published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Foreign aid is a relatively new form of economic exchange between nations, yet in only a few decades it has become a persistent structural element of the modern world-system. Conventional theories of economic development view foreign aid as a "flow" of financial resources into an economy and argue that it accelerates economic growth in the less developed countries by supplementing the domestic capital resources that are available for development. Dependency theory and the world-system perspective conceive of foreign aid as a "structural" feature of the recipient economy and suggest that it retards economic growth in these countries by reproducing the structural distortion of the economy that was originally established by colonialism and by systematically limiting the ability of the peripheral state to control the development of its economy. These theories suggest contradictory findings which are tested in this dissertation with multiple regression analysis. The analyses parallel the seminal research of Bornschier et al. (1978) on foreign investment and economic growth by simultaneously estimating the effects of both short-term flows and long-term stocks of foreign aid on economic growth. Using a sample of 91 Third World countries, the effects of foreign aid on economic growth are estimated both during a period of relative expansion of the world economy (1970-1978) and during a period of relative recession (1978-1986). My findings lend some support to both theoretical perspectives but the direction of the effects are opposite to those predicted by Bornschier et al. Foreign aid is found to have short-term negative effects on economic growth during both time periods but long-term positive effects on economic growth are statistically significant only for the later time period. The findings from this research clearly suggest that the dependency and world-system perspective must modify its theoretical explanations concerning the relationship between foreign capital flows and economic development to take into account the varied uses of different types of financial resources. They also highlight the importance of recognizing that different phases of the expansion and contraction of the world economy may condition the effects of specific types of core-periphery interactions.

Since the 1970s, waves of deindustrialization have dramatically transformed the urban Rust Belt. The plight of cities in this region is well documented by scholars. The story they present upholds central assumptions in theories of urban growth, mainly new cities grow in new economic regions at the expense of others. This dissertation challenges this notion by addressing the following question: What are the different economic trajectories Rust Belt cities have taken over the course of global economic restructuring from 1970 to 2000? In this research, 69 Rust Belt cities are classified into three different categories based on their performance on a quality of life index over this time period: stable, struggling, and devastated. Then, conventional quantitative methods are used to map changes in employment trends onto the cities in each category. This step provides a general picture of economic restructuring experiences in these cities, which shows all lose manufacturing employment, but increases in business services employment distinguishes stable cities while increases in professional services employment distinguishes devastated cities. Next, an innovative methodology is used to identify different kinds of economic transitions for different types of cities. The analysis shows larger, stable cities have been able to reorganize their local economies into producer service-based economies. It also indicates manufacturing remains central to the local economies in smaller, stable cities, and finally, all devastated cities are developing healthcare-based local economies. Finally, two stable and two devastated cities are examined in-depth to provide a detailed description of local economic transformations. The stable cities have combined local R&D facilities with a strong infrastructure of specialty manufacturers to become high-tech production sites. This change has fueled business services development in these cities. Devastated cities are holding onto old manufacturing while greatly expanding hospital-based employment. Overall, this dissertation makes a contribution by using multiple and innovative methods to develop a rich portrait of the economic reorganization of the urban Rust Belt. This portrait questions central assumptions in theoretical understandings of urban growth and serves as a foundation for an examination of the causes of successful local economic transformation.

This paper compares the effect of political institutions on economic development in Brazil and Mexico. Between the 1950s and 1970s, both countries experienced unprecedented growth rates of between five and seven percent annually. By the 1980s, however, their economies slowed dramatically, and their development futures, which had previously looked prosperous, appeared grim. The sudden transition from success to failure indicates that certain underlying problems existed during the nations’ miracle growth years. This paper seeks to determine and examine these problems, and analyze how both Mexico and Brazil have worked to remedy these underlying inefficiencies. The analysis begins with an overview of the Solow model, which is the fundamental economic standard used in this paper. According to this model, economic growth occurs through certain exogenous variables, such as total factor productivity, the quality of the labor force, and the investment rate. The paper considers the details of the relationship between economic growth and political systems, particularly focusing on the structure of political institutions and the decisions of policymakers. Both Mexico and Brazil are then analyzed separately through the lens of the Solow model, concentrating especially on how each respective government failed to maximize efficiency, the quality and quantity of the workforce, as well as investment rates. While both Mexico and Brazil mirrored each other in terms of their economic growth throughout the twentieth century, Brazil is now poised to enjoy greater future development success than Mexico due to the decisions and commitment level of its government.

<p>Private investment in Botswana as well as a ratio to Gross Domestic Product has been falling in some periods of 1976-2003. Viewed against the background of growing evidence of a link between investment and economic growth, an inconsistent and downward trend in Botswana's private investment is a matter of concern. Several studies in developing countries emphasize the importance of macroeconomic policy in explaining variations in investment, an in particular, identify the microeconomic determinants of private investment to include interest rates, output growth, public investment, bank credit to the private sector, inflation, real exchange rate, and the level of trade. This study evaluated the macroeconomic determinants of private investment in Botswana by means of a regression analysis based on the co-integration and Error Correction Model of Engle and Granger (1987).</p>

This study examined the role the Malaysian government played in developing the Malaysian economy as a means to eliminating poverty and inequality and explored the lessons South Africa can learn from Malaysia's development experience. Under British colonial rule Malaysia developed a divided multi-ethnic society characterised by gross inequality and high levels of poverty. Jolted by the 1969 race riots and in a major departure from the laissez-faire economic policy, the government embarked on the New Economic Policy in 1970. This ambitious twenty-year social engineering plan ushered in greater state intervention in the economy. It greatly reduced poverty among indigenous Malays and made substantial progress towards achieving inter-ethnic economic parity.

In the last 30 years the World has been swept by neoliberal doctrine. Under neoliberal conceptions, freedom of the market mechanism has precedence in the process of development. Neoliberalism has had a major impact on the mindset of policymakers, on government strategies for development and on economic performance. This thesis is about the economic consequences of neoliberalism in Brazil. It approaches the problem from a historical perspective. By examining government economic strategies in Brazil from the 1930s through the 1970s it undermines a central neoliberal argument that government interventions in the economy are either inimical or irrelevant to economic development. While government failures did occur indeed, in the Brazilian case it is shown that the government performed a crucial role in this period in building key institutions that guided market forces towards industrial transformation. Since the mid-1970s, Brazil has been a laboratory for neoliberal economic policymaking. Restrictive macroeconomic policies alongside liberalised markets have been the cornerstones of policymaking. The second line of argument developed here is that neoliberalism has since constrained economic development in Brazil. During this period the country has been through several financial crises and has experienced low economic growth and unprecedented unemployment. Compared with the previous period of government-led development, neoliberal policies and institutions fall far behind in terms of overall economic performance. Thirdly, it is argued that under neoliberalism government policy and institutions in Brazil have been directed to satisfy rentiers’ interests at the expense of a socially acceptable economic development. Finally, this thesis calls for the reinstatement of discussion over the government’s role as an agent of a democratic, economic and social ransformation. This is a discussion that has been obstructed by neoliberal doctrine for too long.

Today there is no agreement as to how developing countries can achieve sustained economic growth and wellbeing. Over the last 50 years many suggested policy panaceas have failed. Policy makers are now faced with growing economic challenges and confusing policy prescriptions. Against this background, the re-emerging study of institutions now offers new promise in explaining why development has so far eluded so many countries, and consequently, what can be done about it. This thesis deals with questions which to date have only received partial or cursory attention. The study asks: What really are institutions? Why do they matter? What can we learn about them that can help us deal with the current challenging development debacle? This study starts by reaffirming what institutions are. It shows that institutions are inescapable influencers of the way we relate to each other, and the effects we have on our societies’ economic development. Yet so far, scholars and policy makers have not yet fully taken up the opportunity of identifying and utilising the insights that the institutional perspective offers. This study deliberately picks up the challenge. Using the experience of the Uganda coffee sector, it shows that the nature of institutions can be better understood, and their role and impact, better addressed towards pressing development questions. The study shows that by integrating old and new institutionalist perspectives and theories of institutions and institutional change, it is possible to make much more progress towards understanding, explaining and addressing the role and influence of institutions in the development of an economic sector. In so doing this study goes beyond existing works on definition, taxonomy and explanation of institutional influence. It raises new insights to be considered as we face today’s contemporary development challenges. This research should therefore be of interest and value to researchers, students, policy makers and entrepreneurs concerned with economic development and the factors that shape and influence it in practice.

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited / Botswana has been hailed as a "model of success", an "African Miracle" and a "rare bird in Africa" because of its economic prosperity record and democratic achievements in a region of sharp contrasts. A well-developed bureaucracy, selfless leadership and a favorable diamond-led economy have been identified as the main drivers of this success. Its military has earned international acclaim for being professional, well trained and highly disciplined. Organized into four chapters, this thesis recognizes these achievements, but draws the reader to an equally important aspect of statecraft, the underdevelopment of a defense bureaucracy, that may undermine the country's democratic gains and its economic prosperity. Chapter I proposes an institutionalist conceptual framework to the contemporary landscape of civil-military relations. Chapter II locates the evolution of the military within the template of statecraft, highlighting professionalization as a strategy of military development in the absence of a coherent defense bureaucracy and weak institutions of democratic oversight. The chapter underlines potential dangers of this institutional matrix to civil-military relations and governance. Chapter III captures the evolution of the state amidst elite cohesion and decontraction, demonstrating how these contrasts affect governance in general and civilmilitary relations in particular. Finally, Chapter IV advances a new institutional matrix for democratic control of the military. / Captain, Botswana Defense Force

CIVINS / Sao Tome and Principe has recently reached the completion point for the United Nation's Highly Indebted and Poor Countries (HIPC) program and is now looking to develop a sustainable and prosperous economy (International Monetary Fund 2007). However, the existing international airport is failing to meet the safety, security and capacity requirements to further the country's economic development. Construction of an airport security fence is underway that will cutoff several thousand residents from the water sources and will redirect routes to the markets of Sao Tome. This Master's project utilizes scenario planning to explore possible futures for the expansion of Sao Tome and Principe's international airport. The scenario development process is intended to facilitate dialogue within the country about the future by which policy and development decisions can be made. A wide range of topics such as environment, history, culture, economy, social structure, land use, domestic policy and infrastructure were studied in order to make educated projections. potential benefits, dangers, and conflicts between the issues were considered in order to design planning scenarios that present both positive and negative futures. The result was four primary scenarios for the international airport and surrounding campus that explore opportunities and externalities inherent in such a project with broad and drastic impacts. The representative scenarios included in this final report demonstrate a broad range of alternative futures such as: dramatic expansion, no expansion, or conservative expansion of the airport. Each of the scenarios is presented through various means to describe the possible future including: written analysis, story telling (narratives), sketches, mapping, and photo vignettes. This report is intended to stimulate discussion regarding the future Sao Tome and Principe. / Funding number: N62271-97-G-0056.