No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation explores the process of foreign economic policy liberalization in Korea from 1980-2010. It accounts for variations in the degree of liberalization across sectors and issue areas through case studies centered on the policies related to trade, FDI, and finance. Sources of influences on this process such as democratization, the state’s developmental legacy, societal interests, ideational diffusion, and external stakeholders are incorporated into an analysis that identifies their impact on policy outcomes. This project looks at how significant changes in the internal and external parameters of the Korean economy generated coalitions favoring a more liberalized domestic economic order and those which sought to defend Korea’s state-centered, mercantilistic developmental model. It offers a detailed explication of the manner in which Korean policymakers sought to formulate political outcomes that accommodated a disparate array of actors with diverging preferences into the policy process, while seeking to serve their own particular multifaceted interests. It finds that while external and domestic proponents of reform were successful in pushing Korea into increasingly deeper levels of liberalization, these efforts were continually conditioned and often attenuated by the institutional legacies of the developmental era and the social forces that were unleashed by democratization. This left the Korean economy with a fragmented set of foreign economic policies that reflected the incomplete and highly contested liberalization reform initiatives that colored policymaking during this period. / Political Science

Budgeting in Ghana, not unlike that in any other country in the world, could be an important instrument for effecting economic development (ED) policies. As a numerical expression of the intended distribution of national public resources, it is a multifaceted phenomenon that reflects political and administrative decision making. Much evidence in the Third-World literature on budgeting and ED asserts that ED policies can be most effectively implemented when there is a systematic interrelation and coordination between budgeting and ED policies. The position taken in this dissertation goes beyond that assertion. Specifically, this dissertation posits, in addition to the systematic interrelationship and coordination between budgeting and ED policies, that ED policies should be systematically integrated with development administration and human-resource development. The dissertation evaluates Ghana's budgetary practices and policies as they affect the country's ED programs. Because these practices and policies are not systematically coordinated and integrated with ED policies, the study highlights and examines the dilemmas facing those who attempt to stimulate effective ED in Ghana, and it recommends changes. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study is to examine some aspects of the traditional philosophy of America and contrast these with the principles of the New Deal philosophy.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to discuss the protectionist policy of the first Republic of Ghana (1957-66). In particular it attempts to evaluate the performance of the key sectors of the economy under the policy using empirical and statistical data for the period and shortly thereafter. Such discussion is of paramount importance since it provides an insight into what future developmental and growth strategy needs to be adopted for Ghana. While avoiding the social, political and ideological discussions of the policy, the thesis provides an insight into the political atmosphere at the time and the ideological inclinations of the Leaders. The thesis begins by looking at the salient features of the economy of Ghana before independence. It then gives a brief background of protectionism in Ghana and the philosophy that led to its adoption. How the policy was implemented is also discussed. A theoretical background of the effects of protection and a sector by sector analysis and evaluation of the effects of protectionism in Ghana forms the substance of the thesis. While the focus of the discussion is on the first government of Ghana and its protectionist policy, an attempt is made to look at subsequent governments and their deviation, if any, from protectionism. An assessment of the policy arrived at the conclusion that while the leaders had been nationalistic about the policy, their adoption and implementation of the policy was nothing less than an economic blunder. / M.A.

The current policy of the Reagan administration is designed to overthrow the Sandinist system in Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan revolution has produced a fascinating model of Socialism, in which the Sandinistas are trying to combine elements of pragmatic Marxism, Catholic humanism and revolutionary nationalism. In the first three years after the revolution, the Sandinist government was fairly successful and the country made enormous social and political progress. In 1983 Nicaragua entered a severe systemic crisis, which has been aggravated by the economic and military policy of the Reagan administration. This paper argues that the US counter strategy is based upon a number of contradictions and inconsistencies inherent in the Sandinist system. The main targets of the US strategy are the social accomplishments that provided the FSLN's popularity among the rural population, as well as the middle-class upon whose co-operation the success of the Sandinista model depends. The US strategy consists of three components: a) economic sanctions, b) overt and covert military threat, and c) additional supportive policy measures. This paper is a preliminary analysis offering suggestions and direction for future research. / Master of Arts

The reelection of Mrs Thatcher's Conservative Government to a third term of office in June 1987 was remarkable and deserves repeated and in depth analysis. The performance of the government, and <i>Thatcherism</i> need to be seen in terms of their success in reversing Britain's relative economic decline. How have its policies sought to break the pattern of decline? Has it adopted a consistent, and distinctive approach? Is the party's unprecedented electoral success a product of its economic policies? What does the future hold? The following elements are crucial. The government has made its most important efforts in two main areas- towards the unions, and towards the fostering of the service sector of the economy. These policies, described in detail, have been important politically, and electorally (two terms which have different meanings and ramifications for the government). They are not, however, policies which are likely to provide the third Thatcher administration with automatic support in years to come. Recent accounts of the third victory have failed to recognize the precariousness of the Conservative government's position, in part exacerbated by the nature of the interests fostered the financial sector may prove to be an electoral liability, instead of an asset as before. The paper suggests that the ability of the government to win successive elections is evidence of the salience of factors which are often overlooked in political economy papers. The importance of expectations particularly in election year, of macro-economic variables controlled, to some extent, by the government, such as tax rates, and the relative unimportance of factors such as unemployment and inflation are also revealed by the Thatcher record. / Master of Arts

The primary focus of this thesis is to explore important factors affecting the manufacturing sector in developing economies, with a specific focus on India. The first two chapters of this thesis investigate how financial and land-related policy reforms can significantly impact firm dynamics and resource allocation in manufacturing industries. This contributes to our understanding of how targeted policy measures can lead to substantial changes in firm growth and innovation. Furthermore, the third chapter explores the development of contextually relevant measures to assess the scope of quality differentiation in manufacturing industries. The first chapter, Bank Expansion, Firm Dynamics, and Structural Transformation: Evidence from India’s Policy Experiment, examines the impacts of bank expansion on firm dynamics and labor allocation. This paper focuses on a policy experiment in India designed to encourage bank expansion in ``under-banked'' districts. Empirical findings demonstrate significant growth in manufacturing firms in these districts due to eased credit access, resulting in increased capital accumulation, sales revenue, and employment. However, the expansion predominantly benefited incumbent firms, with minimal stimulation of firm entry or product innovation. The reform also induced notable labor reallocation towards manufacturing sectors, particularly in areas with lower agricultural productivity. The second chapter, Land Constraints and Firms: Evidence from India’s Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, empirically examines the effects of land constraints on resource allocation and innovation in manufacturing firms, leveraging the staggered repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA) as a natural experiment. The ULCRA, enacted in 1976, imposed restrictions on land holdings and transfers in India. The findings suggest that the repeal of the ULCRA significantly reduced land market frictions, leading to increased landholdings and transactions among affected firms, thereby enhancing their productivity and growth. The results demonstrate that easing land constraints plays a critical role in reducing misallocation and driving economic growth in the manufacturing sector. In the third chapter, Plants and the Scope for Quality Differentiation: An Empirical Study in India, a new proxy is introduced for determining the scope of quality differentiation in manufacturing industries, based on the slopes of Quality Engel curves. This proxy is empirically validated by establishing a positive correlation between price-plant size elasticities and the scope for quality differentiation. These findings suggest that the Engel slope may serve as a more suitable proxy for evaluating quality differentiation scopes, particularly in the context of developing countries. In all, the thesis not only sheds light on the intricate relationship between policy measures and industrial development, but also contributes to the understanding of quality differentiation in the context of emerging economies

Iran's foreign policy is shaped by three internal factors; leadership, economic policies, and human rights. These internal factors have seen profound changes as a result of two important events, the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the end of the Cold War. Despite economic policies and human rights being significant in shaping Iran's foreign relations, this study attempts to show that the leadership in the post-Cold War era has been the most influential on foreign relations. The study measures the relationship the three internal factors with Iran's foreign relations with the United States, Russia, and the European Union. The relationships are also measured against the time periods after the revolution and also after the Cold War. The thesis sheds light on the foreign relations of the Islamic Republic as a means of understanding which factor exacts the most significance.