Search

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to bring out the shortcomings of the ETA model imported from developed countries when it is assessed for its focus on poverty alleviation in a developing nation (India) and to suggest improvements in the existing framework. Design/methodologylapproach - The paper explores the current performance of ETA process in India, critically analyses the philosophy of continued sidelining of environmental protection in favour of unrestricted economic growth in the light of evidence regarding growing inequality. Findings - The paper finds that for the proponent driven ETA model to contribute towards poverty alleviation, a new ‘socio-ecological linkage document’ is needed. This will bring out the fragile linkages that marginalized communities have with their local ecosystems and can be prepared with the help of local ecological knowledge. A framework to integrate the socio-ecological linkage document into the ETA-SEA-SA domain is presented. Practical implications - The paper shows that the supportive framework of generating the ‘socio-ecological linkage document’ has the potential to enhance the EIA-SEA-SA process in terms of ensuring that plans, policies, programs and projects are sensitive to the need of ecosystem dependent poor. Originality/value - The paper proposes a framework to support the alternative thinking that poverty alleviation can be enhanced through preservation of ecosystem linkages, in contrast to the modern paradigm of economic growth at the cost of ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the causal relationship between foreign aid, poverty, and economic growth in 82 developing countries for the period 1981–2013. Taking advantage of the recently developed dynamic panel data estimation techniques, the paper tests for both panel unit roots and cointegration before employing the panel vector error-correction model (VECM) Granger causality test. The main findings are that in the short run, there is evidence of (a) a bidirectional causal relationship between economic growth and poverty; (b) a unidirectional causal relationship from economic growth to foreign aid; and (c) unidirectional causality from poverty to foreign aid. In the long-run, the study found that (a) foreign aid tends to converge to its long-run equilibrium path in response to changes in economic growth and poverty; and (b) both economic growth and poverty jointly Granger cause foreign aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is focused on food problem in the least developed countries, on the chosen areas where the overall situation is the most problematic. It deals with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, belonging to the low income food deficit countries with one of the world's lowest rates of the gross domestic product per capita. The paper defines the food security situation in a global connection, representing a wide complex of economic, social, demographic, technologic and political aspects of production, distribution, shift and consumption of foodstuffs. Despite some progresses in the political situation, the effects of the economic crisis and the widespread food insecurity are expected to persist. Te humanitarian assistance is now needed to support the needs of the most vulnerable. In the longer term, the countries have the significant goal of consolidating peace and security and strengthening the overall governance, while at the same time reconstructing and rehabilitating their economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper has scrutinized the nexus among poverty, economic growth, employment and dependency ratio in developing countries. The primary intension behind this study is to find out the association between variables such as poverty, economic growth, agricultural and industrial employment and dependency ratio due to the gap in the existing literature. This study fully relies on cross country data and involves forty one countries which have been selected from Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. For this study, OLS method, correlation and econometric tools have been employed. Two models employed in the analysis are goodness of fit because both p-value and F-statistics in the models are less than 5%. The results bring to light the fact that age dependency ratio has had a tremendous impact on poverty and poverty has had a relatively very high impact on the age dependency ratio. Even though Industrial employment has a negative association with poverty incidence, it does not have a significant impact on poverty. The finding that economic growth, poverty and industrial employment significantly affect the age dependency ratio in model two is practicable and consistent with economic theories. Thus stable economic growth with an increase in labour productivity and labour intensive technology is an active remedy for solving this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of foreign aid on poverty. The impact of aid on poverty is assessed using dynamic panel estimation techniques, which enable us to control for time-invariant country-specific effects and endogeneity of aid. The results suggest that aid has a significant poverty-reducing effect even after controlling for average income. Specifically, foreign aid is associated with a decline in poverty as measured by the poverty rate, poverty gap index and squared poverty gap index. We also find that the composition of aid matters-multilateral aid and grants do better in reducing poverty than bilateral aid and loans. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on planning literature which include approaches to empirical work in regional economics, understanding the barriers to social adaptation, and management of large city regions.

This paper draws upon Amartya Sen's concept of "development as freedom" as an effective approach to analyze e-government for development initiatives. An interpretive analysis of three projects ongoing in Mozambique report that although some "freedoms" are currently reachable through these initiatives, a lot needs to be done to achieve "development as freedom." The use of this theoretical approach provides a valuable contribution to the research domain of ICTs for development. This article also draws practical recommendations to assist managers of egovernment projects in Mozambique, as well as other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Motivation: While economic growth is usually necessary to reduce poverty, it is often not sufficient. Industrialization, especially manufacturing, tends to create jobs that are more productive than in other sectors, and which pay more, thereby reducing poverty. Structure of production therefore matters as well as growth of production. Purpose: How much does industrialization mediate the relation of economic growth to poverty reduction? Methods and approach: We deploy Causal Mediation Analysis, with industrialization as the mediator. The mechanism decomposes the impact of economic growth into direct effects on poverty, and those that apply indirectly through the mediator of industry. Data comes from the Groningen Growth and Development Centre and UNU‐WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD) which covers 51 countries in the global South from 1990 to 2018. Findings: Economic growth directly reduces poverty, but the full impact arises from the mediating role of industrialization. Almost 50% of the impact on poverty occurs through employment in manufacturing. Policy implications: Social policies to reduce poverty will be incomplete if the production structure of economy is disregarded. Economic policy must consider the importance of industrial economic activities to amplify the impact of economic progress. On the contrary, policies promoting economic growth without creating industrial jobs will fail to offer accurate solutions to the poverty problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of studies have attempted to discern the causes of low productivity and slow growth in developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The effects of global economic integration, corruption, geography, financial aid and human capital indicators such as education have been widely explored. Despite the significant contribution of common mental disorders (CMDs) to poverty and to the burden of disease, mainstream growth analyses have not yet integrated the body of scholarship that identifies the linkages between CMDs and growth. There are potential benefits of prioritising CMDs in development strategies but there are several challenges. Among the greatest challenges is patchy mental health record. Poor data hinders the conceptualisation and the analyses of the effect of common mental disorders on economic growth and development. This paper explores the theoretical and empirical macro-growth effects of CMDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Preliminary theorizing and evidence suggest that improvement in CMDs is likely to be a stimulus to growth in SSA. We explore further the performance of a non-psychometric instrument known as the K-6 as a cost-effective instrument with which to measure community mental health in household surveys across populations that have various levels of infrastructure and literacy. The K-6 instrument which is a semi-structured questionnaire includes six non-specific psychometric items measuring negative affective states or psychological distress. We also collect socioeconomic data during the survey which enabled us to study the determinants of common mental health conditions among urban and rural households in Ghana. Urban and rural communities were analysed separately because they may demonstrate different determinants of CMDs. We report the outcome of the simple non-psychometric survey as well as the results from logistic regressions showing the factors that affect common mental disorders among the survey respondents. The results show that both urban and rural groups experienced diminished mental health during the food and fuel price hikes of 2008 and 2009, and from the global financial crises over the same period, compared with those who reported no mental distress. The coefficients from the logistic regression estimated by the maximum likelihood show spatial variations in mental health indicators by age, education, and per capita income. For this study, gender did not appear to be a good predictor of any of the specific psychological distress measures assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite some progresses in the political situation, the effects of the economic crisis and widespread food insecurity are expected to persist. Humanitarian assistance is now needed to support the needs of the most vulnerable. In the longer term, countries have the significant goal of consolidating peace and security and strengthening the overall governance, while at the same time, reconstructing and rehabilitating their economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of world poverty is always of importance. In the last 20-30 years ideologies that glorified globalization appreciated that from the accentuation of globalization all the countries in the worldwould benefit as much as possible, and in each country as many citizens as possible would benefit. We now realize that poverty reduction not only did not occur at the anticipated level, but also, in some aspects, the problems facing the poor have widened. The differences between the rich and the poor have widened on a global level and Africa, which has been the primary supplier of raw materials for developed countries, currently occupies first place in the world regarding the share of the poor in the total population. The evolution of poverty, its causes and its impact on the population are the main issues that I have tried to capture in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on topics related to history and planning including attitudes towards menstruation in Elizabethan England, sexual fantasy in modern America, and feminism.

This article commences with a historical perspective on state and economy in order to arrive at a characterisation of the nature of a constitutional state, in terms of the differently-natured legal spheres within a differentiated society. The focus then shifts to developing countries, the problem of poverty and the relevance of various theories of development. A literature review reveals as alternative theories for economic growth the linear-stages-growth model, the neo-Marxist (or dependency) growth model, the orthodox growth model and the structural growth theory. The single main objective of all these models is the quickest eradication of poverty, but these theories differ with regard to the most suitable ways in which to eradicate poverty on a sustained basis in the shortest possible time. Literature on development strategies currently favours either the orthodox model or the structural model, as the other two models have been discredited owing to recent experiences in economic growth and development. This challenge of poverty eradication has been described as one of melting the "Golden curtain" which separates wealthy countries in the northern hemisphere from the poor countries in the southern hemisphere. Although different models aiming at economic growth and economic development were used by different countries and in different regions, African countries have shown little progress in the eradication of poverty. Factors other than the application of particular development strategies therefore played a role and contributed, depending on the circumstances, either to a faster or to a slower eradication of poverty in different regions and countries. These discrepancies that occurred over a period of 30 years (1970 to 2000) between certain parts of the world recording remarkable progress in their efforts to combat poverty on the one hand, compared to increases in poverty in other parts of the world on the other, require an assessment which takes into account a more encompassing perspective. On the basis of these considerations the question is then raised in this paper as to whether or not the "just state" can play a significant role in developing countries, inter alia, in the light of existing theories of development. The intimate coherence between a system of free enterprise, the free market and the juridical guarantees of a just state underpins key elements in the formulation of the conclusion of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Czech Journal of International Relations / Mezinárodní Vztahy is the property of Ustav Mezinarodnich Vztahu, v. v. i. (Institute of International Relations) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: This paper uses a new data set of 126 intervals from 60 developing countries to analyze the growth elasticity of poverty, that is, how much does poverty decline in percentage terms with a given percentage rise in economic growth. The data set is both broader in coverage and more selective in terms of quality controls than those used in the past. The study finds that while economic growth does reduce poverty in developing countries, the rate of poverty reduction depends very much on how economic growth is defined. Controlling for changes in income inequality, when economic growth is measured by changes in survey mean income (consumption), the growth elasticity of poverty (excluding Eastern Europe and Central Asia) is −2.79; that is, a 10% increase in the survey mean will reduce poverty ($1.00/person/day) by 27.9%. But, when growth is measured by changes in GDP per capita, the growth elasticity of poverty is a statistically insignificant −2.27, which is lower than has previously been estimated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the role played by distributional factors inmediating the effects of growth and development on forest depletion in tropical developing countries. A key finding of the paper is that the distributional profile of a country significantly determines whether economic development will have either a positive or a negative effect on the rate of forest loss. In countries where levels of inequality are high, development will tend to exacerbate deforestation rateswhile in countries where distributional profiles are more egalitarian, the negative effects of growth and development on forest cover will be ameliorated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We lay out alternative ways of melding measures of absolute and relative deprivation in an index of overall deprivation, exploring the choices the analyst faces in this enterprise. The indices derived are used to answer two important empirical questions. First, did overall deprivation fall in the BRICS-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- between the early 1990s and late 2000s, alongside the fall in absolute deprivation? Second, what is the relationship between reductions in overall deprivation and economic growth? We show that the standard portrayal of the BRICS as economic success stories as well as the emphasis placed on economic growth in the reduction of deprivation must be qualified to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how the simulation game of DEVELOPMENT MONOPOLY provides insight into poverty and inequality dynamics in a development context. It first discusses how the game is rooted in theoretical and conceptual frameworks on poverty and inequality. Subsequently, it reflects on selected playing experiences, with special focus on the aspects of rule crafting, power relations, and game dynamics. Finally, the article assesses the simulation game’s learning effects, based on observations concerning the debriefing phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstract on planning including a micro-level analysis of the Black voting during the civil rights movement, the influence of land-use planners on flood hazard mitigation and the use on public transport timetable data into health care accessibility modelling.

The article presents abstracts on various topics which include social life and civic education in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the political aspect of neighborhood football clubs in Santiago, Chile and the legacy of urban renewal in Southwest Washington, D.C.

The article presents abstracts on city planning-related topics, including visions of waterfront development in postindustrial Philadelphia, the construction of a town planning perception of Colombo, and city planning and the U.S. census.

The article presents abstracts on planning-related topics which include an examination of the popularity of dancing in New Zealand during the 1920s and 1930s, an examination of how religious diversity in community affects church membership in a period of high growth and social change and an examination of child labor in urban industries in the Dutch Republic.

The article presents abstracts on land use planning topics, including "Historical Amnesia: New Urbanism and the City of Tomorrow," "More Than Sector Theory: Homer Hoyt's Contributions to Planning Knowledge" and "Methodology for the Survival Analysis of Urban Building Stocks."

The pursuit of high economic growth is considered desirable as it generates an increase in a nation's wealth, income, employment and output. The rising income should enable consumers to purchase more goods and services, which in turn should result in enhanced utility and subjective happiness. Empirical studies suggest that higher income resulting from high rates of economic growth contribute to poverty alleviation and life satisfaction in low income countries. Higher income raises the happiness of the poor. In developed countries, higher income does not seem to “buy” higher happiness, once a threshold level of income is reached. This exploratory study seeks to examine the quantitative and qualitative sources of happiness. A higher absolute level of income is found to be significantly related to subjective happiness. Among the non-income factors, family togetherness, a good working environment and a higher level of education can contribute to making people happier. Happiness thus involves more than just economic growth and income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on urban studies including one about domestic space in the mid-20th century in Turkey, collective homeownership in the U.S. and the politics of sate fair employment practices legislation in the North 1945-1964.

Presents several abstracts featured in various journals as of August 2006. "Creating the Public Domain: Nineteenth-Century Local State Formation in Britain and the U.S.," by Alan Digaetano; "The Significance of Color Declines: A Re-Analysis of Skin Tone Differentials in Post-Civil Rights America," by Aaron Gullickson; "Deconstructing the City of Culture: The Long-Term Cultural Legacies of Glasgow 1990," by Beatriz García.

Presents abstracts of environmental planning research. They include "Integrating a performance-based approach into practice: A case study," "Local commitment to state-mandated planning in coastal North Carolina" and "Fiscal consequences of concentrated poverty in a metropolitan region."