Working papers

  1. Working Paper No. 39 - How do trade union rights affect trade competitiveness?

    01 January 2004

    On the basis of new empirical evidence, this study argues that stronger trade union rights do not generally hinder trade competitiveness, including for trade of labour-intensive goods, and indeed that countries with stronger trade union rights tend to do comparatively well for manufacturing trade as a whole.

  2. Working Paper No. 38 - Towards a different kind of globalization, or how the anti-globalists view the world

    01 January 2004

    This paper examines the views of the anti-globalists. In discussing the anti-globalists, the paper focuses on the vast majority of non-violent activists. These anti-globalists seek sustainable, long-term development. In reviewing the causes that the activists defend, he gives particular attention to trade-related issues and the WTO.

  3. Working Paper No. 37 - Globalization, history and international migration - A view from Latin America

    01 January 2004

    This paper shows that international migration in Latin America was largely unrestricted during the first wave of globalization (circa 1870-1913), in line with increasingly integrated capital and goods markets under the monetary arrangements of the gold standard. The second wave of globalization in the late 20th century saw a substantial increase in the level of capital mobility and international trade. However, international labour markets have remained segmented, with international migration remaining constrained for unskilled labour and the poor.

  4. Working Paper No. 36 - Social consequences of the globalization of the media and communications sector: some strategic considerations

    01 January 2004

    This paper argues that the social consequences of the globalization of the media sector itself are comparable to those of many other sectors and should be included as part of the overall issues surrounding globalization.

  5. Working Paper No. 35 - Inclusive development strategy in an era of globalization

    01 January 2004

    This paper assumes that sovereign nation States are and will continue to be the main locus for promoting inclusive development. It is argued, however, that the asymmetric and inequitable forms of globalization prevailing today are detrimental to the interests of developing countries, profiting some insiders and leaving behind many outsiders.

  6. Working Paper No. 34 - Corporate social responsibility: an overview of principles and practice

    01 January 2004

    This paper argues that the public discourse on Corporate Social Responsibility has evolved into a quite stylized debate which tends to focus on one particular facet of multinational economic behaviour. Namely the treatment of workers in manufacturing factories in the developing world producing goods for multinational enterprises with particular attention the manufacture of textiles, clothing and footwear.

  7. Working Paper No. 33 - The changing structure of international trade linked to global production systems: what are the policy implications?

    01 January 2004

    This paper argues that the quantitative rise in world trade openness since 1980 may be less significant than the qualitative change in the structure of world trade, specifically the rise in intermediate goods trade resulting from the breaking up of the production process into different parts and locating these parts in different countries. This paper also examines the structural change, its causes and its implications for theory and policy.

  8. Working Paper No. 32 - Globalization and perceptions of social inequality

    01 January 2005

    This paper argues that although there is still much heated debate on how, and whether, the growing integration of the world economy has caused greater social and economic differences.

  9. Working Paper No. 31 - Globalization and structural adjustment as a development tool

    01 January 2004

    This paper argues that economic globalization has become a key feature of the life of economic and social actors around the world, but that this is not tantamount to political inertia and requires on the contrary a rethinking of development policies and new forms of action.

  10. Working Paper No. 30 - The outcome and impact of the main international commissions on development issues

    01 January 2004

    This paper analyses the context, mandate, work process and outcomes and impact of the major international independent commissions on development issues and draws the major lessons learned of such commissions for the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization.

  11. Working Paper No. 29 - Implications of globalization and economic restructuring for skills development in Sub-Sahara Africa

    01 January 2004

    This paper discusses the role skills development can play in avoiding the problems of globalization and structural adjustment and realizing their benefits and what can be done to position countries to capture the employment and wage benefits of globalization. He argues that higher and more evenly distributed levels of education will help mitigate wage inequities that have been widened by globalization.

  12. Working Paper No. 28 - Upgrading in global value chains

    01 January 2004

    This paper considers the way in which new forms of global coordination affect the possibilities for upgrading agricultural and manufacturing producers and traders in developing countries. The global value chain approach emphasizes new linkages in the global economy and the increasing level of trade in parts and components.

  13. Working Paper No. 27 - Corporate social responsibility: An issues paper

    01 January 2004

    The paper argues that the social responsibility of business has accelerated with globalization. The need to address questions of low living standards, exploitation, poverty, unemployment and how to promote social development in general, has to date been almost entirely the preserve of governments. But, increasingly in the future, the promotion of social development issues must also be one of partnership between government and private and non-governmental actors and, in particular, the corporate sector.

  14. Working Paper No. 26 - Reforming global economic and social governance: a critical review of recent programmatic thinking

    01 January 2004

    The main purpose of this paper is to review the reform proposals of global economic and social governance in their various permeations as a means of highlighting the different options available. This paper considers the different views of global economic and social governance that emerge from the various reform projects and suggests some strategies for overcoming political resistance to some of the more ambitious proposals.

  15. Working Paper No. 25 - The social dimension of global production systems: A review of the issues

    01 January 2005

    This paper argues that one of the defining features of the current phase of globalization is the emergence of global production systems. In contrast to earlier phases of globalization, economic activity is not only global in scope but also global in organization. The emergence of these global production systems has been one of the key drivers behind the increase in trade and FDI over the last twenty years.

  16. Working Paper No. 24 - The social dimension of globalization: a review of the literature

    01 January 2004

    In this literature review of globalization, the paper argues that it is useful to split the globalization process into two parts. The first concerns factors such as trade, investment, technology, cross-border production systems, information flows, and communication. The second aspect of the globalization process concerns the increased homogenization of policies and institutions across the world. While the first aspect is irreversible, the second is not inevitable but the result of policy choices.

  17. Working Paper No. 23 - Social dimension of globalisation in Latin America: Lessons from Bolivia and Chile

    01 January 2004

    This paper reviews the liberalization experience of Bolivia and Chile during the 1990s and argues that the so-called Washington Consensus type of structural reform policies had serious shortcomings. Both countries experienced an increase in their rates of growth, mostly by a rapid expansion of exports (as expected by the proponents of these policies). This had a positive effect on the incidence of poverty, but was not appreciated by the population; mostly because the great majority felt themselves “losers” in the new economic model.

  18. Working Paper No. 22 - Does the new international trade regime leave room for industrialization policies in the middle-income countries?

    01 January 2004

    This paper argues that the changeover from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime in 1994 was accompanied by a contraction of the scope available to member Governments to conduct domestic industrial policy. This limit is particularly poignant for the set of mid-technology countries that are on the verge of industrialization.

  19. Working Paper No. 21 - Resources for social development

    01 January 2004

    This paper concentrates on various ways of mobilizing resources for social and economic development, which are technically and administratively accessible, are unlikely to impose any unduly high excess burden of costs through misallocation, are regarded as equitably distributed, are not politically out of the question and are so far not fully exploited or not exploited at all.

  20. Working Paper No. 20 - Globalization, social exclusion and work: with special reference to informal employment and gender

    01 January 2004

    This paper looks at patterns of social exclusion and inclusion in the realm of work from the perspective of the working poor, especially women, in developing countries. It identifies different processes of social exclusion and inclusion, rather than to assess their causes or measure their impact.