Debates over the nature and direction of economic policy in Iran have intensified rather than abated after the tumultuous changes brought about by the revolution in 1979. In the span of these three decades, Iran has witnessed sweeping institutional changes and has been affected by significant...

This paper is a case study of an open small economy whose development and growth is based largely on foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). One purpose of the paper is to uncover the causes that have created such a development pattern. Estonia is a former socialist economy, part of...

Health is a direct source of human welfare and also an instrument for raising income levels. The authors discuss a number of mechanisms through which health can affect income, focusing on worker productivity, children's education, savings and investment, and demographic structure. As well as the...

Following several years of disappointing economic performance, Senegal has made an important turnaround, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaging over 5 percent annually during 1995-2005. This paper shows that macroeconomic and structural reforms are key factors explaining this...

Bangladesh has in recent decades achieved reasonably rapid economic growth and significant progress in social development indicators despite many impediments: the desperate initial conditions after gaining independence, lack of resources, natural disasters, widespread corruption, and a record of...

Export diversification can lead to higher growth. Developing countries should diversify their exports since this can, for example, help them to overcome export instability or the negative impact of terms of trade in primary products. The process of economic development is typically a process of...

Much of the paper is devoted to expounding the standard model of the exchange rate accepted by most economists today. This regards the exchange rate as a forward-looking asset price. Its steady-state level is determined by the need to have a current account balance that will keep the debt/gross...

This paper reviews the linkages between urbanization and economic development. It articulates the relationship between urban density and potential increases in productivity, through specialization, complementarities in production, through the diffusion of knowledge and mimicry, and simply...

Nigeria's long-run growth performance has been extremely poor. Between 1960 and 2000, real income per capita grew at only 0.43 percent per year. The situation improved between 2001 and 2006 when real per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 4.2 percent. This...

Spatial inequality is an important feature of many developing countries that seems to increase with economic growth and development. At the same time, there seems to be little consensus on the causes of spatial inequality and on a list of effective policy instruments that may foster or reduce...