Ethiopia may favour privatisation over liberalisation

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Predominant Role ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Banks ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So

Subject Ethiopia's privatisation initiative. Significance Ethiopia’s announcement in June that it would open key economic sectors to private investment signals the new administration’s intent to reform the economic system of the past three decades. However, recent indicators suggest it will do so in a tightly managed fashion that retains the government’s predominant role in the economy. Impacts Backlash from government-affiliated elites with vested interests will be a key risk to privatisation of lucrative enterprises. The government may offer additional investor incentives to encourage export-led growth, especially in labour-intensive sectors. Barring a significant domestic backlash, Ethiopia is likely finally to accede to the WTO in November or, failing that, by mid-2019. Privatisation will create niche opportunities for foreign investors, but barriers will remain formidable compared with peer countries. Financial sector liberalisation, long sought by South African, Kenyan and international banks, will not feature among the initial reforms.

South African lockdown easing will only do so much

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So ◽  
Alcohol Sales

Significance President Cyril Ramaphosa, who had been under escalating pressure from business and organised labour to reopen the economy fully, justified the relaxation by citing reductions in new case figures. There are indications that all provinces may have reached their peak of infections by end-July. Impacts Despite the scale of the crisis, the government appears still to lack urgency in formulating a substantive economic response. Government's withdrawal of an appeal to a 2018 declaratory order will raise hopes for greater flexibility with miners in the short term. Lockdown-related drops in reported crimes will likely prove short-lived, given renewed alcohol sales, growing joblessness and hardship.

The implications of Brexit for the governance of telecommunications markets in the United Kingdom

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
European Economic Area ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulatory Governance ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the implication of the exit of the UK from the European Union (a.k.a. Brexit). Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the options for the UK and the freedom this creates for the government to design its system of governance for the telecommunications and related economic sectors. Findings Brexit, other than the Norway Option or membership of the European Economic Area, allows the UK Government considerable freedom to reshape its system of governance for telecommunications. The strongest influence in such a redesign would be vested commercial interests, with the risk of subsequent underperformance and insufficient rigour. Research limitations/implications Events have moved relatively quickly, yet the outcome of the negotiations remains difficult to predict, beyond broad scenarios. Social implications There will be a need for greater involvement of consumers and business users in the process of recasting the regulatory governance system if it is not to be for the benefit of vested interests. Originality/value This is the first substantive analysis of Brexit for the telecommunications sector.

scholarly journals Monopoly behavior of China’s manufacturing enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-179
Author(s):  
Guidong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Manufacturing Enterprises ◽  
Slow Decline ◽  
State Capital ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So ◽  
Initial Jump

Purpose With the increase of state capital, corporate total factor productivity (TFP) has a tendency to jump up at first and then slowly decrease. Generally, no significant “productivity paradox” can be observed in China’s manufacturing industry. With the increase of export density, corporate TFP also shows a trend of initial jump growth and subsequent slow decline. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using the 1996–2013 China Industrial Enterprise Database, this paper studies the monopolistic behavior of Chinese manufacturing enterprises through the measurement of TFP and corporate monopoly power. Findings Results show that China’s manufacturing monopoly enterprises are generally innovation-oriented rather than rent-seeking. However, there are certain differences between diversified types of monopoly enterprises: the ones with state capital are more inclined to innovate than those without, whereas the ones with export delivery value are more inclined to seek rent than those without. Originality/value Therefore, the government should implement differentiated policies for diversified types of monopoly enterprises, and do so in a targeted manner fully reflecting the containment of rent-seeking and the encouragement of innovation.

South African government’s GBV plans may disappoint

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Structure ◽  
National Strategic Plan ◽  
The Government ◽  
Gender Based

Significance Although President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly committed to increase funding to combat what he calls South Africa’s “second pandemic”, there is a lack of transparency in how the government disburses funds linked to its National Strategic Plan (NSP) on Gender-based Violence and Femicide. Impacts Civil society groups will increase pressure on the government to make expenditure on GBV programmes more transparent. A new private-sector fund to contribute to the NSP has received strong early support, but its management structure is opaque. High levels of GBV will not only have significant humanitarian and social costs but may deter much-needed foreign investment.

The South African public service wage bill deadlock in 2021: living on the edge

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Marianne Matthee ◽  
Albert Wöcke
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The Government

Subject area Macro-Economics. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and MBA. Case overview The COVID 19 pandemic-related restrictions devastated South Africa’s economy in 2020 and although the restrictions were generally less damaging than in 2020, the government had to budget for vaccinations and rebuild the economy. Public service unions had just announced that they were demanding an increase of 4% above inflation for their members and that they were preparing for a strike. They were bitter about the fact that the South African Government had withdrawn from the last year of a three-year wage agreement in February 2020 and their members had not received an increase for the two years. These demands and Finance Minister Mboweni’s response to them had to consider the structural and cyclical impact on the fiscus and economy. Expected learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the general objectives of fiscal policy and stakeholders’ interests; understand the tradeoffs in fiscal policy and the implications of taking a position; and make recommendations based on reasoned judgements about those recommendations. Complexity academic level Undergraduate and MBA level courses on Macro Economics. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

“Fête de la Soupe”: rural identity, self-representation, and the(re)-making of the village in France

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène B. Ducros
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Rural Setting ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Identity ◽  
Organizational Challenges ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rural France ◽  
The Village ◽  
Do So

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a grassroot festival in rural France organized around the concept of soup. The annual fête de la soupe held in a village in Auvergne provides a small-scale example of the ways in which space, time and festivalization interact in placemaking. Design/methodology/approach Ethnographic research highlights the motivations and experiences of the organizers and volunteer-participants, as well as some of the organizational challenges. Findings Revealing that the profit motive and economic outcomes are not dominant, this paper shows instead that the fête constitutes a space of relation-building between place and people, between people themselves and an introspective moment over the past and future of place as “rural”. While preserving rurality symbolized and mediated by the exchange of soup as the ultimate peasant dish, the festival is also an opportunity for villagers to revitalize the rural and showcase it as a place of creativity. Originality/value The study addresses the experience of volunteers and organizers in festivals, uses qualitative methods to do so and focuses on festivals in the rural setting, filling three gaps identified by others in the literature.

Rural education across China’s 40 years of reform: past successes and future challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ai Yue ◽  
Bin Tang ◽  
Yaojiang Shi ◽  
Jingjing Tang ◽  
Guanminjia Shang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Rural Education ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Rural Children ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rural Schooling ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the policy and trends in rural education in China over the past 40 years; and also discuss a number of challenges that are faced by China’s rural school system. Design/methodology/approach The authors use secondary data on policies and trends over the past 40 years for preschool, primary/junior high school, and high school. Findings The trends over the past 40 years in all areas of rural schooling have been continually upward and strong. While only a low share of rural children attended preschool in the 1980s, by 2014 more than 90 percent of rural children were attending. The biggest achievement in compulsory education is that the rise in the number of primary students that finish grade 6 and matriculate to junior high school. There also was a steep rise of those going to and completing high school. While the successes in upscaling rural education are absolutely unprecedented, there are still challenges. Research limitations/implications This is descriptive analysis and there is not causal link established between policies and rural schooling outcomes. Practical implications The authors illustrate one of the most rapid rises of rural education in history and match the achievements up with the policy efforts of the government. The authors also explore policy priorities that will be needed in the coming years to raise the quality of schooling. Originality/value This is the first paper that documents both the policies and the empirical trends of the success that China has created in building rural education from preschool to high school during the first 40 years of reform (1978-2018). The paper also documents – drawing on the literature and the own research – the achievements and challenges that China still face in the coming years, including issues of gender, urbanization, early childhood education and health and nutrition of students.

Exploration of COVID-19 impact on the dimensions of food safety and security: a perspective of societal issues with relief measures

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janpriy Sharma ◽  
Mohit Tyagi ◽  
Arvind Bhardwaj
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Food Industries ◽  
Societal Issues ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

PurposeOutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has created the catastrophic situation, it has crippled all the economic activities and seized off the operations of food supply chain (FSC). Disrupted FSC escalated the societal concerns related to food safety and security. The purpose of this study is to consolidate various issues, exploring the perspectives associated with the agricultural practices, food industries and society concerns related with the FSC performance system dynamics amid of COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachTo structure this work, a detailed research literature insight focussing on the key findings associated with the past disease outbreaks like influenza, avian flu, Ebola, bird flu, SARS, foot and mouth disease and ongoing phase of COVID-19, encompassing the perspective related with various agricultural and concerned supply chain practices is clustered. Furthermore, issues having relevancy with the notion of this work, sourced from platforms of print and electronic media have been incorporated to ground the reality associated with the impacts, for better visualisation of the perspectives.FindingsThis study outlays the key findings which are relevant with the past pandemic outbreaks from the core of the research literature. It details the impact of the current COVID-19 scenario on the various FSC operations, focussing on dimensions allied with the industry, economic and society concerns. For the same, to mitigate the effects, relief measures focussing on the short- and long-term perspectives have been incorporated. Steps ramped up by the Government of India (GOI) to safeguard masses from the threat of food security, accelerate pace of the FSC operations and upscale operating capacities of the industries and agriculture practices have incorporated.Research limitations/implicationsPresented work is persuaded amid of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions hence it outlays the theoretical perspectives only. But, these perspectives portray the ongoing scenario's impacts, extending its implication to the people coming from the industry and academia background. This study can felicitate the government bodies to make them familiar with the various impacts which indented the FSCs, food industries and added woes to the society concerns.Originality/valueIndia is the second largest populated nation of the world, and outspread of the COVID-19 has capsized the FSCs and raised the various instances, making population vulnerable to the threats of food insecurity. This study encompasses effect of the FSC disruption by incorporating its effect on the food industries practices, societal issues and extending possible relief measures to restructure the FSC dynamics. As of now, study focussing on the Indian FSC concerns, detailing of impacts due to pandemic outbreak, relief measures to sail out of the hard times are not available.

Romania heads for clash with EU over legal sovereignty

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Eu

Significance After accentuated rule-of-law erosion during 2017-19, the new government encouraged hopes that such violations would become a thing of the past. However, last month, the government sacked the ombudsman, while the Constitutional Court declared void a judgement of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) defending judicial independence. Impacts Recent developments erode hopes that last month’s positive CVM report will lead to Romania’s Schengen zone accession later this year. Failure to replace the ombudsman will not affect the coalition parties electorally, given the politicisation of rule-of-law issues. Subnational courts will be left confused whether to apply the Constitutional Court or the CJEU ruling to legal disciplinary cases.

Legal analysis of Qatar’santi-money laundering and combating terrorist financing legislation and regulation amidst the summer 2017 GCC crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 793-804
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ahmad Naheem
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Terrorist Financing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
The Government ◽  
Financing Of Terrorism

Purpose The recent diplomatic split between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Qatar with accusations of terrorist financing (TF). This paper aims to study Qatar’s domestic legislations, which specifically targets money laundering and TF activities. The country has stringently worked in compliance with international standards on combating financing of terrorism (CFT) and anti-money laundering (AML) practices by imparting autonomous power to regulatory bodies, such as the Qatar Central Bank and other agencies. Design/methodology/approach This paper studies independent legislations passed under the Emir’s decree over the past decade advancing Qatar’s AML ranking, with significant effort in CFT regulations. The paper also analyses the advancement in AML/CFT regulation and their validity with respect to international standards set by various governmental, intergovernmental and non-profit agencies. Findings The analysis finds Qatar in compliance with strong AML/CFT regulations. Further, it finds the government to have provided transparent oversight to international organizations that attest to the findings of the legislative efforts. This paper disproves claims and accusations that have possibly been presented to the GCC and subsequently led members to abruptly end diplomatic relations with Qatar over allegations of TF activities, amongst others. Originality/value The paper offers insight into Qatar’s legislative and regulatory advancement with respect to the AML/CTF in the past decade. The paper also discusses Qatar’s legislative advancement in relation to the evolutions of the country’s financial system, adopting a more robust mechanism to combat financing of terrorism and ML.

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