Development and economic growth: the effectiveness of traditional policies

The empirical evidence of low effectiveness for growth of investment in physical and human capital policies based on international aid is analyzed and discussed (§ 1 and 2). Reasons are linked both to limits of analytical and econometric methods (§ 4) and the existence of strong complementarities between different dimensions of macroeconomic, social and institutional context (§ 3). We critically discuss the new strategies proposed to gain effectiveness in development projects and policies.