Does the choice of exchange-rate regime effect the economic growth performance of a country? And does the significance of such a relationship vary across different levels of development? Few questions in international economics, whether it be in academic or policy circles, have inspired as much debate yielding as little consensus. Although both economic growth theory and empirical literatures suggests the existence of direct and indirect channels, through which the choice of regime may indeed impinge the growth rate, neither has managed to provide an unambiguous answer. The aim of this paper is to analyze the theoretical arguments as to the relationship between the choice of exchange-rate regime and economic growth and to empirically investigate if there is an optimal regime, in terms of growth, and if the significance of this impact differs across various levels of country development. Applying a cross-sectional regression estimation of 60 countries over the period 2000-2010, this paper finds that the choice of exchange-rate regime holds no significant explanatory power over economic growth. These findings were robust to dividing the sample based on the level of country development. Although no direct relationship was found, these findings supports the argument that the choice of regime may indeed effect growth indirectly, through its impact on other deterministic growth factors, such as trade, investment and productivity. The findings of this paper are both in accord and discord with previous results and underlines how divergent the empirical research is on this continuously debated issue.

Large quantities of foreign development assistance continue to flow to many developing countries. At the same time, most of the aid-receiving countries have stagnated and become even more aid-dependent. This grim reality provokes vigorous debate on the effectiveness of aid. Despite the voluminous research on aid effectiveness, clear evidence to support the view that development aid stimulates economic growth remains scant. This thesis intends to extend the existing literature on foreign aid and economic growth. First we re-examine results from cross-country studies to provide new insights on the lack of robustness of results from this approach. We further explore and deepen the observation that cross-country results are fragile, particularly when the number of countries in the sample changes. Secondly, we study the impact of district-level aid disbursement on the growth of average night-time light density in Malawi. We use two plausibly exogenous determinants of within-country aid allocation to isolate the causal effects of aid. The results show a robust and quantitatively significant effect of aid flows in stimulating growth of light density. We find a hump-shaped growth response over three years. Finally, the thesis presents a theoretical model that explores how aid affects economic growth and welfare in an economy with subsistence constraints. The main results from this analysis are; (i) productive aid has higher long run growth and welfare effects than pure aid (ii) the rate of convergence depends crucially on how close the initial conditions are to the subsistence level (iii) while growth effects are maximised when all the aid is allocated to productive aid, we find that optimal welfare is reached when some proportion of aid is also allocated to pure transfers.

This thesis examines competing explanations of the rapid post-war economic growth of the New Industrialising Countries of East Asia (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea). It pays particular attention to the role of the state and to the state's changing relations to other major centres of power. The general approach is then augmented by a detailed exploration using a case study of economic development in South Korea. The new wave of economic development in east Asian countries' has stimulated an vast amount of research from a wide variety of perspectives. Many studies have focused single-mindedly on the central position of the state and its guiding role in economic development, rather than taking a more holistic approach by looking at the complex and evolving interplay between the state and other social sectors. However, this present work attempts to demonstrate the utility of a perspective that places the economic success of east Asian NICs through a detailed examination of the Korean case within a broader context. This context takes account of the shifting international environment and its impact and the cultural factors which these four countries have inherited. It also explores the actions of the state in relation to the responses and strategies of other key groups of actors. In summary, the feature of the actions of state and the state autonomy have been' diversified in accordance with changes of its components. This is even more so in the case of Korea which was once under the military regime but is now civilian controlled by a government. Korea took a specific path to achieve its economic development by creating the chaebols, family-owned conglomerates. It can be said, therefore, that over the last three decades the soil was prepared for the power shift among the power blocs including the state, the chaebols and labour group. The power of the chaebols has grown from being dominated by the state in the 1960s to being more symbiotic with state power in the 1990s. The chaebols have carefully prepared the ground for this new relationship by consolidating their social networks in society. The thesis also examines the mass communication system, concentrating upon the way that shifting relationships between the major power groups impact on the mass media.

This thesis represents a contribution to the literature on the relationship between decentralisation, corruption, and economic growth. This relationship is analysed both theoretically and empirically. The first chapter investigates one of the channels through which decentralisation can potentially affect corruption and economic growth. The analysis uses a dynamic general equilibrium model to gain further insights into the effects of decentralisation on the structure of corruption. The results suggest that decentralisation, by bringing the people closer to government, can enable corrupt local government officials to internalise the effects of their behaviour. It thereby generates an incentive for officials to moderate their bribe demands. This has positive effects for investment and economic growth. The second chapter examines a potential trade-off that may occur when countries embark on a program of decentralisation. On the one hand decentralisation may improve the information problems that plague overly centralised governments, but at the same time it can potentially lead to a loss of control as discretionary power is granted to local officials without implementing the required accountability mechanisms. The results of the analysis suggest that while decentralisation can potentially reduce corruption an aid economic performance in the long run, it may inevitable lead to increased corruption in the short-run. A key idea is that extra care must be taken to introducing accountability structures at the local level, but that these will likely take time before becoming effective, so that in the near term corruption may increase. In the third chapter the relationship between decentralisation, corruption and economic growth is analysed empirically, using panel data techniques. While previous studies have looked at the relationship between decentralisation and corruption, or between decentralisation and growth, or between corruption and growth, few have looked at the joint relationship between the three. Moreover, previous studies often suffer from endogeneity problems. To overcome this, the Generalised Method of Moments technique is employed; an approach that has not been used on this topic before. It is shown that, while there is evidence that corruption hampers economic growth, the effects of decentralisation are ambiguous. The chapter highlights the inherent difficulties in analysing the effects of decentralisation, which is a complex and multifaceted concept that is impossible to fully capture in the data. This suggests that empirical studies will inevitably be limited in their ability to fully assess a relationship as nuanced as this. The implication is that further investigation at the theoretical level is required. Overall, the thesis provides support for the idea that decentralisation can potentially lead to beneficial outcomes, both in terms so of combating corruption and in wider economic terms. However, it also suggest that care must be taken when implementing reforms as these beneficial outcomes a far from certain.

The objectives of the study are to assess the fiscal sustainability and development impacts of Ghana’s fiscal rule for allocating petroleum revenues to the annual budget against alternative fiscal rules - the permanent income and the bird-in-hand rules. Fiscal sustainability is measured by government long-term fiscal space in proportion to non-oil GDP, whilst development impacts are measured through a dynamic CGE model of Ghana. Generally, the study makes four important findings on how fiscal policy triggered by the inflow of new petroleum revenues could affect the long-term fiscal sustainability and growth of the economy. One, Ghana’s fiscal rule is neither fiscally sustainable nor provide higher impacts of petroleum revenues on economic development relative to the permanent income and the bird-in-hand rules. Two, fiscal sustainability does not necessarily lead to greater development outcomes. The bird-in-hand rule is the most fiscally sustainable, but the permanent income rule provides higher development outcomes and can move Ghana’s transformation towards a full middle income status. Three, institutional quality in a country could lead to efficiency gains in government spending. Four, efficiency in government spending could improve on development outcomes. Ghana could therefore benefit from its petroleum revenues by adopting the permanent income rule; and with temporary petroleum revenues, the focus of the country should be on current investment of petroleum revenues in building the country’s asset base to support short-term and long-term growth of the economy. However, this should be complemented with strengthening the quality of institutional arrangements to enhance efficiency in government spending.

Sustainable development aims at improving human well-being, particularly by alleviating poverty, increasing gender equality, and improving health, human resources, and stewardship of the natural environment. Sustainable development is based on three pillars, namely, environmental protection and social progress and economic development. This study intended to contribute to sustainable development in the area of developmental social work practice by addressing the issues of new conceptualisations of social work practice, and in particular of intervention strategies, within the paradigm of sustainable social work practice. The purpose of this study was to explore and construct a foundation of general perceptions and tentative theories with regard to sustainable development and the position and value of the social work profession within the sustainable development paradigm. The goal of this research study was to explore current social work practice with regard to sustainable development and identify new challenges and opportunities for sustainable social work practice in the changing South Africa. The researcher utilised focus group discussions as a method of generating data and an exploratory research purpose as little is known about the topic of investigation and the utilization of focus groups are particularly useful in its ability to explore the topic. This study was a process of discovery and not the testing of a hypothesis. The researcher entered the realm of the participants’ everyday experience and through conversation extracted detailed descriptions of their perceptions, ideas and concerns. In this qualitative research the emphasis was on understanding the experiences, attitudes, assumptions and perspectives of the participants. The instrumental case study was used to provide insight into sustainable development as a new paradigm within the social welfare field and to discover the issues and challenges faced by the social work profession as it pertained to sustainable development. The data was organised around emerging themes and subsequently examined in relation to the literature. Based on the findings and conclusions drawn, the following recommendations were made: - The social work profession needs an information-sharing platform. - Collaboration and cooperation are crucial components in the process of sustainable development. - Social work practitioners have to become self-directed and lifelong learners who will be able to adapt to the changing circumstances in society. - Social work practitioners need to develop creative strategies within a multidisciplinary approach to address the issues of poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment in a sustainable manner. - Social work practitioners need to actively contribute to processes and structures that support the delivery of adult literacy and skills training efforts. - Social work practitioners need to explore ways and means of facilitating economic opportunities by addressing the obstacles and/or regulations that prevent people from accessing available markets. / Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work / unrestricted

Submitted by Adriana Martinez (amartinez@unoeste.br) on 2017-03-02T18:43:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cintia.pdf: 4199006 bytes, checksum: 4e35d5c6a5f98e1cadde3f54c7159a37 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-02T18:43:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cintia.pdf: 4199006 bytes, checksum: 4e35d5c6a5f98e1cadde3f54c7159a37 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-19 / In the last decades the cultivation of sugarcane has stood out in relation to the territorial expansion in the state of São Paulo. As a result, discussions about their effects on growth and economic development in the regions where it has a larger share of agricultural activity have become increasingly popular. Facing this context, the Pontal do Paranapanema region became a protagonist and object of research in relation to the advance of sugarcane and its effects on growth and economic development. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the expansion of sugarcane on the growth and economic development indicators of UGRHI-22 in the period from 2004 to 2016. For this purpose, the Internal Product Total Gross GDP, Gross Domestic Product - Agricultural GDP and as indicators of economic development were considered the Municipal Human Development Index - IDHM and the Paulista Index of Social Responsibility - IPRS. Pearson's multiple correlation and Pearson correlation statistical techniques were used as methods for data analysis. As results, it was obtained that the cultivation of sugarcane in the UGRHI-22 occurred in an increasing form, with advance of 408%. Through statistical analyzes of multiple comparison, it was observed that the indicators of cultivation of sugarcane, Total GDP, Agro GDP and IPRS showed different behaviors in the analyzed period. However, the HDI showed the same behavior in the years 1991, 2000 and 2010, whose periods presented different levels of sugarcane cultivation, indicating that the evolution of the crop did not influence the evolution of the economic development of the region studied. Pearson's statistical analysis of linear correlation resulted in the absence of a significant correlation between the indicators Total GDP, Agro GDP and sugarcane cultivation for the years 2008, 2010 and 2012, however, There was a negative correlation between Total GDP and IPRS, indicating that economic growth did not accompany economic development, considering that for development there is a need to think beyond financial well-being but in social welfare and human development. In the analysis of Pearson's linear correlation between the Total GDP, Agro GDP and sugarcane cultivation performed between 2004 and 2013, a strong correlation was only found between the indicators Agro GDP and sugar cane cultivation , Indicating that the cultivation of sugarcane influenced only the economic growth of Agropecuária. Therefore, it is concluded that the advance of the sugarcane cultivation interfered in the economic growth of the sectors belonging to Agriculture, but did not generate positive impacts in the same proportion in the economic development of the UGRHI-22. In this sense, it is observed the need to develop and implement public policies with the purpose of making economic growth allied to economic development and thus provide well-being of the population from a financial, human and social point of view. / Nas últimas décadas o cultivo da cana-de-açúcar apresentou destaque em relação à expansão territorial no estado de São Paulo. Com isso, tornaram-se crescentes as discussões acerca de seus efeitos em função do crescimento e do desenvolvimento econômico nas regiões em que apresenta maior participação na atividade agrícola. Frente a este contexto, a região do Pontal do Paranapanema tornou-se protagonista e objeto de investigação em relação ao avanço da cana-de-açúcar e seus efeitos no crescimento e no desenvolvimento econômico. Para tanto, este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar os efeitos da expansão da cana-de-açúcar nos indicadores de crescimento e desenvolvimento econômico da UGRHI-22 no período de 2004 a 2016. Para isso, foram considerados como indicadores de crescimento econômico o Produto Interno Bruto Total - PIB Total, o Produto Interno Bruto Agropecuária - PIB Agro e como indicadores de desenvolvimento econômico foram considerados o Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal - IDHM e o Índice Paulista de Responsabilidade Social - IPRS. Como métodos para a análise dos dados foram aplicadas técnicas estatísticas de comparação múltipla e correlação linear de Pearson. Como resultados, obteve-se que o cultivo da cana-de-açúcar na UGRHI-22 ocorreu de forma crescente, com avanço de 408%. Através das análises estatísticas de comparação múltipla, observou-se que os indicadores de cultivo da cana-de-açúcar, PIB Total, PIB Agro e IPRS apresentaram comportamentos distintos no período analisado. Entretanto, o IDHM demonstrou o mesmo comportamento nos anos de 1991, 2000 e 2010, cujos períodos apresentaram diferentes níveis de cultivo da cana-de-açúcar, indicando que a evolução da cultura não influenciou na evolução do desenvolvimento econômico da região estudada. Através das análises estatísticas de correlação linear de Pearson obteve-se como resultado a ausência de correlação significativa entre os indicadores PIB Total, PIB Agro e cultivo da cana-de-açúcar para os anos de 2008, 2010 e 2012, no entanto, obteve-se uma correlação negativa entre o PIB Total e o IPRS, indicando que o crescimento econômico não veio acompanhamento de desenvolvimento econômico, tendo em vista que para que haja desenvolvimento é necessário pensar além do bem estar financeiro, mas no bem estar social e no desenvolvimento humano. Nas análises de correlação linear de Pearson entre os indicadores PIB Total, PIB Agro e cultivo da cana-de-açúcar realizada no período de 2004 a 2013, obteve-se correlação forte apenas entre os indicadores PIB Agro e cultivo da cana-de-açúcar, indicando que o cultivo da cana-de-açúcar influenciou apenas no crescimento econômico da Agropecuária. Portanto, conclui-se que o avanço do cultivo da cana-de-açúcar interferiu no crescimento econômico dos setores pertencentes à Agropecuária, entretanto, não gerou impactos positivos na mesma proporção no desenvolvimento econômico da UGRHI-22. Neste sentido, observa-se a necessidade do desenvolvimento e implantação de políticas públicas com a finalidade de tornar o crescimento econômico aliado ao desenvolvimento econômico e assim proporcionar bem estar da população do ponto de vista financeiro, humano e social.

This diploma thesis deals with influence of the Kvasiny industrial zone on the development of Rychnovska. This industrial zone is made up of one strategic investor, namely Škoda Auto a.s. with the plant in Kvasiny. The main attention was paid to the economic entities operating in the Rychnov nad Kněžnou district. First, a SWOT analysis of the ORP Rychnov nad Kněžnou and the industrial zones itself was carried out. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was used, which was used to identify both positive and negative impacts on economic operators operating in the region.

Thesis (MDF)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / In 2003, the then president of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki, alluded to the dual nature of the South African economy which, on the one hand, is well developed with sound macroeconomic management, while, on the other hand, it has characteristics of an underdeveloped Third World economy. The province of Limpopo is no exception to this anomalous economic phenomenon. It can be argued that, due to its preponderant rural character, the dual economy phenomenon is more pronounced in Limpopo than in other parts of the country. According to the government’s Integrated Strategy on the Promotion of Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprises, “the promotion of entrepreneurship and small businesses remains an important priority of the government of South Africa” (Department of Trade and Industry, 2005: 3). In line with this strategy, the government has committed itself to ensuring that small businesses increase their contribution to economic growth and job creation. To realise this goal, the government has taken measures to ensure that small business development becomes a key policy focus. In South Africa, the importance of developing small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) becomes even more critical for the achievement of social stability by creating jobs to solve the high unemployment rate. Apart from their contribution to job creation and economic growth, SMMEs can play a significant role in the economy of the country by introducing new innovative products and services, thereby improving the quality of life of the people. The challenge facing the province of Limpopo and indeed South Africa as a whole is how to effectively mobilise small enterprise support agencies to help in developing sustainable SMMEs that can contribute meaningfully to economic growth and development. The provincial government looks upon the support agencies to implement its SMME support strategy. This study provides a critical review of all the relevant institutions, agencies and programmes – operational at national, provincial, district and local level – which try to address support needs of small, medium and micro-enterprises. Many of these efforts are effective and reach significant numbers of small enterprises, yet many of the initiatives fail or remain ineffective. In many areas local staff is too limited to implement programmes or just to effectively publicise available support programmes. In a brief comparative section, we try to show that South Africa’s problems with inadequate SMMEsupport are far from unique. We are part of worldwide concern about practical steps to expand, strengthen and streamline SMME-support – and Limpopo is part of that challenge.

I nodi concettuali analizzati nel presente lavoro sono stati fondamentalmente due: 1) le politiche dello sviluppo in area mediterranea; 2) l'importanza che assumono in questo quadro i temi legati all'appartenenza e all'identità. In questo senso il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile è un altro punto chiave di questa parte. Al percorso teorico ha fatto seguito uno studio di caso presso l'arcipelago maltese. / This thesis is focused on two aspects: 1) the politics of development in the Mediterranean area, 2) the crucial role played by identity. The theoretical part is followed by a case study in the Malta archipelago, where we studied the development processes along with the identity dynamics through a multimethod approach.