This two-volume original reference work provides a comprehensive overview of development economics and comprises contributions by some of the leading scholars working in the field. Authors are drawn from around the world and write on a wide range of topics.

High rent creates contests for its capture that, unless skilfully managed, degrade political institutions and distort the economy, leading to a collapse of growth if unreformed. Mauritania's projected oil stream risks such an outcome because past rent-driven growth has left a legacy of Dutch...