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on Central and Western Asia |
| By: | Ashima Goyal |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the division of tasks required between politicians and bureaucrats to run an effective rural employment guarantee scheme (EGS) in India, in the context of Indian history and habits. |
| Keywords: | Politician, bureaucrat, incentives, employment guarantee, rural, India, Indian history, EGS, village management, resources, institution, democracy, African underdevelopment, panchayats, elected local councils |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1895&r=cwa |
| By: | Kavitha Kuruganti |
| Abstract: | The handbook is prepared to create an informed public debate on Genetic Engineering in agriculture and this Introductory Manual is a contribution to this debate – a debate not just on GE in agriculture per se but on democratization of science and technology. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, genetic engineering, GE, gene, revolution, sciences, technology, crops, Proteins, production, BIOTECHNOLOGY, India, scientific, Productivity, nutritious, Food |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1896&r=cwa |
| By: | People's Union for Democratic Rights PUDR |
| Abstract: | Communal riots have become an annual feature of Indian life, although their number varies from year to year. A situation has come to pacs where maddening communal violence, arbitrary actions of executive authorities, large-scale killing of people in police firings, the mysterious disappearance of militant youths and the continued imprisonment of large number of undertrials no longer affect the conscience of the public. All these are an ominous indication of the dangers lying ahead the country as it goes to the polls. Can we remain helpless spectators to the rapid disappearance of all democratic rights and end up by being passive victims of a ruthless tyranny? |
| Keywords: | parliament, laws, human rights, regulations, victims, Indian, India, communal riots, violence, democratic rights, polls, social, economic, political, public, parliaments, |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1888&r=cwa |
| By: | Simon Deakin (University of Cambridge); Panicos Demetriades (University of Leicester); Gregory James (University of Leicester) |
| Abstract: | We use a new legal dataset tracking changes in creditor protection law over several decades to study the impact of legal reform on banking system development in India. Cointegration analysis is used to show that the strengthening of creditor rights in relation to the enforcement of security iterests in the 1990s and 2000s led to an increase in bank credit. We show that the change in the law was not endogenous to trends in stock market development and GDP per capita, and that the direction of causation ran from legal reform to banking development, rather than the reverse. |
| Keywords: | creditor rights, legal origin, banking development, India |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wef:wpaper:0038&r=cwa |
| By: | Bhattacharya, Sulagna |
| Abstract: | During the recent turmoil in world financial market and its cascading disruptive effects, the role of financial integration assumes importance. A common outshoot of such financial crises generated locally or regionally is that they spread faster to other connected markets and economies to the extent such markets and countries are integrated with the originator country. The emerging/developing/non-developed countries bear their share of the brunt mostly due to their dependence on the advanced economies by way of trade or financial partnerships. There exists the famous adage: “If the US sneezes, rest of the world catches pneumonia.” As of late, the severity of this phenomenon might have been reduced – owing largely to emergence of alternate economic powers that are characterized by high rate of sustained growth – and also to what economists call the “De-Coupling Effect” – that some of these economies have been able to insulate themselves from shockwaves in other countries in such a way that susceptibility to such external disruptions has lessened, the domestic balance remaining largely unaltered. However, in the age of increasing global integration, growing countries can not afford to stay highly insulated, closed or de-coupled from other economies. To accelerate such integration, countries resort to various approaches, financial integration being a prime one among them. And financial integration presupposes capital account liberalization. At one end of the spectrum is fully restricted capital account; at the other, a fully convertible capital account. Many of the developed countries practice the later. The least developed countries have a too low extent of capital account liberalization. The emerging countries largely fall midway – they have partially open and liberalized capital account. Among the emerging economies, India occupies a dominant space. According to IMF and other reports, India would come in the top three of the economically most powerful economies by 2050. It has a much higher growth rate (more than 8% per annum) compared to many developed countries. This paper examines the status of readiness of India in adopting a fully convertible capital account, keeping in mind its present and future financial integration status and objectives. |
| Keywords: | CAC; Capital Account Convertibility; India; Financial Integration |
| JEL: | H87 Z0 E65 F36 |
| Date: | 2009–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14731&r=cwa |
| By: | India Social Forum ISF |
| Abstract: | A consultation with about 40 children who have faced violations of their housing rights in some form or the other was organized on 13th November 2006 from 9 – 12 am on the National platform of India Social Forum in New Delhi. These were the children who have faced forced evictions; development induced displacement, children living in inadequate housing conditions as well as homeless/street children. For this consultation, YUVA with its experience in the field of housing rights decided to get all the partners who have been a part of the struggle for housing rights of the poor and displaced. This is a report of the consultation and the rich and heartfelt exchanges. |
| Keywords: | housijng, displacement, children, right ot housing, right to livelihood, development, destructions, cities, urban areas, youth, Urban Studies |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1887&r=cwa |
| By: | Lalitha N |
| Abstract: | This paper details the procedures adopted by the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation in procuring and supplying essential drugs to the government health care which is a positive measure in ensuring `health for all’. [GIDR WP No. 161]. |
| Keywords: | financial resources, prices, market, Procurement, medicines, population, utility, utilies, health, Supplyhealth care, India, drugs, Tamil Nadu, medical services, WHO, essential drugs, public health services |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:1898&r=cwa |
| By: | Elena Lazarou |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the discourse on Turkey in the Greek press, focusing particularly on the reaction of the press to the transformation – or Europeanization– of Greek foreign policy that took place in the years following 1997. The paper examines the perceptions and representations of Turkey in the Greek printed media, by identifying the narratives referring to Turkey either as an enemy or as a candidate state for EU membership, and by looking at the evolution and transformation of these narratives in the period between 1997 and 2003. It then extracts observations regarding the nature of the discursive changes observed and proposes that - to a larger or lesser extent - these changes may be linked to the Europeanization of Greek society and politics and can be directly or indirectly attributed to the EU’s ability to influence non-state actors, such as mass media. |
| Keywords: | Europeanisation; Mass media; Foreign Policy; Greek-Turkish relations; Discourse. |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:23&r=cwa |
| By: | Fernandes, Ana M.; Paunov, Caroline |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, globalization, and more specifically the increased exposure to competition from low-price producers in China and India, has created a new economic environment for other emerging economies. The most advantageous way for manufacturing firms in those economies to position themselves in domestic and international markets is to offer upgraded and differentiated rather than"mundane"labor-intensive products. This paper investigates whether increased competitive pressure from imports forces firms to improve the quality of their products. The econometric analysis relies on a rich dataset of Chilean manufacturing plants and their products. Product quality is measured with unit values (average prices) and industry-level transport costs are used as an exogenous measure of import competition. The authors find a positive and robust effect of import competition on product quality. This effect is found to be particularly strong for non-exporting plants. The results also show that increased import competition from less advanced economies is the major cause for the positive impact on quality upgrading. The overall evidence points to the benefits of trade openness for product innovation but demonstrates at the same time that competitive pressure alone will not enable local plants to catch up with leading world producers. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Water and Industry,Access to Markets |
| Date: | 2009–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4894&r=cwa |
| By: | Diana Bozhilova |
| Abstract: | For decades after founding the ECSC (1951) the member states have relegated the issue of joint supranational energy policy development. The situation changed decisively in the early 1990s, with the dramatic shift in the geo-politics of the resource-rich Eurasia, following such developments as the collapse of the USSR and the Gulf War. In light of these developments, European states gradually consolidated their position in favour of supranational energy policy development. This paper presents an analysis of developments in EU energy policy given the ongoing realignment of strategic interest. It outlines the process of Europeanization, identifying caveats in the security of energy supply. It then proposes a solution to the main problematic of diversification of hydrocarbons supply through the fostering of regional co-operation amongst the states of South-East Europe (mainly Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey). The paper argues that this is the only viable and lasting solution to EU energy dependency away from Russia, at once showing the fundamental importance of pipeline ‘mapping’ in the area. |
| Keywords: | Energy, Regional Co-operation, Europeanization, Transmission Pipelines. |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:24&r=cwa |
| By: | Hajizadeh, Mohammad; Connelly, Luke B |
| Abstract: | This study presents the rst analyses of the equity of health care financing in Iran. Kakwani Progressivity Indices (KPIs) and concentration indices (CIs) are estimated using ten national household expenditure surveys, which were conducted in Iran from 1995/96 to 2004/05. The indices are used to analyze the progressivity of two sources of health care financing: health insurance premium payments and consumer co-payments (and the sum of these), for Iran as a whole, and for rural and urban areas of Iran, separately. The results suggest that health insurance premium payments became more progressive over the study period; however the KPIs for consumer co-payments suggest that these are still mildly regressive or slightly progressive, depending upon whether household income or expenditure data are used to generate the indices. Interestingly, the Urban Inpatient Insurance Scheme (UIIS), which was introduced by the Iranian government in 2000 to extend insurance to uninsured urban dwellers, appears to have had a regressive impact on health care nancing, which is contrary to expectations. This result sounds a cautionary note about the potential for public programs to crowd out private sector, charitable activity, which was prevalent in Iran prior to the introduction of the UIIS. |
| Keywords: | Equity; Health care nancing; Kakwani progressivity index; Iran. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 P43 I18 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14672&r=cwa |