An
international conference on 'Economic Openness and
Income Inequality: Policy Options for Developing Countries
in the New Millennium' was held in shanghai, China
during the 26th-27th of August, 2006 in local collaboration
with the Shanghai Administration Institute (SAI).
There are three related issues of relevance which
the conference sought to address: (i) the relationship
between the increasingly homogenous patterns of growth
across countries and the adoption of policies that
emphasize economic openness and the primacy of markets;
(ii) the relationship between this pattern of growth
and distributive outcomes; and (iii) the trends in
inequality and relative deprivation in recent years
both globally and within countries. Beginning by looking
at global trends from both a theoretical and an empirical
perspective through 5 papers presented during the
first two sessions, the conference followed up with
region specific sessions on the issue of income inequality
and trade liberalization. The regions covered were
China, Asia including India and East Asia, Latin America
and Africa. The conference ended with a panel discussion
on the key issues that the papers brought attention
to and what it implied it terms of policy advocacy.
The conference also attempted to focus on the alternatives
that are necessary and feasible in the current conjuncture
and the foreseeable future.
August
26, 2006.
Session 1
• Wang Guoping, Economics Department, Shanghai Administration
Institute, Shanghai, China:
'Reflections on the Inequality of Income Distribution'
• Prabhat Patnaik, Professor, Centre for Economic
Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, India and also Vice Chairman, Planning
Commission, Kerala, India:
'Trade,
Disproportionality and Retrogression'
• Andrea Giovanni Cornia, Professor, Department of
Economics, University of Florence, Italy:
'Changes
in the Distribution of Income over the Last Two Decades:
Extent, Sources and Possible Causes'
Session 2
• Saul Keifman, Professor, Department of Economics,
University of Buenes Aires, Argentina: 'Economic
Openness and Inequality: Deconstructing Some Neoliberal
Fallacies'
• Andong Zhu, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities
and Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing,
China: 'Public
Enterprises in Mixed Economies: Their Impact on Social
Equity'
Session 3
• Hu Angang , Professor, School of Public Policy and
Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China and
Director, Center for China studies, Chinese Academy
Of Sciences, Beijing, China:
'Evolution of Regional
Pattern and Disparities of China's Human Development
(1982-2003)'
• Wang Sangui, Institute of Agricultural Economics,
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, also, Head,
China Poverty Research Association 'Community-based
Development and Poverty Alleviation: An Evaluation
of China's Poor Village Investment Program'
• Wu Guobao, Director of Poverty and Development Finance
Division, Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences, Beijing, China: 'Access
to Credit, Poverty and Inequality: Some Findings from
China Using Grouped Rural Household Data '
• Dic Lo, Professor, School of Economics, Renmin University,
Beijing, China and at School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London, UK : 'Making
Sense of China's Economic Transformation'
Session 3 Continued
Panel Discussion on China: Response
and More
• Chair: Cui Zhiyuan,
Professor, School of Public Policy and Management,
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China: 'Making
Sense of China's Economic Reform: Initial Success
and Current Danger'
• Li Shi, Professor, School of Economics and Business,
Beijing Normal University,
China :
'Rural Migration in China: Scenario, Challenge and
Public Policy'
• Zhao Renwei, Professor of Economics, Institute of
Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing,
China
August 27, 2006.
Session 1
• Abhijit Sen, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies
and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
India and also Member, Central Planning Commission,
India and Himanshu, Fellow (Economics), The Centre
de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi, India: 'Recent
Evidence on Poverty and Income Distribution in India'
• Medhi Krongkaew, Professor of Economics and Director,
Center for Poverty Studies, School of Development
Economics, National Institute of Development Administration
(NIDA), Bangkok Thailand and Ragayah Mat Zin, Director,
Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS),
National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia:
'Income Distribution and Sustainable Economic Development
in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis'
Session 2
• Carlos Medeiros, Professor, Department of Economics,
Universidad Federal de Rio de Janeiro ( Federal University
of Rio De Janeiro ), Brazil: 'Growth
Patterns, Income Distributions and Poverty: Lessons
from the Latin American Experience'
• Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, Senior Economic Affairs
Officer, Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC), United Nations: 'Manufacturing
Miracles by Trade Liberalization: An Agnostic View
from a Mexican Perspective'
• Charles Abugre Akelyira, Head of Policy and Advocacy,
Christian Aid, UK, (from Ghana):
'Macro Policies and the Development Project in Africa'
October 29, 2006.
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