<p>This study aims to investigate, from an institutional perspective, the implications of the</p><p>new anti-corruption law in Viet Nam with a particular focus on its impact on civil society</p><p>and individual rights to report on corruption. The overarching research question is: How do</p><p>formal and informal institutions affect whistle-blowers possibilities to engage in combat of</p><p>corruption in Viet Nam? To blow the whistle in Viet Nam can be problematic, with</p><p>consequences such as loosing his/hers job and social exclusion. Whistle-blowers in Viet</p><p>Nam today seem to have an insufficient confidence to official authorities. Moreover, a</p><p>problem of significance is that whistle-blowers have to state their name and contact details</p><p>when reporting on corrupt acts to competent agencies. Another problem is that civil society</p><p>is strongly connected to the CPV (Communist Party of Viet Nam).</p>

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Economie : Lyon 2 : 2005. Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Economique : Université Laval (Québec) : 2005. / Thèse soutenue en co-tutelle. Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 214-218). Also available on the Internet.

Women are often in charge of the drinking water supply of their family and, in particular women in poverty, areespecially affected when access to water is lacking. Lack of water access is mainly due to governance failures,with corruption as the central problem. Thus, addressing the gender aspects of corruption in the water sector isneeded. This study aims to provide a participatory analysis answering two questions: ‘Which problems do womenin low-income peri-urban areas of Bogotá experience in accessing drinking water and how do they relate theseproblems to corruption?’ And, ‘how can the impacts of lack of access to drinking water, be explained andanalysed in a context of intersectional power structures?’ A feminist qualitative methodological approach was used and implemented by performing focus groupswith women in community-based organisations in Bogotá, where the expertise of the women was thefundamental guiding concept. Results indicate that corruption is inseparable from lack to access water, that women in poorneighbourhoods are most affected. The (intersectional) characteristics of the area of residence was indicated asdetermining, why a human geography perspective is useful to analyse impacts of lack of access to water.

The present thesis examines the implications of ownership and institutions for corporate financing in Central and Eastern Europe. There are three empirical chapters (chapters 2, 3 and 4). Chapter two examines the role of business networks for firm external financing. Our central hypothesis here is that firms’ affiliation to business association is likely to be beneficial in securing external finance (especially bank finance) in countries with weak legal and judicial institutions, as it helps banks and financial institutions to minimize the underlying agency costs of lending. Using recent EBRD-World Bank BEEPS data, we find some support to this central hypothesis in our sample. Importance of foreign banks for economic development of CEE countries has been emphasized in the literature though there is wide dispersion in foreign investment in the region. In this context, chapter three (i.e., the second empirical chapter) focuses on the implications of corruption for foreign bank entry and ownership structure in Central and Eastern European countries. The chapter argues that the presence and persistence of corruption (both absolute and relative) may adversely affect costs of setting up as well as running day-to-day operations of foreign banks in host emerging economies. Using primarily Bankscope bank-level data we find that greater absolute and relative corruption may lower foreign bank entry, greater relative corruption may encourage foreign greenfield entry in our sample; while relative corruption is not significant for foreign takeover. The latter highlights the importance of encouraging foreign investors from countries with similar institutions. Finally, considering the implications of ownership for bank capital and performance in chapter four (the final empirical chapter) in light of the focus on bank capital and capital regulation in discussions after the recent banking crisis, we argue that the relationship between bank capital and bank performance crucially depends on bank ownership structure. Using Osiris data we examine foreign greenfield and other joint venture (JV) differential effect of high bank capital on bank performance. A significant positive effect of foreign Greenfield (as opposed to JV) bank capital on bank performance, after controlling for all other factors is found. We attribute this to better governance compared to varied ownership arrangement in other joint venture banks. Thus wide dispersion in the quality of institutions and ownership explains a great deal of variation in the economic performance of countries in the region. We hope findings of this thesis would inform policies and will also influence future research.

In recent decades, a new direction of development economics has emerged, led by economists on a mission to improve the quality of life for citizens of developing countries through proven, cost-effective interventions. This micro-economic focus on development hinges on identifying barriers to growth and implementing targeted programs designed to alleviate these constraints. However, identifying constraints is far easier than measuring their magnitude, and designing effective measures to quantify these barriers remains a substantial challenge. Numerous microeconomic indicators of development are famously intractable and resist simple methods of accurate measurement. This dissertation tackles measurement challenges by quantifying three major development drivers: efficient investment, effective institutions, and public good provision. Using three case studies on business development and cooperation conducted in Russia and Kenya, I develop novel ways to quantify constraints and suggest methods to alleviate them. In the first chapter, I estimate marginal rates of return to capital for small retail firms, evaluate the causes of inefficiency and examine interventions that may aid growth. Next, I examine corruption as a barrier to small business growth and assess whether policy reform is capable of decreasing corrupt activity. Finally, I investigate the causes of heterogeneity in the financing of local public goods and experimentally document the conditions that improve communities’ ability to cooperate and coordinate on efficient Nash equilibria. In sum, I propose new ways of measuring marginal rates of return to capital, corruption incidence, and cooperation in public good provision; then leverage these measures to shed light on barriers to growth and to assess the effectiveness of possible interventions to enable development and achieve more efficient resource distribution.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences