Economic and Social Development

The timeliness of another look at the development prospects and policy options for Latin America can hardly be disputed. Another shock from a significant increase in the price of petroleum is adding to the burdens of a world economy already mired in stagflation. The recent UNCTAD meeting has not produced a common programme for accelerating and spreading economic development: on the contrary, divisions among and between the industrialized and developing nations have widened. Even the conclusion of the Tokyo Round has tailed to evoke enthusiasm among the Group of 77.

Interest in contract farming is increasing because of its potential as an alternative channel for linking producers to international markets. However, there is limited knowledge on contract farming of tea production in Viet Nam, especially in more inaccessible provinces where tea production plays an important role in generating employment, improving livelihood and reducing poverty. In the present paper, the impact of contract farming on productivity is reviewed in Pho Tho province, a major tea production area that has not been the focus of any other studies. Using survey data, an analysis is conducted on the factors affecting tea productivity and the impact of contract farming on tea productivity in the province. The results indicate that the impact of factors on tea productivity is ambiguous. They also indicate that technical efficiency of tea production of contracted farmers is higher than that of other types of farmers by almost 5 per cent and that contract farming has a positive influence on tea productivity in the province. Because of different climatic conditions, the results from this study are not generalizable across Viet Nam, but they can be applied in the Northern midlands and mountainous areas.

The present paper shows the current trends in private sector investment in the water and sanitation sector. After peaking in 2007, private investment in the water and sanitation sector has been volatile. The decline in private investment has also been accompanied by a shift in the type and size of investments taking place. Post-2007, private investment is increasingly concentrated in a few large and wealthy countries and municipalities; and are bankrolled and developed by smaller, regional-based investors. This is especially worrying for low-income countries, which stand to benefit the most from private investment, but have been receiving less than 1 per cent of the total project allocations in the sector. The huge financing gap requires more innovative financing that can only come by attracting private sector capital to improve water and sanitation services in the Asia-Pacific region, especially for the least developed and low-income emerging economies.

The present paper is focused on using capital markets in the Asia-Pacific region to channel more resources for infrastructure development, while mobilizing assets managed by institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies. To this end, the paper is structured as follows. First, an analysis of the level of capital market development in the region is conducted, which indicates that markets remain at a nascent stage in many economies. Banks continue to dominate private financing in the region. Second, a review is carried out on the size of institutional investors from which it is suggested that prudential regulation might need to be adjusted to enable greater infrastructure investment. Third, different modalities for investors seeking infrastructure exposure are highlighted and initiatives launched by different countries to support the development of infrastructure-related instruments are presented. Fourth, a review is made on the actions to support capital market development, which is critical for greater involvement of institutional investors. Fifth, ways to address constraints hindering infrastructure investments are presented. Finally, the paper concludes with proposals of strategies that are adapted to each country’s circumstances and designed to further tap this source of financing for infrastructure development.

Over the past decades, an increasing number of developing countries in Asia have experimented with decentralization in varying degrees to achieve good governance and promote democracy. In Viet Nam, even though decentralization has been limited to de-concentration (or administrative decentralization), foreign direct investment (FDI) management is vigorously decentralized at the provincial level and has proven to be problematic. In one instance, it led to an environmental disaster in 2016. The objective of the present paper is to explore the factors resulting in ineffective decentralization of FDI management in Viet Nam, focusing on the challenges that the local government has been dealing with under the decentralization set-up, in particular with respect to environmental protection. Drawing on the case study of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel project in Ha Tinh province, it is argued that Viet Nam continues to lack the essential prerequisites for effective decentralization. It is the time for Viet Nam to reconsider the policy of decentralization in the area of FDI management. Bearing in mind that economic development is vital, it should go hand in hand with environment protection in order to ensure the country’s sustainable development.

The present study entails an investigation of the empowerment of married women aged 15 to 49 in Myanmar from socioeconomic and demographic perspectives based on data from the Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey 2015-16. The dimensions of women’s empowerment are categorized into two parts: women’s control over their earnings, and women’s participation in household decision-making (decisions on major household purchases, visits to family or relatives, their health care; and the well-being of their children). These two dimensions are combined to create an index of women’s empowerment. A binary logistic regression is used, by means of odds ratios to assess the relationship between women’s level of empowerment and their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Overall, the findings of the study show that a higher empowerment level is associated with women’s employment, increased age, urban residence, a higher educational attainment, a higher wealth quintile, and a lower level of husband’s education. In addition, women that have one child or up to four children are more likely to have a higher level of empowerment than women with no children. About three fourths of the women in the sample live in rural areas. Among those women, the ones with a higher level of empowerment are more educated, employed and have higher household income. Generating employment opportunities for women and educating women are important factors that can lead to an increase in women’s income, and accordingly, help raise the levels of women’s empowerment.

This article analyses the most recent phase of growth in Latin America, lasting from 2003 to late 2008, and the way the different policies applied in this period lessened its countries’ vulnerability and gave them greater macroeconomic policy space to confront the international crisis than in other negative shocks of the past. In addition, it briefly surveys the main countercyclical fiscal, monetary, financial and exchange-rate policy measures applied in the region’s economies to mitigate and reverse the effects of the crisis. It concludes by discussing post-crisis macro policy challenges in the region.

The discussion of styles of development has been complicated by the improper use of this and other associated terms. In order to avoid misunderstandings, this article starts by examining the concepts of system and structure and on this basis, goes on to define a style of development as “the way in which human and material resources are organized and assigned within a particular system with the object of solving such questions as what goods and services to produce; how; and for whom”. More specifically, it notes two sets of features of such styles: (a) those which make up the structural basis of the production apparatus, especially the sectoral structure of the product and employment, the various technological strata, and the predominant type of external relationship, and (b) the dynamic elements of the system, which are revealed by analysing the level and composition of demand and its underlying basic factors, namely the level and distribution of income. These two sets of features are closely linked by a circle of mutual cause and effect.

The essays reproduced below were presented at a small, informal and high-level conference on the theme of “A New Latin America in a Changing World Economy” held at the Belmont Conference Center near Washington D.C. on 25-26 June 1979.