Government & Politics Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2775
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Item Political Economy of the Third World Bilateralism(1984) Moon, Chung-in; Pirages, Dennis; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The birth and development of extensive bilateral economic ties between Korea and Saudi Arabia, as we explained in Chapter Four, depended only partly on a set of preconditions conducive to the rise of such bilateralism. Industrial complementarity shaped by the precise timing of development sequencing provided both countries with various economic incentives to cooperate with each other. At the same time, their structural position in the international division of labor and the constraints resulting therefrom, combined with endogenous political and economic factors, had induced political elites of both countries to share a certain strategic consensus in their foreign economic policy which nurtured a feeling of mutual necessity. In this sense, it can be argued that both Saudi Arabia and Korea were endowed with a set of necessary conditions to promote bilateral ties. However, the mere existence of these necessary conditions alone does not offer a satisfactory explanation for the dynamic interactive processes which evolved around the Saudi Arabian-Korean connection. Certainly these preconditions define the parameters of the structure of bilateral interaction between two countries in terms of economic and political factors (i.e., comparative advantage and price, structural position in the international economic system and the range of policy choice, and domestic decision-making structure and the level of bilateral preference). It is from these preconditions that we can deduce a set of causal conditions leading to the rise of bilateral ties. Nevertheless, the process-level dynamics and the mechanisms through which this bilateral connection developed are not explained in these preconditions. In this connection, Chapter Two asserted that "the channel and process-level dynamics of inter-South bilateralism are a function of entrepreneurial dynamism (private) in general and the nature of business -state relationship in particular." In other words, since private entrepreneurs carry out economic transactions between two countries, it is essential to examine the role of private entrepreneurship in the evolution of the Saudi Arabian- Korean connection. Under standing the nature of entrepreneurial dynamism within the bilateral setting is not an easy task. However, Chapter Two identifies four behavioral and structural factors associated with business practices of private entrepreneurs: perception or monitoring capability of new markets, overall entry conditions in new markets, market penetration strategy, and the nature of a business connection as a structural determinant of the effectiveness of market penetration. This chapter's hypothesis is that the keener the perception of the new market the more effective the penetration strategy, and the more extensive the magnitude of business connections, the higher the level of bilateral economic transactions. once caveat is in order, however. The entrepreneurial dynamism involved in the Saudi-Korean connection is chiefly one way, rather than two way. While Korean businessmen were anxious to get into the Saudi market, Saudi entrepreneurs were less interested in Korea because their involvement with Korea was solely based on oil exports which did not require entrepreneurial efforts. We focus primarily, therefore, on the entrepreneurial dynamism exhibited by Korean businessmen and on the receptivity of Saudi entrepreneurs.Item Design for Decline: Executive Management and the Eclipse of NASA(1982) Petrovic, Nancy; Elkin, Stephen; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This study examines the organizational development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from the creation of its parent organization in 1915 through the 1960s. It focuses especially on the relationships which the organization's leadership established with external groups and individuals, as well as with its own employees . The dissertation intends to: provide a more adequate explanation of NASA's decline than currently exists; gain some insight into the management of research and development organizations within the federal government; and determine the utility of using different theoretical perspectives for exploring how organizations change. The findings from the case study are related to existing theories of organizations, and different explanations of NASA's decline are evaluated. Among the various reasons identified for NASA's decline, management's maladroit handling of several potentially conflicting organizational goals figures prominently. Steady decline in agency appropriation levels after 1965, coupled with the lack of widely agreed upon criteria to evaluate its technical and management decisions, produced in NASA a striking example of an organization unable to successfully adapt to changes in its external and internal environment.Item The Politics of Variations in U.S. Foreign Direct Investment Policy Towards Less Developed Nations, 1948-1977: Focus on 1973 Policy Reorientation(1982) McDonell, Ann Temple; Piper, Don C.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Previous studies of U.S. policy towards foreign direct investment in less developed nations by U.S. business corporations fail to fully identify policy content and the inter play of variables over time. Utilizing a public policy approach, this research is limited in scope to investment guaranty and expropriation policy. The policies are conceptualized both as dependent variables which need to be explained and as independent variables with influence on political and economic outcomes in inter-state relations. Drawing on Congressional hearings, historical accounts, roll call votes, nationalization cases, comparative country data, and detailed investment, insurance and aid statistics, the research found that international environmental conditions precipitated the formulation of policy content through a particular policy network concerned with investment issues. Investment guaranty policy was found to be primarily determined by foreign policy goals, liberal-conservative ideology, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressional specialists. Politicization of investment issues, accompanied by domestic pressures, caused the breakdown of consensus and policy reorientation in 1973. Investment policy effects, measured by goal aspirations, were marginal but implementation by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation provided unexpected utilities. Adverse effects were created by concentrations of investment, a by-product of unrestricted capital flows. Expropriation policy was determined by business corporate interests and Congress. As nationalizations of U. S. property increased from 1962-1974, counterproductive policy sanctions were mandated. To avoid policy decisions as crisis response, the full range of investment policy issues needs a comprehensive coordinated re-formulation through a restructuring of priorities in the Executive branch of the U. S. government and within the international community.