National development banks (NDBs) have transformed from outdated relics of national industrial policy to central pillars of the European Union's economic project. This trend, which accelerated after the Financial Crisis of 2007, has led to a proliferation of NDBs with an expanded size and scope. However, it is surprising that the EU - which has championed market-oriented governance and strict competition policy - has actually advocated for an expansion of NDBs. This book therefore asks, Why has the EU supported an increased role for NDBs, and how can we understand the dynamics between NDBs and European incentives and constraints? To answer these questions, the contributing authors analyze the formation and evolution of a field of development banking within the EU, identifying a new field around an innovative conceptualization of state-backed financing for the purposes of policy implementation. Yet rather than focusing solely on national development banks, the authors instead broaden the focus to the entire ecosystem of the field of development banking, which includes political institutions (both in Brussels and in the member states), financing vehicles (such as the Juncker Plan), regulatory bodies (Directorate-General for Competition, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs), and commercial actors. Seven in-depth case studies on European NDBs, along with three chapters on European-level actors, detail this field of development banking, and answer the questions of when, where, and how development banking occurs within the EU.

More than three billion people, nearly half of humankind, live on less than two-and-a-half U.S. dollars per person per day. Studies have shown repeatedly that the main and often the sole asset of the poor is their labor. It follows that to understand global poverty one must understand labor markets and labor earnings in the developing world. Excellent books exist on ending world poverty that discuss in depth many important aspects of economic development but do not focus on employment and self-employment, work and non-work. Working Hard, Working Poor fills in where the other books leave off. Issues of analyzing poverty and low earnings in the developing world are quite different from those in the developed world. The discourse in the developed world is about incentive effects of social welfare programs, cultures of poverty, single-parenthood, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, ill health, mental illness, domestic violence, and the like. But in the developing world, different issues predominate, such as own-account work and household enterprises, agricultural work, casual employment, and informal work. And some of the policy issues-stimulating economic growth, harnessing the energies of the private sector, increasing paid employment, and raising the returns to self-employment-take a different twist. This book shows how people in poverty work, what has been effective in helping the poor earn their way out of poverty, and how readers might help.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems constructed by disadvantaged entrepreneurs often exist beside, within, and in opposition to 'mainstream' ecosystems focused on high growth high technology entrepreneurial ventures. Disadvantaged Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem addresses the lack of current research concerning disadvantage using an entrepreneurial ecosystem lens, and the failure of entrepreneurship policy to widen engagement in entrepreneurship for disadvantaged people and places. Drawing together issues affecting disadvantaged entrepreneurs as they struggle to access, interact with, and benefit from, the traditional entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE), these findings highlight the importance of their motives for entrepreneurial activity, their resources, and how access to these are affected by issues such as gender and migrant status. The research in this book also suggests policymakers need targeted, supportive, business-support programs taking into consideration the multiple challenges disadvantaged entrepreneurs typically face.

The Horn of Africa has suffered repeated disasters: wars, drought, famine, mass refugee movements and environmental decline. This book explains the historical and political background to these crises and outlines the prospects for development in the region. Experts on the Horn cover a broad range of topics, including ethnic conflict, gender and refugees, food security, the survival of pastoralism, the future of independent Eritrea, operations of intelligence agencies and the possibilities for regional co-operation.

Since the 1960s the resource-poor countries have grown much faster that the resource-rich ones. This reflects basic differences in the speed of industrialization and the nature of the political state that are rooted in the natural resource endowment. Most resource-rich countries experienced a growth collapse in the 1960s and 1970s. This book shows how policies for economic recovery must be adapted to reflect differences in the natural resource base and type of political state.

This joint World Bank-ILO study traces the experience of 19 countries in reforming their vocational education and training policies and summarizes the lessons learned, focusing on obstacles to implementing changes in response to changing labor markets and innovative approaches to overcoming these constraints. The four main messages emerging from the study are: that matching instrument to target group is vital; the role of governments as facilitators has often been overlooked; the assumed reluctance of private providers to enter the field is a myth; and lack of political will, not institutional capacity, is the main obstacle to comprehensive reform.

The book presents a comprehensive study of the impact of policy reforms on output, employment, and productivity growth across sectors of India since 1991. It showcases varied responses from different sectors as they faced different degrees of policy interventions, and challenges or opportunities as regards markets, technology, and availability of skills and other complementary resources. The book also discusses the contributions of the service sector on India's GDP and employment. The book throws light on the phenomena of rising inequality and persistent poverty which continues to shadow and be a hallmark of post-reform India, despite high economic growth. It underlines the failure of these reforms to bring about major change in social and economic organizations and institutions. The book's contents stress on the criticality of addressing these issues as they have a serious potential of jeopardizing the country's ability to maintain high growth momentum. With these pertinent topics, the book would be of interest not only to the research community, but also to policy makers and practitioners of various sectors addressed here.

Globalization, the return to a multi-party system of government, and the policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank have led to near revolutionary labor relations in Ghana. As Panford shows, these new social and economic forces have unleashed new and even contradictory labor policies and practices which are having profound social, political, and economic consequences. Panford examines how the Ghana Constitution of 1992 led for the first time to new workers' rights, including the right to affiliate with any local, national, or international union. In response to globalization and policies advocated by the IMF and the World Bank, the Ghana government sought to resist worker demands for improved working and living conditions. The situation was worsened by the privatization of state-owned businesses and severe cuts in public employment. In this environment of tense labor relations, government hostility, and weak employment, Panford traces the ways workers are revitalizing unions and developing new sources of jobs and finances. These include relatively aggressive systematic organization of women, senior staff, and the informal/agricultural sector. One of the most important initiatives of the unions is the creation of a workers' trust to establish and finance worker-owned enterprises. The evidence presented by Panford indicates the failure of IMF and World Bank policies, and he calls for new and viable policy alternatives with emphasis on enhancing Ghana's global competitiveness and meeting genuine development needs. A thoughtful analysis that will be of interest to scholars and researchers involved with development and international economics, labor relations in the developing worldand the increased involvement of international financial institutions.

China's Economic Development, 1950-2014: Fundamental Changes and Long-Term Prospects is a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of Chinese economic development from 1950-2014 focusing on current world-wide attention to the economic reform. Chu-yuan Cheng covers a wide range of topics, including the cultural effects and ideological influences on China's economic development; the process of China's transition from a planned to a market economy, leadership changes and the root of the Cultural Revolution; the machine-building industry and scientific and engineering manpower in China; China's new development plans in the twenty-first century and the process and consequence of the "Quiet Revolution"; the international economic relations including the U.S.-China, Sino-Japanese economic relations and access to WTO; economic relations across the Taiwan Strait and the formation of the Greater China Economic Sphere; and the long-term development prospect of the Chinese economy in the twenty-first century and beyond.

This book examines the ways in which universities can play a crucial role in inclusive development, social innovation and social entrepreneurship. It aims to prove the importance of inclusive development and inclusive innovation on economic growth and demonstrate the ways in which universities can be pioneers in this area through initiatives in social responsibility and social innovation. For example, providing access to a university education without discrimination of race, gender, income status, or other factors would help to diminish the increasing income differentials currently being experienced in many countries, especially in the developing world. The research and studies included in this book provide insight into possible actions that can be taken by universities and public and private shareholders in inclusive development, social innovation, social entrepreneurship and overall regional economic and social development. Innovation is currently considered to be the most important and dynamic factor explaining growth and development. At the same time, the traditional view considering innovation as having to be commercialized at any price is being challenged. Lately, there has been growing interest in innovation in the public sector, particularly with respect to social innovations designed to reduce income inequality. To address these concepts, constant exchange of ideas and information between research groups became necessary. UniDev (Universities in Development - the Evolving Role of Academic Institutions in Innovation Systems and Development) is an international research group with researchers in twelve countries interested in the role of universities in development. This book features the results of research performed by eleven research groups from UniDev country communities, presenting in-depth and comparative case studies from universities around the world, including Latin America, Northern and Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. This title will be of interest to students, academics, researchers, and policy makers interested in the role of universities in development, social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Midway through the eighteenth century, the rate of growth for the world's population was roughly at zero. Immediately after World War II, it was just above 2 percent. Ever since, it has fallen steadily. This new book, the latest offering from a distinguished expert on international economics, tells readers what this stagnation or fall in population will mean--economically, politically, and historically--for the nations of the world.
W. W. Rostow not only traces the whole global arc of this "great population spike"--he looks far beyond it. What he sees will interest anyone curious about what is in store for the world's financial and governmental systems. The Great Population Spike and After: Reflections on the 21st Century contends that, as the decline in population now occurring in the industrialized world spreads to all of the presently developing countries, the global rate of population will fall to the "zero" level circa 2100. (Indeed, with the exception of Africa south of the Sahara, it could reach "zero" long before then.) This being so, how will it be possible to maintain full employment and social services with a decelerating population? What will societies do when the proportion of the working force (as now defined) diminishes radically in relation to the population of poor or elderly dependents? How will the countries of the world confront subsequent decreases in population-related investment?
In answering these queries, this bold study asserts that the United States is not the "last remaining superpower" but the "critical margin" without whose support no constructive action on the world scene can succeed. Rostow takes the view that world peace will depend on ourgovernment's ability to assume responsibly this "critical margin" role. Further, he argues that, over a period of time, the execution of this strategy on the international scene will require a bipartisan, relentless effort to solve the combustible social problems that weaken not only our cities but our whole society.

This edited volume discusses the role of innovation and regional integration in economic development in Africa. Over the past five decades, post-colonial African countries have struggled to break loose from the trap of poverty and underdevelopment through the adoption of various development strategies at regional, national, and continental levels. However, the results of both national and regional efforts at advancing development on the continent have been mixed. Although the importance of agglomeration and fusion of institutions have long been recognized as possible path to achieving economic development in Africa, the approach to regionalism has been unduly focused on market integration, while neglecting other dimensions such as social policy, mobility of labor, educational policy, biotechnology, regional legislation, manufacturing, innovation, and science and technology. This volume investigates the link between innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa, arguing that the immediate and long term development of Africa lies not just in the structural transformation of its economies but in the advancement of scientific and innovation capacities. The book is divided into four parts. Part I addresses the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of innovation and regional integration in Africa. Part II presents case studies which examine how regional economic institutions are fostering innovation in Africa. Part III of the book deals with sectoral issues on innovation and integrated development in Africa. Part IV sets the future research on innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa. Combining theoretical analysis and a comparative, interdisciplinary approach, this volume is appropriate for researchers and students interested in economic development, political economy, African studies, international relations, agricultural science, and geography, as well as policymakers in regional economic communities and the African Union.

Banking entities have significant involvement and impact on the structure of a nation's economy. By utilizing the proper strategies and available data, banks can act as an effective financial instrument for economic enhancement. Examining the Role of National Promotional Banks in the European Economy: Global Insights and Implications is a pivotal reference source for the latest perspectives on the performance and evaluation of National Promotional Banks (NPBs) within European economic contexts and their impact on social welfare. Featuring relevant coverage across innovative topics, such as funding, productivity, and financial structure indicators, this publication is ideally designed for professionals, academics, graduate students, and practitioners seeking investigations on the European NPB business model.

The issue of government or state involvement in the process of economic development and reform has become very popular in the economic development literature. This timely volume examines China's post-Mao economic reforms, and the Chinese government's involvement in the process of managing those reforms. Focusing on management issues, the book considers the state led reforms from a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective. The work consists of two parts--the experience of China's post-Mao reforms and major issues associated with the reforms. The first part covers the background, stages and measures, and achievements and problems of economic reforms. The second part addresses major changes in China's regional development, administrative system, and state-society relations. A final chapter considers the lessons of China's economic reforms.

More than half of the world's sovereign states are small economies. The majority are in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean Basin. For small economies, the globalization process involves opportunities, but also important risks because of their vulnerability and lack of diversification. This book discusses the advantages and pitfalls of different strategies for small developing economies to become more integrated into the world economy. It should help with the formulation of a coherent and effective policy response.

Nine world-class experts on the African economy share their knowledge regarding the potential for real improvement and growth in food production and the development of grassroots economies that will benefit citizens as well as governments. Economic models that assume good incentives, infrastructure, entrepreneurial skills, and a level trading field cannot be invoked. Structural adjustment in African countries has led to unintended consequences because the common people and the small farmers have not been consulted. Domestic food production, the crux of Africa's economic problem, has been downgraded because of the emphasis on export crops. To develop self-sufficiency and food security, African nations must mobilize domestic resources, improve the human resource capacity, and strengthen their scientific and technological bases. They must also cooperate in integration schemes rather than compete for the available Western aid.

Distinguished experts on African development offer their considerable knowledge and background to the coming crisis in Africa. They examine not only development but also related factors such as foreign trade, politics, indigenous traditions, and international relations in order to understand development problems on the continent. It is one of the first volumes since the end of the Cold War to analyze African development, or the lack thereof, that had polarized the developing countries for the past 30 years. Yansane and his contributors present the strengths and weaknesses of various development strategies including ideas for the future, such as the inclusion of the human dimension that was overlooked in past strategies for growth. This inclusion would increase participation and the accountability of the political system and parties.

This volume discusses post-socialist urban transport functioning and development in Russia, within the context of the country's recent transition towards a market economy. Over the past twenty-five years, urban transport in Russia has undergone serious transformations, prompted by the transitioning economy. Yet, the lack of readily available statistical data has led to a gap in the inclusion of Russia in the body of international transport economics research. By including ten chapters of original, cutting-edge research by Russian transport scholars, this book will close that gap. Discussing topics such as the relationship between urban spatial structure and travel behavior in post-soviet cities, road safety, trends and reforms in urban public transport development, transport planning and modelling, and the role of institutions in post-soviet transportation management, this book provides a comprehensive survey of the current state of transportation in Russia. The book concludes with a forecast for future travel development in Russia and makes recommendations for future policy. This book will be of interest to researchers in transportation economics and policy as well as policy makers and those working in the field of urban and transport planning.

Miller and Henthorne give U.S. investors and entrepreneurs the insights they need to capitalize upon the rapidly expanding, but still open, Cuban tourism industry--the island's major industry. This authoritative examination of the market for Cuban tourism provides comprehensive information on Cuban contacts and data sources that are accessible to foreigners; insights into the competition and possible competitive strategies, plus the general background on Cuba and its economy that investors must have for an understanding of Cuba's potential. With its lists of references and contacts, Miller and Henthorne's study will be invaluable to international tourism executives, particularly specialists in strategic planning and the development of strategic business alliances as well as international marketers and business development officers.

Miller and Henthorne have written their book for the day when relations and travel ties are reestablished between Cuba and the United States--a day that in their opinion will soon come. From their personal visits and interviews with Cuban officials in banking, finance, investment, politics, and the tourist industry itself, Miller and Henthorne have compiled material that is unavailable from any other single source. Here is detailed, first hand, timely information on Cuba's tourism resources, opportunities, infrastructure, competitors and competition, peculiarities, and historical and regional background for the benefit of investors in the United States and worldwide.