دانلود رایگان مقاله اقتصاد سیاسی توسعه در یک دنیای جهانی

1. Introduction

While world income has increased several folds over the last century, there is still very high incidence of extreme poverty in many parts of the world and inequalities of various types are widespread all across the globe. Yet economic policy formulation still remains governed by political factors. The enlargement of national and global pies, arising mainly from the integration of economies and the removal of barriers to the movement of goods, services, capital, and people, has affected the scope of the influence of special-interest (or pressure) groups, bureaucrats, and other political actors. It has also had an impact on political, economic, and legal institutions in economic decision making as these institutions define constraints and incentives that shape human behavior. This special issue invited articles exploring the role of the above influences in major development issues including, but not limited to, poverty, inequality, trade, human development, and health. We were open to the submission of both theoretical and empirical articles. As readers will see, we ended up with exactly equal number of each type published in this special issue (six published articles, three of which are theoretical and the remaining three empirical). In addition, the articles vary also in terms of the questions or issues they deal with and the methodologies they use. Questions tackled in this special issue include the role of state capacity in reform implementation when political economy forces are taken into account, complementary policy reforms along with privatization to make the latter inequality reducing (and therefore politically more palatable), reasons why certain types of property rights had promoted desirable structural change and economic growth in parts of Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution while others did not, the role of democracy in the stability of trade and fiscal policy stability, the role played by export intermediaries in helping producers minimize the payment of export taxes, and finally, the contribution of middle classes around the world in improving democratic conditions (by fostering democracy both within their own countries as well as in their neighboring countries).

4. Conclusions

This special issue offers a wide variety of contributions on issues related to political economy, development and globalization. More specifically, the topics include the political economy of economic reforms, privatization and labor, structural change and growth, democracy and policy volatility, the role of trade intermediaries in the avoidance of export taxes, and the impact of the middle class on democratization and the international propagation of democratic values. This special issue is well balanced with three theoretical and three empirical contributions.