The impact of the market economy is a significant challenge facing Fijian rural communities. It is especially challenging for indigenous rural women who are managing the shift from a subsistence way of living to engagement in money generating activities. The challenge is more acute amongst disadvantaged populations such as women in rural communities who lack the resources and the political power to manage these challenges. The thesis provides a critical ethnographic, action-research study of the daily socioeconomic experiences of a group of Fijian village women, at this time of significant change. It provides and in-depth case study of a rural Fijian village located in the upper reaches of the Sigatoka Valley. The case study focuses on the women�s perspectives about their daily lived experiences and actions that followed from reflection on these, drawing out from these implications for indigenous Fijian women�s social progress and development. Herself, a member of the community, the researcher gathered data by a combination of participant observation, survey, diaries, focus groups and interviews. The researcher�s observations and understandings were fed back to the participants in the form of a workshop with the intention of confirmation and to provide and opportunity for action based on this reflection. It is argued that the success of managing the influence of the market economy on the villagers is to create social and political spaces and opportunities to hear and understand local epistemologies and daily lived experiences, reflexively. As an indigenous scholar, the researcher interrogates and deconstructs her own academic epistemologies and positions as a knowledge broker in order to co-construct new practices with her people. The research promises to make public Fijian village women�s knowledge, values, practices and experiences so that they can be understood by local scholars and local government development officers. Privileging the village women�s knowledge and bringing it to the core is a significant political act that might form the basis of proceeding political encounters that women will face in the development process.

Under continuous pressure from globalised competition, labour markets no longer guarantee the social inclusion of all citizens into civil society. For a „civilised“ market economy, it is essential to frame further economic „rationalisation“ by a comprehensive labour policy that values meaningful ways of human activity as well as the just organisation of the world of work over efficient labour markets. Without such a comprehensive labour policy, argues, labour markets increasingly become „tyrannical“ and will endanger the foundations of a modern society of free and equal citizens.

Chinas first comprehensive competition law, the Anti-monopoly law of the People’s Republic of China (AML), was enacted on August 1, 2008. Despite a long history of planned economy, the Chinese economy has developed into one of the fastest growing economies in the world during the last decades. The adoption of the law was a crucial step towards a more market-based economy. Article 1 of the AML states that one of the aims to achieve with this law is to develop a socialist market economy. The notion was founded in the 1990s and can be found in several other Chinese legislations. The concept has no prominent definition and can be interpreted in many different ways, which opens up for the ruling Party to interpret the notion in accordance with their political believes. The central government will probably put most emphasize on the word “socialist” instead of “market economy” when interpreting the concept. The concept is of central meaning and will affect the interpretation of the other aims stated in article 1. The other aims are not ranked in any hierarchical order and are in conflict with each other. The central government will give priority to the aims which are beneficial for a socialist society. The aim to promote public interest, which includes state owned enterprises, will be strongly favored. Also the aim economic efficiency will be prioritized since China strives to become a rich country. Consumer welfare will not be highlighted but might be more important in the future. One reason that the aims are vague and not put in any hierarchical order could be that the objectives for adopting AML were not solely of competition reasons. The objectives show that AML is part of a wider economic policy. Neither does the central government strive towards a free market. Instead the goal is to establish a fair market. A fair market will most probably be a market beneficial for state owned enterprises and can therefore be contradictory to the keystones of competition. Competition principals arise from sophisticated market economies and China aims to apply those principals in the light of socialist ideology. AML covers the general competition provisions but with a specific chapter to regulate administrative monopolies. It can still be seen as contradictory to prohibit administrative monopolies but without any sanctions stipulated for violation of the provisions. Also the fundamental elements for establish effective competition are missing. The statute cannot be seen as objective or provide legal certainty and the competition authorities do not have divided responsibilities. Neither is any specific competition court established. Other factors that can contribute to an inefficient competition law are China’s history and culture, affected by socialist ideology. Time is required in China in order to develop an efficient competition culture. Altogether, it is no coincident that the notion of socialist market economy is undefined. The notion includes a quest to enhance the socialist society with strong economic development. More specific guidance is determined by the central government when the right time has come. From a Chinese perspective, the aims in article 1 will be achieved since the undefined concepts open up for different interpretations. From a sophisticated point of view, the aims will not be seen as achieved since no effective competition is established.

In this study, the concept of &lsquo / Social Market Economy&rsquo / which was the leading idea in the post-Second World War economic order of Germany will be analysed. This analysis will also take into consideration the Economic School of Ordoliberalism which emerged in the inter-war period and greatly influenced the construction of the idea of &lsquo / Social Market Economy&rsquo / with its theoretical principles. Some politicians and theoreticians in the post-war period also contributed to the development of the concept. Within this theoretical framework, the post-war economic policies and developments will be surveyed and the newly established economic order will be compared with the ideals of Social Market Economy theoretical programme. In particular, the impact of the Social Market Economy upon the evolution of German Model of Capitalism will be explored by taking into account the significant changes in the role of the state in the economy and the conduct of relations between the social partners especially since the 1960&rsquo / s.

The thesis mainly scrutinizes the evolution of European Social Dimension from the early period of the European integration to the Lisbon Summit of 2000 and the formation of the draft EU Constitution in 2003. While the focus is on the changing role of social policy at the European Union level during the period of welfare state transformation, the thesis tries to lay down the normative and discursive linkages constructed between the concepts of European Social Model and the Social Market Economy. Subsequent to the inquiry made into the theoretical foundations of the Social Market Economy and its practice in Germany, the thesis discusses how diverse European actors employ the concept, which is ambiguous in nature, as a comprehensive framework within which a European political identity that may be constructed around European Social Model could be grounded.

The main objective of this thesis is to propose a new perspective in terms of the convergence debate as it is discussed in varieties-of-capitalism (VoC) literature. The initial configuration of VoC stance as well as a part of the literature foresees the convergence of hybrids to a liberal market economy. By revisiting the core arguments of national-systems-of-innovation approach as well as the elaborations of the various critiques of VoC stance, we will propose the opposite. If we are to take &lsquo / innovation&rsquo / as a starting-point of analysis and favor government intervention with respect to it, hybrids are more likely to converge to a political economy that resembles more a coordinated-one. However the meanings of the key terms such as &lsquo / coordinated-market-economy&rsquo / and &lsquo / convergence&rsquo / will be re-evaluated to be able to provide an adequate standpoint in terms of the convergence debate.

<p>Chinas first comprehensive competition law, the Anti-monopoly law of the People’s Republic of China (AML), was enacted on August 1, 2008. Despite a long history of planned economy, the Chinese economy has developed into one of the fastest growing economies in the world during the last decades. The adoption of the law was a crucial step towards a more market-based economy. Article 1 of the AML states that one of the aims to achieve with this law is to develop a socialist market economy. The notion was founded in the 1990s and can be found in several other Chinese legislations.</p><p>The concept has no prominent definition and can be interpreted in many different ways, which opens up for the ruling Party to interpret the notion in accordance with their political believes. The central government will probably put most emphasize on the word “socialist” instead of “market economy” when interpreting the concept. The concept is of central meaning and will affect the interpretation of the other aims stated in article 1. The other aims are not ranked in any hierarchical order and are in conflict with each other. The central government will give priority to the aims which are beneficial for a socialist society. The aim to promote public interest, which includes state owned enterprises, will be strongly favored. Also the aim economic efficiency will be prioritized since China strives to become a rich country. Consumer welfare will not be highlighted but might be more important in the future.</p><p>One reason that the aims are vague and not put in any hierarchical order could be that the objectives for adopting AML were not solely of competition reasons. The objectives show that AML is part of a wider economic policy. Neither does the central government strive towards a free market. Instead the goal is to establish a fair market. A fair market will most probably be a market beneficial for state owned enterprises and can therefore be contradictory to the keystones of competition. Competition principals arise from sophisticated market economies and China aims to apply those principals in the light of socialist ideology. AML covers the general competition provisions but with a specific chapter to regulate administrative monopolies. It can still be seen as contradictory to prohibit administrative monopolies but without any sanctions stipulated for violation of the provisions.</p><p>Also the fundamental elements for establish effective competition are missing. The statute cannot be seen as objective or provide legal certainty and the competition authorities do not have divided responsibilities. Neither is any specific competition court established. Other factors that can contribute to an inefficient competition law are China’s history and culture, affected by socialist ideology. Time is required in China in order to develop an efficient competition culture.</p><p>Altogether, it is no coincident that the notion of socialist market economy is undefined. The notion includes a quest to enhance the socialist society with strong economic development. More specific guidance is determined by the central government when the right time has come. From a Chinese perspective, the aims in article 1 will be achieved since the undefined concepts open up for different interpretations. From a sophisticated point of view, the aims will not be seen as achieved since no effective competition is established.</p>

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:24:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1461422 bytes, checksum: 557a96460dcd0dc789e6be9676241a82 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This study aimed to examine the assumptions that supported the formation of the market economy by comparing them to those aspects that nowadays, has fueled the debate on the proposed establishment of a solidarity economy. The aim is also to understand the relationship between the proposed economic solidarity, expressed through solidarity-called economic ventures, and implications contained in the dynamics of the capitalist system of production. For that, we used documentary research and bibliographic as well as statistical data for the purpose of making an analysis of the object of research, guided by critical-dialectical method. It was observed from this study that the project implementation of the solidarity economy is a rather controversial as their theoretical and practical strategies are linked historically socialist-utopian and, contemporaneously , guided by practical reformers within the capitalist system that reproduce the most dynamic and current configuration classes that change. Furthermore, it was observed that the economic solidarity projects have contributed to the expansion of the capitalist economy, particularly the financial capital and increasing precariousness of work, to the extent that their strategies differ little from those used by capitalist enterprises. / O presente trabalho teve por objetivo analisar os pressupostos que subsidiaram a formação da economia de mercado comparando-os aos aspectos que, contemporaneamente, vem fomentando os debates sobre a proposta de constituição de uma economia solidária. Objetivou-se, ainda, compreender a relação existente entre a proposta de economia solidária, expressa por meio dos chamados empreendimentos econômico-solidários, e as implicações contidas na própria dinâmica do sistema capitalista de produção. Para tanto, utilizou-se de pesquisas documentais e bibliográficas, assim como de dados estatísticos com a finalidade de se fazer uma análise sobre o objeto de pesquisa, pautada pelo método crítico-dialético. Observou-se, a partir do referido estudo, que o projeto de implantação de uma economia solidária apresenta-se bastante controverso já que seus pressupostos teóricos e práticos vinculam-se a estratégias historicamente socialista-utópicas e, contemporaneamente, guiam-se por práticas dentro do sistema capitalista que mais reproduzem a dinâmica e a configuração de classes atual do que as modificam. Além disso, observou-se que os empreendimentos econômico-solidários têm contribuído para a expansão da economia capitalista, particularmente, do capital financeiro, e para o aumento da precarização do trabalho, na medida em que suas estratégias pouco se diferenciam daquelas utilizadas por empresas capitalistas.

Series: SRE - Discussion Papers

The master thesis in the theoretical part tries to explain the functioning of the social market economy in Germany and also describes the individual reform steps which were aimed to increase the competitiveness of the German economy in the era of increasing global competition. In the practical part the author concentrated on the impact of the economic crisis on the system of social market economy in Germany. The author chose the revival of the private consumption as the key factor in overcoming the economic crisis and using the regression model tried to assess which economic indicators influence the private consumption of German households the most. From the results of this analysis he derived six reform measures which should help Germany overcome the current economic crisis.