Essays From The Ghana Valco Renegotiations 1982 85

This book is a second, revised edition of the original 1986 publication. Since then, the issue of contract change has increasingly challenged the business community and legal practitioners. The world-wide recession may well have accelerated the need to secure contractual relationships by reasonable flexibility. Successful foreign investment, a relentless challenge, is subject to many unpredictable errors. Of all these variables, however, successful investment is most dependent on the investor-host country relationship, which is the object of the present study. In particular, the pressure by host countries for contract change and its counterpart: the investor's defence of contract stability. The book is essentially a reference handbook for legal practitioners. It analyzes a variety of increasingly important questions concerning international investment agreements that come under pressure for change by one of the contracting parties: either a transnational corporation or a host country government. The seven case studies and the analytical chapters which follow are based on the author's research and the assistance of corporate and government officials, experts from the United Nations and other organizations, and members of academic research institutes.

This book should be of interest to students and scholars of international economics, international business, management and game theory.

Since its construction in the early 1960s, the hydroelectric Akosombo Dam across the Volta River has exemplified the possibilities and challenges of development in Ghana. Drawing upon a wealth of sources, A Dam for Africa investigates contrasting stories about how this dam has transformed a West African nation, while providing a model for other African countries. The massive Akosombo Dam is the keystone of the Volta River Project that includes a large manmade lake 250 miles long, the VALCO aluminum smelter, new cities and towns, a deep-sea harbor, and an electrical grid. On the local level, Akosombo has meant access to electricity for people in urban and industrial areas across southern Ghana. For others, Akosombo inflicted tremendous social and environmental costs. The dam altered the ecology of the Lower Volta, displaced 80,000 people in the Volta Basin, and affected the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians. In A Dam for Africa, Stephan Miescher explores four intersecting narratives: Ghanaian debates and aspirations about modernization in the context of decolonization and Cold War; international efforts of the US aluminum industry to benefit from Akosombo through cheap electricity for their VALCO smelter; local stories of upheaval and devastation in resettlement towns; and a nation-wide quest toward electrification and energy justice during times of economic crises, droughts, and climate change.

This book on dam-affected communities of the Volta River Project breaks with the mould and tackles the question of long term environmental and socio-economic impacts and responses of two often neglected groups of communities- the downstream and lakeside communities.

Almost everyone has faced the frustrating task of negotiating with government-local, state, national, or foreign-at some point in their lives. Whether they are applying for a building permit from their local zoning board, trying to sell software to the U.S. Defense Department, looking for approval for a merger, or planning to set up a business in Limerick or Bangalore, businesspeople confront a unique set of challenges when dealing with any form of government. Distinguished author, professor and negotiation expert Jeswald W. Salacuse explains the ways in which negotiating with government is very different from private negotiation. In Seven Secrets for Negotiating with Government, he addresses the key variables involved-from the influence of bureaucracy to the perception of power on the government side of the negotiating table. The only book of its kind, this invaluable guide offers succinct, realistic, and accessible advice to help readers recognize the often-hidden interests driving government negotiators and how to use that knowledge to their advantage. Filled with real-life examples, this book will show businesspeople everywhere how to navigate this complex world and win.

Publisher Description

Multinational Enterprises and the Law presents the only comprehensive contemporary and interdisciplinary account of the various techniques used to regulate multinational enterprises (MNEs) at the national, regional and multilateral levels. In addition it considers the effects of corporate self-regulation upon the development of the legal order in this area. Split into four parts the book firstly deals with the conceptual basis for MNE regulation, explaining the growth of MNEs, their business and legal forms and the relationship between them and the effects of a globalising economy and society upon the evolution of regulatory agendas in the field. Part II covers the main areas of economic regulation including the limits of national and regional jurisdiction over MNE activities, controls, and liberalization of entry and establishment, tax, company, and competition law. Part III introduces the social dimension of MNE regulation covering labour rights, human rights, and environmental issues, and Part IV deals with the contribution of international law and organizations to MNE regulation and to the control of investment risks, covering the main provisions found in international investment agreements and their recent interpretation by international tribunals.