Dr Christian Nygaard (School of Economics, University of Reading)

Local content, regulation and household opinion in Kazakhstan

5.00pm for 5.30, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

Dr Christian (Andi) Nygaard is a lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading.  He is a co-Director of the International Centre for Housing and Urban Economics and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Euro-Asian Studies.  His chief research interests are in long-term change and growth of urban economies as well as evolution of institutions of economic governance.  Recent research has focused on economic property rights analysis in Central Asia and Local Content Policies in Kazakhstan.   

Abstract

Over the past decade or so the Kazakhstani government has adopted various measures to increase the fiscal and non-fiscal benefits from its extractive industries – local content policies is one such development.  The use of local content may of course develop naturally, but when it does not develop governments may substitute for the actions of private actors by contractually or legislatively mandate local content policies to initiate economic development. Recent unrest in one of Kazakhstan’s resource rich regions – Mangistau – arguably highlight controversies around local content policies and the extent to which such policies are perceived as benefitting a wide or narrow section of the population. A project carried out by the Centre for Euro-Asian Studies at the University of Reading and Kainar University in Almaty analyses and contrasts the opinions and attitudes of the general public and policy makers/industry with respect to the natural environment, natural resource industries and rent-distribution. This presentation gives a brief overview of the regulatory environment in Kazakhstan and examines stage one results by analysing household perceptions of local content policies’ impact on welfare, rent-distribution and economic activity in Kazakhstan.

All Welcome - Tea and coffee available

Email: Terry.Cox@glasgow.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)141 330 5585  
http://www.gla.ac.uk/subjects/cees/

This seminar series is supported by the University of Glasgow MacFie Bequest
http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH0079&type=P

First published: 4 November 2011

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