The International Monetary Fund,Structural Adjustment,and Women's Health: A Cross‐National Analysis of Maternal Mortality in Sub‐Saharan Africa

We conduct a cross‐national analysis to test the dependency theory hypothesis that International Monetary Fund structural adjustment adversely impacts maternal mortality in sub‐Saharan Africa. We use generalized least square random effects regression models and modified two‐step Heckman models that correct for endogeneity using data on 37 African nations with up to four time points (1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005). We find support for our hypothesis, which indicates that sub‐Saharan African nations that receive an International Monetary Fund structural adjustment loan tend to have higher levels of maternal mortality than sub‐Saharan African nations that do not receive such a loan. This finding remains stable when controlling for endogeneity related to whether or not a sub‐Saharan African nation receives a structural adjustment loan. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications, methodological implications, policy suggestions, and possible directions for future research.     

The evolution of the World Bank's urban lending in Latin America: from sites and services to municipal reform and beyond

This paper traces the evolution of urban policies promoted by the World Bank in Latin America over the past three decades. The retrospective starts with an overview of the changing perspectives on development during the 1950s and 1960s, which eventually led to the onset of urban lending programs in the 1970s. It then analyzes the policies toward the urban sector promoted by the World Bank during the 1980s and 1990s in the context of the overall development paradigm that prevailed in the institution at the time. It concludes by outlining the generation of urban policies that is currently emerging. The analysis indicates that the evolution of the World Bank's policies has not been the result of a carefully master-minded strategy but, instead, of a myriad of factors, including conceptual shifts in the prevailing economic models, learning by doing, the influence of individuals such as McNamara, and internal and external criticisms.     

Neoliberal resource governance and counter-hegemonic social movement in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s energy sector institutionalized neoliberal policies in the early 1990s after a decade long implementation of structural adjustment policies suggested by the World Bank. These policies strengthened the role of foreign private capital and reduced the role of public enterprises. In spite of the country’s success in exploring and developing petroleum resources, the World Bank pushed for policy reforms to reduce the role of state-owned companies. Bangladesh signed several production sharing contracts with multinational energy corporations during 1993–1998. This resulted in the development of a counter-hegemonic social movement, the National Committee. Its activists made the energy sector the most contested national policy domain. Its direct action programs and other mobilization tactics transformed Bangladesh’s public sphere vis-à-vis energy politics. The National Committee caused the government to reverse its decision in some cases, but is far from achieving its main goal: increasing the capability of national institutions to maintain full ownership in natural resource management. Notwithstanding this limitation, the National Committee is a fascinating case of a counter-movement in the Global South contesting neoliberal resource appropriation.     

Agricultural Exports and the Environment: A Cross‐National Study of Fertilizer and Pesticide Consumption*

Abstract The mass consumption of agrochemicals, including manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, by industrialized agricultural systems worldwide threatens human health and the health of ecosystems. The production of these agricultural inputs is a highly energy‐ and capital‐intensive process, and their application contributes to a variety of direct and indirect impacts on the environment. This study is an analysis of the relationships between international trade in agricultural products and the consumption of these synthetic compounds. Using OLS regression models and data from World Bank and UNFAO, we analyze cross‐national data to examine the relationship between structural factors, such as economic development and export intensity, and both fertilizer and pesticide consumption. The findings are considered from the opposing theoretical perspectives of international political economy (IPE) and neo‐liberal modernization (NLM). The results generally support the claims of IPE and contradict those of NLM, indicating that increases in exports of agricultural products contribute to increases in fertilizer and pesticide consumption within nations. These results call into question policies that promote increased trade liberalization in agricultural products.     

Neo-Liberal Trade and Investment Policies,the ITGA and Youth Smoking Rates: A Cross-National Analysis of Developing Nations

Past evidence suggests that economic globalization and the spread of neo-liberal policies are leading to higher adult smoking rates in the developing world, but currently there are no cross-national analyses examining the impact of economic globalization and neo-liberal policies on youth smoking rates in the developing world. This study seeks to fill the gap in the literature regarding youth smoking and neo-liberal policies by conducting the first cross-national panel analysis of youth smoking rates in the developing world. Using data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), the World Bank, Freedom House, and United Nations for over 90 nations, this study expands the use of dependency theory to test for the negative externalities of neo-liberal trade and investment policies on health. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between increasing international trade, multinational corporate penetration, and membership in the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) on youth smoking rates in developing nations using first difference scores. The results show support for the hypothesis that increasing international trade dependency and membership in the ITGA are correlated with increasing youth smoking rates in the developing world.     

Economic Dominance,the “American Dream,” and Homicide: A Cross‐National Test of Institutional Anomie Theory

This article presents a cross‐national test of Messner and Rosenfeld's (1994) institutional anomie theory. Drawing on multiple data sources, including the United Nations, World Bank, World Values Survey, and Heritage Foundation, we examine relationships between economic dominance, indicators of culture, and homicide among a sample of 50 nations. Additionally, we assess the thesis of “American exceptionalism,” a unique cultural complex implicated by Messner and Rosenfeld as a cause of high rates of serious crime in the United States. Results from OLS regression models provide mixed support for the theory. While none of the theoretical predictors exhibits a statistically significant direct effect on homicide, findings suggest that homicide occurs most often in countries where free‐market principles and practices drive the economy and where core cultural commitments are oriented toward achievement, individualism, fetishism of money, and universalism. However, contrary to expectations, the impact of a market‐driven economy is not more pronounced in countries with weakened non‐economic institutions, and results provide only limited evidence in support of the American exceptionalism thesis. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Do Commercial Debt‐for‐Nature Swaps Matter for Forests? A Cross‐National Test of World Polity Theory1

We present cross‐national models of forest loss from 1990–2005 that examine the impact of commercial debt‐for‐nature swaps. In doing so, we find substantial support for world polity theory that poor nations that implement these swaps tend to have lower rates of deforestation than poor nations that do not implement these swaps. We also find support for another aspect of world polity theory—poor nations with higher levels of international nongovernmental organizations have lower rates of forest loss. A number of other factors, including structural adjustment, debt service, democracy, population growth, and domestic economic activity, also predict deforestation. We conclude by discussing the findings, theoretical implications, methodological implications, policy suggestions, and possible directions for future research.     

Global Governance,neoliberalism and national responses: The case of Bangladesh’s ready‐made garment (RMG) sector

This article on the ready‐made garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh shows how over‐reliance on foreign capital for development financing and deregulated investment—a hallmark of neoliberal economic arrangements—undermines the incorporation of SDGs’ and INGOs’ equity principles, contributing to biased policy responses yielding unequal outcomes. The article cautions that while countries prioritize economic growth over social and environmental nourishment and continue to adopt neoliberal economic policies to promote economic growth, inequity is unavoidable, if not inevitable. Thus, the way forward may be to shift the focus of ‘development’ from the economy to society, to building ‘good societies’ where institutions and strategies, including those that contribute to economic growth, are organized such that these complement not compromise the evolution of such societies.     

Female labour force integration and the alleviation of urban poverty: a case study of Kingston,Jamaica

The author posits that female labor force integration in Jamaica accomplishes little in alleviating poverty and making maximum use of human resources. Women are forced into employment in a labor market that limits their productivity. Women have greater needs to increase their economic activity due to price inflation and cuts in government spending. During the 1980s and early 1990s the country experienced stabilization and structural adjustment resulting in raised interest rates, reduced public sector employment, and deflated public expenditures. Urban population is particularly sensitive to monetary shifts due to dependency on social welfare benefits and lack of assets. Current strategies favor low wage creation in a supply-side export-oriented economy. These strategies were a by-product of import-substitution industrialization policies during the post-war period and greater control by multilateral financial institutions in Washington, D.C. The World Bank and US President Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative stressed export-oriented development. During the 1980s, Jamaican government failed to control fiscal policy, built up a huge external debt, and limited the ability of private businessmen to obtain money for investment in export-based production. Over the decade, uncompetitive production declined and light manufacturing increased. Although under 10% of new investment was in textile and apparel manufacturing, almost 50% of job creation occurred in this sector and 80% of all apparel workers were low-paid women. Devaluation occurred both in the exchange rate and in workers' job security, fringe benefits, union representation, and returns on skills. During 1977-89 women increased employment in the informal sector, which could not remain competitive under devaluation. Women's stratification in the labor market, high dependency burdens, and declining urban infrastructure create conditions of vulnerability for women in Jamaica.     

GENDER,MORTALITY, AND CORPOREAL INEQUALITY

Most previous empirical analyses of gender inequality have focused on modern economic indicators such as income. The advancement of theory on gender stratification requires detailed analysis of indicators with greater endurance and prevalence in world-historical terms. Sex mortality differentials are presented as cross-cultural indicators of corporeal gender inequality, defined as differential access to basic bodily resources for life and health. Indeed, mortality differentials represent a more fundamental form of gender inequality, in that women first must be alive before they may be denied access to other resources such as equal pay. Analysis of United Nations and World Bank data on developed and developing countries evidence the importance of ecological, economic, and familial explanations in determining corporeal gender inequality. Women's familial roles are found to be more important for gender inequalities in death at younger ages, and women's economic roles are more important for death at older ages. Implications of the results for mortality decline and gender stratification theory are discussed.     

Over‐indebtedness and microcredit in Cambodia: Moving beyond borrower‐centric frames

Over the past two decades, Cambodia has experienced an unprecedented credit boom, a growth in lending so rapid that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) referred to it as “one of the fastest financial deepening episodes by historical cross‐cultural standards” (IMF, 2016, p. 4). This deepening has been driven by the expansion of microcredit. In tandem, over‐indebtedness has increased among microcredit borrowers, and debt has become a significant political and economic concern. This article explores how over‐indebtedness is understood and explained by stakeholders across microcredit value chains. To do so, we draw on interviews with microfinance institution (MFI) executives, investors, branch managers, partners, financial literacy trainers, loan officers and borrowers in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We find that across the sector, dominant framings of over‐indebtedness privilege borrower‐centric explanations, while discounting the structural drivers of excessive lending and borrowing. As a consequence, current efforts to limit over‐indebtedness are unlikely to produce the kinds of solutions that are most needed to reduce the debt stress among borrowers. These arguments have implications across the Global South, particularly for contexts where microfinance is rapidly expanding.     

Consequences of Dating for Post‐divorce Maternal Well‐being

Repartnering has been linked to health benefits for mothers, yet few studies have examined relationship quality in this context. According to the divorce–stress–adaptation perspective, relationship quality may influence the relationship between maternal well‐being and dating after divorce. The current study examines the consequences of dating, relationship quality, and dating transitions (breaking up and dating new partners) on maternal well‐being (negative affect and life satisfaction). Using monthly surveys completed by mothers over a 2‐year period after filing for divorce, we examined changes in intercepts and slopes of dating status and transitions for maternal well‐being while also testing the effects of relationship quality. Mothers entering high‐quality relationships were likely to report boosts in well‐being at relationship initiation compared to single mothers and mothers entering low‐quality relationships. Mothers entering lower‐quality relationships were likely to report lower levels of well‐being than single mothers. Dating transitions were associated with increases in well‐being. Implications for maternal adjustment are discussed.     

Liberalisation Failed: Understanding Persistent State Power in the Burkinabè Cotton Sector from 1990 to 2004

The literature characterises African states as unable to subvert pressure from the World Bank to liberalise their economies. This article contradicts this narrative by showing how Burkina Faso adopted a cotton‐sector liberalisation plan that retained significant state control. It argues that French influence, the sequence of regional liberalisations, and an ideological shift at the World Bank opened up political space for Burkina Faso to propose alternative and more moderate liberalisation reforms – in this case, the inclusion of a producers' organisation in cotton governance rather than a privatisation of cotton‐sector activities. Heavy involvement in the formation of the producers' organisation allowed the Burkinabè state to retain control of its cotton sector, paradoxically, via the full implementation of its liberalisation reforms.     

Maternal Health Policies in Countries in Transition: Poland and Kyrgyzstan, 1990–2006

ABSTRACT

Starting with the initiation of democratic and market economic transitions, unsupportive policies concerning women's reproductive health were implemented in Kyrgyzstan and Poland in the period 1990–2006. These policies were expressed by (1) political decisions limiting available funding to support medical practices protecting women's reproductive health, (2) diminishing or restricted dissemination of knowledge about family planning, and (3) the implementation of new contraception and abortion policies. Could these changes be perceived as combat between democratic liberalism, cosmopolitanism, and tolerance versus traditionalism, insularism, and fundamentalism? We use analyses of policies concerning women's reproductive and maternal health to manifest rivalry between economic crisis and the push toward modernity and between traditionalism and liberalism. We demonstrate that the return to traditional gender roles and gender policies, and their practical application expressed in maternal health policies, illustrates cultural backlash toward diffusing Western liberalism in countries in political and economic transition.     

The Feasibility of IFI‐Led Institutional Reform: Four Turkish Experiments Compared

Institutional reform has proved an enduring theme in the lending programmes of international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the IMF and the World Bank. But research harbours strong objections to the feasibility of IFI‐led institutional restructuring. This article evaluates these objections in the light of evidence from Turkey, a country with an early record of programme‐based reform initiatives in many institutional domains. Drawing on Turkey's central bank independence, banking regulation, anti‐corruption and agricultural subsidy reforms, it argues that IFI‐guided institutional restructuring may indeed encounter severe feasibility problems unless prescribed and implemented in a propitious environment marked by powerful international norms, widely accepted design templates, high levels of bureaucratic preparedness, and active endorsement from key domestic players.     

The Effects of Work Demands and Resources on Work‐to‐Family Conflict and Facilitation

This article uses a differential salience‐comparable salience approach to examine the effects of work demands and resources on work‐to‐family conflict and facilitation. The analysis is based on data from 1,938 employed adults living with a family member who were interviewed for the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce. The results support the differential salience approach by indicating that time‐ and strain‐based work demands show relatively strong positive relationships to work‐to‐family conflict, whereas enabling resources and psychological rewards show relatively strong positive relationships to work‐to‐family facilitation. The availability of time‐based family support policies and work‐family organizational support is negatively related to conflict and positively related to facilitation, thereby supporting the comparable salience approach.     

World Economy,World Society,and Environmental Harms in Less‐Developed Countries*

World economy and world society theories are engaged to assess the extent to which environmental harms in less‐developed countries are tied to particular kinds of economic and social integration. Results of panel models indicate that world economy integration in the context of sector‐level foreign investment contributes to a variety of environmental harms. With the exception of deforestation, world society integration in the mode of environmental international non‐governmental organization presence has no direct effect. However, a stronger presence of such organizations in less‐developed countries mitigates the effect of foreign investment on all tested outcomes. The authors contend that comparative sociologists should adopt theoretically integrative approaches and pay closer attention to how and under what circumstances world economy and world society factors interact to partially shape social and environmental conditions.     

Overcoming Market Constraints on Pro‐Poor Agricultural Growth in Sub‐Saharan Africa

In sub‐Saharan Africa, there is fairly broad agreement that increased investment in key public goods such as roads and communications infrastructure, agricultural research and water control will be required if revitalised agricultural development is to take place. However, it has proved more difficult to reach agreement on what needs to be done to improve the performance of agricultural markets. In this article we set out an agenda for investment and policy reform in this area, providing a brief theoretical examination of the co‐ordination problems involved before examining in turn demand and supply constraints affecting smallholder farmers, and policies for price stabilisation and the co‐ordination of support services. We also argue that increased attention needs to be paid to governance issues.     

Neoliberalism and Health: The Linkages and the Dangers

A recent book addresses the health effects of neoliberalism using the provocative rubric of ‘ neoliberal epidemics ’. This article reviews literature on the health effects of neoliberalism starting with the structural adjustment conditionalities mandated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It continues with an analysis of how neoliberalism increases economic insecurity and inequality , and the effects on health , with a section specific to the health impacts of austerity measures undertaken after the financial crisis that began in 2007. The next section considers contemporary trade policy as an embodiment of neoliberal ideology, and reviews current and anticipated health effects. The article concludes with a brief examination of two paradoxes that are evident in the research literature on neoliberalism and health .     

Immigrants’ TANF Eligibility, 1996–2003: What Explains the New Across‐State Inequalities?1

Why did some states adopt stringent TANF‐eligibility policies toward immigrants, while others implemented more lenient rules throughout the post‐1996 welfare reform period? We use immigrant‐specific welfare rule measures to examine predominant theoretical frameworks for understanding state stringency in welfare policy. Analysis, utilizing a simultaneous equations modeling (SEM) strategy, uses annual data for all states. Results show consistent support for the median voter (primarily, the percent of liberal voters) theoretical explanation for less stringent state welfare eligibility rules regarding immigrants. While the size of the Social‐Security‐recipient population (tax capacity indicator) and perhaps unacceptable reproductive behavior (teen birth rate) relate to more stringent rules, key state economic and fiscal characteristics (i.e., per capita welfare expenditures, per capita personal income) explain less stringent TANF eligibility rules. Importantly, recent immigrant population concentration patterns (in new and traditional destination states) add to the theoretical explanation of less stringent state TANF immigrant eligibility policies.