<p>This paper examines how debt cancellation, given under the HIPC-initiative, has affected corruption over the period 2000-2006. The examination is foremost interesting due to earlier research showing that high corruption leads to unequal distribution of economic resources. This, combined with the objective of the HIPC initiative to reduce poverty, indicates that combating corruption must be successful in order to fulfill the goals of the initiative. A linear regression shows that countries that have benefited from the HIPC-initiative indeed have a lower corruption than other countries. A panel-data analysis shows on the other hand that no effect on corruption due to debt cancellation or reforms undertaken in the program can be confirmed.</p>

<p>The aim of the thesis is to discuss possible effects of an increase in African – Chinese relation above the historically more dominant Western – African dependency. There has recently both been an increase in trading between Africa and China and an increase in Chinese funded development on the African continent. But will Chinese aid over Western actually make that big a difference for Africa? African intellectuals see Chinese involvement as a way to break free from the neo-colonial ties to the West. A fair south-south relationship between Africa and China would indeed have that result but few indicators prove that that would be the case today. The trading interest from China is very similar to that from Western parties, a few valuable goods constitutes the major part of African nations export industry. A rapid growth in trading between China and Africa is not likely to bring African nations from the pattern they are historically used to having against western parties but to form a new trend of dependency towards Chinese interest. (Tull, 2006, s. 471) </p><p>To explain this relation between the African continent and both Western and Chinese interests dependency theory will be used. To fully explain dependency theory one will not only have to look at trading and exploatation of natural resources but also on a transference of social values and foreing involvment in African communities. To achieve this a series of interviews were conducted in Babati during the later parts of February and early March in 2010. This in coagency with an text analys provides a foundation for discussion about the implications  Chinese aid will have on the African dependency towards Western interests. </p><p>What can be extracted from this is that Chinese aid most likely will not lift Africa out of dependency in it’s current form. Trading interests from Chinese parties are to similar to the explotiative west to make a huge difference. African natural resources are traded against low-cost mass produced units and to  small of an profit is made for the African parties to make the exhange fair. But with the rise of China and the fact that China today finances a big part of the United States government a global power shift will occur and the traditional hegemoninc power structure will most likely change into an multi polar world order.  This change is important to study closer to understand what the effects might be for the African continent’s depenency towards foreign interests and specially the relation between China and USA is important though they are the biggests actors today in development work on the African continent.</p>

This paper examines how debt cancellation, given under the HIPC-initiative, has affected corruption over the period 2000-2006. The examination is foremost interesting due to earlier research showing that high corruption leads to unequal distribution of economic resources. This, combined with the objective of the HIPC initiative to reduce poverty, indicates that combating corruption must be successful in order to fulfill the goals of the initiative. A linear regression shows that countries that have benefited from the HIPC-initiative indeed have a lower corruption than other countries. A panel-data analysis shows on the other hand that no effect on corruption due to debt cancellation or reforms undertaken in the program can be confirmed.

The aim of the thesis is to discuss possible effects of an increase in African – Chinese relation above the historically more dominant Western – African dependency. There has recently both been an increase in trading between Africa and China and an increase in Chinese funded development on the African continent. But will Chinese aid over Western actually make that big a difference for Africa? African intellectuals see Chinese involvement as a way to break free from the neo-colonial ties to the West. A fair south-south relationship between Africa and China would indeed have that result but few indicators prove that that would be the case today. The trading interest from China is very similar to that from Western parties, a few valuable goods constitutes the major part of African nations export industry. A rapid growth in trading between China and Africa is not likely to bring African nations from the pattern they are historically used to having against western parties but to form a new trend of dependency towards Chinese interest. (Tull, 2006, s. 471)  To explain this relation between the African continent and both Western and Chinese interests dependency theory will be used. To fully explain dependency theory one will not only have to look at trading and exploatation of natural resources but also on a transference of social values and foreing involvment in African communities. To achieve this a series of interviews were conducted in Babati during the later parts of February and early March in 2010. This in coagency with an text analys provides a foundation for discussion about the implications  Chinese aid will have on the African dependency towards Western interests.  What can be extracted from this is that Chinese aid most likely will not lift Africa out of dependency in it’s current form. Trading interests from Chinese parties are to similar to the explotiative west to make a huge difference. African natural resources are traded against low-cost mass produced units and to  small of an profit is made for the African parties to make the exhange fair. But with the rise of China and the fact that China today finances a big part of the United States government a global power shift will occur and the traditional hegemoninc power structure will most likely change into an multi polar world order.  This change is important to study closer to understand what the effects might be for the African continent’s depenency towards foreign interests and specially the relation between China and USA is important though they are the biggests actors today in development work on the African continent.

<p>Dissertation in political science, D-level by Niklas Andersson, Spring Semester 2010. Tutor: Malin Stegmann McCallion</p><p>“Societies in Crisis – When Washington Take Over”</p><p>An economic meltdown wreaks havoc on the world and has plunged the Western world into a spiral of economic stimulus in order to keep their way of life intact. At the same time the same institutions that support these countries have had another agenda for more unfortunate and less influential countries where nothing has been free and everything been to a price of self-sacrifice in order to get the consent of the IMF and the World Bank. Everything according to the points stated in the so called Washington Consensus.</p><p>The purpose of this dissertation is to research what impact the Washington Consensus has on the state in terms of power over the market and sovereignty. This shall be done by examining the points of the Consensus and then delve into the IMF and World Bank’s own program in four countries, Argentina, Russia, Kenya and the Republic of Korea. The findings shall then be compared to the Andersson Contract, a social contract theory summary showcasing the ideal liberal state, to determine if the Consensus gives enough room for the state to act against the market. This shall also be backed up with theories on economics from Adam Smith and Karl Polanyi in order to strengthen the comparison on the economic issues.</p><p>The research question thus for the dissertation are:</p><p>Which institutions and features does the Washington Consensus highlight as necessary for a state? Is the state they proposes to weak to uphold society according to the social contracts?</p><p>According to the research there are parts of the Washington Consensus that fits the social contract and should therefore in theory be able to maintain a level of social dignity and be able to take part in the positive effects of the market. Other parts on the other hand show that some crucial institutions lack certain strength in order to be able to keep the free market in check, but they still exist. Therefore the answer to the question is that it’s ambiguous as all the necessary institutions exist, but some of them need to be strengthened in order to make sure the market remains free as well as the countries should be able to choose their own way to economic welfare.<strong> </strong></p> / <p>Statsvetenskaplig uppsats, D-nivå av Niklas Andersson, Vårterminen 2010, Handledare Malin Stegmann McCallion</p><p>"Samhällen i Kris - När Washington Tar Över"</p><p>En ekonomisk härdsmälta skapar kaos runt om i världen och har kastat ner västvärlden i en spiral av ekonomiska stimulanser för att hålla deras livsstil flytande. Santidigt som detta sker har samma institutioner vilka gett första hjälpen till dessa länder har de haft en annan agenda för mer otursamma och mindre inflytelserika länder där ingenting har varit gratis och allt varit till priset av självuppoffring för att få IMF och Världsbankens samtycke. Allt utifrån punkterna fastlagda av Washington-konsensusen.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilken inverkan Washington-konsensusen har på staten i betydelsen makt över marknaden och suveränitet. Detta skall genomföras genom att undersöka punkterna i konsensusen och sen dyka ner i IMF och Världsbanknens egna program i fyra länder, Argentina, Ryssland, Kenya och Sydkorea. Det jag finner ska sedan jämföras med Andeersson-kontraktet, en kontraktsteori sammanfattning av den ideala liberala staten, för att utröna om konsensusen ger tillräckligt utrymmer för staten att agera mot marknaden. Detta ska också stödjas med teorier om ekonomi av Adam Smith och Karl Polanyi för att styrka jämförelsen på de ekonomiska delarna.</p><p>Frågeställningarna för uppsatsen är då följande:</p><p>Vilka institutioner och funktioner uppmärksammar Washongton-konsensusen som nödvändiga för staten? Är staten de framhäver för svag för att upprätthålla samhället enligt kontraktteorierna?</p><p>Enligt forskningen är det ett par delar av Washington-konsensusen som passar in i kontraktsteorin och borde därför i teorin möjliggöra en viss nivå av social värdighet och hantering av effekterna utav marknaden. Andra delar däremot visar att några viktiga institutioner saknar tillräckligt med styrka för att fullt ut kunna hålla marknaden i schack, men de existerar fortfarande. Därför är svaret till frågorna att det är tvetydigt eftersom alla g´rundelement finns där, men några av dem behöver förstärkas för att försäkra att marknaderna förblir fria samtidigt som länderna själva väljer deras  väg till ekonomiskt välstånd.</p>

Dissertation in political science, D-level by Niklas Andersson, Spring Semester 2010. Tutor: Malin Stegmann McCallion “Societies in Crisis – When Washington Take Over” An economic meltdown wreaks havoc on the world and has plunged the Western world into a spiral of economic stimulus in order to keep their way of life intact. At the same time the same institutions that support these countries have had another agenda for more unfortunate and less influential countries where nothing has been free and everything been to a price of self-sacrifice in order to get the consent of the IMF and the World Bank. Everything according to the points stated in the so called Washington Consensus. The purpose of this dissertation is to research what impact the Washington Consensus has on the state in terms of power over the market and sovereignty. This shall be done by examining the points of the Consensus and then delve into the IMF and World Bank’s own program in four countries, Argentina, Russia, Kenya and the Republic of Korea. The findings shall then be compared to the Andersson Contract, a social contract theory summary showcasing the ideal liberal state, to determine if the Consensus gives enough room for the state to act against the market. This shall also be backed up with theories on economics from Adam Smith and Karl Polanyi in order to strengthen the comparison on the economic issues. The research question thus for the dissertation are: Which institutions and features does the Washington Consensus highlight as necessary for a state? Is the state they proposes to weak to uphold society according to the social contracts? According to the research there are parts of the Washington Consensus that fits the social contract and should therefore in theory be able to maintain a level of social dignity and be able to take part in the positive effects of the market. Other parts on the other hand show that some crucial institutions lack certain strength in order to be able to keep the free market in check, but they still exist. Therefore the answer to the question is that it’s ambiguous as all the necessary institutions exist, but some of them need to be strengthened in order to make sure the market remains free as well as the countries should be able to choose their own way to economic welfare. / Statsvetenskaplig uppsats, D-nivå av Niklas Andersson, Vårterminen 2010, Handledare Malin Stegmann McCallion "Samhällen i Kris - När Washington Tar Över" En ekonomisk härdsmälta skapar kaos runt om i världen och har kastat ner västvärlden i en spiral av ekonomiska stimulanser för att hålla deras livsstil flytande. Santidigt som detta sker har samma institutioner vilka gett första hjälpen till dessa länder har de haft en annan agenda för mer otursamma och mindre inflytelserika länder där ingenting har varit gratis och allt varit till priset av självuppoffring för att få IMF och Världsbankens samtycke. Allt utifrån punkterna fastlagda av Washington-konsensusen. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilken inverkan Washington-konsensusen har på staten i betydelsen makt över marknaden och suveränitet. Detta skall genomföras genom att undersöka punkterna i konsensusen och sen dyka ner i IMF och Världsbanknens egna program i fyra länder, Argentina, Ryssland, Kenya och Sydkorea. Det jag finner ska sedan jämföras med Andeersson-kontraktet, en kontraktsteori sammanfattning av den ideala liberala staten, för att utröna om konsensusen ger tillräckligt utrymmer för staten att agera mot marknaden. Detta ska också stödjas med teorier om ekonomi av Adam Smith och Karl Polanyi för att styrka jämförelsen på de ekonomiska delarna. Frågeställningarna för uppsatsen är då följande: Vilka institutioner och funktioner uppmärksammar Washongton-konsensusen som nödvändiga för staten? Är staten de framhäver för svag för att upprätthålla samhället enligt kontraktteorierna? Enligt forskningen är det ett par delar av Washington-konsensusen som passar in i kontraktsteorin och borde därför i teorin möjliggöra en viss nivå av social värdighet och hantering av effekterna utav marknaden. Andra delar däremot visar att några viktiga institutioner saknar tillräckligt med styrka för att fullt ut kunna hålla marknaden i schack, men de existerar fortfarande. Därför är svaret till frågorna att det är tvetydigt eftersom alla g´rundelement finns där, men några av dem behöver förstärkas för att försäkra att marknaderna förblir fria samtidigt som länderna själva väljer deras  väg till ekonomiskt välstånd.