This paper provides a critical analysis of the World Bank’s new thinking on industrial policy. After outlining the changing perspectives on industrial policy put forward by the World Bank over the last three decades, we argue that the bank’s economists have taken one step forward (the...

This paper provides a briefing for developing countries to apprise them of the main issues which are relevant for development and social welfare in relation to the present and prospective discussions on competition policy in the WTO, UNCTAD, OECD and other fora. Although this is the immediate...

Abstract It is argued here that – contrary to current conventional wisdom – an active market for corporate control is not an essential ingredient of either company law reform or financial and economic development. The absence of such a market in coordinated market systems during their modern...

We set up a theoretical framework to analyze the possible role of economic growth and technical progress in the erosion of social capital. Under certain parameters, the relationship between technical progress and social capital can take the shape of an inverted U curve. We show the circumstances...

Although in the post-World War II period as a whole, developing countries have made substantial economic and industrial progress, during the last decade or so, many of them, particularly in Latin America and Africa, have been in an acute economic crisis . As a consequence, these countries have...

Abstract Two principal analytical and practical policy issues in economic development today are: a) the degree and kind of openness to the world economy a developing country should seek; b) what should the government do, or not do, in order to promote fast economic and industrial development....

Abstract East Asian countries have been catching up with the West for most of the post-war period. Indeed, during the last 15 years, developing East and South East Asia have emerged as the most dynamic region of the world economy. This paper attempts to make analytical sense of this...

Abstract The East Asian countries achieved extraordinarily fast economic growth during the last four decades. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that they represented the most successful case of rapid industrialisation and sustained economic growth in the history of mankind. This paper...

Preface Over the last decade and a half the global economic order has been undergoing major changes. While this may be thought to reflect the results of a multilateral and participatory process involving debate and negotiations, in reality it has been mostly driven by the economic interests of...

The African economies, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) stand today at an important crossroads. During the 1980s, for the average African country, GDP per capita fell at a rate of 0.5 percent per annum; in the 1990s it rose slightly at a rate of 0.3 percent per annum. However, in...