434 research outputs found
Sort by
Access Regimes and Institutions: The Economic Organisation of the Migrant Popo Fishermen of Pointe-Noire, Congo
Get PDFWithin Popo society in Pointe Noire, Congo, fishermen seIl their fish to their wives at a price slightly below the local market price. The wives process the fish and re-seIl it in distant markets, making a profit they mainly re-invest in their husbands' fishing activities. The present paper investigates this specific economic house hold organisation in order to reveal the mechanisms producing and preserving it. To accommodate the analysis the access regime, describing the distributions of rights as well as the different actors' ability to act upon their rights, is introduced and defined. An important insight generated by the analysis is how particular institutions exist to serve the economic interests of dominant groups in the society
The impact of the financial and economic crisis in Asia on Norway's major development partners. Report submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Get PDFThis report first describes the currency, financial and economic crises in Asia and analyses how the crises evolved. The second part analyses how the three types of crises affect selected Norwegian development partners in Africa and Asia. It is suggested that the currency crisis had very little impact in the poorest developing partners that are not integrated into the world financial system. The currency crisis did, however, spread to South Africa. As a result the easing of monetary policy that was under way was reversed. The economic crisis on the other hand, has had a more significant impact, both in terms of export demand facing the countries in question and the prices they obtain on their exports. These losses are, however, at least partly counterbalanced by cheaper oil imports
Cannibalism and the optimal sharing of the North-East Atlantic cod stock: A computation model
Get PDFThis paper shows how intra-stock relations, such as cannibalism and growth enhancement, define
the optimal sharing of a fish resource between heterogeneous harve sting agents. The sharing of
resources between different vessel groups is often left for political decision making. Nonetheless,
such decIsions may have both biological and economic consequences. This becomes quite clear
when different harvesting groups exploit different sections (age groups) of a stock that has
intra-stock interactions in the form of cannibalism. A two-agent bioeconomic model with
cannibalism is developed and used to determIne (i) optimal annual harvest sizes (T ACS) for cod,
and (ii) the optimal proportion of the T AC that should be harvested by the trawler and coastal fleets.
Applying biological and economIc data in a numerical procedure, and comparing the results
obtained to previous studies, it is shown that the presence of cannibalism has a significant impact on
who should take what proportion of the T AC, and hence, the standing stock size and discounted
economIc rent achievable. In sharp contrast to other studies, we find that the optimal harvest
requires that both trawlers and coastal vessels should harve st the fish resource. In addition, the
results indicate that from a bioeconomic perspective, the existing trawler fleets harvest share in the
cod fishery is too high
Korrupsjon
Get PDFCorruption is an ancient phenomenon, which has attracted increasing attention in recent years. This does not least reflect the growing awareness of the magnitude of the phenomenon. The primary concern of this paper is to discuss the causes and consequences of corruption in developing countries, and possible interventions towards reducing corruption in the public sector. Principal-agent theory (incentive theory) is used as a point of departure. The paper examines the key assumptions of this theoretical approach. Based on empirical observations, it also examines limitations of principal-agent theory for analysing the decisions of civil servants to engage in fraudulent behaviour.
Furthermore, the paper discusses the impacts of corruption on economic performance. In recent years, arguments have be en advanced by some economists that corruption has negative impacts on economic growth. However, by comparing corruption and economic performance in African and Asian countries, the paper argues that the corruption-growth relationship depends not only on the scope but also on the form of corruption. This, in turn, suggests that it is possible for high levels of corruption to coexist with either high or low rates of growth, depending on how corruption is organised and how the money is used.
Finally, actions to reduce corruption are discussed. The paper argues that the fight against corruption should not be seen independently from the need to reform the role of the state. Although downsizing the state and political liberalisation are desirable goals in many developing countries, they are not sufficient conditions for reducing corruption in the public sector. In some cases such moves may, in fact, lead to increased corruption (at least in the short run) by creating new opportunities
Protective Strategies in the 1990s: A Review of the Policy Discourses in UNHCR and the Executive Committee. Report prepared under a grant from the Research Programme on Forced Migration, the Research Council of Norway
Get PDFThe study examines changing policy doctrines for protecting refugees, as reflected in the official documents of UNHCR and its Executive Committee (ExCom) composed of nation states.
Collectively, the two bodies determine what is legitimate international practice for protecting refugees within the framework of international law and which should constitute the point of departure for national asylum policies. To contextualize the changing doctrines, the structure and working procedures of UNHCR are examined (section 1), as well as major trends in international refugee movements (section 2). The major par of the study examines the discourse on protection strategies in the 1990s. While the specific issues varied, the study found that the overarching theme was the need to safeguard the institution of asylum which was increasingly in danger.
The study was supported by a grant from the Program on Forced Migration of the Norwegian Research Council. Gro Tjore is a researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute
Criteria for general budget support and general sector support. Report commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Get PDFThis report assesses a set of criteria for providing development aid in the form of general budget support and sector support. The criteria are suggested by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relate to good governance, structural reforms, the budget process, accounting, auditing and reporting. The criteria are assessed on the background of a discussion of how general budget and sector support work from a macroeconomic view. In addition an analysis of the workings of such support in combination with the most common conditions on which it is given is provided. It is recommended that budget or sector support should be given when the recipient government has adequate administrative capacity. Macroeconomic policy measures should be left to the recipient government in cooperation with the IMF in order to ensure internal consistency. Budget and sector support should be given under the condition of accountability and transparency. If these conditions are not fulfilled, debt relief may be considered as an alternative to sector or budget support
Korrupsjon. En studie av skatteadministrasjonen i Tanzania
Get PDFThe primary concern of this study is to discuss the role of various economic factors in explaining the causes, consequences and scope of fiscal corruption in Tanzania. The emphasis is on how the incentive structure within the tax administration affects the decisions of tax collectors to engage in fraudulent behaviour, using principal-agent theory (incentive theory) as a point of departure. The paper starts with a set of research questions based on empirical observations, and examines the fundamental ideas, basic assumptions and limitations of the theoretical approach for answering these questions.
The effectiveness of wage incentives, monitoring and penalty schemes in fighting fiscal corruption is discussed. The study concludes that it may be dangerous to draw conclusions from models that treat the individual tax collector as someone whose decisions are taken in splendid isolation. In a world of interacting collectors and taxpayers, gradualist anti-corruption policies may be extremely ineffective if an "everyone is corrupt" norm has become established in the organisation
Protected Marine Reserves as Fisheries Management Tools: A Bioeconomic Analysis
Get PDFThis paper develops a dynamic computational bioeconomic model with the objective of assessing protected marine reserves as fisheries management tools. Data on the North East Atlantic cod stock are used to determine the bioeconomically optimal size of a marine reserve for the Barents Sea cod fishery, as a function of the net transfer rate between the protected and unprotected areas of the marine habitat. The single agent model developed, allows for the occurrence of a shock to the system in the form of severe recruitment failure in the non-protected area. Two key results emerge from the study. First, establishment of marine reserves are bioeconomically beneficial when net transfer rates for cod are "reasonably" high and reserve sizes are large: Large reserves provide good protection for the stock in the face of the shock, while high transfer rates make the protected fish available for harvesting after the shock has occurred. Further, optimally chosen reserve size when net transfer rates are high, also mitigates against biological losses. Second, when net transfer rates are low, the establishment of marine reserves does not mitigate against losses in discounted economic rent, while they tend to be efficient in mitigating against biological losses
Does Aid to Institution Development Work? Reflections on Personal Experiences
Get PDFThe author has spent dose to ten years as advisor to planning organisations in four developing countries: Pakistan, Kenya, the Sudan and Bangladesh. He raises the question whether the work of the advisory teams resulted in lasting improvements in the performance of these organisations. There is no doubt that the professional competence was improved while the team were there, also due to better performance by the counterpart staff. But very frequently successfully trained counterparts move to other organisations, or abroad, and this seriously weakened the impact. On the other hand an increased supply of well educated nationals has contributed to improved professional performance. But support to institution development cannot be expected to have strong short term effects as long as there is scarcity of well qualified national professional personnel
Land dispute and death enmity in a Kohistani mountain village (Pakistan)
Get PDFThis paper reconstructs the events that unleashed death enmity between two closely related men. Recounting this complex story from the angle of the contestants challenges simplistic cultural and material explanations of organized vengeance. Frequent disputes over land e d property, especially fields and forest, engender enmity and rivalry but the intensity of these disputes cannot be understood without uncovering their link to Kohistani notions of honour and revenge