This book describes 11 "great policies" - strategic innovations designed to deal with problems that transcend normal boundaries of government action. Examples range from the Marshall Plan in the U.S. to the "reverse brain-drain" policy in China, and from the financing of land reform by the distribution of industrial bonds in Taiwan to exploration of community natural resource management in Latin America. These actions did not emerge incrementally from existing policies, but represented departures from conventional organizations and sectoral responsibilities. Although such strategic innovations are rare, these examples suggest that when they occur, they are recognizably different from policies that develop incrementally. They create new paradigms of public action, they generate new expectations and demands, and they require extraordinary processes of implementation. Such "mega-policies" imply the possibility of developing transferable lessons from otherwise unique cases. These "mega-policies" range from economic growth strategies to social initiatives and from international economic transactions to technical exchanges. This work will be of great interest to scholars and policy makers involved with economic and social change, and Asian/Pacific and Third World Studies.

A fundamental characteristic of the global economy during the 1990s is the reinvigoration of the private sector as the driving force for economic growth and social progress. This book surveys Central Europe during the early period of transition from late 1989 to early 1993, when governments were experimenting with privatization and economic reform, and assesses how privatization and economic reform policies have changed the business climate there. Rondinelli and his contributors provide an overview of economic reforms in Central European countries, offer a framework by which to compare them, describe the approaches to privatization their governments adopted, and identify the problems and challenges that each country faces in attempting to create a market-oriented economy. The result is a valuable resource for international management, international trade policy makers, and scholars of international business.

The process of economic restructuring is especially important and particularly complex in Central Europe, where Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Slovenia, and other independent states of former Yugoslavia are struggling to transform themselves from socialist to market economies. Each country faces equally complex challenges, however, in creating a new business climate that will nourish domestic enterprise and attract investments by multinational corporations. These challenges include: (1) privatizing state-owned enterprises that have dominated the economies of socialist countries; (2) developing public policies and programs that support the private sector, especially small- and medium-scale enterprises; (3) decentralizing the state administrative structure to allow regional and local governments to play a more active role in providing public services and supporting private enterprise; and (4) restructuring industry, agriculture, and services in order to diversify and reinvigorate the economic base (including infrastructure) of regions surrounding cities that are still dominated by heavy (and now largely obsolescent) manufacturing industries.

This book surveys the situation in Central Europe during the early period of transition in the early 1990s when governments in all four countries were experimenting with privatization and economic reform. The authors assess how privatization and economic reform policies have changed the business climate in this important region of the world. The editor provides an overview of economic reforms in Central European countries, offers a framework by which to compare them, describes the approaches to privatization their governments adopted, and identifies the problems and challenges that each country faces in attempting to create a market-oriented economy.

This collection of original essays highlights the implications of China's economic transition since 1978 for Sino-American business and trade. Each chapter assesses the implications of China's economic and trade reforms from a different perspective, but the thread running through all of them is a conviction that the government of China and Chinese enterprises will have to strengthen their capacity to compete more effectively in the global economy if they are to be successful in expanding trade and business with the United States. Government and business leaders in both countries will face important challenges in adjusting to changing global trade alliances if they are to be more effective trading partners. Contributors review the changes in economic and trade policies in China, trace the political roots of economic reforms, assess the ability of Chinese companies to enter U.S. markets, explore the management improvements needed in Chinese enterprises, examine the differences between Chinese and North American manufacturing enterprises, and outline the changes in the world economy to which both American and Chinese business and political leaders will have to adjust.

The book begins with an introduction to the major issues facing China in transforming its economy and trade relationships with the United States and in strengthening its competitive position in the global economy. Contributors explore the political rationale for the economic changes that have taken place in China and provide a framework for understanding how China's trade policies have evolved since 1978. They trace the evolution of China's trade policies, especially as they apply to trade with the United States, and explore the remaining barriers to and opportunities for trade expansion between the two countries and the strategies that Chinese enterprises will have to adopt in order to enter U.S. markets or form joint ventures with U.S. companies. Trends in three major industries--textiles, machine tools, and medical supplies--illustrate the opportunities and requirements for Chinese enterprises to be competitive. This book will be of interest to students of international business, economics, trade and investment, China's modern economic and political history, and comparative management, and to business executives, government officials, and other professionals involved in trade and investment with China.

In this up-to-date, authoritative overview of where economic and social reform now stand in Vietnam, the contributors discuss the progress the country has made toward establishing a market-oriented economy. By focusing on the institutions needed to transform a centrally-planned economy into one oriented toward world markets and trade, the book gives business-people an insight into the potential rewards and risks they may find in their efforts to do business in, and with, Vietnam. It brings together the perspectives of economists, sociologists, political scientists, fiscal and financial experts, and business and public administration specialists--all of whom provide background essential for an understanding that the prospects are for a mutually beneficial business relationship between Vietnam and the rest of the world.

VietnaM's economy has grown rapidly since its government introduced economic renovation policies (doi moi) in the late 1980s. Although still extremely poor, Vietnam is on its way to becoming an emerging market economy, but investors have become concerned that its strong performance cannot be sustained. Despite doi moi's success in stimulating structural changes, a wide range of market-oriented institutions must still be developed, if Vietnam is to maintain macroeconomic stability and broad-based growth. Without that, its growth could become narrow and urban centered, and this would have profound negative implications for the reduction of poverty, the pace of urbanization, and VietnaM's ability to manage urban congestion.

The editors and their contributors address issues of institutional development as the key to continuing VietnaM's successful transition to a market economy and to improve the welfare of its people. Among the book's themes are the need to clearly define the complementary roles of the public and private sectors, and the need to strengthen the government's capacity to perform its unique functions effectively. Economic policies that provide the incentives for investment and production are a necessary, but not sufficient, component of the development process. The volume clearly shows that what is going on in Vietnam is relevant to most developing countries, and that these processes are of crucial concern to international business-people.

International assistance programmes for developing countries are in urgent need of revision. Continuous testing and verification is required if development activity is to cope effectively with the uncertainty and complexity of the development process. This examines the alternatives and offers an approach which focuses on strategic planning, administrative procedures that facilitate innovation, responsiveness and experimentation, and on decision-making processes that join learning with action. A useful text for academics and practitioners in development studies, geography and sociology.

This book offers an approach to spatial analysis and regional planning that focuses on building the productive and service capacity of settlements of different sizes and functional characteristics. It describes the locational dimension of regional and rural development planning.

This book reflects a large number of intellectual debts that I owe to friends and colleagues. The concepts and methods described here were developed and tested in field projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Eric Chetwynd, Jr., played a central role in the Urban Functions in Rural Development (UFRD) projects on which the book is based. Without his advocacy, interest and support for nearly a decade, the projects could not have been undertaken.

As international agencies' assistance strategies become more complex, their methods of planning and administration become less effective. Neither the rationalistic techniques of planning and management they adopted during the 1960s and 1970s to control development activities nor the structural adjustment models they used during the 1980s and 1990s to reform economic policies, encouraged the flexibility, experimentation and social learning that are crucial to implementing successfully complex and uncertain development activities. Urgent reorientation of development programmes and continuous testing and verification is required if development activity is to cope effectively with the uncertainty and complexity of the development process.

This book describes 11 great policies-strategic innovations designed to deal with problems that transcend normal boundaries of government action. Examples range from the Marshall Plan in the U.S. to the reverse brain-drain policy in China, and from the financing of land reform by the distribution of industrial bonds in Taiwan to exploration of community natural resource management in Latin America. These actions did not emerge incrementally from existing policies, but represented departures from conventional organizations and sectoral responsibilities. Although such strategic innovations are rare, these examples suggest that when they do occur, they are recognizably different from policies that develop incrementally. They create new paradigms of public action, they generate new expectations and demands, and they require extraodinary processes of implementation. Such mega-policies imply the possibility of developing transferable lessons from otherwise unique cases.

These mega-policies range from economic growth strategies to social initiatives and from international economic transactions to technical exchanges. Dealing with policy interactions like these provokes tension between tradition and innovation and calls for sustained political involvement and experimental approaches to administration. Often mega-policies arise from a transforming vision or a coherent strategic view of the future. Although they represent departures from conventional governance, these cases were not driven by ideological preconceptions or by the personal vision of a charismatic leader. They frequently emerged from bureaucratic frustrations with the inability of traditional jurisdictions to deal with unconventional crises. Their very dependence on administrative innovation exposed them to especially virulent forms of bureaucratic turf warfare, which in turn called for dynamic, but constant political leadership. This work will be of great interest to scholars and policy makers involved with economic and social change, and Asian/Pacific and Third World Studies.

The trend toward greater decentralization of governance activities, now accepted as commonplace in the West, has become a worldwide movement. This international development's largely a product of globalization and democratization is clearly one of the key factors reshaping economic, political, and social conditions throughout the world. Rather than the top-down, centralized decisionmaking that characterized communist economies and Third World dictatorships in the twentieth century, today's world demands flexibility, adaptability, and the autonomy to bring those qualities to bear. In this thought-provoking book, the first in a new series on Innovations in Governance, experts in government and public management trace the evolution and performance of decentralization concepts, from the transfer of authority within government to the sharing of power, authority, and responsibilities among broader governance institutions. This movement is not limited to national government& #151;it also affects subnational governments, NGOs, private corporations, and even civil associations. The contributors assess the emerging concepts of decentralization (e.g., devolution, empowerment, capacity building, and democratic governance). They detail the factors driving the movement, including political changes such as the fall of the Iron Curtain and the ascendance of democracy; economic factors such as globalization and outsourcing; and technological advances (e.g. increased information technology and electronic commerce). Their analysis covers many different contexts and regions. For example, William Ascher of Claremont McKenna College chronicles how decentralization concepts are playing out in natural resources policy, while Kadmeil Wekwete (United Nations) outlines the specific challenges to decentralizing governance in sub-Saharan Africa. In each case, contributors explore the objectives of a decentralizing strategy as well as the benefits and difficulties that will likely result.