Regulatory Policy: OECD Experience and Evidence

In the past 20 years a key topic of public-sector reform inOECD countries has been the emergence of regulatory policy.During this period, the nature of regulation has undergone profoundand rapid change. This paper reviews the development of regulatorypolicy in OECD countries over the last quarter-century. It identifiesa range of tools and institutions that have been used by OECDcountries to develop high-quality regulation. The analysis attemptsto show that while there is considerable commonality on broadobjectives of regulatory policy, considerably diversity remainsin the implementation of regulatory policy across OECD countries. Footnotes ¹ E-mail address: nikolai.malyshev{at}oecd.org     

Perceptions of surfing tourism operators regarding sustainable tourism development in the Mentawai Islands,Indonesia

Surfing tourism has the potential to provide significant economic income and employment opportunities. However, the development of surfing tourism in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, has raised important questions regarding its impacts and sustainability. Economic leakages, increased pressure on the environment and resources, and adverse effects on local communities have been shown as the major barriers to sustainable development. This article provides insights into how surfing tourism operators perceive the development and impacts of the Mentawai Islands surfing tourism industry. This research project uses an interpretive qualitative approach and follows a case study methodology utilising semi-structured interviews with resort and charter boat surfing tourism operators. The study also investigated possible future directions for creating a more sustainable surfing tourism industry in the Mentawai Islands. Findings from the research showed that charter boat operators and resort operators had differing views as to how surfing tourism had developed: resort operators believed it to be sustainable, while charter boat operators felt it was unsustainable. A key finding of this study was that operators felt that surfing tourism had dramatically altered the traditional Mentawai village of Katiet and was producing adverse socio-cultural impacts on the local community. It is recommended that future research explore the issue of the impacts of surfing tourism development on other remote locations in Indonesia and other surfing tourism destinations around the globe.     

Mill’s radical end of laissez-faire: A review essay of the political economy of progress: John Stuart Mill and modern radicalism

Can John Stuart Mill’s radicalism achieve liberal egalitarian ends? Joseph Persky’s The Political Economy of Progress is a provocative and compelling discussion of Mill’s economic thought. It is also a defense of radical political economy. Providing valuable historical context, Persky traces Mill’s intellectual journey as an outspoken proponent of laissez-faire to a cautious supporter of co-operative socialism. I propose two problems with Persky’s optimistic take on radical social reform. First, demands for substantive equality have led past radicals to endorse exclusionary nationalist and eugenics policies. It pushes some contemporary radicals towards illiberal interventions into intimate social life. Second, the radical critique of capitalism relies on an account of profit that neglects the epistemic function of private-property markets. Once this is acknowledged, capitalism retains some progressive credentials against radical alternatives.     

Is the Income Elasticity of the Willingness to Pay for Pollution Control Constant?

How willingness to pay for environmental quality changes as incomes rise is a central question in several areas of environmental economics. This paper explores both theoretically and empirically whether or not the willingness to pay (WTP) for pollution control varies with income. Our model indicates that the income elasticity of the marginal WTP for pollution reduction is only constant under very restrictive conditions. Our empirical analysis tests the null hypothesis that the elasticity of the WTP for pollution control with respect to income is constant, employing a multi-country contingent valuation study of eutrophication reduction in the Baltic Sea. Our findings reject this hypothesis, and estimate an income elasticity of the WTP for eutrophication control of 0.1–0.2 for low-income respondents and 0.6–0.7 for high-income respondents. Thus, our empirical results suggest that the elasticity is not constant but is always less than one. This has implications for how benefits transfer exercises, and for theoretical explanations of the environmental Kuznets curve.     

Within the triangle of healthcare legacies: comparing the performance of South-Eastern European health systems

Objective: Inter-regional comparison of health-reform outcomes in south-eastern Europe (SEE).

Methods: Macro-indicators were obtained from the WHO Health for All Database. Inter-regional comparison among post-Semashko, former Yugoslavia, and prior-1989-free-market SEE economies was conducted.

Results: United Nations Development Program Human Development Index growth was strongest among prior-free-market SEE, followed by former Yugoslavia and post-Semashko. Policy cuts to hospital beds and nursing-staff capacities were highest in post-Semashko. Physician density increased the most in prior-free-market SEE. Length of hospital stay was reduced in most countries; frequency of outpatient visits and inpatient discharges doubled in prior-free-market SEE. Fertility rates fell for one third in Post-Semashko and prior-free-market SEE. Crude death rates slightly decreased in prior-free-market-SEE and post-Semashko, while growing in the former Yugoslavia region. Life expectancy increased by 4 years on average in all regions; prior-free-market SEE achieving the highest longevity. Childhood and maternal mortality rates decreased throughout SEE, while post-Semashko countries recorded the most progress.

Conclusions: Significant differences in healthcare resources and outcomes were observed among three historical health-policy legacies in south-eastern Europe. These different routes towards common goals created a golden opportunity for these economies to learn from each other.     

The Rise and Fall of Foreign Direct Investment in Laos, 1988‐2000

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played an important role in the development of Laos since the country embarked on an economic transition and business liberalisation programme in the late 1980s. However, in recent years Laos has witnessed a marked contraction in its cumulative FDI inflows. This article provides a profile of FDI activity in Laos over the past decade and identifies the various factors behind the rise, and subsequent decline, in foreign investment inflows during the 1990s. The article concludes by suggesting some of the ways in which Lao policy makers might seek to revive the country's flagging FDI sector.