This note suggests that, contrary to the conclusions reached in several recent studies, the empirical evidence does not support the view that financial development promotes economic growth. It is first noted that the predominant pattern in the data for 95 individual countries is that of a...

A secular decline in fertility has taken place across the globe within a short span of human history. The timing and pace of this decline correspond broadly with changes in socio-political institutions in different regions of the world, of Asia, and of India. We hypothesise that this shift in...

Using Taiwanese firm-level data, we confirm that foreign direct investment and R&D have a positive impact, or spillover effect, on productivity. Furthermore, labour quality, firm size, market structure, and export orientation all affect a firm's productivity. Applying Heckman's [1976] two-stage...

This article examines the role of different data collection methods, including the data types they produce, in the analysis of social phenomena in developing countries. It points out that one of the confusing factors surrounding the quantitative-qualitative debate in the literature is that...

In a recent issue of this journal, Klasen [1996] and Svedberg [1990, 1996] have expressed diverging opinions on the nature of gender bias in sub-Saharan Africa. The divergence arises partly out of the choice of indicators and partly out of the choice of standards. It is possible, however, to...

This study investigates whether the concept of surplus labour adequately characterises the labour conditions facing rural Chinese households, and the implications of such a surplus for household labour allocation. Using household survey data from one county in north China, we first estimate the...

We study the effect of devaluation on output in six developing countries of Asia. In an empirical model that includes monetary, fiscal, and external variables, we examine the impact of devaluation as the effect of real exchange depreciation and alternatively as the effect of nominal devaluation...

Development in States of War. Edited by Deborah Eade. Oxford: Oxfam, 1996. Pp.109. £8.95. ISBN 0855983442 Yearbook of International Co-operation and Development: 1998/99. Edited by Helge Ole Bergesen, Georg Parmann and 0ystein B. Thommessen. London: Earthscan for The Fridtjof Nansen Institute,...

A survey of rural migrants employed in enterprises in four Chinese cities is analysed to answer the following questions. Are the productive characteristics of migrants rewarded in the urban labour market? How do migrants compare with non-migrants in their productive characteristics, occupational...