Journal of Developing Societies current issue

Privatization, Governance and Economic Development in Developing Countries

Adams, S., Mengistu, B. — 2009-09-11

The study examined the impact of privatization on economic growth and income inequality in 82 developing countries between 1991 and 2002. Using the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) approach, we found that privatization did not have a significant impact on both economic growth and income inequality. However, good governance had a positive impact on economic growth and a negative impact on income inequality, while foreign direct investment (FDI) had a negligible impact on economic growth but a positive effect on income inequality. The findings of the study suggest that country-specific characteristics may be more important in promoting growth and reducing income inequality than any economic policy per se.

Russia Turns East: Putinism and the Making of a New Second World

Thornton, W. H., Thornton, S. H. — 2009-09-11

As the crucial Eurasian swing state, Russia is fast emerging as the twenty-first century ‘decider’. Early globalists took it as a foregone conclusion that Russia would swing toward the West. But increasingly it has ‘turned East’, striking a fate-ful alliance with China and other authoritarian regimes by way of a resuscitated ‘Second World’. By buttressing Putinism, globalization is helping to perform what amounts to a democratic abortion. Yet these policies are not set in stone. This study holds that another globalization is possible, and another Russia as well. To prevent the consolidation of a new Second World, every effort must be made to convince Russian leaders that democracy, far from being Russia's nemesis, could be its best geopolitical ally.

Palestinian Politics after Arafat: The Predicament of the 'Palestinian National Movement'

Ghanem, A. — 2009-09-11

This article attempts to understand the internal situation of the Palestinians and their national movement at the start of the twenty-first century. I hereby attempt to trace and analyze concrete aspects of the state of the Palestinian national movement in the post-Oslo era. What happened during the past decade to the Palestinians in general, and to their national movement in particular, led to the internal and external failure. Externally, this failure was manifested in the disintegration of the regional and international status of the Palestinian national movement. Concomitantly, the efforts to establish a Palestinian state and resolve the conflict reached a dead end because of the deep internal schism which had developed, and which is incompatible with national unity.

What has Globalization to do with Wildlife Use in the Remote Amazon? Exploring the Links between Macroeconomic Changes, Markets and Community Entitlements

Espinosa, M. C. — 2009-09-11

This article explores to what extent poverty, markets and entitlements act as incentives or deterrents for more intensive use of wildlife. Taking into consideration neoliberal ‘Fuji-shock’ of 1990 that eliminated subsidies and support for small-scale agriculture in Peru, I use data on wildlife use in two communities in Loreto that have different entitlements to natural resources and different access to markets and landforms. Results show the community with better entitlements and access to markets makes more intensive use of wildlife and forest products, which challenges the easy association between poverty and resource degradation, and the need to consider access to markets. In a context of low and volatile prices for agriculture and vulnerable livelihoods, extraction of wildlife and forest resources has become more intensive and includes protected wildlife species. Analysis suggests the strong environmental implications of neoliberal globalization at the micro level and the need to frame wildlife use in the context of adaptive livelihoods and macroeconomic changes.