434 research outputs found
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Business Corruption, Uncertainty and Risk Aversion
Get PDFThe presence of business-corruption in a market provokes firms to make choices between legal business approaches and illegal bribery. The outcome of a chosen strategy will usually be uncertain at the time the decision is made, and a firm’s decision will depend partly on its attitude towards risk. Drawing on the empirical data provided by a survey of 82 Norwegian exporting businesses, the paper proposes a theory about firm’s choices between legal and illegal business practices. It begins by describing the risks, uncertainties and benefits attached to bribery, and specifies their impact on firm’s propensity to offer bribes. It then demonstrates how risk averse firms can be more inclined to offer bribes than risk neutral, and even risk attracted firms. Although the analysis diverges from existing theory in stressing the differences between illegal and legal forms of rent-seeking, the findings correspond to the results reported in the literature on legal forms of rent-seeking
The Effects on Agrarian Contracts of a Governmental Intervention into Bonded Labor in the Western Terai of Nepal
Get PDFWe study an effective intervention into a specific form of bonded labor.
The intervention led to a shift in agrarian contracts, from bonded labor to sharecropping. By comparing the pre- and post-liberation contracts we evaluate theoretical models of agrarian contracts. We suggest three mechanisms that jointly explain why landlords offered bonded labor contracts pre-liberation.
One mechanism we apply to define bonded labor in contrast to tied labor.
The mechanism, where the outside option as casual labor is endogenously determined by the choice of long-term contract, implies a trade-off for the landlord between efficiency and redistribution of surplus
Towards Multiparty System in Uganda: The Effect on Female Representation in Politics
Get PDFScholars, politicians and women activists today share a concern for the limited representation of women in different political bodies. Statistics comparing female representation in sub-Saharan African legislatures suggest that a small group of countries in Sub-Sahara Africa contribute to the relatively high female representation. Uganda is one of these, with 24% women in parliament.
This article is based on my master thesis ”Can you really fail to support the one who feeds you? An analysis of female representation in the Parliament of Uganda”.
The data is collected from interviews with 20 (total of 74) female parliamentarians’ summer 2002, newspaper reports and secondary sources
Palestinian Women: Is there a Unitary Conception of Rights?
Get PDFPalestinian women’s participation in the resistance against the Israeli occupation, most notably during the first Intifada (1987-93), has been characterised as broad and active, particularly at grass roots level. This participation gave rise to claims for gender equality and more social and political power for women. This paper is based on fieldwork conducted mainly in two villages in the Ramallah district in the spring of 2004, and concerns “ordinary” Palestinian women’s views on what women’s rights are and how they perceive their own rights situation. The term “ordinary” in this respect refers to rural women outside of political organisations, whether secular or religious. These women do not participate in any of the many women’s rights advocacy groups that exist in Palestine. My material shows that while there seems to be an agreement among women that their rights situation is not ideal, there is neither a consensus as to what women’s rights are nor how such rights can be achieved. Furthermore, there is a marked difference in how women’s rights are understood between women belonging to the urban elite and their rural sisters
Is Bonded Labor Voluntary? A Framework against Forced Work
Get PDFUN estimate that 20 million are held in bonded labor. Several economic analyses assert that bonded laborers accept these contracts voluntarily, which could imply that a ban would make such laborers worse off. We question the voluntariness of bonded labor, and present a mechanism that keeps workers trapped. With different types of landlords not revealed to the laborer, we show how some landlords manipulate contract terms so that the laborer becomes bonded. Enforcement mechanisms and the monopolistic market for credit thus play a joint role. Providing alternative sources of credit, offer proper conflict resolution institutions over labor-contract disputes and banning could emancipate bonded labor, which would make them better off
Courts under Construction in Angola: What can they do for the Poor?
Get PDFThis paper is about the role that may be envisioned for the courts in Angola with respect to the poor. Looking at the period from 1992 – 2004, it analyses the factors that are necessary for getting social rights litigation successfully through the courts – and what kind of impediments that exist.
In spite of rather wide constitutional guarantees of a large number of social, economic and cultural rights, Angola is a highly unequal society where discrimination has been rampant in many spheres of social, political and economic life. Yet, the state has not been challenged with upholding these constitutional guarantees. This paper tries to identify some of the conditions necessary for such cases to be introduced to courts and to be effectively ruled upon by judges.
What obstacles would a poor litigant, whose rights had not been respected, be faced with? Would the case be likely to be brought to court – and if it were, would it be favourably received?
The paper’s tentative conclusion is that the failure to implement social and economic rights in Angola is not primarily due to constitutional limitations, but rather due to the lack of resources among the poor as well as to lack of human
and technical resources within the justice system itself
PRSP in Tanzania: Do Mkukuta and the CCm Election Manifesto Pull in the same Direction?
Get PDFThe National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP), or what is more commonly referred to by the Kiswahili acronym Mkukuta, has been in effect since July 2005. It is a key document setting out a broad framework and strategy for poverty reduction and economic growth. Most Development Partners have aligned their assistance with the Mkukuta. The CCM’s Election Manifesto for the 2005 general election was issued in August 2005. The Manifesto is a comprehensive declaration of policies, goals and priorities for the nation and its people as a whole. The 2005 general election gave CCM a clear mandate to implement the Manifesto. If the Manifesto points in a very different direction from that of the Mkukuta, President Kikwete’s government may be pulled between different concerns and one might expect implementation of the Mkukuta to be poor. The Norwegian Embassy decided therefore to commission a short-term study in order to review and assess differences and links between the Mkukuta and the Manifesto. The main purpose of this review is to get a clearer picture of areas where the two strategies pull in the same direction and where they differ, given the broad clusters of outcomes in the Mkukuta
Benefit Streams from Mining in Tanzania: Case Studies from Geita and Mererani
Get PDFTanzania is a ‘new’ mining country, and foreign investment in the mining sector has caused controversies. Government revenues from mining increased from
2 million US$ in 1998 to 36 million in 2002, but many stake holders argue that foreign investors have been given too generous conditions. The great majority of direct taxes accrue to the national treasury, while local authorities have little or no tax income from mining. This report focuses on the CSR initiatives of two foreign mining companies: AngloGold Ashanti, operating Geita Gold Mine, the third largest gold mine in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Tanzanite One, operating in Mererani. The companies’ willingness to engage in benefit sharing, their methods for doing this, and their co-operation with local authorities varies greatly. Both mining communities have faced conflicts between small scale miners and foreign investors, but the conflicts have reached far higher levels in Mererani compared to Geita. The case studies show that at the local level, poor local governance has opened up for corruption in benefit streams management. Moreover, in Mererani, development projects sponsored by Tanzanite One have resulted in ethnic secessionism and affected local political processes. The two case studies focus on the triangular relationship between government (including local authorities), foreign owned mining companies, and local communities. What has guided benefit stream management up to now? What factors enhance or hinder an optimal management at the local level
Hamas and the Quest for Palestinian Statehood
Get PDFThe Islamic Resistance Movement’s (Hamas) big win in the elections to the
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) marks the end of Fatah’s political hegemony.
Having trumped Fatah in the elections, Hamas faces several domestic and foreign challenges. Having inherited the ruins of the Oslo Agreement, including the beleaguered Palestinian Authority (PA), a Hamas-led government cannot deliver on its elections promises of rooting out corruption and reforming the
Palestinian Authority without massive funding from foreign donors. Unless
Hamas renounces violence, acknowledges the right of Israel to exist, and accepts previous agreements between the PLO and Israel, it will be politically isolated by
Western countries (USA, EU), ignored by most Arab states, and shunned by Israel. This places Hamas at a crossroads: it must either comply with the demands of renouncing violence and accept a process of political “integration” or defy political and economic sanctions that will isolate the new leadership and infl ict damage on their people and economy. This paper examines the prospects before Hamas and the political options facing the new leadership in the quest for Palestinian
statehood
Civil Society in Angola: Inroads, Space and Accountability
Get PDFCivil society is inherently weak in Angola, and the political and societal space for civil society is limited.
Angolan authorities have not fully accepted civil society’s voice, watchdog and control functions, and the legal framework is restrictive. Most organisations are careful in their approach to and in their contact with government. There is a tangible fear of backlash, based on previous negative experiences.
NGOs explicitly and directly working on issues of governance, transparency and democracy, including public finance management, are all very small, having a limited membership base, and they are dependent on foreign funding. Except for a few human rights organisations, NGOs working on good governance and public finance are still embryonic in Angola.
Larger NGOs with a solid membership base, international backing and broad legitimacy in Angolan society and government, all have main priority working areas different from public finance management and state budgets. This makes them reluctant to engage in political matters, except for on carefully delineated issues that directly affect their core constituencies (like budget allocations to local areas), and with carefully chosen counterparts in (local) government agencies.
The tendency towards organisational networking is comparatively strong in Angola. Almost all
NGOs are members of several organisational networks, through which they work not only for the benefit of their members, organisations and organisational space in general, but also on issues that relates to good governance and government transparency. Although some of these networks have been evolving towards being organisations on their own, the networking trend is very positive, sometimes politically significant, and should be supported.
The Angolan government seems to take CSO and NGO pressure seriously only when it is concerted, based on a larger number of organisations, and involving international NGOs and media. At the same time, the regime is not monolithic, and inroads to more accommodating ministries and government representatives do exist. Multiple and various channels must be employed for NGOs to be heard.
In order to have an impact on public finance management, transparent budgeting and pro-poor budgets, Angolan CSOs will need more elaborated knowledge and “budget literacy”. This can be enhanced for instance through international partnerships for inspiration, information and training