This paper provides a first systematic examination of the graduation trends and prospects after the 4th UN Conference on the least developed countries and the adoption of the Istanbul Plan of Action (IPoA). A major statement of the IPoA is "the aim of enabling half the number of least developed...

Introduction: A short story of the LDCs graduation[1]The Least Developed Country (LDC) category was from the start meant to include low income countries facing structural handicaps to economic growth (in the 2011 CDP report economic growth has been replaced with "sustainable development"). Under...