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The Many Faces of Corruption: Tracking Vulnerabilities at the Sector Level
By J. Edgardo Campos, Sanjay Pradhan. 2007
Corruption... How can policymakers and practitioners better comprehend the many forms and shapes that this social pandemic takes? From the…
delivery of essential drugs, the reduction in teacher absenteeism, the containment of illegal logging, the construction of roads, the provision of water and electricity, the international trade in oil and gas, the conduct of public budgeting and procurement, and the management of public revenues, corruption shows its many faces. 'The Many Faces of Corruption' attempts to bring greater clarity to the often murky manifestations of this virulent and debilitating social disease. It explores the use of prototype road maps to identify corruption vulnerabilities, suggests corresponding 'warning signals,' and proposes operationally useful remedial measures in each of several selected sectors and for a selected sample of cross cutting public sector functions that are particularly prone to corruption and that are critical to sector performance. Numerous technical experts have come together in this effort to develop an operationally useful approach to diagnosing and tackling corruption. 'The Many Faces of Corruption' is an invaluable reference for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers engaged in the business of development.Monumental Ambivalence: The Politics of Heritage
By Lisa Breglia. 2006
From ancient Maya cities in Mexico and Central America to the Taj Mahal in India, cultural heritage sites around the…
world are being drawn into the wave of privatization that has already swept through such economic sectors as telecommunications, transportation, and utilities. As nation-states decide they can no longer afford to maintain cultural properties—or find it economically advantageous not to do so in the globalizing economy—private actors are stepping in to excavate, conserve, interpret, and represent archaeological and historical sites. But what are the ramifications when a multinational corporation, or even an indigenous village, owns a piece of national patrimony which holds cultural and perhaps sacred meaning for all the country's people, as well as for visitors from the rest of the world?Corporate Warriors
By P. W. Singer. 2003
Some have claimed that ?War is too important to be left to the generals,? but P. W. Singer asks ?What…
about the business executives? Breaking out of the guns-for-hire mold of traditional mercenaries, corporations now sell skills and services that until recently only state militaries possessed. Their products range from trained commando teams to strategic advice from generals. This new ?Privatized Military Industry? encompasses hundreds of companies, thousands of employees, and billions of dollars in revenue. Whether as proxies or suppliers, such firms have participated in wars in Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and Latin America. More recently, they have become a key element in U. S. military operations. Private corporations working for profit now sway the course of national and international conflict, but the consequences have been little explored. In this book, Singer provides the first account of the military services industry and its broader implications. Corporate Warriors includes a description of how the business works, as well as portraits of each of the basic types of companies: military providers that offer troops for tactical operations; military consultants that supply expert advice and training; and military support companies that sell logistics, intelligence, and engineering. The privatization of warfare allows startling new capabilities and efficiencies in the ways that war is carried out. At the same time, however, Singer finds that the entrance of the profit motive onto the battlefield raises a series of troubling questions'for democracy, for ethics, for management, for human rights, and for national security.China 2020: How Western Business Can—and Should—Influence Social and Political Change in the Coming Decade
By Michael A. Santoro. 2000
Chinese society is plagued by many problems that have a direct impact on its current and future business and political…
environment-worker rights, product safety, Internet freedom, and the rule of law. Drawing on knowledge gained through personal interviews, documentary sources, and almost two decades of visits to China, Michael A. Santoro offers a clear-eyed view of the various internal forces--such as regionalism, corruption, and growing inequality--that will determine the direction and pace of economic, social, and political change. Of special interest is Santoro's assessment of the role of multinational corporations in fostering or undermining social and political progress. Santoro offers a fresh and innovative way of thinking about two questions that have preoccupied Western observers for decades. What will be the effect of economic reform and prosperity on political reform? How can companies operate with moral integrity and ethics in China? In China 2020, Santoro unifies these hitherto separate questions and demonstrates that moral integrity (or lack of it) by Western business will have a profound impact on whether economic privatization and growth usher in greater democracy and respect for human rights. Offering a novel vision of China's future economic and political development, Santoro rejects the conventional view that China will muddle through the next decade with incremental social and political changes. Instead he argues that China will follow one or two widely divergent potential outcomes. It might continue to progress steadily toward greater prosperity, democracy, and respect for human rights, but it is also highly likely that China will instead fall backward economically and into an ever more authoritarian regime. The next decade will be one of the most important in the history of China, and, owing to China's global impact, the history of the modern world. China 2020 describes various tectonic social and political battles going on within China. The outcomes of these struggles will depend on a number of powerful indigenous forces as well as the decisions and actions of individual Chinese citizens. Santoro strongly believes that Western businesses can-and should-influence these developments.Observations on the President's Fiscal Year 1999 Federal Science and Technology Budget
By Committee on Science, Engineering, Public Policy. 1998
Impact Evaluation of Small and Medium Enterprise Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean
By Gladys López-Acevedo, Hong W. Tan. 2011
Small and medium enterprise (SME) support programs are a common feature of industrial policy in developing countries, but one whose…
effectiveness is not well known. Governments are motivated to support SMEs both because they make up the majority of industrial enterprises and contribute substantially to GDP, employment and earnings, and because SMEs are thought to be weaker than their larger counterparts. Few governments, however, have evaluated their SME programs rigorously so there is little empirical basis for rational allocation of resources to the well performing programs. The paucity of empirical evidence from rigorous impact evaluations also presents problems for multi-lateral and bilateral donors in deciding whether or not to provide lending or aid for such policy interventions to promote SME development. This study rigorously evaluate SME programs in four Latin American countries to gain insights into which programs perform better than others, and just as important, why. These countries - Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru - cover a wide range of enterprise support programs, including training, innovation and technology upgrading, quality control, market development, export promotion and network formation. Broadly comparable panel data on enterprises is used to investigate the net impacts of these SME interventions.Risk-Based Tax Audits
By Munawer Sultan Khwaja, Rajul Awasthi, Jan Loeprick. 2011
This book serves as a toolkit on risk-based audits and brings together country experiences for implementing risk-based audit systems. Risk…
management is an important element of effective and efficient compliance management in revenue administration. It is impossible for any revenue administration to control and check every single taxpayer, and an unnecessary waste of scarce enforcement resources on routinely examining low-risk, compliant taxpayers. The opportunity costs for such roving examinations are high. Just as a private business allocates its resources to areas they feel have the most potential for generating revenues and profits, a modern revenue administration selects cases for audits using methods focused on high-risk taxpayers. This targeted focus is likely to raise higher revenue and, arguably, provide a stronger deterrence for non-compliance. Risk management techniques should not be considered to be confined to the selection of tax audit cases. It is part of a holistic and cooperative approach to enhance compliance. This is dramatically changing the way revenue administrations and taxpayers interact with each other. The effectiveness of a risk-based compliance management has been enabled by, and depends fundamentally on, the use of automated systems to: (1) gather third-party information and match with taxpayer reporting using reliable databases and a unique taxpayer identification number; (2) undertake selective checks based on risk analysis; (3) standardize payment processes (e.g., payments through banks) and accounting requirements; (4) provide assurance that the legislation and procedures are being applied uniformly; and (5) provide adequate, timely information to support management decision making and tax policy formulation.Caribbean Renewal: Tackling Fiscal and Debt Challenges
By Charles Amo-Yartey, Therese Turner-Jones. 2014
Caribbean economies face high and rising debt-to-GDP ratios that jeopardize prospects for medium-term debt sustainability and growth. This book provides…
a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of fiscal consolidation and debt reduction in the Caribbean. It examines the problem of high debt in the region and discusses policy options for improving debt sustainability, including fiscal consolidation, robust growth, and structural reforms. The book also examines empirically the factors underlying global large debt reduction episodes to draw important policy lessons for the Caribbean. It also reviews the literature on successful fiscal consolidation experiences and provides an overview of past and current consolidation efforts in the Caribbean. The book concludes that the region needs a broad and sustained package of reforms to reduce debt ratios to more manageable levels and strengthen economic resilience.Innovative Financing for Development
By Dilip Ratha, Suhas Ketkar. 2009
Developing countries need additional, cross-border capital channeled into their private sectors to generate employment and growth, reduce poverty, and meet…
the other Millennium Development Goals. Innovative financing mechanisms are necessary to make this happen. 'Innovative Financing for Development' is the first book on this subject that uses a market-based approach. It compiles pioneering methods of raising development finance including securitization of future flow receivables, diaspora bonds, and GDP-indexed bonds. It also highlights the role of shadow sovereign ratings in facilitating access to international capital markets. It argues that poor countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, can potentially raise tens of billions of dollars annually through these instruments. The chapters in the book focus on the structures of the various innovative financing mechanisms, their track records and potential for tapping international capital markets, the constraints limiting their use, and policy measures that governments and international institutions can implement to alleviate these constraints.The Impact of Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure: Lights, Shadows, and the Road Ahead
By Thomas Haven, J. Luis Guasch, Luis Andres, Vivien Foster. 2008
Infrastructure plays a key role in fostering growth and productivity and has been linked to improved earnings, health, and education…
levels for the poor. Yet Latin America and the Caribbean are currently faced with a dangerous combination of relatively low public and private infrastructure investment. Those investment levels must increase, and it can be done. If Latin American and Caribbean governments are to increase infrastructure investment in politically feasible ways, it is critical that they learn from experience and have an accurate idea of future impacts. This book contributes to this aim by producing what is arguably the most comprehensive privatization impact analysis in the region to date, drawing on an extremely comprehensive dataset.Budget System Reform in Emerging Economies
By Jack Diamond. 2006
The Black Box of Governmental Learning
By Raoul Blindenbacher, Bidjan Nashat. 2010
There are more poor people around the world than ever before. One of the missing factors in efforts to address…
poverty and increase sustainable development is adequate governmental capacity development. One effective means to improve the quality of democratic governance is by learning from the past and from others' experiences. 'The Black Box of Governmental Learning' introduces the Learning Spiral-a new concept for organizing effective learning events for governments in the 21st century. It helps governments to learn from each other. This theory-based concept has been applied successfully over the past decade in numerous conferences, training, and e-learning events all over the world. The book is directed toward practitioners in governments, such as members of cabinets, parliaments, and courts; civil servants and politicians; civil society organizations; and international organizations. It will help them understand the challenges of learning in governments and offers a concept for organizing effective learning events.Public Finance for Poverty Reduction
By Blanca Moreno-Dodson, Quentin Wodon. 2008
This book presents some basic theoretical concepts of public finance with a particular emphasis on its impact poverty reduction. Eight…
case studies from Latin America and Africa illustrate how these concepts are applied in practice and the implementation issues that emerge.The Arab Spring Five Years Later
By Hafez Ghanem. 2016
This two-volume set explores in-depth the economic origins and repercussions of the Arab Spring revolts.Volume 1 of The Arab Spring…
Five Years Later is based on extensive research conducted by scholars from a variety of backgrounds, including many associated with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The original research papers are gathered in volume 2 and are available for readers who wish to go even further in understanding the economic background of the Arab Spring. Papers examine women's issues and agricultural practices in Morocco; urban transportation, small enterprises, governance, and inclusive planning in Egypt; reconstruction in Iraq; youth employment in Tunisia; education in Yemen; and more.In addition to Hafez Ghanem, contributors include Mongi Boughzala (University of Tunis ElManar, Tunisia), Mohamed Tlili Hamdi (University of Sfax, Tunisia),Yuriko Kameyama (JICA), Hideki Matsunaga (JICA), Mayada Magdy (JICA), Yuko Morikawa (JICA), Akira Murata (JICA), Kei Sakamoto (JICA), Seiki Tanaka (JICA), Masanori Yoshikawa (JICA), and Takako Yuki (JICA).Hidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused the World's Worst Financial Crisisand Why It Could Happen Again
By Peter J. Wallison. 2016
The 2008 financial crisis-like the Great Depression-was a world-historical event. What caused it will be debated for years, if not…
generations. The conventional narrative is that the financial crisis was caused by Wall Street greed and insufficient regulation of the financial system. That narrative produced the Dodd-Frank Act, the mostcomprehensive financial-system regulation since the New Deal. There is evidence, however, that the Dodd-Frank Act has slowed the recovery from the recession. If insufficient regulation caused the financial crisis, then the Dodd-Frank Act will never be modified or repealed; proponents will argue that doing so will cause another crisis.A competing narrative about what caused the financial crisis has received little attention. This view, which is accepted by almost all Republicans in Congress and most conservatives, contends that the crisis was caused by government housing policies. This book extensively documents this view. For example, it shows that in June 2008, before the crisis, 58 percent of all US mortgages were subprime or other low-quality mortgages. Of these, 76 percent were on the books of government agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When these mortgages defaulted in 2007 and 2008, they drove down housing prices and weakened banks and other mortgage holders, causing the crisis.After this book is published, no one will be able to claim that the financial crisis was caused by insufficient regulation, or defend Dodd-Frank, without coming to terms with the data this book contains.Kosovo: Institutions and Policies for Reconstruction and Growth
By Dimitri G. Demekas, Davina F. Jacobs, Johannes Herderschee. 2002
Nontaxation and Representation
By Kevin M. Morrison. 2015
Does oil make countries autocratic? Can foreign aid make countries democratic? Does taxation lead to representation? In this book, Kevin…
M. Morrison develops a novel argument about how government revenues of all kinds affect political regimes and their leaders. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Morrison illustrates that taxation leads to instability, not representation. With this insight, he extends his award-winning work on nontax revenues to encompass foreign aid, oil revenue, and intergovernmental grants and shows that they lead to decreased taxation, increased government spending, and increased political stability. Looking at the stability of democracies and dictatorships as well as leadership transitions within those regimes, Morrison incorporates cross-national statistical methods, formal modeling, a quasi-experiment, and case studies of Brazil, Kenya, and Mexico to build his case. This book upends many common hypotheses and policy recommendations, providing the most comprehensive treatment of revenue and political stability to date.Changing Customs
By Michael Keen. 2003
Fodor's Toronto: with Niagara Falls & the Niagara Wine Region
By Fodor'S Travel Guides. 2017
Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for more than 80…
years. Fodor’s correspondents highlight the best of Toronto, including superb museums and art galleries, outstanding global cuisine, and the edgy spirit of Queen West. Our local experts vet every recommendation to ensure you make the most of your time, whether it’s your first trip or your fifth.This travel guide includes:· Dozens of full-color maps · Hundreds of hotel and restaurant recommendations, with Fodor's Choice designating our top picks· Multiple itineraries to explore the top attractions and what’s off the beaten path · Major sights such as the CN Tower, Historic Distillery District and St. Lawrence Market· Side Trips from Toronto including Niagara Falls, Stratford, Southern Georgian Bay, The Muskokas and Niagara Wine Region· Covers: Harbourfront and the Islands, Old Town and Distillery District and Dundas Square AreaGuidelines for Public Expenditure Management
By Jack Diamond, Barry H. Potter. 1999
For many years, the IMF's Public Expenditure Management Division has answered many questions raised by fiscal economists on missions. Based…
on this experience, these guidelines provide a general overview of the principles and practices observed in three key aspects of public expenditure management: budget preparation, budget execution, and cash planning. For each aspect the guidelines look at the differing practices in four groups of countries: the francophone system, the Commonwealth systems, Latin America, and those in the transition economies.