How transnational environmental advocacy networks socialize international financial institutions: a case study of the international finance corporation

Environmental organizations, characterized here as transnational advocacy networks, use various strategies to "green" international financial institutions (IFIs). This article goes beyond analyzing network strategies to examine how transnational advocacy networks reconstitute the identity of IFIs. This, it is argued, results from processes of socialization: social influence, persuasion and coercion by lobbying. A case study of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as a member of the World Bank Group, is used to analyze how an IFI internalized sustainable development norms. The IFC finances private enterprise in developing countries by providing venture capital for private projects. Transnational advocacy networks socialized the IFC through influencing its projects, policies and institutions via direct and indirect interactions to the point where the organization now sees itself as a sustainable development financier. This article applies constructivist insights to the greening process in order to demonstrate how socialization can reshape an IFI's identity.

The dynamics of Latin American sovereign international bonds

This thesis investigated the behavioural dynamics of emerging market sovereign international bonds issued by key Latin American economies. The study allows deeper insights into the complex behaviour of an important segment of international bond markets in a single, comprehensive and penetrative study.

UNEP's finance initiative : beyond bluewash?

Sustainable finance is a burgeoning area of international relations that cross-sects trends towards financial liberalization and global environmental governance. This article seeks to examine the role of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in the emergence of a global sustainable finance regime through its finance initiative in 2003. Specifically, the article proposes research on the establishment and robustness of UNEP's finance initiative and the extent to which it has been taken up by the global finance industry. It aims to compare UNEP's finance initiative with the Equator Principles established by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2004, which determine environmental policy targets for the banking industry. The comparison reveals institutional differences which maintain UNEP's position as a contributor although not necessarily a leader in the emerging sustainable finance regime.

Measuring credit spreads of emerging markets

This study found, in the trading of bonds from emerging economies, the international market does not differentiate distinctions between international bonds that were issued by government or corporations. While domestic political and economic issues affect the trading of Malaysian bonds, over the longer term, international economic events leave more significant impact.

Tourism and economic growth

This thesis analyses the economic impact of international tourism on society. It is found that while tourism has the potential to add to national wellbeing through the opportunities created for trade, it has the potential to have complex distributional implications. These distributional implications call for carefull policy development by governments.

Development aid : a fresh look

This book addresses a number of gaps in knowledge on aid allocation and effectiveness, and provides many new and important analytical insights into aid. Among the topics covered are the interface between aid allocation and perceptions of aid effectiveness, the inter-recipient concentration of aid from non-govenment organizations, the year-on-year volatility of aid, impacts of aid on public sector fistcal aggregates, and evaluation of the country-level impacts of aid. The book is an essential companion for professionals engaged in aid policy reforms and also for scholars in the areas of development economics, international finance and economics.

Global Surgery 2030: evidence and solutions for achieving health, welfare, and economic development.

Remarkable gains have been made in global health in the past 25 years, but progress has not been uniform. Mortality and morbidity from common conditions needing surgery have grown in the world’s poorest regions, both in real terms and relative to other health gains. At the same time, development of safe, essential, life-saving surgical and anaesthesia care in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) has stagnated or regressed. In the absence of surgical care, case-fatality rates are high for common, easily treatable conditions including appendicitis, hernia, fractures, obstructed labour, congenital anomalies, and breast and cervical cancer. In 2015, many LMICs are facing a multifaceted burden of infectious disease, maternal disease, neonatal disease, non-communicable diseases, and injuries. Surgical and anaesthesia care are essential for the treatment of many of these conditions and represent an integral component of a functional, responsive, and resilient health system. In view of the large projected increase in the incidence of cancer, road traffic injuries, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in LMICs, the need for surgical services in these regions will continue to rise substantially from now until 2030. Reduction of death and disability hinges on access to surgical and anaesthesia care, which should be available, affordable, timely, and safe to ensure good coverage, uptake, and outcomes. Despite growing need, the development and delivery of surgical and anaesthesia care in LMICs has been nearly absent from the global health discourse. Little has been written about the human and economic effect of surgical conditions, the state of surgical care, or the potential strategies for scale-up of surgical services in LMICs. To begin to address these crucial gaps in knowledge, policy, and action, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery was launched in January, 2014. The Commission brought together an international, multi- disciplinary team of 25 commissioners, supported by advisors and collaborators in more than 110 countries and six continents. We formed four working groups that focused on thedomains of health-care delivery and management; work-force, training, and education; economics and finance; and information management. Our Commission has five key messages, a set of indicators and recommendations to improve access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care in LMICs, and a template for a national surgical plan.

Aid, growth, policies and fragility

The impact of aid on per capita income growth has been a particularly controversial topic among researchers and policy-makers alike. Most studies agree that growth would be lower in the absence of aid. This is evident from comprehensive literature surveys of aid and growth studies, including Hansen and Tarp (2000), Morrissey (2001), McGillivray et al. (2006), Mekasha and Tarp (2011) and Clemens et al. (2012). There is no such agreement in this literature regarding what might be described as the contingencies on which the impact of aid on growth is partially dependent. Debate over this topic is intensive and a failure to reach agreement over it is arguably the principal failing of the aid–growth literature owing to the potential guidance such agreement could provide for the selection of interventions aimed at improving aid effectiveness. Debate on aid–growth contingencies commenced after publication of the pioneering econometric investigation of Burnside and Dollar (1997, 2000). Burnside and Dollar multiplicatively interacted aid with a measure of policy, and found that aid only had a positive impact on growth in developing countries with good fiscal, monetary, and trade policies. Subsequent studies have sought to test the robustness of the Burnside and Dollar result, test for the relevance of different contingencies, or both. No study has been able to replicate the Burnside and Dollar result, and as such there is widespread concern in the research community over its robustness.

The China threat : perceptions, myths and reality

"Since the end of the Cold War, one of the most significant debates in international relations has been the question of whether the rise of China as a major economic, political and military power will be a force for stability or instability in the international system and the East Asian region. Forceful arguments have been put forward on both sides."
"This book examines perceptions of the 'China Threat', and governments' policies in response to the perceived threat in a wide range of countries, including the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, South Asia, South-East Asia and the Middle East, as well as the perceptions of the Chinese themselves. For each country current security concerns and policies, especially the policy of engagement, are examined in detail, and future prospects for relations with China are assessed. As the Bush administration in Washington increasingly focuses on China as a 'strategic competitor' and Sino-US-relations become increasingly tense, the 'China Threat' issue has come to dominate the security agenda in the Asia-Pacific region, and now poses the biggest foreign policy challenge of the twenty-first century."

Electronic commerce in small to medium-sized enterprises : frameworks, issues and implications

Electronic Commerce in Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises: Frameworks, Issues and Implications addresses eCommerce issues in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a global setting. The book aims at addressing issues that are of importance to researchers, to students, and to professionals interested in the eCommerce field in SMEs and hence, interested in addressing issues pertaining to theory and to practice.

The story of Australian agricultural economics 1900-1975

The growth of the agricultural economics profession in Australia is evaluated within the context of government policy. Particular economists and agricultural economists were instrumental in questioning the government's policy approach to agriculture. Their life work is assessed to ascertain their legacy to this country through their research, teaching and writing.

Earnings management and the performance of Australian IPOs

This thesis examines earnings management in the Australian initial public offering (IPO) market. In general, the results show that Australian IPO firms do engage in earnings management at the offer date. There is sufficienct evidence to suggest that firms that manage earnings at the offer date suffer poorer long-run performance.

Towards a socioanalysis of money, finance and capitalism : beneath the surface of the finance industry

Book launch speech 28 March 2012, Melbourne

Essays on the economics of natural disasters and political institutions

This thesis examines how natural disasters—earthquakes, floods and storms—affect democracy by altering economic outcomes. The results indicate that earthquakes and floods improve the level of democracy, while storms lead to non-democratic transitions, particularly in island countries.

Essays in political and development economics

 This research analyses the role of terrain ruggedness and elite domination as obstacles undermining the cooperation and cohesiveness of groups in societies. Specifically, terrain ruggedness hinders state capacity development and fiscal decentralisation could mitigate this negative effect. Additionally, it proves the role of elites in the selection of economic policies.