This book examines key determinants of private sector development in West Africa, putting special emphasis on government s cardinal role in fostering and supporting entrepreneurship. Favorable macroeconomic conditions are identified and it is shown that adequate policies that contribute to economic diversification and industrialization are likely to expand the investment base of the economy. The book also examines new business concepts and regional integration initiatives meant to enhance West Africa s private sector and analyzes the role of finance in promoting development of private firms and the extent to which corruption impedes economic growth. All chapters are highly relevant to West Africa s current policy challenges and therefore inform the region s ongoing policy formulation. The empirical evidence supporting the policy recommendations is based on both qualitative field observations and advanced quantitative estimation techniques."

While 'off the books' consumption is not exceptional in the United States, it is much more common and nearly universal along the U.S-Mexico border. Within the border zone of South Texas, consumption informality is in fact a way of life where 98.9% of South Texans surveyed have consumed informal or underground products. For example, households may employ services such as a coyote (human smuggler), a nanny, or a computer technician to clandestinely bring a family member or valued worker across the border, provide care for children, or repair a home computer, respectively, in transactions that go unrecorded and, more often than not, undetected by the government.
Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy focuses on Hispanic (Latino) consumers from a distinctive region in the United States where informal and underground markets thrive. Using original qualitative ethnographic field interviews and quantitative field survey results, this exciting new volume explores the rationale for and model of 'off the books' consumption in a borderlands environment.

External and internal efforts to help developing countries achieve growth and economic stability, based on Western models, have resulted in frustration at best and in the creation of serious new problems without the resolution of existing ones at worst. Professor Gharajedaghi contends that this general failure stems not from a lack of expertise but from a fundamental misconception of the development process. Challenging common assumptions about the nature of national development planning, he proposes practical new approaches aimed at fostering national and local planning initiatives rather than continued reliance on external and traditional development models. This study is the product of more than 25 years of research and experience in planning in developing nations. It presents a flexible theoretical framework that reflects philosophical, methodological, and conceptual aspects of planning and it may be readily adapted to a full range of development situations.

While the liberalization of trade has entailed adjustment costs for both large and small developing countries and LDCs, preference erosion is particularly onerous for small states. Tony Heron investigates the political and economic consequences and, more particularly, policy responses to the erosion of non-reciprocal preferences caused by the liberalization of trade. Although preference erosion is nothing new, what is striking at the current juncture is the degree to which preference erosion is now dominated by a policy consensus that sees the process as not only unavoidable but also desirable. He seeks not such much to challenge this viewpoint as to explore its political implications by looking at the actual experience of individual countries and regions making the transition from preferential to reciprocal free trade.

Comprising specially commissioned essays, this Handbook provides an expansive overview of alternative theories of economic growth. It surveys major sub-fields (including classical, Kaleckian, evolutionary, and Kaldorian growth theories) and highlights cutting-edge issues such as the relationship between finance and growth, the interplay of trend and cycle, and stability issues in growth theory.Included in the text are comprehensive interpretations of subjects such as: the relationship between aggregate supply and demand and long run growth, the interaction of growth and technical change, and international and regional dimensions of growth. Alternative theories of economic growth represent a vibrant and ongoing research effort to understand the macrodynamics of capitalist economies. As such, this Handbook provides a valuable springboard for further research that will continue the development of these theories, inspiring both existing researchers and those new to the field to build upon the body of work the volume represents.The thought-provoking insights offered by the book?s thorough analysis will provide economists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students with a valuable reference.

This thesis documents almost twenty years of the author's work on the development and implementation of a new approach to holistic community development in remote and disadvantaged villages in Nepal. It describes the theoretical basis of the work, the main research activities, and the practical outcomes of the implemented programs. One of the fundamental cornerstones of holistic community development is the provision of appropriate and sustainable solutions for the long-term development of local communities. This requires that people's own identified needs be recognized and addressed in partnership with them in holistic ways. The author explains the many synergies that result from this holistic approach to community development. Another cornerstone of his approach is to utilise the communities' locally available renewable resources for long-term sustainable development. One of the key findings of the thesis is that improved access to energy services, such as cooking with a smokeless metal stove in a clean indoor environment, basic indoor lighting, and increased food production and safe food storage (through a greenhouse and a solar drier respectively), need to be at the very heart of any long-term holistic community development project. The thesis demonstrates that tapping into locally available renewable energy resources and converting them, through contextualized and locally manufactured renewable energy technologies, has a central role in long-term holistic community development programs. Such programs are successful because they provide both appropriate technologies and life-changing experiences for the local users involved.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of key aspects of food insecurity, including definitional and conceptual issues, information systems and data sources, indicators, and policies. The aim is to equip readers with a sound understanding of the subject that will assist in the recognition of food insecurity and the design of suitable responses. The early chapters discuss the evolution and limitations of the concept and provide a set of conceptual frameworks for the analysis of food security. Systems used to collect data and their evolution over time are then explained, and the most commonly adopted indicators for monitoring food security are presented. Approaches to food security are then thoroughly reviewed decade by decade. Specific attention is paid to the food insecurity challenge in the new millennium, focusing particularly on recent food crises and institutional and policy-related consequences. Finally, the specific terminology of food aid and assistance is examined, with discussion of the instruments recently adopted in the food aid system. This book will be an informative and stimulating resource for both students and professionals.

This book revisits the debate over the new international division of labour (NIDL) that dominated discussions in international political economy and development studies until the early 1990s. It submits that a revised NIDL thesis can shed light on the specificities of capitalist development in various parts of the world today. Taken together, the contributions amount to a novel value-theoretical approach to understanding the NIDL. This rests upon the distinction between the global economic content that determines the constitution and dynamics of the NIDL and the evolving national political forms that mediate its development. More specifically, the authors argue that uneven development is an expression of the underlying essential unity of the production of relative surplus-value on a world scale. They substantiate and illustrate this argument through several international case studies, including Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Ireland, South Korea, Spain and Venezuela.

The Handbook brings together leading scholars in international business as well as other disciplines to contribute state-of-the-art thinking on emerging markets. The volume extends theoretical and conceptual thinking, looks at operational practices and their implications and provides a research agenda to move the field forward.Contributors include a mix of new and established authors from around the world, for a diverse and current set of scholarly perspectives on emerging markets. Combining academic and operationally focused chapters, they offer a multifaceted, in-depth look at specific geographies and functional areas to enrich our understanding of emerging markets. This energetic and varied look at a burgeoning field will be an invaluable resource for academics and for students at the post-doctoral, PhD and MBA levels. Contributors: C.G. Alvstam, O.E. Annushkina, A. Arslan, M.S. Balakrishnan, E. Berselli, N. Bhatnagar, K. Braunsberger, I. Buciuniene, A. Cuervo-Cazzura, M. Demirbag, R.O. Flamm, M.W. Hansen, P.D.O. Jensen, S. Joshi, A. Karna, R. Kazlauskaite, C. Landau, J. Larimo, H. Merchant, K. Nair, W. Newburry, D. O'Reilly, B. Petersen, J. Prabhu, I. Pupieniene, K. Ramachandran, A. Soleimani, P. Strom, E. Tatoglu, F. Taube, L. Trevino, R. Trinca Colonel, C. Vithessonthi, R. Wentrup

An expert on East European politics and economics analyzes and evaluates Western policies toward the new East European democracies as they struggle to build stable political orders and functioning market economies. He argues that the West must give higher priority to assisting the region and reorient its strategies so as to emphasize the political and administrative dimensions of economic reconstruction. He reviews the economic legacy of past Western policies and of Eastern Europe's previous dependency on the Soviet Union, and then examines in detail the changing East-West trade patterns, the prospect for Western investment and technology transfer, the questions of finance, debt, and foreign aid, and the dilemmas of market reform. Students, scholars, policy analysts, historians, and business people will find this fascinating reading. It is an excellent text for courses in U.S. foreign policy, comparative politics, international political economy, East European and Slavic studies, comparative economics, and international trade and finance.

"Promoting Microfinance: Challenge and Innovations in Developing Countries and Countries in Transition" brings together essays and empirical work by leading researchers and practitioners in the field of microfinance. The book covers key issues currently facing the microfinance industry. These include the following topics: challenges and innovations in microfinance policies, design and regulation; the role of microfinance institutions and apex organizations in natural disaster mitigation; achieving the balance between public support and external aid in helping the microfinance industry dealing with natural or man-made hazards affecting both them and their clients; and performance and impact assessment of microfinance institutions. In addition, the book provides an overview of the microfinance industry in selected countries/regions and provides lessons learned from cases spanning countries in Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Together, the collection of essays and studies presented in this volume highlight the challenges faced by the microfinance industry and its future direction.

Today, a large number of scholars studying development understand this process as involving learning and capability building. Capability building is an active, not a passive, process. It requires a purposeful effort from the learner's side, with support and commitment on allocation of time and resources toward learning activities. This process implies the possibility of failure as well as success, as we also learn from failures. A global cast of academics and policy makers examines economic development as a process of learning and technological accumulation, showing how economic development is a process involving creative destruction. While markets and market competition play major roles in structuring the development process, non-market institutions and government policies matter.

The authors discuss the impact of foreign aid and tackle the question of why assessing the impact of aid is so difficult. The authors focus on peer-reviewed, cross-country studies published over the last decade and draw together some global-level assessments, considering the context and conditions under which aid might be said to 'work'. Glennie and Sumner argue that the evidence in four areas shows signs of convergence that may have direct relevance for policy decisions on aid and for aid effectiveness discussions. These are as follows: Aid levels (meaning if aid is too low or too high); Domestic political institutions (including political stability and extent of decentralisation); Aid composition (including sectors, modalities, objectives and time horizons); and Aid volatility and fragmentation. Notably, this study finds that there is no consensus that the effectiveness of aid depends on orthodox economic policies.

How are the economic policies which developing countries adopt selected and how do they change? Who are the key players in economic development policies? Professor Anil Hira answers these questions head on by suggesting new ways of looking at how ideas affect economic policy. He first traces the way that ideas become wedded to interest groups over time, and he interprets the debate over economic development policy as a series of changes in idea-interest networks, often marked by crises. He then looks closely at economic idea entrepreneurs. Through concrete case studies of networks in Latin America, with a focus on Chilean economic policy, Hira explains not only how ideas are introduced, but which ones win out in the economic policy process and why. He introduces the concept of economic knowledge networks to understand groups of economists wedded to certain sets of ideas, such as neoliberalism or structuralism. Economic knowledge networks extend beyond Latin America and can be found in such diverse places as Indonesia and Egypt. Hira identifies the characteristics of these groups and shows how they create political action through their organizational activities and ideas. Hira not only sheds light on how ideas affect economic policy, but also provides an inside story on the groups responsible for the new economic revolution that is sweeping Latin America and transforming the regional economy. An important resource for scholars, students, and policy makers involved with international political economy, emerging economies, and Latin American studies.

The household has traditionally been neglected in studies of Asian political economy. While there is an emergent literature that looks at this relationship, to date, it is fragmented. The contributors consider how the household economy has increasingly been incorporated into development planning and policy making within both states and multilateral development agencies. They examine the social consequences of the tendency to view households as marketizable spaces, and explore how the household economy relates to broader structures of industrial production in the region. With case studies on Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and China, they provide a comprehensive picture of the centrality of the household economy to ongoing processes and struggles associated with the continuous economic transformation of the region.

The implementation of the circular economy will entail a major transformation from a resource-destroying, linear economy to a circular one that operates within the planet's regenerative boundaries. This book presents an interim assessment of the implementation of a circular economy in the EU. It reveals what achievements have been made in various EU institutions, but which are scarcely perceived by the public; which basic scientific principles can be applied in this context; and what NGOs are demanding beyond this progress. It provides convincing arguments for abandoning the "hamster wheel" of material-based satisfaction of our needs, and shows that the primacy of the economy stands in the way of a good life for all. Given its focus, it will appeal to everyone interested in an ecologically sustainable economic system.

Africans Investing in Africa explores intra-African trade and investment by showing how, where and why Africans invest across Africa; to identify the economic, political and social experiences that hinder or stimulate investment; and to highlight examples of pan-African investors.

Budget deficits are features of over 80 percent of the countries in the world. This book analyzes the macroeconomic impacts of these deficits by taking the approach that their stabilization consequences depend largely on their effects on money supply. The book highlights and compares, between the developing and the industrial countries, the characteristics of revenue and expenditure, the various methods of financing budget deficits and their money supply implications, the stabilization consequences of deficit financing, and various issues of monetary control and liberalization of financial markets. Since the evidence on deficits causing inflation is strongest in the developing countries of the Western Hemisphere, the emphasis of the analysis and the recommended solutions and reforms address the developing economies.

The book analyzes the various financial characteristics of developing economies and the features of the revenue and the expenditure sides of budgets to determine the nature and size of deficits. The analysis proceeds by relating budget deficits to their money supply based on various methods of domestic and foreign finance in the industrial and developing worlds. The book then examines the macroeconomic consequences of large increases in money supply and evaluates policies of inflationary finance. The analysis recommends monetary control measures by providing one of the most comprehensive surveys on the relationship between monetary policy instruments and money supply in economic development. The last chapter analyzes methods for liberalizing markets for government securities and examines the experiences of Taiwan and Korea with open-market operations. Ideal as supplemental reading for courses in international money and finance, economic development, and topics in macroeconomics, this book is an important resource for policymakers involved in issues of deficits and monetary policy.

This book is the one of the first to address aid effectiveness as a political and comparative economics question. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition of its republics to market structures and more representative forms of government, the European Commission has recognized the necessity of a closer economic cooperation with Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, the three largest economies of the former Soviet Union. This book suggests that the foreign aid of the European Union provided a set of reform incentives to post-Soviet planners. It created the grounds for the institutional and social transformation of the bureaucracy at both central and regional levels by integrating it into the aid allocation process. In Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, the observed subordination of NGOs to the developmental priorities of the bureaucracy occurred at the expense of diversity and political openness. Nevertheless, this reality led to the emergence of transnational sovereignty partnerships that reduced poverty for the general population and motivated both bureaucrats and entrepreneurs to cooperate. Empirical models alone are not sufficient to delineate all the aspects of principal-agent relationships in post-Soviet bureaucracies. This is why formal modeling and analysis of qualitative data are extremely useful. Evaluation reports indicate the problems and challenges faced by aid bureaucrats and suggest that the weakly institutionalized environments of Ukraine and Central Asia/Kazakhstan are less conducive to aid effectiveness than the heavily bureaucratized environment of Russia. The proposed incentives system for the allocation of foreign aid links EU foreign policy with bureaucratic decision-making and reflects the choice sets of the donor and the recipient. Multilevel definitions of aid effectiveness are provided in the course of the book chapters.

This volume combines economics and ecology in a penetrating examination of the natural resources and environmental issues arising from economic growth, development, and change. The author focuses particular attention on the environmental consequences of economic change and argues that the management and conservation of biological resources is a requirement for sustainable economic growth. By setting traditional economic issues within their wider environmental context and covering issues not ordinarily addressed by economists, Tisdell offers an important new perspective on the problem of resource scarcity. He examines the two conflicting viewpoints on the magnitude of the problem--those who argue that technological progress will make scarcity of natural resources less important and those who argue that economic growth can only be expected to intensify scarcity--suggesting a reasonable course of action that will allow acceptable levels of economic growth while protecting important natural resources. Tisdell's work will be useful both as a supplementary text for courses in development or environmental economics and as recommended reading in biology, environmental studies, and ecology programs.

Following an introduction which covers basic issues in resource scarcity, along with growth and development, the author addresses the major economic, ethical, and ecological issues involved in the conservation of biological resources. He goes on to examine concepts and changing views of sustainable economic growth, production, and development. Subsequent chapters explore such topics as conservation in less developed countries and the economic pressures that hinder conservation efforts, differing views on depletable resources as limits to growth, rural-urban migration and its effects on labor allocation, and foreign assistance to resource-poor developing countries. A case study of wildlife on New Zealand's Otago Peninsula is particularly useful in illustrating the economics of biological conservation. Throughout, Tisdell concentrates on providing a reasoned, balanced assessment of the impact of economic growth and change on the natural environment that will be an important resource for proponents on both sides of the environment versus development debate.

This open access book provides an evidence-based roadmap for revitalising Indian agriculture while ensuring that the growth process is efficient, inclusive, and sustainable, and results in sustained growth of farmers' incomes. The book, instead of looking for global best practices and evaluating them to assess the possibility of replicating these domestically, looks inward at the best practices and experiences within Indian states, to answer questions such as -- how the agricultural growth process can be speeded up and made more inclusive, and financially viable; are there any best practices that can be studied and replicated to bring about faster growth in agriculture; does the prior hypothesis that rapid agricultural growth can alleviate poverty faster, reduce malnutrition, and augment farmers' incomes stand? To answer these questions, the book follows four broad threads -- i) Linkage between agricultural performance, poverty and malnutrition; ii) Analysing the historical growth performance of agricultural sector in selected Indian states; iii) Will higher agricultural GDP necessarily result in higher incomes for farmers; iv) Analysing the current agricultural policy environment to evaluate its efficiency and efficacy, and consolidate all analysis to create a roadmap. These are discussed in 12 chapters, which provide a building block for the concluding chapter that presents a roadmap for revitalising Indian agriculture while ensuring growth in farmers' incomes.

How an economy handles financial and business distress has a major impact on confidence in business, the availability of investment, the cost of credit, and economic growth. The financial crisis of 2007-2008 and its aftermath was a catalyst to legal reform in the field of bankruptcy and restructuring law and brought an added focus to the systemic threat of bank failure to the financial system. This book explores the general principles and practice of legal reform within bankruptcy. From a variety of specialists including practitioners, lawyers, bankers, accountants and judges from the United Arab Emirates, the UK and Singapore, it provides a variety of perspectives on the topic. Chapters include topics such as the 'Four Pillars of Regulatory Framework', the history and application of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, the challenges for financial institutions and the treatment of the insolvency of natural persons. The book also offers a comparative study of Islamic Shari'ah principles with modern bankruptcy regimes, an analysis of bankruptcy in the UAE and an evaluation of the legal infrastructure of the DIFC Courts. The authors explore core questions surrounding bankruptcy law, including its ability to facilitate the turnaround of business, to enable efficient reallocation of capital, to provide coherent rules for entrepreneurs, investors, employees, and creditors, and to provide for both appropriate sanctions and for rehabilitation. ?

Over the past two decades, how has urban agriculture changed in sub-Saharan Africa? Is city farming now better integrated into environmental management and city governance? And, looking ahead, how might urban agriculture address the needs of the low-income households and modernizing cities of Africa? In this book, leading specialists in the fields of urban agriculture and urban environment present a unique collection of case studies that examines the growing role of local food production in urban livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst many issues, the authors probe the changing role of urban agriculture, the risks and benefits of crop-livestock systems, and the opportunities for making locally produced food more easily available and more profitable. Concluding chapters reflect on the policy and governance implications of greater integration of urban natural resources and the built environment, an expanded role for urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and the crucial role of women in urban food systems. "African Urban Harvest" will be of interest to decision-makers, development professionals, researchers, academics, and students and educators in urban planning, development studies, African studies, and environmental studies.

Development cooperation is a comparatively new concept in international relations. The aims of and motives for development cooperation have since changed significantly. Besides pursuing short- and longer-term objectives in their own economic, foreign policy and other interests, donors usually have a recognisable and genuine interest in assisting countries in their processes of development. In the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the international community has an acknowledged frame of reference for global objectives, which play a major role not least in development cooperation.