Union experience of social dialogue and collective participation in India

The labor regulatory framework in India provides a conducive environment for social dialogue and collective participation in the organizational decision-making process (Venkata Ratnam, 2009). Using data from a survey of workplace union representatives in the federal state of Maharashtra, India, this paper examines union experiences of social dialogue and collective participation in public services, private manufacturing, and private services sector. Findings indicate that collective worker participation and voice is at best modest in the public services but weak in the private manufacturing and private services. There is evidence of growing employer hostility to unions and employer refusal to engage in a meaningful social dialogue with unions. These findings are discussed within the political economy framework of employment relations in India examining the role of the state and judiciary in employment relations and, the links between political parties and trade unions in India.

A felemelkedés mátrixa. Brazília a Lula-érában (Brazil during Lula era)

Az elmúlt évtizedben a nemzetközi kapcsolatok és a nemzetközi politikai gazdaságtan szakirodalmában is intenzív figyelem övezte az ún. feltörekvő gazdaságokat, közöttük Brazíliát. Luiz Inácio „Lula” da Silva két elnöki ciklusában (2003–2011) a feltörekvő piacok globális pozíciónyerése, a brazil külpolitika aktivizálódása és a brazil gazdaság kiemelkedő teljesítménye új koordinátarendszerbe helyezte a dél-amerikai óriást. A tanulmány a Lula-éra politikai és gazdasági teljesítményét foglalja össze: állami, regionális és globális szinten vizsgálja a dinamikus brazil fejlődés elmúlt évtizedét. / === / Since the millennium the literature on international relations and international political economy has been focusing on so-called emerging countries. This trend has brought unexpected and rarely experienced attention to the Latin American region, especially to Brazil. During Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva's presidencies (2003–2011) the global high position of emerging markets, the activity of Brazilian foreign policy and the outstanding achievements of the Brazilian economy placed the South American giant into a new frame of reference. The study sums up the political and economic performance of the Lula era: examines the past decade of dynamic Brazilian development at national, regional and global level.

A kivonulás-tiltakozás-hűség fogalomhármas közgazdaságtani relevanciája a 21. században = The relevance of "exit, voice and loyalty" theory in 21st-century economics

A dolgozat a politikatudomány és közgazdaság-tudomány határán álló kivonulás-tiltakozás-hűség modell lényegét járja körbe. Az Albert O. Hirschman által felépített gondolati keret szemléleti frissessége és sajátos megközelítési módja rendkívül termékenyítően hatott az elmúlt évtizedekben a társadalomtudományok fejlődésére. Mégis viszonylag periferikus helyet foglal el a közgazdaság-tudományon belül, miközben például a rendszerváltás és az azt követő társadalmi feszültségek megjelenése szempontjából is sokoldalúan használható fogalmi keretről van szó. A válság indukálta turbulens környezet még inkább rávilágít arra, hogy ma is időszerű perspektívát kínál a hanyatlás politikai gazdaságtana, azaz hasznos elemzési kapaszkodó nyújt az úgynevezett Hirschman-trilemma a társadalmi és gazdasági folyamatok értelmezéséhez. ________ The article concerns the "exit, voice, and loyalty" concept, which straddles the border of political science and economics. This theoretical framework, invented by Albert O. Hirschman, has exercised a fruitful influence in the social sciences in the last few decades, through its fresh features and original approach. However, it holds a peripheral position in economics and plays an undervalued role in eco-nomic education in Hungary, even though it can be flexibly applied in analyses of such phenomena as the economic transition and the ensuing social tensions. Moreover the very turbulence of the conditions brought about by the crisis show that the political economy of decline offers a relevant perspective, so that the Hirschman trilemma is a practical analytical tool for understanding social and economic processes.

Bevezetés a Központosítás és piaci reform című kötethez = Introduction to the volume Centralization and Market Reform

Az alábbi írás Kornai János életműsorozata közeljövőben megjelenő harmadik kötetének bevezetője alapján készült. (A sorozat első kötete, A hiány és második kötete, A szocialista rendszer 2012-ben jelent meg.) Ritkán fordul elő, hogy életművét rendszerezve, egy szerző maga veszi tételesen sorra írásait, tárja fel az írások megszületésének körülményeit, és elemzi őket több évtized távlatából. Kornai János életműsorozatának összeállításakor erre a rendkívüli feladatra vállalkozott. A kötetben megjelenő 22 íráshoz fűzött gondolatainak közlésekor mai szemmel veszi górcső alá az egy kivételével a rendszerváltás előtt írt cikkeit, valamint 1956-ban írott első könyvét, A túlzott központosítást. Az írásokat rendszerező bevezető a központosításra és a piaci reformra összpontosítja a figyelmet - e témakörről bebizonyosodott, hogy korai még csupán a közgazdaságtani elmélettörténet fejezeteként számon tartani. A kötetben megjelenő írások egy része közvetlenül kapcsolódik a magyar gazdaság tapasztalataihoz, másik része pedig elméleti jellegű. Ennek megfelelően az itt közölt bevezetés is foglalkozik mind a magyar gazdaságtörténet máig is figyelemre méltó és tanulságos gyakorlati problémáival, mind pedig a szocializmust és a kapitalizmust, a centralizált és decentralizált formákat összehasonlító általános elméletekkel. ______ This piece forms the introduction to the forthcoming third volume of János Kor-nai s life s work series reissued in Hungarian. (The first and second volumes, Economics of Shortage and The Political Economy of the Socialist System, ap-peared in 2012.) It is rare for an author to arrange his own life s work, taking his writings item by item, presenting the circumstances in which they arose, and ana-lysing them decades later. His thoughts on the twenty-two writings in the volume, at the time of republication, involve scrutinizing with present-day eyes articles written, with one exception, before the change of system, along with his first book, Overcentralization, written in 1956. The introduction that systematizes these fo-cuses on centralization and on market reform - events show it is still too soon to see these subjects simply as a chapter in the theoretical history of economics. Some of the articles draw directly on experiences with the Hungarian economy, while others have a theoretical nature. So the introduction also deals both with practical problems of Hungarian economic history that remain notable and instructive, and with comparative general theories of socialism and capitalism and centralized and decentralized forms.

From Anti-equilibrium to The Socialist System and Beyond

This essay attempts to understand János Kornai’s works from a political economy perspective. It argues that Kornai has significantly contributed to the formation of a new paradigm of political economy. The main endeavor of Kornai has been the combination of analytical concepts of economics with the empirical description of real economies. After a certain period of theoretical experimentation János Kornai formulated his research program that can be called the shortage economy explanation of the socialist system. The Economics of Shortage and The Socialist System have created a new theoretical paradigm in a framework in which it has become possible to establish a connection between the analytical and empirical, universal and historical aspects of the theory studying the socialist system as a real economic entity. János Kornai has built his analysis of the socialist system on the primary role of politics in the creation of economic institutions. In his present work on capitalism he has extended this thesis to the capitalist system. This seems to be an important contribution of his to a new political economy paradigm that is just in the process of formation.

Politikai gazdaságtan és civil gazdaság: két gazdasági paradigma kritikai értékelése

A Budapesti Corvinus Egyetemen 2014. november 12-én, a Gazdaság és Erkölcs című konferencián tartott angol nyelvű előadás leirata. (Political economy and civil economy: a critical assessment of two economic paradigms)

Heterogeneous labour and the determination of value

Heterogeneity of labour and its implications for the Marxian theory of value has been one of the most controversial issues in the literature of the Marxist political economy. The adoption of Marx's conjecture about a uniform rate of surplus value leads to a simultaneous determination of the values of common and labour commodities of different types and the uniform rate of surplus value. Determination of these variables can be formally represented as a parametric cigenvalue problem. Morishima's and Bródy's earlier results are analysed and given new interpretations in the light of the suggested procedure. The main questions are addressed in a more general context too. The analysis is extended to the problem of segmented labour market, as well.

The direct investments in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s of multinational enterprises headquartered in Spain

This thesis explains why multinational enterprises (MNEs) headquartered in Spain made significant investments in Latin America in the 1990s. Two independent variables are considered: structural reforms in Latin America, and liberalization in Spain. The first independent variable concerns the ways in which Latin American governments adopted a series of reforms that made their economies attractive to foreign investors. The second variable explains how the prospects of liberalization and foreign competition led Spanish firms to invest abroad in order to expand their businesses. The study will also show the competitive advantage of Spanish MNEs, vis-a-vis other foreign and local competitors in Latin America. This thesis takes an international political economy approach. The core of the thesis shows the development of Spanish direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s. The theoretical perspectives on MNEs are provided by theory of the firm, industrial organizations theory and alliance theory. ^

The politics of professional sports facility subsidies in Florida

Political leaders in urban settings regularly confront difficult decisions over how to distribute public funds. Those decisions may be even more controversial when they involve public subsidies of professional sports facilities. Yet, state and local governments in the United States have granted billions of dollars in financial and land-based subsidies for professional sports facilities over the past two decades, raising questions about how these types of corporate welfare decisions are made by local leaders. Scholarship on urban politics and community power suggests a number of theories to explain political influence. They include elitism, pluralism, political economy and growth machines, urban regimes, coalition theory, and minority empowerment. My hypothesis is that coalition theory, a theory that argues that public policy decisions are made by shifting, ad hoc alliances within a community, best describes these subsidy decisions. ^ To test this hypothesis I employ a public policy process model and develop a framework of variables that is used to methodically examine four sports facilities funding decisions in two Florida counties between 1977 and 1998: Joe Robbie Stadium and the American Airlines Arena in Miami-Dade, and the Ice Palace Arena and the Raymond James Stadium in Hillsborough County. The framework includes six variables that permit a rigorous examination of the actors involved in the decision, their interactions, and the political environment within which they operate. The variables are formal political structure, informal sector, subsidy proponents, subsidy opponents, public policy options, and public opinion. ^ This research rests on qualitative data gathered from interviews of public and private officials involved in subsidy decisions, public records, and media reports Employing a case study analysis, I offer a rich description of the decision making process to publicly fund sports stadiums and arenas in Florida. My findings confirm that the best theory to explain decisions to subsidize sports facilities is one in which short-term, temporary coalitions are formed to accomplish policy goals. ^

Development and testing of the Elderly Social Vulnerability Index (ESVI): A composite indicator to measure social vulnerability in the Jamaican elderly population

Over the last two decades social vulnerability has emerged as a major area of study, with increasing attention to the study of vulnerable populations. Generally, the elderly are among the most vulnerable members of any society, and widespread population aging has led to greater focus on elderly vulnerability. However, the absence of a valid and practical measure constrains the ability of policy-makers to address this issue in a comprehensive way. This study developed a composite indicator, The Elderly Social Vulnerability Index (ESVI), and used it to undertake a comparative analysis of the availability of support for elderly Jamaicans based on their access to human, material and social resources. The results of the ESVI indicated that while the elderly are more vulnerable overall, certain segments of the population appear to be at greater risk. Females had consistently lower scores than males, and the oldest-old had the highest scores of all groups of older persons. Vulnerability scores also varied according to place of residence, with more rural parishes having higher scores than their urban counterparts. These findings support the political economy framework which locates disadvantage in old age within political and ideological structures. The findings also point to the pervasiveness and persistence of gender inequality as argued by feminist theories of aging. Based on the results of the study it is clear that there is a need for policies that target specific population segments, in addition to universal policies that could make the experience of old age less challenging for the majority of older persons. Overall, the ESVI has displayed usefulness as a tool for theoretical analysis and demonstrated its potential as a policy instrument to assist decision-makers in determining where to target their efforts as they seek to address the issue of social vulnerability in old age. Data for this study came from the 2001 population and housing census of Jamaica, with multiple imputation for missing data. The index was derived from the linear aggregation of three equally weighted domains, comprised of eleven unweighted indicators which were normalized using z-scores. Indicators were selected based on theoretical relevance and data availability.

From stability to insurgency: The root and proximate causes of the September 2002 civil war in Côte d'Ivoire

This dissertation was an analysis of the root and proximate causes of the September 2002 civil war in Côte d’Ivoire. The central question of this study was: Why did Côte d’Ivoire, which was relatively stable under President Houphouët-Boigny, suddenly begin to experience political violence in the 1990s and an explosion in 2002? Côte d’Ivoire was an interesting case because it was stable for a long period of time, apparently making it an infertile ground for conflict. It was also interesting for comparative purposes because of the fact that several states in West Africa (for instance, Benin, Togo, and Ghana) have experienced military coups but not have civil wars. Finally, this case was an opportunity to revisit the debate on the causes of civil wars in the African context. Chapter one has outlined the entire dissertation project and contextualized the analysis that follows in the subsequent chapters. Chapter two has reviewed the literature on civil wars in general, identified the different types of civil wars, and the type the Ivoiran war is. Chapter three has examined the domestic and international political economy as a source of the civil violence in Côte d’Ivoire. Chapter four has examined the role of ethnicity and region as identities of the war, while chapter five has analyzed the role of the foreign relations in the civil war, as well as the regional political context. Chapter six has distinguished between the root and proximate causes of the Ivoirian civil war, made judgments about the relative weight of the various causes, and the extent to which the weight of the causes can be measured. The study found that the “Ivoirité” was the most important trigger of the civil war in Côte d’Ivoire. The overall conclusion of my dissertation was that the September 2002 crisis in that country was a political crisis which occured in the context of a political reform. It first started with succession problems in 1993 followed by the controversial elections in 1995 and 2000. Later, this electoral politics spread beyond electoral issues, namely citizenship matters.

The influence of corporate interests on USAID's development agenda: The case of Haiti

This dissertation is an attempt to use the radical political economy approach, which assumes that there is a connection between a state's strategic interests and the interests of dominant multinational corporations (MNCs) located within a state's territory, to explain continuity in the USAID development agenda and lending patterns during the past 30 years of development aid to Haiti. Employing the qualitative method of "process-tracing," my study concludes that the radical political economy approach has an explanatory power when it comes to understanding continuity in the USAID development agenda and lending patterns during the past 30 years of development aid to Haiti. The evidence shows that USAID has implemented in Haiti, from the 1980s through the post-9/11 Washington Consensus period, neoliberal policies that conform to the political economy of US multinational corporations (US MNCs). Contrary to the claim that the USAID-sponsored post-earthquake development paradigm has departed from previous development strategies, the study has shown that USAID has used the occurrence of the January 2010 earthquake tragedy to accelerate in Haiti the implementation of a neoliberal agenda congenial to the business promotion of multinational investors, particularly US multinational corporations. In terms of the way ahead, the study argues for the implementation of a new development approach articulated by a legitimate Haitian state and primarily intended to promote the socioeconomic development of the poorest Haitians.

How Commerce Trumped Art at Miramax

Louis Proyect documents the role of corporate decision-making and profit in the undermining of ostensibly "independent" cinema. He focues on Miramax and its history of tampering with the work of writers and directors.