The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it examines the evolution of regional disparities among the Italian regions during the period 1980-2007. Secondly, the paper analyses the relationship between public spending and regional productivity growth. This analysis is based on the Regional...

The concept of basic needs is today at the center of many discussions about development and the international order. Some international organizations are rethinking their prior evaluation of development policies based largely on aggregate economic output, in particular, the welfare of the very...

The major objectives of the study is first to describe and analyse agricultural policy in Morocco and second to evaluate this policiy from the perspective of development economics Die vorliegende Arbeit verfolgt zwei Hauptziele. Sie will versuchen, erstens die Grundlinien der in Marokko seit der...

“Being rich in energy resources – a blessing or a curse” finds that an energy resource curse plagues many EU supplier states. This in turn directly affects Europe’s energy supply security and threatens to engulf Europe in unwanted hostilities at home and abroad. The study addresses seven...

This paper focuses on a relatively new issue in the debate on policy coherence for development: the incoherence between tax and aid policies, using a case study of the Netherlands as illustration. Although the Netherlands cannot be considered a ‘pure’ tax haven like the Cayman Islands and...

The material and symbolic importance of these targets make it vital to assess the analytical coherence of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) “project”. In this spirit, this paper highlights complexities and difficulties of the MDG approach. Specifically, it outlines a framework for...

The transition from apartheid to integrated development is a contradictory process characterised by negotiations between an intervention and a market-driven liberal approach. Regarding agriculture, it was expected that a highly efficient and economically viable market-directed farming sector...

Recent political transformations in Arab countries suggest that solutions have to be found for the problem of lacking economic prospects and particularly of high youth unemployment. Such solutions have to consist of economic growth that unfolds widespread employment effects. A tourism policy...

The paper analyses how the theoretical framework of social enterprise proposed in the academic debate could be operationalised in the specific socioeconomic context of Ecuador. Recently, this country designed a new economic paradigm based on the solidarity economy model to reconcile an ambitious...

This paper describes the methods used to construct an index to measure the maritime potential of nations. This prototype uses a limited number of variables to measure (a) the locational advantage of having a long coastline in comparison to the landmass (Maritime Potential Index MPI) , (b) the...