When policymakers and practitioners decide that 'empowerment'-usually of women or the poor-is a development goal what do they mean? And how do they determine the extent to which it has been achieved? Despite empowerment having become a widely used term in this context there is no accepted method...

UK NHS contracts mediate the relationship between dental and medical practitioners as independent contractors, and the state which reimburses them for their services to patients. There have been successive revisions of dental and medical contracts since the 1990s alongside a change in the levels...

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Regulation, Markets and Poverty incorporates the main policy implications arising from theoretical and empirical research into competition, regulation and regulatory governance in developing countries. This analysis often challenges conventional wisdom and draws on the work of leading experts...

In this paper, through a case study of a large international non‐governmental organisation, I identify a number of contradictions and tensions that arise when development agencies attempt to foster ‘women's empowerment’. Despite their presentation as apolitical, agencies are inescapably...

Introduction -- Competition and innovation -- Designing competition policy -- Technological and trade competitiveness -- Why regulatory governance matters -- Regulatory policy transfer -- Regulating utilities in developing countries -- Problems of utility privatisation -- Regulating through...

This paper is concerned with analysing of regional disparities in China during the 90's and the main causes behind the increased regional disparities. It has identified regional openness, along with the nature of property right, as a critical influencing factor to the regional disparities, while...