In 1999 the State Government of Andhra Pradesh launched the Deepam scheme, under which the government covered the cylinder connection fee for starting LPG service to those families classified as being below the poverty line.
... See More + The scheme clearly facilitated the uptake of LPG by the rural poor. However, this study found that biomass remains the main cooking fuel for the majority of Deepam beneficiaries. The economics of LPG service, with its relatively high operating cost, is not favorable for cash-strapped rural households. Even with the cylinder connection fee waiver, the high costs of cylinder refills confined LPG largely to incidental use. The average consumption level of LPG found in the study was 2.9 kg per month against a minimum of 7 kg required to meet the majority of cooking needs, limiting the health and other social benefits of LPG uptake as well as the potential for commercially viable LPG businesses.On the positive side, the convenience introduced by even this limited use of LPG in rural AP, and especially the amount of time saved for the cooks, should not be under-estimated, even if the overall consumption of fuelwood does not decline markedly. The Deepam beneficiaries universally cited time savings in cooking as the primary benefit of LPG use.
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This paper presents evaluative information on retraining schemes for unemployed adults in OECD countries. These evaluations fall into three categories: experimental evaluations that compare the effects of retraining programs for participants and a control group chosen prior to scheme's initiation; quasi-experimental evaluations that chose the control group after the program is completed; and non-specific evaluations that use no control group.
... See More + The authors discuss the correlates - the specific labor market problem addressed, general market conditions, and intervention design - of success and failure of these schemes, separately for programs for workers laid-off en masse and the long-term unemployed. Finally, they draw the implications of these findings for countries in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
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Countries of Europe and Central Asia region are well known for having a high base of human capital. Given the many other crises such as unemployment and the required social safety nets -- it is not evident why they should also be concerned about education and training.
... See More + This paper reviews the evidence of education and training and finds that the quality and efficiency of the systems were not as high as was originally thought. However effective in preparing students during the era when labor markets were centrally-controlled, the systems are less effective with labor markets driven by market forces. New requirements for civic tolerance and individual responsibility for employment place unprecedented demands on the education and training systems. Currently, they are not well structured to fulfill these new functions. This paper involves a list of enabling policies from which countries may wish to draw. It concludes with a recommendation that investing in a restructured education and training system is a requirement for econmomic transition.
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South Asia's move toward a freer market and freer trade has a new momentum. As in other regions during the 1980s and before, each country in South Asia has, in its own way, recently begun to restructure the role of the state, liberalize and deregulate markets, and let the private sector take a larger, more active economic role.
... See More + The pace may be slower than in other regions, for many important areas of each economy have yet to be reformed. But in the minds of most South Asians, the sustainability of reforms is no longer in doubt. Despite the recent conclusion of the Uruguay Round negotiations, regionalism - regional trading arrangements and the other cooperation possibilities they open up - remains nascent in South Asia. This study begins the process of exploring the scope for beneficial regionalism in and involving South Asia.
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This paper analyses the adjustments of state-owned or formerly state-owned enterprises in Russia to the economic reforms started in early 1992, drawing on evidence from enterprise visits, larger enterprise surveys, and aggregate data on the enterprise sector, and making direct comparisons to comparable experiences in Poland, Hungary and the (former) Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, the leaders in the transition from socialism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
... See More + The authors find the enterprise adjustment in Russia has broadly followed the pattern observed in the leading CEE economies in transition. Demand and output have dropped, and many enterprises have changed their product mix in response without substantial new investment; firms are looking for new customers, though progress in terms of exports is still limited; they are containing wage costs and shedding labor, albeit more slowly than firms in the CEE countries; the level of interenterprise credit (payables and receivables) has increased but has stabilized at levels comparable to those observed both in other transition countries as well as in West European economies; enterprises have been moving to prepayment methods and avoiding extending trade credit if possible. However, there are also signs that adjustment in the enterprise sector is uneven, that the overall pace of adjustment is slow by CEE standards, and that governmental transfers are behind this. Whereas financial environment of enterprises in the leading CEE countries is moderately hard; that of the largest Russian enterprises take two forms: subsidies, and directed credits. The case of directed state credits is analyzed in some detail, and evidence is presented suggesting that they are allocated according to "need", meaning that the recipient is in financial difficulties and/or it is politically important.
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This paper provides a close look at the key factors from the viewpoint of source countries that contribute to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows.
... See More + According to a survey of 173 Japanese investors in manufacturing, there are three important determinants of FDI in East Asia: stability and size of market, labor cost, and FDI policy. Some enterprise characteristics and strategic considerations also have strong impacts on FDI flows. Labor and other input costs are particularly important for higher-income countries, and FDI policy is particularly important for lower-income countries. Market size is important for all countries as a determinant of FDI. In the perception of source countries, what is needed to increase FDI include: consistent and stable macroeconomic policies, measures that reduce business costs (such as the development of human resource, infrastructure, and supporting industries), and liberalization of trade and FDI policy -- the same policies that are needed to increase domestic investment. Improving the general environment for all investments will help to attract FDI. Much more important than special policies to attract FDI are general policies that improve the environment for private investment in general and market-friendly measures to increase the spill-over effects of FDI. And, FDI policies need to be linked with the development strategy of the host country, its stage of economic development and priorities.
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The combination of economic deterioration during the 1980s and the end of the Cold War rivalry has created a climate in which many African governments -- those emerging from civil strife as well as those at peace -- are starting to explore ways to shift human and material resources to non-military sectors of the economy for political and/or fiscal reasons.
... See More + With a view towards filling an information gap on the practical issues arising in the implementation of programs to assist with such a transition, this study summarizes the experience of seven countries (Angola, Chad, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Uganda, and Zimbabwe) in their current and past efforts to demobilize military personnel and to facilitate their reintegration into the civilian economy and society. The study examines the projects, costs, management issues, and context of each stage of the initial transfer to civilian life (encampment, disarmament, demobilization, transportation) and provides information on the programs offered to facilitate longer-term reintegration (cash payments, nongovernmental organizations and community-based programs, training and employment creation).
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This paper provides an overview of a number of major legal factors that discourage foreign investment in productive activities in Brazil. It identifies restrictions on foreigners and non-residents arising from the Constitution, from ordinary laws and from other administrative regulations.
... See More + It also briefly identifies a number of major non-legal factors that inhibit foreign investment in Brazil. Among the restrictions arising from the Constitution, the paper lists formal state monopolies (for instance oil and natural gas), quasi-monopolies (for instance public telecommunications) and the de facto monopolization of a number of public services (for example, electric power and railways). It discusses limitations on foreign participation directly written into the Constitution (for instance mining) and limitations which the Constitution directed Congress to enact (for example, finance, health care and rural property). In addition, the paper analyzes the definitions of the Brazilian company and the Brazilian company of the national capital, explaining how the Constitution allows discrimination against the Brazilian company, especially in the field of high technology. The paper also identifies ordinary laws which discriminate against foreign participation, whether these were enacted before the 1988 Constitution (computer software, for instance) or after (information technology, for instance). The paper further describes the major intellectual property issues that concern holders of valuable intangible assets. The paper also describes the regime that non-residents face in bringing investment into the country, the regime in remitting service payments, profits and capital and the restrictions on international royalty and fee payments for patents, trademarks, technology and computer software. The paper further analyzes the restrictive definitions of activities allowing for the registration and repatriation of foreign capital, rigorous foreign exchange controls and the considerable discretionary powers of the bureaucracy in deciding which transactions will be granted. Finally, the paper briefly identifies obstacles to foreign investment deriving from deficiencies in the legal system and from economic factors, such as the cost of capital and labor, taxation and a deteriorating infrastructure.
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