Lisa Román - Böcker

The ongoing transformation of centrally planned societies into market economies poses many difficult questions regarding large-scale institutional reform, such as how far to go, how fast, and in which order? Financial intermediation is one sector in which the gap between socialism and capitalism is particularly large, and the development of commercial banking has often proved to be a bottleneck in the reform process. This book explores the development of the Vietnamese state banks, focusing on the situation in the early 1990s. It highlights the lengthy process of altering the formal and informal rules governing the bank organizations. The prevailing socialist ideology implies that state ownership remains, enabling the government to intervene in banks' operations. The ideology's informal role is arguably even more important, because it leaves unclear how bankers should act when profit maximization conflicts with social responsibility. In the period of transition formal and informal rules are unclear. Uncertainty prevails as long as bankers and banking authorities have only partially converted to a new set of norms. Accordingly, the formal financial sector fails to flourish.

This book addresses the controversial call for international labor standards, seeking to productively further this debate by considering the economic implications and history of these standards. A result of an initiative by Professor Kaushik Basu in his capacity as member of the Expert Group of Development Issues (EGDI) sponsored by the Swedish Foreign Ministry, the contributions are based on discussions at a seminar held in Stockholm in August 2001. Compiling the best research in the field, this book provides a solid basis for policy decisions, while also serving as a challenging text for students in trade, development, and labor economics. Analyzes the economic implications and history of international labor standards. Productively furthers the debate about intervening with international labor standardsStems from a seminar organized through the Expert Group on Development Issues (EGDI), sponsored by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This book addresses the controversial call for international labor standards, seeking to productively further this debate by considering the economic implications and history of these standards. A result of an initiative by Professor Kaushik Basu in his capacity as member of the Expert Group of Development Issues (EGDI) sponsored by the Swedish Foreign Ministry, the contributions are based on discussions at a seminar held in Stockholm in August 2001. Compiling the best research in the field, this book provides a solid basis for policy decisions, while also serving as a challenging text for students in trade, development, and labor economics. Analyzes the economic implications and history of international labor standards. Productively furthers the debate about intervening with international labor standardsStems from a seminar organized through the Expert Group on Development Issues (EGDI), sponsored by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"If you want to become a doctor, practice in a war; if you want to become an economist, practice in Vietnam". 1 Phan Van Tiem Vietnam is one of many countries presently undergoing fundamental institutional change: the market mechanism is replacing central planning. So far, the achievements are impressive. In the mid-1980s, the country failed to feed its population, suffered from hyperinflation and faced general economic stagnation. In the early 1990s, the annual economic growth rate had accelerated to some eight to nine percent, the inflation rate had fallen to two-digit levels - sometimes even lower - and the country had become one of the world's largest rice exporters. Add some more details - the increased foreign trade, the inflow of foreign investments, the diversification of agriculture, and ~e various reform measures taken to alter the basic economic structure - and the success story of the Vietnamese transition is told. The country has hence followed the same path as its northern neighbor China, and provided a counterexample to much more cumbersome processes that have been adopted in a number of other transforming countries, notably those of the former USSR. This transition is by no means over. Indeed, it is misleading to think of transition as a process that departs from a well-defined pre-condition and moves towards an equally well­ defined end-point.