This paper identifies the rationale behind the emergence of private sector development (PSD) as a special area of development assistance. It describes PSD policies’ main elements and instruments and provides an overview of the differences and similarities between the PSD activities of...

Commodity derivatives have been traded for well over a century, often stimulating calls for stricter regulation during periods of major commodity price inflation or deflation. The 2000s, when a sharp rise in commodity prices coincided with a spectacular rise in participation in derivatives...

The paper's background is a revival of the historically dominant narrative on the large-scale and plantation farming (LSF and PF) in Africa, in reaction to the contemporary phenomenon of 'land grabbing'. The historical antecedents of this narrative are examined and its central contentions - that...

The largest Commodity Trading Houses account for a large and increasing share of international trade, linked arguably to their financialization and - according to some commentators - giving rise to issues of 'systemic importance' similar to those applying to large investment banks. This paper...