The paper examines the effect of differing policies in the post-independence period on the agricultural and overall economic performance of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It focuses on the interaction between macroeconomic and agricultural policy reforms. It shows that macro and micro reforms need to be...

A partir d’un modèle dynamique d’équilibre général appliqué au Costa Rica, les auteurs analysent les liens entre l’environnement, le commerce international et la croissance économique. Leur étude envisage les conséquences des politiques commerciales et environnementales sur...

Should Mexican agriculture be liberalized? If so, how fast should this be done, and what policies should accompany the transition? We use Mexican agriculture as a case study to analyze the transition problems that arise in most major economic reforms. We focus on the implications for policy...

This paper analyses the effect of fiscal decentralisation on health outcomes in China using a panel data set with nationwide county-level data. We find that counties in more fiscally decentralised provinces have lower infant mortality rates than counties where the provincial government remains...

In this paper, we analyse the potential contribution of the Internet and its commercial application to the development process in poor countries. In historical perspective, the Internet has diffused at a far faster rate than earlier generations of communications technology: from 1990 to early...

This study develops a conceptual framework for analysing the ways in which changes in the economic environment modify factor productivity. It focuses on the technology actually used in production — implemented technology — rather than the generation of technology. Implementation reflects the...

This paper studies the puzzling lack of correlation between income and schooling in macro regressions. It is argued that the root of the puzzle is threefold. First, there is a problem of a proper definition of the way in which years of schooling should enter into a production function. Second,...

Corruption in customs administrations is a major problem in many African countries. Data from the period 1990-96 are used to examine several hypotheses concerning the determinants of customs fraud in Senegal and Mali. Statistical tests using product-by-product data support the widely held view...

The Chinese software industry is small and underdeveloped, compared with its computer and other information technology (IT) hardware industry and compared with India’s software industry. Yet, current status is not necessarily a good guide to future prospects, as China’s recent history amply...

In principle, the sovereign credit rating industry could help mitigate the congestion externalities common to world capital markets that arise from the failure of market participants to internalise the social cost of external borrowings. This would require that modifications in ratings on...