With Asia as its backdrop, this book investigates the role played by the World Bank Group (WBG) in conceptualising and promoting new mining regimes tailored for resource-rich country clients. It details a particular politics of mining in the Global South characterised by the transplanting, hijacking and contesting of the WBG's mining agenda.

Why have the economies of some developing countries fallen back while others have advanced? Why have so many stabilization and structural adjustment programs failed to deliver growth dividends? This book shows that there is a common and valid answer: political credibility defined as the predictability of the institutional rules of the game. This case is not only argued theoretically but also found to be confirmed by empirical analysis. Ten case studies pitting Latin American countries against Southeast Asian ones reveal the sources of political credibility. Economic openness is the necessary precondition, long-term reputation or democratic participation the sufficient one. Despite the seemingly superior strength of authoritarian reputation democratic control is the more successful road.

This is a demonstration that poverty remains a universal phenomenon, even as most parts of the world see increase in affluence of varying degrees. Cutting across the globe, the study focuses on 24 countries including the industrialised economies, planned economies, developing market economies, mixed economies and the least developed economies. Professor Khusro examines the causes of poverty and of development, the impact of colonialism and the industrial revolution and policies for reducing global poverty today. Theoretical questions of measuring poverty are allied to historical and contemporary analysis.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. WIDER The World Institute for Development Economics Research, established in 1984, started work in Helsinki in 1985, with the financial support of the Government of Finland. The principal purpose of the Institute is to help identify and meet the need for policy-oriented socio-economic research on pressing global and development problems and their inter-relationships. WIDER's research projects are grouped into three main themes: hunger and poverty; money, finance, and trade; and development and technological transformation. Volume III deals with the strategic options for the elimination of endemic hunger. The topics covered include: the comparative extent of hunger and deprivation in different parts of the world; the influence of food production; the interconnections between economic growth and public support; the role of economic diversification in reducing vulnerability; the potential impact of direct public provisioning on living standards; and the politics of public action. In addition to general analyses, the book examines the international relevance of a number of specific country experiences in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (including those of China, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Kenya, Bangladesh, and Nigeria).

This book reviews the key conceptions and economic theories of poverty, explains poverty-environment nexus, and finally offers innovative socio-economic and scientific geospatial solutions for the 21st Century. The book makes it possible for our readers to understand poverty thorough a concise review of the major theoretical economic frameworks, measures of poverty, and points out the need to understand rural-urban dichotomy of poverty.

We find the theories and measures to be less-than perfect and therefore point out the need to treat these measures and theories as convenient tools lacking perfect accuracy and utmost scientific reliability. It follows then that the supposedly knowledgeably crafted poverty reduction and environmental preservation solutions are inherently imperfect.

The economic solutions proposed in this book transcend extant humdrum macroeconomic and policy measures targeting poverty and environmental issues. We point to a new paradigm in which private sector and other stakeholders can create new and inclusive markets where value is co-created and shared.

Above all, this book offers timely state-of-the-art geospatial solutions targeting the most pressing global problems of water, e.g., the use of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions to estimate changes in stored water in the water-poverty-environment nexus, pollution, agriculture and disaster management, where geospatial techniques are applied under strong environmental impact assessment regulatory regimes.

"This book provides a good summary of economic theories of poverty as well as a vivid depiction of the state of environmental degradation in the world. People often work separately on different issues that are, in fact, closely intertwined. The principle of holism is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and I believe that this joint-venture of two experts on poverty and environment has produced something more than a sum of two separate monographs on the issues. Various points raised in this volume are worth heeding when we think of formulation and implementation of a truly effective post-MDGs development agenda."

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"Yoichi Mine, Professor of Human Security and African Area Study, Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University, Japan"

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Giovanni Graziani examines Gorbachev's reforms in terms of economic relations with the Third World and presents a detailed and sophisticated statistical analysis of Soviet economic assistance and trade. This book critically evaluates all the statistical data from Soviet and United Nations sources and presents the changing Soviet attitude toward indebtedness and the growing dissatisfaction expressed by both the Third World and the U.S.S.R. over the management of Soviet aid. The author notes a contradiction between Gorbachev's strategy and statistical evidence for the first years of his office, but stresses that the recent moves to trade with South Korea and other Asian countries are bound to affect the Soviet geographical pattern of trade. His estimates show the increasing importance of agricultural products and fuels in Soviet imports and of military equipment and fuels in its exports. Particularly interesting is what Graziani calls the oil imbroglio, a triangular trade pattern in which the U.S.S.R. has increased its imports of crude oil from the Third World for reexport to the West in order to stabilize its export earnings in hard currencies threatened by falling oil prices. The book concludes that no expansion of Soviet economic ties with the Third World is foreseen in the short run and that eventual Soviet participation in international economic organizations might further entail new conflicts with the Third World.

Countries in Latin America have only recently begun to liberalize their economies and move towards free trade. However, non-traditional barriers to trade threaten this new direction of development. This collection of papers uses the point of view of a developing country to analyze the effects of new forms of protection. Four cases examine the global effects on Latin American trade, specifically: environmental standards, labor standards, consumer protection, and the problems facing Latin American cross-border investment.

Examines the policy of conditionality and cross-conditionality, which international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank apply to grant loans to developing countries. The explosion of conditionality has become a key issue in international relations since the mid-1980s. This book presents six detailed country studies on the issue, written by distinguished academics and/or senior policy makers, from these countries. The countries featured include Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and Tanzania and conclusions and policy lessons are drawn from these.

Economic reforms in China began in 1979 and initiated some of the most fundamental changes ever to occur in any country. While allowing some of the most astonishing economic growth the world has seen, they have also induced some of the most profound social and environmental shifts. This volume looks at two aspects of the impacts of the reforms, firstly on the demography of the country (especially migration and urbanization), and secondly on the environment. A third section examines various problems of environmental degradation in relation to natural processes and human efforts to mitigate their effects.

First published in 1975, this book traces the origins of our modern economy, showing the routes by which nations have either achieved wealth or have been impoverished. W. W. Rostow brings together issues of public policy, international trade and the world of science and technology, arguing that conventional economic thought has failed to relate scientific innovation to the economic process. Chapters consider the politics of modernization, the Commercial Revolution and the development of the world economy between 1783 and 1820.

Development finance is one of the foremost challenges facing African Countries and the international community in the new century. African countries in particular have experience modest economic recovery during the 19990s. Vijay S. Makhan explores these improvements, while describing the "vicious circle" in which the economic structure cannot generate enough savings and export earnings needed to finance the development and mount a sustained assault on poverty.

The term 'structural adjustment' has been associated with rioting as angry and hungry masses protest food price increases due to subsidy cuts or due to other structural adjustment conditions prescribed by the IMF and the World Bank. Structural adjustment, and the neo-liberal paradigm that underlies it, is now the dominant economics paradigm practised by developing countries. The main purpose of the book is to rely on evidence and to go beyond rhetoric, ideology and anecdotes in assessing structural adjustment in Pakistan and the developing world more generally to examine how reform can be combined with pragmatism and social justice.

In a bold attempt to develop an innovative theory of political change arising from dual economic and political transformations, Iheduru maintains that economic structural adjustment policies have unintended political consequences, leading to democratic liberalization in post-colonial African states. Using classical, dependency, and neoliberal approaches as a backdrop, he demonstrates that structural adjustment policies shaped by conditionality measures foster the operation of free-enterprise market forces. As a social consequence of the reform effort, winners and losers organize to protect their interests, first in the economy and later in the political arena. Thus the structural reorientation of African economies leads not only to the ascendancy of the market and economic growth but also to the political opening of the African state, thereby facilitating the participation of excluded groups.

In conclusion, Iheduru predicts that structural adjustment is the best policy alternative for initiating and sustaining meaningful economic changes in Africa. Moreover, he claims, it may be a deciding factor in the possible democratizing of the African continent, which would provide an auspicious atmosphere for a properly functioning market economy.

Regions are increasingly recognised as a key aspect of economic change in Europe, not merely as geographic spaces but also as social systems. Their history, culture, institutions and patterns of leadership mould the way in which they adapt to European and global competitive challenges. This book reviews the debate surrounding the construction of regions and presents eight case studies to illustrate how they are shaped and reshaped in a variety of different ways. The authors find that while some regions exhibit common patterns, there are significant variations, indicating that there is no definitive model of regional development. This book offers a systematic comparison of eight distinct regions and stateless nations, each with its own historical identity, but which is constantly being rebuilt in changing economic and political conditions. Avoiding economic or cultural determinism, the authors show how region-builders can shape their own responses to global challenges to produce models of development reflecting differing understandings and social compromises. Culture, Institutions and Economic Development will be warmly welcomed by academics within the fields of regional studies, European studies and political science.

This book examines how international aid donors and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) can assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The book examines the progress countries have made towards the MDGs and highlights the need to tailor the goals to individual country circumstances.

The process of globalization has had a dramatic impact on the lives of women in developing countries. In the past decade, they have been increasingly drawn into insecure flexible employment working for the world market. This book explores the experiences of women in diverse local contexts within different cultures and faiths, drawing on case studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It draws out the contradictory and fragmented impact of globalization at the local level on the lives of women in the developing world.

More than half the world's sovereign states are small economies. The majority are developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean Basin. The globalization process poses special challenges for small economies because of their vulnerability and lack of diversification. How should they overcome the limitations of smallness and become better integrated into the world economy? How should they take advantage of the opportunities resulting from globalization while avoiding the pitfalls? Opening the economy is widely recommended, but there are important risks for which policy-makers need to define a balanced response. This book discusses the main strategies or options for small developing economies towards better integration into the world economy. They include membership of the World Trade Organization and unilateral economic liberalization. Another important strategy is regional integration among developing countries. Many small states also continue to rely heavily on special trade arrange-ments with industrial countries. Recently a lot of attention has been paid to quite a different strategy: North-South integration with reciprocal obligations. In practice, the strategies are not mutually exclusive, but must be combined into a coherent policy package for maximum advantage.

This volume brings together the results of the symposium on Economic Development under Prolonged Occupation held at Oxford University in January 1986. The basic aim of the symposium was to stimulate research and discussion on issues of economic development by a prolonged occupation. It brought together a number of development economists, representatives from development assistance organisations and other individuals engaged in one facet or another of social and economic development in the occupied areas. The papers presented here reflect the wide range of thought on the issues surrounding the Palestinian Economy."

The study of diverse yet comparable regions uncovers structural similarities that override the "defective culture" theory of developing regions as well as the belief that they are unique ecological phenomena. This collected work establishes Appalachia as a case study for a coherent cross-national perspective. Written by authorities on the social and economic problems of these regions, this work should assist in alleviating some of the most striking misconceptions about regional development.

Regional development problems in China have been focused on by many analysts and policy makers. From the viewpoint of regional development policy, it is highly important to consider the spatial interactions among different regions. Most of the approaches have focused on certain specific regions, without taking into account interregional interdependency. The aim of this book is to analyze regional development in China from the viewpoint of spatial interaction by using inter-regional input-output model for China.

This volume analyzes various important aspects of methodology and substance regarding economic, social and political policy in Africa directed toward achieving more effective, efficient and equitable societal institutions. The chapters are authored by experts from within Africa and also from Africa research institutes elsewhere. It combines practical policy significance with insightful casual and prescriptive generalizations. The emphasis is on the role of governmental decision-making and the important (but secondary) role of the marketplace, social groups and engineering.

This 29th volume in the "Research in Economic Anthropology" series explores economic development, integration, and morality in economic transactions in Asia and the Americas through 14 original chapters based on ethnographic evidence collected by the authors. Under development, chapters look at, amongst others, underground gambling behavior in China in light of that country's current economic boom, recent retail store expansion and local socioeconomic effects in rural Mexico, and also women's economic activities as part of the household economy in Oaxaca, Mexico. As for economic integration, authors investigate monetization in the historical and archaeological records of the Angkorian Empire, transnational economic links between coffee producers in Costa Rica and Panama and concurrent socio-economic effects at the production sites. Finally, under the moral, chapters examine the culture of restaurant tipping in North America, the pre-school education market in northern Japan against a backdrop of scarcity of children, narrative and social pressure in a North American market environment, and the role of social capital in gender-specific credit association membership in Puebla, Mexico.

With dynamic growth in China and India, recovery in Europe and Japan, and notable gains in U.S. productivity, the question arises: Can Latin America compete? Many argue that macroeconomic and trade reforms achieved in the 1990s merely put a handsome coat of paint over education, labor, judicial, and administrative reforms that remain incomplete. This book identifies and analyzes ten factors that most influence the competitiveness of Latin American nations and will shape their economic futures. In their frank and direct assessment--pulling no punches--the authors also present viable courses of action that Latin America can take to increase its ability to compete in the global economy.

"The New Economy in Development" presents conceptual and empirical analyses of the opportunities offered by information and communications technologies (ICT). By focusing on the interrelationships between ICT, services, globalization, international agreements and broader development goals, the volume offers a range of policy options for harnessing ICT for development. Contributors include scholars and policy makers from international organizations, and the chapters include understudied cases from Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

This work discusses the unequal impact of development policies in East Asia and Latin America. Written by economists and political scientists from Brazil, Chile, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and the US, chapters in the book share a political economy perspective and are the result of collaborative work co-ordinated by researchers at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. In addition to chapters on particular countries and on broad subjects, there are three chapters presenting detailed comparisons of pairs of countries - Brazil and Korea, Indonesia and Mexico, Chile and Malaysia.