Search results for " Government"
showing 10 items of 305 documents
After the fall of the soviet union: the changing status of local governments in the republic of latvia
1999
When the Republic of Latvia gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, one of Latvia's first priorities was to rebuild its system of local government. This article describes many of the problems local governments in Latvia faced after 50 years of communist rule. The article also discusses the new Latvian laws which changed the structure of local government in that country. Also discussed are Latvian central government institutions which impacted on local governments in general and local government finances in particular. The unique status of the Capitol City of Riga, Latvia's largest municipality is also reviewed in detail.
The leader Programme and the Rise of Rural Development in Spain
2000
In many ways, LEADER (Liaisons Entre Actions de Developpement de l'Economie Rurale) has been a very significant intervention in Spain. Prior to LEADER, rural development policy was almost completely unknown and, for this reason alone, LEADER represented a new force in rural affairs. The invitation to form territorial collaborations was also novel and local actors were quick to perceive it as an important political tool with which to tackle both the problems of rural areas and the challenges presented by the new roles being assigned to the rural world. Furthermore, LEADER has subsequently produced material, local impacts through its ability to generate investment in development projects. The…
Local Government in the Baltic States: Similar but Different
2006
Abstract The administrative–territorial structure of local government in the three Baltic countries is very different. In Lithuania, administrative–territorial reorganisation was achieved quickly using command methods, by removing local governments at the municipal level, leaving local governments at county level with average population over 60,000, among the largest in Europe. In Estonia, local government exists in town and rural municipalities, but many are very small. There are administrative structures at county level, but these are part of local state administration, without elections. In Latvia, there are two levels of elected local government, but the municipalities at the lower leve…
The Specifity of the Local Government Elections in the Opolskie Province in 2018
2020
The objective of this paper is to analyse the political activity of the local community of the Opolskie Province in the local government elections in 2018 and to identify the characteristic features determining its specificity. The attempt to identify the electoral specificity of the region will consist in presenting a characterization of the region in terms of its size and population as well as its administrative and social aspects. An analysis of the elements inseparably connected with the election process, such as geography, voting turnout, the number of electoral registers and candidates, the types of electoral committees, is equally important. And finally, comments on the election resu…
Latvia: Experiments and Reforms in Decentralization
2011
Abstract Latvia is an independent country which was founded in 1918. Its independence was interrupted by the Soviet Union and was renewed in 1991. It joined the European Union in 2004. Latvia is a sovereign, independent, unitary, and indivisible nation-state. Its government is republic and it is organized on the principle of separation and balance of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers. This article focuses on Latvia and its decentralization reforms. Latvia has a long history of development of local government. From 1918 to 1934, Latvia had a positive experience of creating democratic society and local governments; however the fruits of these efforts were lost after the formatio…
Responsabilidad Social en las empresas de Economía Social: un análisis comparativo sobre del tejido productivo de la Comunidad Valenciana
2018
Este trabajo realiza un análisis de las prácticas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial (RSE) interna de las empresas de Economía Social en la Comunidad Valenciana, y su comparativa con el conjunto de empresas de la Comunidad. A través del citado análisis se pretende ofrecer evidencia empírica para fundamentar el superior compromiso de las empresas de Economía Social con su entorno laboral, medioambiental, con sus grupos de interés y con el Buen Gobierno. La literatura académica al respecto, centrada básicamente en el ámbito de las cooperativas, ha venido constatando cómo la propia naturaleza y principios de actuación de las empresas de Economía Social constituyen el substrato básico de una…
Asymmetric decentralisation, economic cycle, regional and local government’s borrowing in Spain
2014
This paper investigates the evolution of sub-central government borrowing in Spain over the period 1996–2011. The arguments and figures provided show that the intense process of political and fiscal decentralisation that took place over the 1990s and 2000s did not lead to higher debt ratios in terms of GDP at these tiers of government until 2007. Although a kind of overspending bias was in effect until the late 2000s, the paper shows that the evolution of GDP and tax revenues provided regional and local governments with enough resources to vigorously pursue their devolved public policy responsibilities and still keep their debt ratios under control. However, since 2008, when the world finan…
How do Banking Crises Impact on Income Inequality?
2012
We show that banking crises have an important effect on income distribution: inequality increases before banking crisis episodes and sharply declines afterwards. We also find that, while a large government size does not per se seem to reduce inequality, a rise in financial depth (i.e. better access to credit provided by the banking sector) contributes to a more equal distribution of income.
Decentralization and growth: what if the cross-jurisdiction approach had met a dead end?
2013
International audience; The relationship between decentralization and economic growth is generally studied from a perspective stressing universal or quasi-universal regularities across jurisdictions. That approach has generated many insights but seems to reach its limits. The paper explains why it allows contrasting positions with regard to the benefits of decentralization even among proponents of free and competitive markets. And it seems from the empirical literature that no robust and economically significant cross-jurisdiction relation between decentralization and economic performance or growth, except perhaps their independence, has been found. The absence of a relation valid across ju…
Does one size fit all? The impact of cognitive skills on economic growth
2016
Les Documents de Travail de l'IREDU, n°2016-1; This paper tests for heterogeneous effects of cognitive skills on economic growth across countries. Using a new extended dataset on cognitive skills and controlling for potential endogeneity, we find that the magnitude of the effect is about 60 per cent higher for low-income countries compared to high-income countries, and it more than doubles when low TFP countries are compared to high TFP countries. There are also marked differences across geographic regions. Using data on the share of the population with advanced and minimum skill levels, our results also indicate that high-income countries should focus on increasing the number of high skill…