bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rapid Assessment and Response Studies of Injection Drug Use: Knowledge Gain, Capacity Building, and Intervention Development in a Multisite Study
Authors: Stimson Gerry V. , Fitch Chris , Jarlais Don Des , Poznyak Vladimir , Perlis Theresa , Oppenheimer Edna , Rhodes Tim
Published: December 2005

Objectives. We evaluated the World Health Organization’s rapid assessment and response (RAR) method of assessing injection drug use and its associated health problems, focusing on knowledge gain, capacity building, and whether RAR leads to the development of interventions reducing the health effects of injection drug use.

Methods. Data were derived from RAR studies conducted in Beijing, China; Bogotá, Colombia; Greater Rosario, Argentina; Hanoi, Vietnam; Kharkiv, Ukraine; Minsk, Belarus; Nairobi, Kenya; Penang, Malaysia; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Tehran, Iran.

Results. Substantial gains in knowledge and response capacity were reported at all of the study sites. Before RAR initiation, prevention and intervention programs had been absent or inadequate at most of the sites. The RARs resulted in many new or modified interventions; 7 sites reported 24 health-related interventions that were subsequently developed and influenced by the RARs.

Conclusions. RARs, which require relatively little external funding, appear to be effective in linking assessment to development of appropriate interventions. The present results add to the evidence that rapid assessment is an important public health tool.
Physicians’ Perceptions of Patients’ Social and Behavioral Characteristics and Race Disparities in Treatment Recommendations for Men With Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: van Ryn Michelle , Burgess Diana , Malat Jennifer , Griffin Joan
Published: December 2005

Objectives. A growing body of evidence suggests that provider decisionmaking contributes to racial/ethnic disparities in care. We examined the factors mediating the relationship between patient race/ethnicity and provider recommendations for coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Methods. Analyses were conducted with a data set that included medical record, angiogram, and provider survey data on postangiogram encounters with patients who were categorized as appropriate candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Results. Race significantly influenced physician recommendations among male, but not female, patients. Physicians’ perceptions of patients’ education and physical activity preferences were significant predictors of their recommendations, independent of clinical factors, appropriateness, payer, and physician characteristics. Furthermore, these variables mediated the effects of patient race on provider recommendations.

Conclusions. Our findings point to the importance of research and intervention strategies addressing the ways in which providers’ beliefs about patients mediate disparities in treatment. In addition, they highlight the need for discourse and consensus development on the role of social factors in clinical decisionmaking.
The Role of Vitamin D in Cancer Prevention
Authors: Garland Cedric F. , Garland Frank C. , Gorham Edward D. , Lipkin Martin , Newmark Harold , Mohr Sharif B. , Holick Michael F.
Published: December 2005

Vitamin D status differs by latitude and race, with residents of the northeastern United States and individuals with more skin pigmentation being at increased risk of deficiency. A PubMed database search yielded 63 observational studies of vitamin D status in relation to cancer risk, including 30 of colon, 13 of breast, 26 of prostate, and 7 of ovarian cancer, and several that assessed the association of vitamin D receptor genotype with cancer risk.

The majority of studies found a protective relationship between sufficient vitamin D status and lower risk of cancer. The evidence suggests that efforts to improve vitamin D status, for example by vitamin D supplementation, could reduce cancer incidence and mortality at low cost, with few or no adverse effects.
Disparities in Asthma Hospitalization in Massachusetts
Authors: Ash Michael , Brandt Sylvia
Published: December 2005

Objectives. We examined racial disparities in asthma morbidity in Massachusetts.

Methods. We used Massachusetts case-mix data from 1994 to 2002 to screen and track individual asthma morbidity and hospitalizations, which resulted in a sample of 10145 patients who were first hospitalized for asthma between 1997 and 2000. We followed these patients for 2 years after their first hospitalization. Because asthma is widely considered a preventable cause of hospitalization, we interpreted a readmission for asthma as an indication of failed asthma management.

Results. We found substantial racial/ethnic disparities in readmission rates that persisted after control for comorbidities, payer type, and income. We estimated that the costs of repeat hospitalizations for asthma are in excess of one quarter of all asthma hospitalization costs.

Conclusion. Racial/ethnic disparities in asthma readmission rates show that Massachusetts is not on the frontier of asthma treatment.
Cancer Screening and Risk Factor Rates Among American Indians
Authors: Swan Judith , Breen Nancy , Burhansstipanov Linda , Satter Delight E. , Davis William W. , McNeel Timothy , Snipp C. Matthew
Published: December 2005

Objectives. We examined cancer screening and risk factor patterns in California using 4 different statistical tabulations of American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) populations.

Methods. We used the 2001 California Health Interview Survey to compare cancer screening and risk factor data across 4 different tabulation approaches. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates by gender and race/ethnicity for cancer screening and risk factors, sociodemographic characteristics, and access to care variables. We compared AIAN men and women with members of other racial groups and examined outcomes among AIAN men and women using the 4 tabulation methods.

Results. Although some differences were small, in general, screening and risk factor rates among American Indians/Alaska Natives were most similar to rates among Whites when the most inclusive multiracial tabulation approach was used and least similar when the more exclusive US census “single-race” approach was used.

Conclusions. Racial misclassification and undercounting are among the most difficult obstacles to obtaining accurate and informative data on the AIAN population. Our analysis suggests some guidelines for overcoming these obstacles.
Early Evidence on the Effectiveness of Clean Indoor Air Legislation in New York State
Authors: Abrams Sara M. , Mahoney Martin C. , Hyland Andrew , Cummings K. Michael , Davis Warren , Song Liguo
Published: December 2005

In July 2003, New York State implemented the Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA) to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). In this cross-sectional study, workers (n=168) completed an interview assessing ETS exposure and provided urine for cotinine analysis. Hospitality workers recruited after implementation of the CIAA had significant reductions in ETS exposure and urine cotinine, compared with those recruited before implementation. The New York State CIAA yielded measurable reductions in ETS exposure for hospitality workers.
Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Periodontal Disease: The Dental Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study
Authors: Borrell Luisa N. , Beck James D. , Heiss Gerardo
Published: December 2005

Objectives. We used data from the Dental Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study to examine whether individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics were associated with periodontal disease.

Methods. We assessed severe periodontitis with a combination of clinical attachment loss and pocket depth measures. Marginal logistic regression modeling was used to estimate the association between individual and neighborhood socioeconomic indicators and prevalence of severe periodontitis before and after control for selected covariates. Residual intraneighborhood correlations in outcomes were taken into account in the analyses.

Results. Individual-level income and education were associated with severe periodontitis among Whites and African Americans, and these associations remained significant after adjustment for age, gender, recruitment center, and neighborhood socioeconomic score. Low-income Whites residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods had 1.8-fold (95% confidence interval=1.2, 2.7) higher odds of having severe periodontitis than high-income Whites residing in advantaged neighborhoods.

Conclusions. Individual income and education were associated with severe periodontitis independently of neighborhood socioeconomic circumstances. Although the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status and severe periodontitis was not statistically significant, poverty and residence in a disadvantaged neighborhood were associated with higher odds of severe periodontitis among Whites.
Relative Effectiveness of Worker Safety and Health Training Methods
Authors: Burke Michael J. , Sarpy Sue Ann , Smith-Crowe Kristin , Chan-Serafin Suzanne , Salvador Rommel O. , Islam Gazi
Published: December 2005

Objectives. We sought to determine the relative effectiveness of different methods of worker safety and health training aimed at improving safety knowledge and performance and reducing negative outcomes (accidents, illnesses, and injuries).

Methods. Ninety-five quasi-experimental studies (n=20991) were included in the analysis. Three types of intervention methods were distinguished on the basis of learners’ participation in the training process: least engaging (lecture, pamphlets, videos), moderately engaging (programmed instruction, feedback interventions), and most engaging (training in behavioral modeling, hands-on training).

Results. As training methods became more engaging (i.e., requiring trainees’ active participation), workers demonstrated greater knowledge acquisition, and reductions were seen in accidents, illnesses, and injuries. All methods of training produced meaningful behavioral performance improvements.

Conclusions. Training involving behavioral modeling, a substantial amount of practice, and dialogue is generally more effective than other methods of safety and health training. The present findings challenge the current emphasis on more passive computer-based and distance training methods within the public health workforce.
Tobacco Cessation Services Through Community Health Workers for Spanish-Speaking Populations
Authors: Martinez-Bristow Zuzanne , Sias Jeri J. , Urquidi Ulysses J. , Feng Chun
Published: December 2005

Partnerships were established with the University of Arizona’s Healthcare Partnership to train promotores—Spanish-speaking community health workers—as tobacco cessation counselors. Tobacco Free El Paso certified promotores to help identify tobacco users and offer tobacco cessation counseling services.

The project certified 89 participants, of whom 95% were promotores; 88% were Hispanic/Latino, 67% were females, and 62% indicated Spanish as their primary language. Participants who completed Técnicas Básicas, Treatment Specialist, and Déjate de ese Vicio certifications significantly increased self-confidence levels to deliver brief smoking cessation interventions (P < .05). Satisfaction scores (scale = 1–5) were also relatively high for each certification (Técnicas Básicas, mean = 4.8; Treatment Specialist, mean = 4.7; Déjate de ese Vicio, mean = 4.6). The results suggest that promotores understood the concepts and methodologies presented.
Growing the Field of Health Impact Assessment in the United States: An Agenda for Research and Practice
Authors: Dannenberg Andrew L. , Bhatia Rajiv , Cole Brian L. , Dora Carlos , Fielding Jonathan E. , Kraft Katherine , McClymont-Peace Diane , Mindell Jennifer , Onyekere Chinwe , Roberts James A. , Ross Catherine L. , Rutt Candace D. , Scott-Samuel Alex , Tilson Hugh H.
Published: December 2005

Health impact assessment (HIA) methods are used to evaluate the impact on health of policies and projects in community design, transportation planning, and other areas outside traditional public health concerns. At an October 2004 workshop, domestic and international experts explored issues associated with advancing the use of HIA methods by local health departments, planning commissions, and other decisionmakers in the United States.

Workshop participants recommended conducting pilot tests of existing HIA tools, developing a database of health impacts of common projects and policies, developing resources for HIA use, building workforce capacity to conduct HIAs, and evaluating HIAs. HIA methods can influence decisionmakers to adjust policies and projects to maximize benefits and minimize harm to the public’s health.
Digital Television and the Quid Pro Quo
Authors: Hazlett Thomas W. , Spitzer Matthew L.
Published: December 2005

The recent zero-priced award of $11–70 billion in digital TV (DTV) licenses by the federal government occurred when auctions had been initiated for non-broadcast licenses and when the seven decade-old regime of ‘public trusteeship’ in broadcasting had become famous for licensee reneging on promised obligations. Policymakers nonetheless declined to auction DTV licenses when enacting the Telecommunications Act of 1996, rejecting a plea from the Senate Majority Leader. This paper provides an overview of the episode and investigates three basic questions. (1) Why does Congress continue a regulatory system that routinely fails to provide the benefits it is supposed to generate? (2) Why did the National Association of Broadcasters propose high definition television as a way of keeping land mobile operators off an unused spectrum? (3) Why did Congress delegate to the FCC the decision to award licenses for digital television broadcasting?
Private Sector Trade Politics in Mexico
Authors: Thacker Strom C.
Published: December 2005

Business plays a critical yet poorly understood role in trade policymaking. This paper develops an analytical framework that focuses on the distribution of business trade preferences, the forces that cause those preferences to change, and the ability of different groups to exert political influence over policy. It then applies this framework to Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s. Large, exporting firms increased their weight due to shifts in the international context, the condition of the domestic economy, and previous government policies. Policymakers granted political access to actors whose economic and political leverage had risen, typically those who controlled numerous investment resources and sought out a direct role in policymaking. Many of these actors also favored free trade. Business participation in trade policy reflects these patterns. Large, outward-oriented firms played an increasingly important role in Mexico's adoption of free trade policies over the 1980s and early 1990s.
Constituency-based Lobbying as Corporate Political Strategy: Testing an Agency Theory Perspective
Authors: Lord Michael D.
Published: December 2005

This study explores sources of variation in the efficacy of constituency building as corporate political strategy. The theoretical focus is on the persistent agency problems inherent in the principal-agent relationship between constituents and legislators. Analysis of data from key congressional respondents indicates that the nature of these agency problems significantly determines the relative effectiveness of corporate constituency building as a means to influence legislative decisionmaking. Corporate constituency building appears to be more effective for influencing legislators' voting behavior than for influencing the specific content of legislation; more effective in the House than the Senate; contingent on party affiliation; contingent on the types of feedback corporate stakeholders use to communicate with legislative offices; contingent on the types of corporate stakeholders involved. This paper discusses these findings in the context of the existing literature and makes suggestions for further inquiry into the use, efficacy, and evolution of constituency-based lobbying as corporate political strategy.
Crisis and Adaptation in East Asian Innovation Systems: The Case of the Semiconductor Industry in Taiwan and South Korea
Authors: Keller William W. , Pauly Louis W.
Published: December 2005

In recent decades, both South Korea and Taiwan have made remarkable leaps in the development and production of semiconductors-the core element in burgeoning global telecommunications, computer, and computer equipment industries. Although many aspects of their sectoral industrial strategies have differed, both countries are now moving aggressively to adapt their semiconductor industries to turbulent global markets. In the wake of the severe regional financial crisis that began in 1997, this case study compares and contrasts continuing processes of adaptation among primary semiconductor manufacturers in the two countries. The crisis had observable effects, especially in Korea, but it was not deep enough to force fundamental adjustments in either country. In the early days of the industry in both places, a sense of vulnerability-the need to come from behind-gave rise to quite different corporate structures and attendant strategies. Remarkable differences persist in the ways in which the South Korean and Taiwanese semiconductor firms are seeking new advantages in rapidly changing regional and global markets. Strategic change and structural continuity mark the attempt of two relatively small countries to stay competitive in a key industry.
The Fallacy of Regulatory Symmetry: An Economic Analysis of the ‘Level Playing Field’ in Cable TV Franchising Statutes
Authors: Hazlett Thomas W. , Ford George S.
Published: December 2005

Formal regulatory parity can entail counterintuitive effects. In a series of state statutes, municipal governments have been directed to issue cable TV franchises to new competitors only after (a) formal hearings considering the ‘public interest’ in competition; and (b) imposing terms and conditions which are at least as burdensome as those contained in the incumbent's franchise. While billed as ‘level playing field’ laws, economic theory, an important case study in Connecticut, and a probit analysis of Ameritech's cable franchise acquisition strategy suggest that these statutes actually tilt the field against entrants.
The Political Preferences of Diversified Business Groups: Lessons from Colombia (1994–1998)
Authors: Rettberg Angelika
Published: December 2005

The article discusses the political preferences of diversified business groups—or economic groups (EGs)—based on a case study of business political behavior in Colombia. EGs are groups of firms held together through ‘interlocking directorates, holding companies, crossfinancing, and often continued family ownership’, which dominate significant portions of the Latin American economies. The Colombian EGs supported president Ernesto Samper (1994–1998) amidst accusations that his campaign had been funded by drug traffickers, despite the prospect of U.S. sanctions and economic recession. The article suggests that a crucial factor shaping EG political preferences was their relationship of mutual dependence with the Colombian state, which is based on contracts, credit, and regulation. In contrast to expectations that privatization policies associated with the 1990s' economic reforms would weaken the business-state relationship, this case shows that these ties have been strengthened, making EGs stand out as winners of the reform process.
SAP—A Globally Enterprising Company: European Lessons from the Enterprise Software Industry
Authors: Nakagawa Trevor H.
Published: December 2005

Software has become one of the central drivers of growth in an expanding global economy. Despite concerted “catch-up” efforts by European and Asian firms and governments alike, few major software players are not American. In particular, European software producers were slow to adapt to the new challenges posed by U.S. firms with standardized software products tied to rapidly innovating computer hardware systems and the Internet. One exception is Germany's SAP, which has quietly managed to become one of the largest software companies in the world. This article examines the market and nonmarket factors that have led to this company's success in both the global and Asian context. First, it will examine how SAP was able to bring the first fully integrated package to corporations around the world and thus to establish a global presence in one of the largest software niche markets, enterprise resource planning software. Second, this study highlights the importance of taking the nonmarket environment into account in Asia. Finally, the article demonstrates how SAP's strategy in Asia was a part of its global plan to simultaneously maximize market share and improve efficiency.
Finding the Right Chemistry: The U.S. Chemical Industry in Asia
Authors: Lin Kun-Chin
Published: December 2005

This article examines the evolution of U.S. chemical firms' corporate strategies in Asia over the past decade. Prior to the Asian financial crisis, these firms treated the Asian market as an expansion outlet due to a persistent lack of growth in Western markets. Since the crisis, U.S. firms have reformulated their market and organizational strategies to better withstand disruptions of business or product life cycles, specifically through refocusing core competence and establishing regional production networks. Meanwhile, their nonmarket strategies have lagged behind market strategies in specificity and sensitivity to the Asian context. This article explores the early effort in safety and environmental self-governance of the chemical firms in Asia, and argues that the history of domestic competition and government-business relations in the home market has to a large degree determined the transnational strategies of U.S. firms. Finally, U.S. chemical firms strategies are increasingly dependent on the behavior of their Asian competitors - in particular whether Asian producers enter into alliances with U.S. firms or resist liberalization and regional market interpenetration.
The Emergence of a “War” on Economic Crime: The Case of Finland
Authors: Alvesalo Anne , Tombs Steve
Published: December 2005

In 1996, the Finnish government initiated an Action Plan aimed at the more effective control of economic crime and the grey economy, involving wide-scale reform in legislation, regulatory agencies, enforcement practice, and research activities. The emergence of this Action Plan forms the empirical focus of this article, which addresses two specific research questions. First, what were the economic, social and political factors that produced this Action Plan? Second, how can this initiative contribute to a critical assessment of the claims of “globalization discourses,” which seem to render such an idiosyncratic nation-state development as unlikely? The article critically examines some of the elements of globalization discourses with particular respect to the implications for the nature of contemporary states and the possibilities for the more effective regulation of corporate activity. It then outlines the processes and events that allowed the Finnish Action Plan to emerge. Finally, it asks what lessons are to be learnt from the Finnish case, before identifying some further lines of enquiry to be pursued. This Finnish initiative seems to represent one important instance of the extent to which states can develop relatively autonomous economic and social policy, even where this appears to be detrimental to the interests of “capital.”
Global Competition and Strategies in the Information and Communications Technology Industry: A Liberal-Strategic Approach
Authors: Lembke Johan
Published: December 2005

This article examines the roles of multinational corporations and the European Union (EU) in structuring global competition around wireless standardization. It analyzes the realities of global competition in information and communications technology (ICT) markets from a more liberal-strategic viewpoint than the subsidy-based industry support promulgated by strategic trade theorists in the 1980s and 1990s. According to a liberal-strategic trade perspective, public actors try to tweak the rules of the world economy to structure global competition in ways that enhance job creation, overall competitiveness in high-technology sectors, and domestic welfare, rather than being primarily concerned about import competition. The story of the European approach to global standardization and competition—and the strategic use of international standards bodies by multinational corporations—primarily represents an aggressive outward-oriented strategy. European actors pursued a globally oriented strategy in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) with the objective of aligning Europe with market and policy developments in the rapidly growing markets of the Asia—Pacific region. By downplaying the importance of import competition, often stressed by strategic trade theorists a liberal-strategic approach to the ICT industry focuses on the prospect of cutting-edge innovations based on a coherent industry strategy that looks at the creation of internationally competitive technologies in the longer-term rather than at incremental change and current import competition pressure.
Are PAC Contributions and Lobbying Linked? New Evidence from the 1995 Lobby Disclosure Act
Authors: Tripathi Micky , Ansolabehere Stephen , Snyder James M.
Published: December 2005

This paper uses newly available data from the 1995 Lobby Disclosure Act to assess the argument that PAC contributions are used to gain access to legislators. First, we find a much stronger connection between lobbying and campaign contributions than previous statistical research has revealed—groups that have both a lobbyist and a PAC account for 70 percent of all interest group expenditures and 86 percent of all PAC contributions. Second, we find that groups that engage in relatively large amounts of lobbying-and therefore presumably have a high demand for access—allocate their campaign contributions differently than groups that do not. Groups that emphasize lobbying pay more attention to members' positions of power inside Congress, and less attention to members' electoral circumstances, than other groups. Groups that emphasize lobbying also appear to be more bipartisan and less ideological than other groups, giving more equally to both parties and more broadly across the ideological spectrum.
Lobbying and Legislative Organization: The Effect of the Vote of Confidence Procedure
Authors: Bennedsen Morten , Feldmann Sven E.
Published: December 2005

This paper analyzes how the structure of the legislature affects interest groups' incentives to lobby. Lobbying is modelled as the strategic provision of information by an interest group to a multi-member legislature, and the effectiveness of lobbying lies in the ability of information to change the winning policy coalitions. We show that with a long enough time horizon for policymakers, the distinguishing feature between the U.S. Congress and European parliamentary systems—the vote of confidence procedure—reduces an agenda setter's willingness to change policy coalitions, and thus significantly lowers the incentives for interest group lobbying.
Closure and Capture in Federal Advisory Committees
Authors: Karty Kevin D.
Published: December 2005

This paper examines the relationship between interest group membership, source of authorization, and meeting closure in federal advisory committees. Using observed correlations, it seeks to identify the ultimate source of “inappropriate influence” wielded in advisory committees. The worst offenders in recent years are those committees created jointly by Congress and agencies, and especially certain committees in USDA and DOC. However, these findings may be unique to the last six years, during which the number of closed meetings has tripled.
The Structures of Interest Coalitions: Evidence from Environmental Litigation
Authors: Whitford Andrew B.
Published: December 2005

This paper addresses the intersection of coalition formation, judicial strategies, and regulatory politics. Coalitions are a low-cost means for assembling minority interests into more powerful blocs. However, in most cases in regulatory politics, judicial strategies are high cost efforts. I argue that coalitions among interests form one basis for judicial participation, but that participation manifests in an array of coalition “microstructures.” For any one event, the microstructure of the interest group coalition varies, but across events the coalitions take on general forms. The paper offers evidence for a variety of coalition microstructures in interest group participation as amici curiae (“friends of the court”) in cases before the United States Supreme Court. The evidence is drawn from the case of the Group of Ten, a stable, long-term coalition of environmental interest groups that operated from 1981 to 1991.
Business and Judicial Politics
Authors: Cross Frank B.
Published: December 2005

Recent years have seen a recognition of the importance of government action to business and a rapidly developing path of research on business and politics, but this research has focused overwhelmingly on the legislative and executive branches and too often ignored the judiciary.1 A failure to consider a role for the courts is a substantial lacuna in the research. The judicial branch plays a substantial role in politics and governance. In most cases, the passage of a statute or even the promulgation of a regulation has legal effect only through the courts. A business's success (or failure) in lobbying the legislative or executive branches for a particular policy program may be entirely counteracted in the courts. At the extreme, such an action might be declared unconstitutional, making it legally null and ineffective, and perhaps eliminating the possibility of any future attempt to revive the action.
Campaign Contributions and Congressional Voting on Tobacco Policy, 1980–2000
Authors: Wright John
Published: December 2005

This paper analyzes congressional voting on tobacco issues over two decades. Contrary to existing claims, the analysis shows that the tobacco industry's legislative success is more a function of representatives' regulatory and pro-business ideologies than of tobacco PAC money or a geographically-based tobacco voting bloc. In most cases, the tobacco voting bloc—representatives and senators from major tobacco producing districts and states—is not strong enough to protect and sustain the tobacco price support system, let alone affect the outcome of commercial issues such as cigarette taxes and regulation. The industry's campaign contributions also have sporadic and limited impact on commercial issues affecting tobacco. Only on agricultural issues do tobacco PAC contributions exhibit any influence.
China Standard Time: A Study in Strategic Industrial Policy
Authors: Linden Greg
Published: December 2005

China's industrial policy for high-technology industries combines key features of the policies pursued elsewhere in East Asia such as opening to foreign investors and supporting domestic firms. Leveraging its large market size, China has gone further than other developing countries by promoting standards for products that compete in China with products controlled by major electronics companies. This paper analyzes the experience to date of this Chinese policy in the consumer optical storage industry in the context of China's evolving national innovation system. China's standard-setting policy is politicized but ultimately pragmatic, which avoids imposing excessive costs on the economy. It may also have dynamic learning benefits for Chinese firms who are starting to compete in global markets.
On the Myth of theKeiretsuNetwork: Japanese Electronics in North America
Authors: Solis Mireya
Published: December 2005

This study of Japanese consumer electronic networks in North America challenges conventional wisdom on the pervasiveness of keiretsu ties in Japanese production networks abroad. The consumer electronics industry poses hard questions to current views on the relationship between keiretsu and FDI not only because of the more modest internationalization of subcontractors, but more interestingly, because Japanese electronic production networks overseas remained remarkably closed to outside suppliers even in the absence of keiretsu commitments that could constrain purchasing decisions. This article offers a comparison of domestic subcontracting practices in the Japanese automobile and consumer electronic industries, a discussion of the internationalization of electronic part makers, and an analysis of the sourcing strategies of Japanese firms in North America. The article highlights the impact of the non-market environment in Japanese FDI strategies since Japanese companies embarked on foreign production in North America as a direct response to export caps imposed by the American government and/or tighter regional integration rules adopted in NAFTA. Revealingly, Japanese automobile and electronic firms diverged in their reliance on subcontracting firms to meet the more stringent demands for regional production.
Banking Crisis vs. Credit Crunch? A Cross-Country Comparison of Policy Responses to Dilemmas in Banking Regulation
Authors: Bernauer Thomas , Koubi Vally
Published: December 2005

Restrictive policies aimed at reducing the likelihood of bank failure during recessions tend to increase the probability of a credit crunch. In this paper we infer governments' policy responses to this dilemma by studying the cyclical behavior of bank capital in 1369 banks from 28 OECD countries during the period 1992–98. We find significant differences across countries. In the US and Japan, bank capital is counter-cyclical, that is, the typical bank strengthens its capital base during periods of weak economic activity. In the other countries, there is no relationship between the level of macroeconomic activity and bank capital. From these findings we infer that severe banking crises in the US and Japan may have made policymakers there more vigilant towards “unhealthy” banks, even when this implies an increase in the risk of a credit crunch. In countries without such crisis experience, policymakers seem to be less concerned about future banking crises. Our results suggest that the strong push by the US for the 1988 Basle Accord may have been a reflection of this increased sensitivity. They also suggest that, to the extent business cycles do not develop in synchronicity across countries and policymakers respond differently to the banking crisis-credit crunch dilemma, current reforms of the Basle Accord, which are designed to tighten regulatory requirements, may encounter difficulties.
Foreign Investment, Oil Curse, and Democratization: A Comparison of Azerbaijan and Russia
Authors: Bayulgen Oksan
Published: December 2005

The rentier-state literature pays little attention to the initial political conditions that shape the way an oil-rich country develops its resources. One of the key causal mechanisms linking oil wealth and regime type is the relationship between foreign investors and host governments. Especially in the developing countries that depend on international financing and expertise, the role of foreign capital in fashioning the balance of power in the political system and thereby the distribution of oil wealth becomes ever more important. As the experiences of Azerbaijan and Russia in the 1990s demonstrate, among oil-rich states in the developing world, those with authoritarian regimes tend to fare better in terms of attracting FDI in the oil sector than states with democratizing (or hybrid regimes). The durability of some authoritarian regimes in the developing world is partly a function of this external legitimation from foreign investors.
Understanding the Rise and Transformation of Business Collective Action in India
Authors: Sinha Aseema
Published: December 2005

Scholars of business associations have recently learned a great deal about how associations contribute to development, but much less about the origins of such developmental associations. This essay introduces and assesses a new political explanation for the origins of ‘developmental associations.’ Conventional wisdom holds that developmental associations must be able to rise above political and collusive pressures and establish autonomy from states. Yet, I argue that these associations' developmental capacities emerge as a result of active state support by key actors, and in response to challenges and threats posed by competitive business organizations. Developmental associations emerge and acquire their capacities as they confront internal threats from other associations, as well as utilize the opportunities presented by the national state and international channels. In this view, functional or organizational capacity is not enough, rather, developmental business associations, must exhibit political capacity'that is the ability to manage the political environment, and respond to the structure of opportunities and threats. This explanation views developmental business associations as political organizations seeking power as well as offers a historically sensitive analysis of transformation of business politics in reforming India.
Executioner or Disciplinarian: WTO Accession and the Chinese Auto Industry
Authors: Noble Gregory W. , Ravenhill John , Doner Richard F.
Published: December 2005

Negotiations for China's accession to the WTO provoked a debate between pessimists who believed that opening the economy would lead to a flood of imports and a de-nationalization of manufacturing industry, and those who believed that it would spur rationalization of state-owned enterprises, lock in domestic reforms, attract foreign investment, and open the way for trade expansion. The industry most frequently mentioned as endangered was motor vehicles, where an awkward combination of Stalinist central planning with localized autarky had resulted in a proliferation of inefficient producers. With the partial exception of two investments by Volkswagen, initial joint ventures in assembly operations failed miserably. China's commitments on joining the WTO banned (or at least complicated) many of the most important industrial policy tools it had used to promote the auto industry since the opening to joint ventures in the early 1980s'including performance requirements, high tariffs, and numerical quotas. After accession in 2001, tariffs fell steadily while output and foreign investment soared. The Chinese government moved towards a lighter-handed but more effective form of industrial policy that reduced top-down planning while expanding market incentives and scope for managerial freedom. Rather than destroying industrial policy for the auto industry, WTO accession constrained and disciplined it. When foreign auto firms and their governments pushed for more aggressive protection of trademarks and other intellectual property rights under the WTO, the Chinese government initially stalled. Continuing pressure then tilted the balance of state policy toward promotion of independent design, whether by state-owned enterprises testing the boundaries of their joint ventures with foreign multinationals, or by audacious smaller firms purchasing foreign designs and technology to complement inexpensive local parts and assembly, thereby creating the conditions for the emergence of a more competitive industry.
The U.S. Textile and Apparel Industry in the Age of Globalization
Authors: Rees Kathleen , Hathcote Jan
Published: December 2005

The contemporary U.S. textile and apparel industry has faced significant challenges as the volume of imported goods entering the domestic market has continually increased. In attempts to both foster development in select world regions and maintain viability of the domestic industry, the U.S. government has negotiated a variety of trade agreements extending preferential treatment, including duty- and quota-free access to the U.S. market for apparel and other textile products manufactured in developing countries in the Caribbean Basin, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Andean region. In addition, provisions included in the agreement granting China, the world's largest producer of textiles and apparel, admission to the World Trade Organization have allowed this country to become an immediate beneficiary of the MFA quota phase-out. This article examines the current state of the domestic textile and apparel industry and provides an overview of trade agreements enacted during the past decade that are of specific interest within the textile and apparel sector. It offers insight into challenges and opportunities for both the domestic textile and apparel industries in an age of rapid globalization as final elimination of the existing quota system in 2005 approaches.
Reducing the Cost of Distance: Technological Change and the Globalization of New Zealand, 1960-2000
Authors: Waite James
Published: December 2005

New technologies integrated New Zealand into the international economy after the 1960s. State investment in air services, international telecommunications, and container shipping enhanced access to overseas markets. They prepared the nation for the shock of Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community. Yet state-owned services were not responsive to demand and were often slow to lower the cost of conducting business between New Zealand and the outside world. This paper suggests that the deregulation and privatization of government-owned enterprises after 1984 quickly reduced the cost of distance, accelerating the globalization of New Zealand.
Fabric Trade: An Industry in Crisis
Authors: Kind Kennita , Hathcote Jan M.
Published: December 2005

This article presents the empirical results of an intra-industry trade analysis of the United States fabric industry. The analysis included 92 countries in four Standard Industrialized Trade Classification (SITC) categories that represent the fabric industry. Results indicated that intra-industry trade levels were generally low, and country specific factors such as levels of economic development, levels of market size and trade deficit were negatively associated with intra-industry trade levels, while distance and trade barriers were somewhat positively associated. These results have strong implications for trade analysts, policy makers and fabric manufacturers as this industry is currently undergoing changes.
The Role of International Technology Spillovers in the Economic Growth of the OECD Countries
Authors: Crespo Jorge , Martín Carmela , Velázquez Francisco J
Published: December 2005

This paper explores the role of imports as a mechanism of transmission of international technology spillovers and its significance for the growth of the OECD countries. For this purpose we estimate a version of the growth model proposed by Benhabib and Spiegel (1994), which includes two main modifications in order to better specify the nature of international knowledge diffusion. The first is the inclusion of the R&D capital stock into this framework. The second consist of using a direct measurement of international technology spillovers instead of using per capita GDP gap in respect to the leader country as approach to it. Our results reveal that international technology spillovers transmitted through imports have had a favourable influence on the economic growth of the OECD countries. However, they show the predominant role of the domestic human and R&D capital endowments in economic growth.
A Note on the ECB's Monetary Policy when Confronted with International Systemic Risks
Authors: Bloomer Alyson , Warin Thierry
Published: December 2005

This paper provides an analysis of the liquidity management of the euro. We tested the influence of five variables (the exchange rate, the price of oil, the EU deficit, the EU interest rate, and the U.S. interest rate) on the euro liquidity supply in addition to the fluctuation of the liquidity supply before and after September 11, 2001. While the literature focuses on the internal European institutional environment, this study looks at the international systemic risks and their influence on the liquidity supply. Ultimately, we come to the conclusion that the ECB’s liquidity supply is affected by international factors.
Trade and Inequality: The Role of Vertical Specialization and Outsourcing
Authors: Shelburne Robert C.
Published: December 2005

This article considers how the process of outsourcing results in economic changes in factor usage and productivity in developed countries. Some scholars have incorrectly interpreted these observed changes as being the result of biased skilled-labor using technological change. This article examines the size and significance of vertical specialization, and describes how outsourcing contributes to increased inequality in developed nations. The effects of outsourcing on labor market outcomes in the developing world are also explored. The author describes the potential implications and significance of outsourcing services. The major conclusion is that the downward pressure on the wages of the unskilled is likely to continue.
The Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Human Development
Authors: Sharma Basu , Gani Azmat
Published: December 2005

Various studies in the past have examined the effect of foreign direct investment on economic growth of both developed and developing countries. However, research on the influence of foreign direct investment on an expanded conception of socio-economic progress such as human development is absent. In this article, we examine the effect of foreign direct investment on human development (measured by the human development index) for middle and low-income countries for the period from 1975 to 1999 to fill in this lacuna. Regression results of a fixed effects model indicate a positive effect of foreign direct investment on human development for both the groups of countries.
Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis
Authors: Khawar Mariam
Published: December 2005

It is generally acknowledged that domestic investment boosts economic growth, yet the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) is not as clear, with some studies suggesting the need for a miniumum threshold level of development in order for FDI to be beneficial. In this paper we conduct an empirical cross-country growth analysis to investigate the impact over two decades, of foreign direct investment at the ‘aggregate’ level, and find that it has a significant and positive relationship with real income per capita, irrespective of any human capital requirements. An interesting observation is that the coefficient on the foreign investment variable is considerably larger than that of the domestic investment variable, suggesting a potentially large role for FDI. However, the problem of establishing the direction of causality, compounded by the unavailability of suitable instrumental variables, remains. Thus, at this point, we go no further than concluding that there is indeed, a large and positive relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth.
Foreign Capital Flows and the Efficiency of the HDI Dimensions
Authors: Arcelus Francisco J , Sharma Basu , Srinivasan Gopalan
Published: December 2005

This paper examines the impact of the various types of foreign capital flows (or FCF) on the efficiency with which countries transform their respective resources into the achievements associated with the three dimensions (Life expectancy or LI, Educational attainment or EI and wealth or WI) of the Human Development Index. An important result is the identification of returns to scale as the main factor preventing some countries from achieving the total efficiency level assumed by standard economic analysis, if decision-making units (DMUs) or countries in this case, working along their respective production possibility frontiers, wish achieve the goal of optimizing the utilization of their resources.