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Countries vary systematically with respect to the incentives of politicians to provide broad public goods, and to reduce poverty. Even in developing countries that are democracies, politicians often have incentives to divert resources to political rents, and to private transfers that benefit a few citizens at the expense of many. These distortions can be traced to imperfections in political markets, that are greater in some countries than in others. The authors review the theory, and evidence on the impact of incomplete information of voters, the lack of credibility of political promises, and social polarization on political incentives. They argue that the effects of these imperfections are large, but that their implications are insufficiently integrated into the design of policy reforms aimed at improving the provision of public goods, and reducing poverty.
To what extent are terrorism and development related? What are the relative weights of the economic, political, and social aspects of development? What is the development impact of different responses to terrorism? This volume addresses these crucial questions, synthesizing what we know about the development links with terrorism and pointing out what we do not. Contributors to this volume examine the economic and fiscal costs of terrorism and the response to terrorism. They conclude that the economic costs of terrorism in rich countries are low, relative to the economic costs of combating terrorism; both are likely high in poor countries. They also report evidence on how development affects terrorism. This work supports the hypothesis that political development - political openness and the quality of government - is inversely associated with the emergence of terrorist organizations, but not that poverty per se is directly responsible for terrorism.
Demonstrates the importance of governance and social institutions to economic performance
Abstract: This essay reviews many of the less considered consequences of the war on drugs, particularly the consequences for developing countries, and weighs them against the evidence that exists regarding the likely efficacy of current strategies to curb drug use and trade. The most important unintended consequences of drug prohibition are the following. First, the large demand for drugs, particularly in developed countries, generates the possibility of massive profits to potential drug providers. Since they cannot be organized freely and under the protection of the law, they resort to the formation of organized crime groups, using violence and corruption as their means of survival and expa...
The essays in this volume employ the insights and techniques of political science, economics and history to provide a fresh answer to this question.
Modern economics has largely ignored the issue of outright conflict as an alternative way of allocating goods, assuming instead the existence of well-defined property rights enforced by an undefined third party. And yet even in ostensibly peaceful market transactions, conflict exists as an outside option, sometimes constraining the outcomes reached through voluntary agreement. In this volume, economists offer a crucial rational-choice perspective on conflict, using methodological approaches that range from the game theoretic to the experimental. This text uses the recently developed contest success function to model conflict, examining such topics as alliance formation, regional conflicts un...
For several decades, fast-growing East Asia has been the envy of the developing world. Not only has East Asia outperformed all other regions of the world, but it also recovered surprisingly swiftly from the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis and the 2008–09 global financial crisis. Nevertheless, investment in the region remains subdued relative to pre-Asian crisis levels. Are current investment rates too low and, given greater investment, could the region grow even more rapidly? This book brings together a rich array of papers analyzing the determinants of, and impediments to, investment and growth. It discusses a range of issues bearing on investment and development. The chapters cover dome...
One strand of research argues that polarized societies find it difficult to reach political consensus on appropriate responses to crises. Another strand focuses on redistribution, asking whether income inequality stifles growth by increasing political incentives to redistribute. Which is right?
Poverty still persists in today’s low-income countries despite decades of international aid, and extensive research on the determinants of growth and development. The book argues that meeting this challenge requires a holistic understanding of the context-specific factors that influence economic behavior and structures in poor countries. Contextual Development Economics approaches this task by offering a methodology that allows analysing the dynamic interrelations between economic, cultural and historical determinants of economic life in low-income countries. The book starts with an empirical inquiry into the economic characteristics of low-income countries that create the context by which...
'. . . this volume is an excellent resource for those interested in the analysis of institutions' design and economic development. . .' - Oscar Alfranca, Progress in Development Studies The main theme of this study is the political economy of policy reform in less developed countries and post-socialist countries. Given the complexity of economic development and transition, Joachim Ahrens views failures in policy reform, poor public sector management, rent-seeking, corruption, and over-centralization as systematic, though not exclusive, instances of institutional failure.