Political economy scholarship suggests that private sector investment, and thus economic growth, is more likely to occur when formal institutions allow states to provide investors with credible commitments to protect property rights. This book argues that this maxim does not hold for infrastructure privatization programs. Rather, differences in firm organizational structure better explain the viability of privatization contracts in weak institutional environments. Domestic investors - or, ...

Taylor Ames had her heartbroken six years ago, and since then he's learned to focus on the good things that life has to offer, like her son, Christopher. She works at a diner during the day and is a full time mother every moment after, sure that She was so sure that her life will never be anything more –that she will never want anything more.John Lewis came into the diner that she works at during a rainstorm, changing her life forever. He showed her that she's still capable of lovi...

Aurora Daniels grew up dreaming of an epic love story to match that of her parents but after countless dates and disappointing relationships she decides that it's just not going to happen for her. With senior year of college just beginning she knows she has to focus on school – and push the idea of true love out of her mind.Jace Rivers is the campus player and the hockey team captain, and both of those titles have clearly gone to his head. Aurora hates everything about him, but whe...

Aurora Daniels grew up dreaming of an epic love story to match that of her parents but after countless dates and disappointing relationships she decides that it's just not going to happen for her. With senior year of college just beginning she knows she has to focus on school – and push the idea of true love out of her mindJace Rivers is the campus player and the hockey team captain, and both of those titles have clearly gone to his head. Aurora hates everything about him, but when...

Once deemed a “dysfunctional” democracy with a “feckless” set of political institutions and a “drunk” economy, today’s Brazil has undergone a complete reversal of fortune. Now in its third decade of democracy, the economy is blossoming and large-scale development projects are underway, including the exploitation of massive, off-shore oil reserves, a nationwide effort to modernize infrastructure, and preparations for the hosting of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Inequality and po...

This book analyzes recent labor market trends in Latin American countries and the factors that underlie the failure to create more and more productive and rewarding jobs, a failure with substantial political and social costs. The authors analyze how growth and job creation in the region's economies compare with other emerging countries, the impact of job creation and destruction on productivity growth and the creation of "good" jobs, and the relative importance and role of labor market p...

Economic Policy and Human Rights presents a powerful critique of three decades of neoliberal economic policies, assessed from the perspective of human rights norms. In doing so, it brings together two areas of thought and action that have hitherto been separate: progressive economics concerned with promoting economic justice and human development; and human rights analysis and advocacy.Focussing on in-depth comparative case studies of the USA and Mexico and looking at issues such a...

This book offers the first conceptually rigorous analysis of the political and institutional underpinnings of Brazil's recent rise. Using Brazil as a case study in multiparty presidentialism, the authors argue that Brazil's success stems from the combination of a constitutionally strong president and a robust system of checks and balances.

Following some historical background, this paper describes how corruption is manifested in Paraguay. The paper distinguishes between factors that explain the growth performance of Paraguay since 1960 (where corruption does not directly enter as a significant factor) and factors that explain the relative level of income of Paraguay in the past 40 or 50 years compared with other countries. It then illustrates how Paraguay's weak institutions may have led to long-term growth below its potential....

This book analyzes Chile's political economy over the last 30 years and the country's attempt to build a market society in a highly inegalitarian society, now as a member country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The investigation provides a historical background of Chilean economy and society and discusses the cultural underpinnings of the imposition of free markets, the macroeconomic and growth performance of the 1990s and 2000s and the social record of...

Why has the Eurozone ended up with an unemployment rate more than twice that of the United States more than six years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers? Why did the vast majority of low- and middle-income countries suffer a prolonged economic slowdown in the last two decades of the 20th century? What was the role of the International Monetary Fund in these economic failures? Why was Latin America able to achieve substantial poverty reduction in the 21st century after more than two deca...

Latin America suffered a profound state crisis in the 1980s, which prompted not only the wave of macroeconomic and deregulation reforms known as the Washington Consensus, but also a wide variety of institutional or "second generation" reforms. The State of State Reform in Latin America reviews and assesses the outcomes of these less studied institutional reforms. This book examines four major areas of institutional reform: a) political institutions and the state organization; b) fiscal instit...