Abstract: Social capital is widely recognized as one of the few sources of capital available to the poor, yet the processes by which development policies affect the accumulation of that social capital are not well understood. The World Bank, through its funding of development projects, affects the institutional environments for the accumulation of such social capital. The question is how to determine whether that institutional context is enabling, and to what degree. This paper compares ten recent World Bank-funded rural development projects in Mexico and the Philippines to explore how the processes of project design and implementation influence the institutional environments for the accumulation of horizontal, vertical, and intersectoral forms of pro-poor social capital. The findings have conceptual and policy implications for understanding the political dynamics of creating enabling environments for social capital accumulation by the poor.

Abstract: There are continuing debates on methodological issues of policy science. On the one hand, the unprecedented advancement in research methods and technology has made it possible to formulate more precise, empirically driven models of scientific inquiries and thus has added credibility on positivist approach of policy science. On the other hand, social systems and subjective values have increasingly been emphasized in policy analyses and have served as impetus to postpositivist approach of policy science. In this essay, I discuss the role of democratization and citizen participation in policy science. While citizen participation is important to ensure democratization of the process of policymaking and to improve the quality of information provided to make appropriate policy decisions, how such citizen participation can be acquired has become another pressing issue. I explore community participation in light of assessing its effectiveness in policymaking and its coherence with the role of policy experts.

Abstract: An important current of research in international environmental affairsdeals with the roles of non-state actors in international environmentalgovernance. For many, the growing influence of non-state actors is a welcometrend because these actors, especially non-governmental organizations,facilitate environmental negotiations between states and perform keyinformation-gathering, dissemination, advocacy, and appraisal functions thatstates are either unwilling or unable to do. For the student of internationalrelations (IR), examining the roles and responsibilities of non-state actorsin global environmental affairs is a departure from the ordinary concern ofthat field – namely, the study of interstate behavior. But for the studyof global environmental problems, particularly those problems that aresimultaneously global and local, the investigator must map the influence ofan even broader assemblage of actors. Little is known about how local levelinstitutions or ordinary citizens fit into global environmental policyprocesses. Understanding what motivates public demands for globalenvironmental quality is an especially important research task, especially forthose pervasive environmental problems like global climate change and complexexhortations like sustainable development that require the attention andacquiescence of ordinary citizens.

Abstract: In an era of strong global competition, national, state, and localgovernments are vying to attract and retain investment by international firmsby increasing the range and value of public incentives for businesses toinvest in their jurisdictions. A survey of executives in 118internationally-owned firms in North Carolina reveals that they rank stateincentives low in a list of factors that they believe attract foreign-ownedcompanies and retain them in the state. Labor force, transportation, qualityof life, and overall business climate factors are consistently ranked highestby business executives, and state tax, finance, plant services, and marketingassistance are consistently ranked low. Questions concerning theeffectiveness, appropriateness, and equity of such incentives and theirimpacts on influencing domestic and international firms to choose locationsin a state or locality continue to be debated. Why do governments persist insuch questionable policies? Often perception offsets reality in publicpolicy-making. The political need to `do something' even if it is ineffective,a `follow the herd' mentality, fear of political criticism, and anunwillingness to `disarm' unilaterally all seem to explain the persistence ofstate incentive policies that even the intended beneficiaries claim are of lowpriority in their decisions.

Abstract: This paper develops the concept of institutional social capital and discusses its importance in the labor market Institutional social capital is constituted by the resources inherent in an organization (such as a school) and thereby available to members of that organization This is contrasted with the social capital available to individuals through their own personal networks In the labor market context, an example of institutional social capital is the ties that schools have with employers who recruit a proportion of their new employees as they prepare to graduate The paper examines how these ties and the norms governing the important labor market screening role played by the high school developed in post-WWII Japan I also discuss an important positive externality — social control over students — generated by schools’ institutional social capital Finally, I examine current challenges to Japanese high schools’ institutional social capital

Abstract: A framework is advanced for allocating research resources, based on the value of the information that proposed projects are expected to produce. As an organizing device, the framework uses integrated assessments, showing the relationships between the predictors of outcomes arising in important decisions (e.g., interest rates, mortality rates, crop yields, crime probabilities). Proposed projects are evaluated in terms of their ability to sharpen estimates either of those variables or of the relationships among them. This approach is intended to allow diverse forms of science to show their potential impacts – while encouraging them to integrate their work. Where suitable estimates are available, the expected value of the information from alternative studies can be computed and compared. However, even at a qualitative level, formal analyses can improve the efficiency and integration of research programs.

Abstract: `There is no longer doubt that these (NEP) programs work, yet there is a striking disjunction between what science dictates and what policy delivers . . . little qualitative and quantitative research has been done in HIV prevention policy, and no body of evidence exists to inform the ¢eld about the factors that in£uence policy.. .' The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement, 1997

Abstract: This paper extends concepts about agenda-building politics within the policy literature by considering the implications of `big science' agenda-building politics for policyrnaking. It argues that agenda-building in the `big science' policy arena is distinct from agenda-building in the general social problem-solving policy arena. The general policy development process and the `big science' policy development process are contrasted conceptually. Two different cases of agenda-building in big science are then highlighted to offer empirical evidence of the differences between the two processes. A distinction is drawn between the contemporary conceptualization of agenda-building in the general policy arena and the big science policy arena and comments are made about the value of the paper for policy learning. Accordingly, the paper has important implications for the science policy arena and perhaps the larger policy arena.

Abstract: In this paper, the author argues that wage subsidy is a valuable policy tool in the face of structural changes such as would result from the removal of tariffs, or in the face of a need to assist the disadvantaged or redress distributional inequity. After discussing wage subsidies that target specific segments of the population, which has the potential to improve both static and dynamic efficiency, the author goes on to discuss and contrast his universal wage subsidy proposal with the negative income tax and the minimum wage legislation, all of which are designed mainly for distributional purposes.

Abstract: During the summer of 1996, the federal government enacted the most sweeping welfare reform since its inception in 1935. Under the new law, the duration of welfare bene¢ts are limited and those qualifying for bene¢ts are required to work or participate in some type of educational or training program. The crux of the reform, however, is the devolution of welfare authority back to the states. The new welfare ends welfare’s federal entitlement status and oiers, at least temporarily, block grants to the states to develop their own programs. States are free to develop programs as extensive as they would like, which might include training or other job service programs. They are also free to develop programs as limited as they would like, which might entail little more than channeling former recipients into the low-skill labor market. Underlying the new welfare are several assumptions. The ¢rst is that states are better able to establish welfare programs because they are on the front lines of welfare delivery, and understand better the needs of welfare recipients, as well as their likely employment prospects given local economic conditions. Block grants to the states will enable them to do that. The second assumption is that welfare recipients need to be transitioned into the labor market, and the best way to do this is to require them to work under the gun of time limits. Contrary to reform initiatives of the past, which assumed that recipients needed the creation of more jobs and the development of training and skills to enable them to move into the labor market, the new welfare assumes that jobs exist and that these jobs can support these families because by working former recipients will qualify for assistance under the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Given these assumptions, welfare recipients just need to be socialized into patterns of work, and welfare recipients are further assumed to possess the requisite skills to ¢ll those jobs. A third assumption of the new welfare is that businesses that have not hired welfare recipients in the past can be induced to do so through the oier of subsidies, as is already done in some notable cases like Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. The subsidy structure is, of course, left up to the states. To the extent that jobs do exist, small businesses might be expected to do much hiring of these recipients, especially given that they are reputed to employ about half of private sector workers (Wiatrowski, 1994). But little is known about small business hiring practices. There is evidence that welfare rolls have

Abstract: On January 17, 1993, over 15,000 Hawaiians and their supporters marched through Honolulu to the palace of their ancient chiefs to commemorate and protest the American overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom a century earlier. Solemn and traditional, the chanting throng included infants and great-grandparents, Natives and non-Natives, politicians, curious tourists, and dozens of news reporters from the United States and the Pacific Rim. By most reckonings, the ‘sovereignty’ march was the largest of its kind in modern Hawaiian history (Honolulu Advertiser, January 18, 1993; Honolulu Star-Bulletin, January 18, 1993).