The thesis compares Argentine and Australian fiscal systems from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. It uses institutionalist and endowments approaches to evaluate the importance of state credibility and taxation on long run economic development. After rapid convergence in the early twentieth century, Argentina and Australia clearly diverged in the latter twentieth century. Divergence emanated from different institutional experiences, which ultimately originated from dissimilar experiences of state credibility. State credibility is the extent to which society trusts the state to act in its interests. Fiscal institutions are a clear and comparable measure of state credibility over time as they frankly express underlying political economy. As Argentina and Australia were once similarly successful settler economies with comparable geographic prospects for development, the comparison promises to transcend geographically deterministic explanations for development. Geography primarily consists of factor endowments and location. In fact Argentina was better placed to succeed in geographic terms than Australia. Yet Australia, not Argentina, secured the status of a developed country. Australia and Argentina exemplify the relative insignificance of geography in shaping development. Divergence resulted from a failure of Argentine institutions to generate sufficient space for negotiation and compromise, and a ‘latent civil war’ was entered from the 1930s until the early 1980s. A key finding of the thesis is that divergence in fiscal institutions, especially differing capacities to embed progressive systems of direct taxation was crucial to divergence in development. This finding is based upon the discovery of new evidence and the harmonisation of fragmented time series which enable comparison over a long period of time. Argentina and Australia took different paths in the latter half of the twentieth century due to distinct institutional environments and their legacies for social consensus and development.

High inflation economies have ultimately been successful in stabilising their prices using the exchange rate as a nominal anchor. Besides stabilization, these recent examples have shown boom-recession cycles, contrary to what can be expected from (pure) money-based stabilizations. Various theoretical explanations of such boom-cycles are discussed and a model of aggregate supply and demand generating such an outcome is developed. There the boom dynamics depend mainly on a slump in real interest rates and wage flexibility. (author's abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

This dissertation provides an analytical framework for understanding the left-indigenous cycle of extra-parliamentary insurrection in Bolivia between 2000 and 2005. It draws from Marxist and indigenous-liberationist theory to challenge the central presuppositions of liberal-institutionalist understandings of contemporary indigenous politics in Latin America, as well as the core tenets of mainstream social movement studies. The central argument is that a specific combination of elaborate infrastructures of class struggle and social-movement unionism, historical traditions of indigenous and working-class radicalism, combined oppositional consciousness, and fierce but insufficient state repression, explain the depth, breadth, and radical character of recent left-indigenous mobilizations in Bolivia. The coalition of insurrectionary social forces in the Gas Wars of 2003 and 2005 was led by indigenous informal workers, acting in concert with formal workers, peasants, and to a smaller degree, middle-class actors. The indigenous informal working classes of the city of El Alto, in particular, utilized an elaborate infrastructure of class struggle in order to overcome structural barriers to collective action and to take up their leading role. The supportive part played by the formal working class was made possible by the political orientation toward social-movement unionism adopted by leading trade-union federations. Radicalized peasants mobilized within the broader alliance through their own rural infrastructure of class struggle. The whole array of worker and peasant social forces drew on longstanding popular cultures of indigenous liberation and revolutionary Marxism which they adapted to the novel context of the twenty-first century. These popular cultures ultimately congealed in a new combined oppositional consciousness, rooted simultaneously in the politics of indigenous resistance and class struggle. This collective consciousness, in turn, strengthened the mobilizing capacities of the popular classes and reinforced the radical character of protest. At key junctures, social movement leaders were able to synthesize oppositional consciousness into a focused collective action frame of nationalizing the natural gas industry. Finally, throughout the left-indigenous cycle, ruthless state repression was nonetheless insufficiently powerful to wipe out opposition altogether and therefore acted only to intensify the scale of protests and radicalize demands still further. The legitimacy of the neoliberal social order and the coercive power required to reproduce it were increasingly called into question as violence against civilians increased.

Policy emphasis on education as a medium to alleviate poverty and to achieve development is this thesis’s topic. Long enforcement of this approach has led us not only to believe in the education-for-prosperity link, but also to reproduce it and create a social system that works in line with it. This study explored this approach as conceived by key international financial institutions—the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank—and by a specific nation-state—Mexico. An historical analysis was conducted of 29 documents from 1960, when these banks first became involved in policy making and funding of education projects worldwide, to the present time. They were chosen because of their relevance in effecting concrete practices in the education sector. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to read, analyze, and identify relevant categories within them. A content analysis methodology was also used to study the treatment of the concepts of education and poverty over time by the two banks and Mexico. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how educational policies came to be. The study of the banks revealed that the link between education and poverty occurred at the end of the 1980s. This link was strengthened by a shift of focus from the nation to the individual, which facilitated the education-for-poverty objectives. The study of Mexico suggests that international policies influenced national education policies; Mexico adopted the same perspective during the 1990s, a decade later than the banks. Despite the strength and acceptance of education for prosperity, it is still a social construct of our creation and reproduction. The key recommendations are (a) to develop further understanding and appreciation of the noneconomic side of education; (b) to distance education from economic and neoliberal principles that belittle its humanistic side; (c) to consider that education, our way of conceiving it, and our practice is a social construct that can be challenged and changed; and (d) to seek a type of education that truly fosters equity and equality. / Educational Administration and Leadership

China-Taiwan relations have been for decades a hot issue in East Asia as well as worldwide. The thesis researches on the China’s foreign policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean region in terms of competition with Taiwan for diplomatic recognition from the perspective of zero-sum and non zero-sum game. This study’s objective is to examine the impact of recently improved cross-Strait relations on the intensity of diplomatic competition for recognition in Latin America and the Caribbean between both sides of the Strait. Two following questions are going to be answered: Is a complete victory in diplomatic competition in Latin America and the Caribbean region a short-term goal for the PRC? How can China’s refusal of its diplomatic recognition by Paraguay be interpreted? First, literature review and theoretical framework is provided. Second, China’s and Taiwan’s policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean is researched. Third, cross- Strait rapproachement is depicted. Fourth, relations between the PRC and Taiwan after year 2005 are presented. Fifth, three case studies of Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay are discussed. In the study I am going to look for evidence to prove that the rapprochement and the new cross-Strait diplomacy are good signs of non-zero sum game between Taiwan and China with a significant impact on diplomatic competition in Latin America and the Caribbean region. To fulfil the aim of this master thesis I am using secondary data. The scope of the paper in terms of the time period is from the establishment of the PRC but the bigger part of the paper is focused on the recent events.

This research explores the internationalisation of Australian firms in Latin America. Latin America attracts seven per cent of worldwide inward foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks but accounts for less than one per cent of Australian FDI stocks abroad. This discrepancy led me to ask why and how some Australian firms have entered the region when most of those that have gone abroad went elsewhere. Drawing on constructs from the Uppsala model and the network perspective of internationalisation I created an integrated research framework that encompassed both the internal and the external drivers of internationalisation. I used a multiple case study research design based on in-depth interviews with ten firms to explore the mechanisms by which Australian firms overcome their perceived psychic distance to Latin America. I conducted interviews with key decision makers at both headquarters and subsidiaries in Australia, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. / My findings demonstrate that firms simultaneously draw on internal and external resources to facilitate their internationalisation. By leveraging their networks firms are able to succeed in psychically distant markets despite an initial lack of experiential knowledge. My findings reveal that firms obtain market-specific knowledge vital for internationalisation via their networks. Internationalisation knowledge on the other hand is mainly acquired through first-hand, in-country experience. / In this research I systematically document the types of institutional, business and social networks that impact internationalisation and categorise the numerous roles they fulfil. In addition to providing market-specific knowledge, network connections ‘unlock doors’, provide reassurance and comfort, provide credibility and help find employees, agents and local partners. Using networks to facilitate internationalisation accelerates the process in comparison to the traditional ‘trial and error’ method associated with in-country experiential learning. / The integrated framework I develop provides a more holistic understanding of how firms internationalise than previous models. My research has implications beyond the Australia-Latin America context as an example of the increasing phenomenon of FDI from and to non-traditional markets.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, 1988. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-198). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 1999. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-175).

Thesis--Universidad de Navarra. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-339) and index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université catholique de Louvain, 1982. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100).