N°
39
27 Oct 2010
Measuring Governance Charles P. Oman, Christiane Arndt
The use of governance indicators, as applied to developing countries, has grown spectacularly in recent years. Following the maxim that you cannot manage what you cannot measure, international investors and official development aid agencies, together with academics and the media, have turned...
N°
38
11 Sep 2008
How to Spend It: Commodity and Non-Commodity Sovereign Wealth Funds Helmut Reisen
Sovereign wealth funds have become important players in global financial markets. But their investments have repeatedly raised concerns, such as fear of industrial espionage or geopolitical threats. This paper argues that the principal motivation for setting up SWFs should put such concerns...
N°
37
08 Sep 2008
To Benefit from Plenty: Lessons from Chile and Norway Gøril Bjerkhol Havro, Javier Santiso
It might seem obvious discovering an asset such as oil or copper would be wonderful news for the country making the find. Yet the opposite is often true. The windfall can bring poverty, civil strife, corruption, inequality, slower growth and undemocratic practices. The phenomenon is known as...
N°
36
01 Aug 2008
Making the Most of Aid: Challenges for Africa's Agribusiness Jeff Dayton-Johnson, Kiichiro Fukasaku
Aid and trade policies – in OECD countries and in developing countries – might reinforce each other to promote development, or they might be substitutes: the sign of the correlation between trade and aid flows depends on the context.
East Asia’s rapid growth demonstrates the important...
N°
35
23 July 2008
Building Public Awareness of Development Annette Scheunpflug, Ida McDonnell
The Millennium Development Goals, the aid effectiveness agenda, and global interdependence have contributed to more demand and a sense of urgency for greater public awareness and learning about these promises, and challenges, in OECD countries.
Donors and practitioners could make greater use...
N°
34
11 Mar 2008
Banking on Development. Private Financial Actors and Donors in Developing Countries Javier Santiso
A large, untapped reservoir of potential partnerships between private financial institutions (banks, asset managers, private equity firms, etc.) and aid donors remains to be fully exploited. Banks, private equity and asset management firms are important parts of a broad set of private actors in...
N°
33
01 Dec 2007
New Actors in Health Financing Denis Drechsler, Felix Zimmermann
With concern about how to finance the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) widespread, recent donor pledges to raise aid volumes are welcome.
However, aid alone will not suffice – bringing in new actors and sources of
development finance will be essential. In many developing countries, this...
N°
32
01 Feb 2007
Commodity Funds Daniel Cohen, Thibault Fally, Sébastien Villemot
Poor countries are and will remain for some time vulnerable to external
shocks, whether to export prices or from natural disasters. The lowest-income
countries have a higher incidence of shocks than other developing countries and
tend to suffer larger damages when shocks occur. For the poorest...
N°
31
01 Dec 2006
After Gleneagles Daniel Cohen, Pierre Jacquet, Helmut Reisen
Suppose a DAC donor earmarks $1 billion of taxpayers’ money for official
development assistance (ODA). The donor may use two instruments as an
outright grant or in combination with a market loan to produce a concessional
loan of $2 billion with a percentage grant element of 50 per cent. Many...
N°
30
01 Oct 2006
Policies for Migration and Development Louka T. Katseli, Robert E.B. Lucas, Theodora Xenogiani
Managing migration has become a priority for policy makers both in developed
and developing countries; it is a difficult challenge indeed. Large immigration or
emigration flows relative to domestic population’s impact on almost all aspects of
an economy and society: family structures, community...
N°
29
01 Sep 2006
Natural Disaster and Vulnerability Jeff Dayton-Johnson
The tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004, to which
more than 225 000 deaths had been attributed by the United Nations’ six-month
review in June 2005, elicited a worldwide humanitarian relief effort unprecedented
in its scale; individuals, firms, non-governmental...
N°
28
01 Sep 2006
Migration, Aid and Trade Jeff Dayton-Johnson, Louka T. Katseli
In November 2005, Glenys Kinnock, Co-President of the ACP EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly, reported that "there are more nurses from Malawi in
Manchester than in Malawi and more doctors from Ethiopia in Chicago than
Ethiopia."1 These Africans had been lured North by work permits targeted...
N°
27
22 July 2005
Changing Social Institutions to Improve the Status of Women in Developing Countries Johannes P. Jütting, Christian Morrisson
. Deeply rooted social institutions – societal norms, codes of conduct, laws and tradition – cause gender discrimination.
. Religion per se does not systematically define such discrimination. All dominant religions show flexibility in interpreting the role of women in society.
. The Millennium...
N°
26
16 May 2005
Policy Coherence Towards East Asia K. Fukasaku, M. Kawai, M. G. Plummer, A. Trzeciak-Duval
OECD countries face at least five major challenges for promoting policies that are consistent with their development goals:
. ensuring security and political stability;
. anticipating the impacts of their macroeconomic policies on developing-country growth;
. increasing both market access and...
N°
25
15 Sep 2004
Which Policies Can Reduce the Cost of Capital in Southern Africa ? Martin Grandes, Nicolas Pinaud
. Lowering interest rates and, thus, the cost of borrowing in the rand zone (Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa) is a priority to promote investment and economic growth.
. Local-currency interest rates in these countries are driven by those on rand-denominated transactions. Reducing...
N°
24
06 Apr 2004
Innovative Approaches to Funding the Millennium Development Goals Helmut Reisen
• Despite post-Monterrey donor initiatives, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are underfinanced.
• The revenue potential, the additionality and the speed of availability of new finance sources, and their political feasibility, are of particular importance.
• On these criteria, it is...
N°
23
24 Feb 2004
Corporate Governance in Developing, Transition and Emerging-Market Economies Charles Oman, Steven Fries, Willem Buiter
• Sound national systems of corporate governance are essential for all countries, including the poorest, to reap the benefits of globalisation.
• "Corporate governance" comprises the institutions that govern the relationship between people who manage corporations and all others who invest...
N°
22
18 Dec 2002
Strengthening Participation in Public Expenditure Management Jeremy Heimans
• Participation by civil society in public expenditure management promises to improve social and economic outcomes while increasing confidence in public institutions.
• Participatory budgeting (PB) programmes depend on the effective engagement of three key domestic stakeholders: governments,...
N°
21
01 Aug 2002
Beyond Johannesburg Georg Caspary, David O'Connor
• Early climate-related actions should be those with a high local economic and/or environmental payoff per unit of impact on greenhouse gases.
• Energy, transport and natural resource management policies can often be better designed to realise greenhouse gas reductions at little or no...
N°
20
06 May 2002
The New Regionalism in Sub-Saharan Africa Andrea Goldstein
• Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa is becoming a vehicle for enhancing private investment through confidence building. Setting clear and easy-to-track priorities is key to achieving these policy goals.
• Regional policy harmonisation or joint infrastructure projects are needed to...
N°
19
18 Feb 2002
Health, Education and Poverty Reduction Christian Morrisson
. The poor are the principal beneficiaries of universal access to social services.
. Instead of thinking in terms of supply, we need to meet the demand for services from the poor.
. Policies should be judged by their outcomes rather than by the amount of resources employed.
. Coherent,...
N°
18
07 Aug 2001
Multilateral Tariff Liberalisation and the Developing Countries Sébastien Dessus, Kiichiro Fukasaku, Raed Safadi
• Tariffs still matter.
• Full tariff liberalisation to 2010 would generate dynamic welfare gains of $1 200 billion (at 1995 prices), equivalent to 3 per cent of World GDP in 2010, from greater efficiency and higher productivity.
• Developing countries stand to gain relatively more from...
N°
17
01 Apr 1999
Participatory Governance Hartmut Schneider
• Empowerment of the poor is one ingredient in effective poverty reduction.
• A demand-driven participatory approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency.
• Accountability is the central lever for participatory governance.
• Capacity building is necessary for making participatory governance a...
N°
16
16 Jan 1999
After the Great Asian Slump Helmut Reisen
• The unprecedented withdrawal of foreign private capital from Asia, more than 10 per cent of GDP in the crisis countries, confronts them with a transfer problem. Creditor governments should induce their home banks into financial rescue operations to reduce moral hazard in private-sector...
N°
15
01 Jan 1999
Pension Reform Monika Queisser
• There are benefits from Latin American pension reform, but they have been overestimated.
• The approaches taken in second-generation reforms and their still early results hold lessons for OECD and non-OECD countries alike.
• A partial shift to funding is feasible and can be financed in...
N°
14
01 Apr 1997
Biotechnology Policy for Developing Country Agriculture Carliene Brenner
• Biotechnology offers the potential for more environmentally-friendly agriculture but the conditions for developing countries to take advantage of that potential should be created.
• Policy intervention is needed to ensure that biotechnology responds to the priorities set for agriculture.
•...
N°
13
01 Oct 1996
The Political Feasibility of Adjustment Christian Morrisson
In the history of adjustment, concern with the political aspects appeared only after long reflection. At the beginning of the 1980s, given the urgency of the financial crises afflicting many developing countries, the only thought was to restore macroeconomic balances, particularly the balance...
N°
12
01 Sep 1996
Policies for Economic Take-Off Jean-Claude Berthélemy, Aristomène Varoudakis
. Political commitment is the key ingredient needed for economic take-off and long-term growth. Poor countries will be unable to escape the vicious circle of poverty unless they and the international community join forces.
. Inappropriate financial policies can lead to a decline in and poor...
N°
11
01 June 1996
The Policy Challenges of Globalisation and Regionalisation Charles Oman
• Globalisation and regionalisation tend to be mutually reinforcing. Policies must ensure that this outcome prevails, for non-OECD and OECD countries alike.
• Globalisation can weaken social cohesion and States’ economic policy autonomy.
• Post-taylorist "flexible" forms of organisation now...
N°
10
01 Oct 1995
What Institutional Framework for the Informal Sector? Christian Morrisson
• Many micro-enterprises are known to the authorities, in particular because they pay taxes.
• Intermediate-revenue countries impose certain standards to protect consumers.
• Wages regulations are only rarely respected.
• The creation and development of micro-enterprises could be assisted by...
N°
9
01 Jan 1995
Pension Fund Investment from Ageing to Emerging Markets Bernhard Fischer, Helmut Reisen
• The rapid ageing of populations in the rich economies can be expected to stimulate strong growth in private funded pensions, providing a massive potential of foreign finance for developing countries.
• Pension managers can reap big diversification benefits by investing on the emerging stock...
N°
8
01 Apr 1994
The Disarmament Dividend Jean-Claude Berthélemy, Robert S. McNamara, Somnath Sen
. In 1990-1991, worldwide military expenditure amounted to $950 billion. This bill could be reduced by the year 2000 by over $300 billion..
. Excessive military expenditure jeopardizes development prospects.
. Policies to achieve transparency and to strengthen military security arrangements...
N°
7
01 July 1993
Employment Creation and Development Strategy David Turnham
. Developing countries will account for almost all the increase in the world's labour force over the next 25 years; most countries, especially in Africa, will experience very rapid labour force growth.
. Labour-intensive development has been spectacularly successful in some countries and others...
N°
6
01 Jan 1993
Towards Sustainable Development in Rural Africa David Turnham
. A growing recognition of the need to delimit the role of the government, to promote the market framework, and to rely on the private sector as the
engine of growth, offers the prospect of a new beginning in rural development in Africa.
. Rural people must take a more dominant role, both in...
N°
5
01 June 1992
Trade Liberalisation Ian Goldin, Dominique van der Mensbrugghe
• Trade barriers seriously distort patterns of international trade, allocation of
resources, and economic growth. The total economic costs of the barriers are
estimated to exceed $475 billion per annum
• Partial reform, such as envisaged in the Uruguay Round, would yield benefits
of $195...
N°
4
15 Apr 1992
Towards Capital Account Convertibility Bernhard Fischer, Helmut Reisen
• Advanced developing countries are increasingly encouraged to remove existing
capital controls, but mixed experiences with capital account opening caution
that reform must be carefully designed to increase efficiency and growth
without compromising stability
• A gradual dismantling of capital...
N°
3
02 Apr 1992
The Privatisation in Developing Countries Olivier Bouin
N°
2
01 Apr 1992
Managing the Environment in Developing Countries David O'Connor, David Turnham
• Environmental policy should be inspired by the recognition that the environment
is everyone’s business; all social actors must be involved in environmental
management
• Policies that implicitly subsidize a wasteful and environmentally destructive
use of resources are pervasive: reforms should...
N°
1
01 Jan 1992
Adjustment and Equity Christian Morrisson
• Adjustment does not necessarily increase poverty
• Adjusting before a crisis reduces social costs
• Refusal to adjust and the suspension of imports leads to self-centred underdevelopment, which is socially much more costly
• The choice of macroeconomic stabilisation measures is important: the...
