well as the nature and locus of coordination mandates across and within individual departments.     

National economic forecasting at local level: Applications of the Cambridge model in the West Midlands

The pioneering local economic strategies developed by the GLC and Metropolitan County Councils prior to their abolition in March 1986 frequently drew upon comprehensive research and analysis. The West Midlands County Council was the only local authority using forecasts derived from a national economic model as an input to research for local economic development. This article discusses the West Midlands' experience in using forecasts derived from Cambridge Econometrics' model of the UK economy for sectoral analysis, strategic land-use planning and evaluation of the regional impact of national economic policies.     

Fiscal decentralization and local expenditure policy in China

Since the tax-sharing reform in 1994, the Chinese fiscal system has exhibited a marked vertical fiscal imbalance—a mismatch between expenditure and revenue assignments—at the local levels, which may cause the common-pool problem in local governments' behavior. Using a large fiscal dataset at the county level from 1997 to 2006, this paper studies the effects of fiscal decentralization on local expenditure policy and analyzes how the vertical fiscal imbalance shapes these effects. The estimation results show that expenditure decentralization increases government spending and leads to a fund allocation with a larger weight on capital construction and smaller weights on education and administration. In contrast, revenue decentralization has little influence on local government expenditures. We show that the differences in the effects of expenditure and revenue decentralization can be attributed to the distortionary effects caused by the vertical fiscal imbalance and, thus, offer support to the importance of the common-pool problem at the county level of China's fiscal system.     

现阶段广东产业结构调整:背景、特征及政策建议

现阶段,广东产业结构调整的背景发生了明显的变化。这些变化既要求广东加快产业结构的调整,同时也为结构调整创造了条件。从广东产业结构的特点看,三次产业的产出结构基本合理,但第二产业比重偏高,第三产业比重偏低,而且这种状况在短期内难以改变甚至有加剧的趋势;三次产业的劳动力就业结构偏差突出;三次产业内部结构也不合理。因此,在产业结构调整的政策选择上,一是消除体制性因素的制约;二是以重化工业为主确定主导产业体系;三是在区域分工的基础上实行增量调节和总量调节并重;四是加速城市化进程。     

发展地方特色经济的组织形式选择及其政策分析

文章从不同的视角对产业集群的优越性进行了论述,认为它是发展地方特色经济的最佳组织选择。然后就如何发展具有地方特色的产业集群提出了相应的政策建议。     

Entrepreneurship,private economy and growth: Evidence from China

This paper examines the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth by using a panel data set of 29 provinces in China over 20 years. Two indicators of entrepreneurship are defined and introduced into the traditional growth regression framework that is estimated using the system generalized method of moments. We also use the ratio of staff and workers of state-owned enterprises and per capita sown land area as the instrumental variables to identify the causal effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth. Our results suggest that entrepreneurship has a significant positive effect on economic growth and this finding is robust even after we control for other demographic and institutional variables. Our study provides some evidence that may be used as a basis for evaluating the effect of China's policy on private business which has been increasingly relaxed since the late 1970s.     

Coordination Failures,Cluster Theory,and Entrepreneurship: A Critical View

In the last decades, more and more economists have advanced the idea that significant obstacles impeding economic growth (especially in less developed regions) consist in different market failures, preventing entrepreneurs from taking the necessary actions to exploit profit opportunities: coordination failure. This paper provides a refutation of the idea that coordination failures as manifested in the inability of clusters to emerge can serve as a ground for government intervention. It uses the Porter, Rodrik and Rodriguez-Clare thesis as an example of this approach and criticizes the claim that coordination externalities prevent the market process to allocate resources optimally.