Pollution, health and economic growth

This paper examines the growth impacts of aid allocation on healthcare and pollution abatement in an endogenous growth model, and finds that the aid tied to them contributes positively to the equilibrium growth rate. Nonetheless, the growth rate can be reduced or even impaired if the ratio of aid on pollution abatement is lowered.

The relevance of Asian development bank: existing in the shadow of the Asian infrastructure investment bank

This paper analyses the potential impact of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on the Japan-USA-led Asian Development Bank (ADB). Given the financial strengths and the technical know-how of the newly formed AIIB there is a question about thefuture role and indeed relevance of the ADB. The questions canvassed in this article refer to ADB’s ability to change and adapt to the new situation, where it is no longer the dominant multi-lateral development bank (MDB) in the Asia-Pacific region. Against this background the discussion turns to issues concerning the geo-political sphere of influence of the ADB andAIIB and analyses the ADB – AIIB geo-political equilibrium in the Asia-Pacific region. Subsequently this paper discusses factors that may impact on ADB’s future relevance.

Aiding journalism: Australian journalism educators and their work in post conflict states

 Dr Wake presents a comprehensive thesis of Australian journalism education and training in the context of foreign aid and policy, particularly as applied in the Solomon Islands. Although it is essentially about journalism, the thesis also adds to the field of development studies. Dr Wake has used Bourdieu’s field theory to underpin her critical analysis.

A cooperação trilateral brasileira em Moçambique: um estudo de caso comparado: o ProALIMENTOS e o ProSAVANA

A arquitetura do sistema de ajuda internacional passa por um processo de transformação, no qual as barreiras Norte e Sul tornam-se cada vez mais indefinidas, e a cooperação trilateral, que une as práticas opostas da cooperação Norte-Sul com a cooperação Sul-Sul, emerge como uma nova modalidade da cooperação técnica brasileira. Com o objetivo de compreender esse cenário, esta tese almeja identificar e contrastar as motivações e as práticas dos agentes da cooperação trilateral brasileira por meio de um estudo de caso comparado de dois projetos, desenvolvidos pela Agência Brasileira de Cooperação (ABC), no setor agrícola em Moçambique: o ProALIMENTOS, parceria entre a United States Agency for International Development (USAID- -Brasil) e ABC, e o ProSAVANA, parceria entre Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) e ABC. Para isso, a pesquisa parte dos pressupostos da actor-oriented approach para estabelecer uma análise multinível, que cria desta forma um elo entre o agente e a estrutura, a prática e a política, com um olhar sobre o contexto macro, meso e micro. A utilização da metodologia qualitativa aplicada a essa investigação combinou a técnica de participação observante com a técnica de análise documental, acrescentando à análise 59 entrevistas semiestruturadas, realizadas principalmente entre os meses de março e junho de 2013, em Moçambique. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que, no caso do ProALIMENTOS, há ganhos em complementaridade e troca de conhecimento para as três contrapartes, porém há a sobreposição das práticas Norte-Sul de cooperação para o desenvolvimento internacional sobre as práticas da cooperação Sul-Sul. Enquanto que, no caso do ProSAVANA, não há qualquer ganho de complementariedade, uma vez que o Programa enfrenta desafios internos e externos. A falta de harmonização e coordenação técnica no âmbito interno intensificam o embate externo com os representantes da sociedade civil ao gerar constantes falhas de comunicação, o que coloca em xeque a própria continuidade do ProSAVANA. Por último, a pesquisa mostra que é necessário um maior comprometimento do governo brasileiro nos projetos de Cooperação Trilateral, uma vez que os resultados desses projetos podem impactar e afetar a credibilidade do Brasil como um novo prestador de ajuda internacional.

Globalizing talent and human capital: implications for developing countries

Includes bibliography

Remittances by emigrants: issues and evidence

Includes bibliography

The Impact of Western Social Workers in Romania - a Fine Line between Empowerment and Disempowerment

Ideally the social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance their well-being (IFSW 2004). The social work practice, however, often proves to be different. Social workers are always in the danger to make decisions for their clients or define problems according to their own interpretation and world view. In quite a number of cases, the consequence of such a social work practice is that the clients feel disempowered rather than empowered. This dilemma is multiplying when western social workers get involved in developing countries. The potential that intervention, with the intention to empower and liberate the people, turns into disempowerment is tremendously higher because of the differences in tradition, culture and society, on the one side and the power imbalance between the ‘West’ and the ‘Rest’ on the other side. Especially in developing countries, where the vast majority of people live in poverty, many Western social workers come with a lot of sympathy and the idea to help the poor and to change the world. An example is Romania. After the collapse of communism in 1989, Romania was an economically, politically and socially devastated country. The pictures of the orphanages shocked the western world. As a result many Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), churches and individuals were bringing humanitarian goods to Romania in order to alleviate the misery of the Romanian people and especially the children. Since then, important changes in all areas of life have occurred, mostly with foreign financial aid and support. At the political level, democratic institutions were established, a liberal market economy was launched and laws were adapted to western standards regarding the accession into the European Union and the NATO. The western world has left its marks also at the grassroots level in form of NGOs or social service agencies established through western grants and individuals. Above and beyond, the presence of western goods and investment in Romania is omnipresent. This reflects a newly-gained freedom and prosperity - Romania profits certainly from these changes. But this is only one side of the medal, as the effect of westernisation contradicts with the Romanian reality and overruns many deep-rooted traditions, thus the majority of people. Moreover, only a small percentage of the population has access to this western world. Western concepts, procedures or interpretations are often highly differing from the Romanian tradition, history and culture. Nevertheless, western ideas seem to dominate the transition in many areas of daily life in Romania. A closer look reveals that many changes take place due to pressure of western governments and are conditioned to financial support. The dialectic relationship between the need for foreign aid and the implementation becomes very obvious in Romania and often leads, despite the substantial benefits, to unpredictable and rather negative side-effects, at a political, social, cultural, ecological and/or economic level. This reality is a huge dilemma for all those involved, as there is a fine line between empowering and disempowering action. It is beyond the scope of this journal to discuss the dilemma posed by Western involvement at all levels; therefore this article focuses on the impact of Western social workers in Romania. The first part consists of a short introduction to social work in Romania, followed by the discussion about the dilemma posed by the structure of project of international social work and the organisation of private social service agencies. Thirdly the experiences of Romanian staff with Western social workers are presented and then discussed with regard to turning disempowering tendencies of Western social workers into empowerment.

Representing Afghanistan: The United States and Democracy's Imposition

There is an ongoing mission in Afghanistan; a mission driven by external political forces. At its core this mission hopes to establish peace, to protect the populace, and to install democracy. Each of these goals has remained just that, a goal, for the past eight years as the American and international mission in Afghanistan has enjoyed varied levels of commitment. Currently, the stagnant progress in Afghanistan has led the international community to become increasingly concerned about the viability of a future Afghan state. Most of these questions take root in the question over whether or not an Afghan state can function without the auspices of international terrorism. Inevitably, the normative question of what exactly that government should be arises from this base concern. In formulating a response to this question, the consensus of western society has been to install representative democracy. This answer has been a recurring theme in the post Cold War era as states such as Bosnia and Somalia bear witness to the ill effects of external democratic imposition. I hypothesize that the current mold of externally driven state-building is unlikely to result in what western actors seek it to establish: representative democracy. By primarily examining the current situation in Afghanistan, I claim that external installation of representative democracy is modally flawed in that its process mandates choice. Representative democracy by definition constitutes a government reflective of its people, or electorate. Thus, freedom of choice is necessary for a functional representative democracy. From this, one can deduce that because an essential function of democracy is choice, its implementation lies with the presence of choice. State-building is an imposition that eliminates that necessary ingredient. The two stand as polar opposites that cannot effectively collaborate. Security, governing capacity, and development have all been targeted as measurements of success in Afghanistan. The three factors are generally seen as mutually constitutive; so improved security is seen as improving governing capacity. Thus, the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and a deteriorating security environment moving forward has demonstrated the inability of the Afghan government to govern. The primary reason for the Afghan government’s deficiencies is its lack of legitimacy among its constituency. Even the use of the term ‘constituency’ must be qualified because the Afghan government has often oscillated between serving the people within its territorial borders and the international community. The existence of the Afghan state is so dependent on foreign aid and intervention that it has lost policy-making and enforcing power. This is evident by the inability of Afghanistan to engage in basic sovereign state activities as maintaining a national budget, conducting elections, providing for its own national security, and deterring criminality. The Afghan state is nothing more than a shell of a government, and indicative of the failings that external state-building has with establishing democracy.

Economic Reform and Social Sector Expenditures: A Study of Fifteen Indian States 1980/81-1999/2000

This paper examines social sector expenditures in fifteen Indian states between 1980/81 and 1999/2000 to find out whether the far-reaching economic reforms that began in 1991 had any significant impact on the level and trend of these expenditures; and if there was any such impact, what were the reasons behind the ensuing changes. The empirical analysis in this study shows that revenue became a major determinant of social sector expenditures from the mid 1980s with the result that real per capita social sector expenditures in most states started to decline even before the economic reforms began as states' fiscal deficits worsened in the 1980s. Economic reforms, therefore, largely did not have a major negative impact on expenditures. In fact there was a positive impact on some states, which often were those that received more foreign aid than other states. By the late 1990s, states expending more on the social sector changed from states with a traditionally strong commitment to the social sector, such as Kerala, to states having higher revenues including aid from outside the country.