Bøker i WIDER Studies in Development Economics-serien

The transformation undertaken by the countries of the former communist bloc exhibits immense diversity in terms of initial conditions, shifting targets, consistency, speed, progress and economic performance. This text presents a comprehensive study of the economics and politics of post-socialism.

Over the last fifty years Asia has transformed beyond recognition. Resurgent Asia provides an analytical narrative of Asia's incredible development situated in the wider context of historical, political, and social factors.

This volume looks beyond the distribution of income by examining the assets, debts, and net worth of individuals and households to create a global picture of wealth, its distribution and concentration. Unlike previous studies, this study includes material on a number of transition and developing countries as well as high income OECD countries.

This volume brings together a significant new collection of studies on formality and informality in developing countries. Containing contributions from some of the very best analysts in development studies, the volume is multidisciplinary in nature, with contributions from anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists.

India is a country of great diversity. This volume of essays reflects an attempt to draw lessons from the disparate experiences within India, rather than from contrasts with the experiences of other countries. A general overview precedes detailed studies of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal.

This acute examination of the quality of women's life addresses a variety of particularly urgent questions. It develops a universal account of women's quality of life and in doing so confronts issues of cultural relativism. An account of gender justice and women's equality is proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured.

Part of a major report on world hunger instigated by the World Institute for Development Economics Research, this volume deals with possible solutions to the problem of regular outbreaks of famine in various parts of the world.

Focusing particular attention on sub-Saharan Africa, this volume deals with the control and prevention of famine. Topics covered include the problems of early warning and early action, the politics of famine prevention, the influence of market responses and the reduction of future famine.

This work is an introduction to the study of group behaviour in developing countries. It provides both relevant theoretical issues and 11 case studies. The authors explore what determines modes of behaviour of groups, and the consequences for efficiency, equity, and well-being.

This study seeks to understand the rise and fall of the "golden age" of monetarist capitalism enjoyed by Western countries from the end of World War II until the 1960s. Blending historical analysis with economic theory, it questions the basis of present policy-making and provides policy proposals.

This is the first of three volumes on food strategies, analyzing the problem of hunger and deprivation in the modern world and providing a survey of current thinking on hunger. It will benefit development and agricultural economists, political economists, social scientists and policy-makers.

This volume looks beyond the distribution of income by examining the assets, debts, and net worth of individuals and households to create a global picture of wealth, its distribution and concentration. Unlike previous studies, this study includes material on a number of transition and developing countries as well as high income OECD countries.

This original and important book looks in depth at the challenge of how to mobilize talent for international development. It shows that if managed effectively, this international mobility of talent can benefit both developing countries and more advanced economies.

This volume brings together a significant new collection of studies on formality and informality in developing countries. Containing contributions from some of the very best analysts in development studies, the volume is multidisciplinary in nature, with contributions from anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists.

As their Millennium Development Goals, world leaders have pledged by 2015 to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger, to achieve universal primary education, to reduce child mortality, to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to halve the number of people without safe drinking water. Achieving these goals requires a large increase in the flow of financial resources to developing countries - double the present development assistance from abroad.Examining innovative ways to secure these resources, this book sets out a framework for the economic analysis of different sources of funding, applying the tools of modern public economics to identify the key issues. It examines the role of new sources of overseas aid, considers the fiscal architecture and the lessons that can be learned from federal fiscal systems, asks how far increased transfers impose a burden on donors, and investigates how far one can separate raising resources from their use.In turn, the book examines global environmental taxes (such as a carbon tax) the taxation of currency transactions (the Tobin tax), a development-focused allocation of Special Drawing Rights by the IMF, the UK Government proposal for an International Finance Facility, increased private donations for development purposes, a global lottery (or premium bond), and increased remittances by emigrants. In each case, it considers the feasibility of the proposal and the resources that it can realistically raise. In each case, it offers new perspectives and insights into these new and controversial proposals.

The transition to a market economy in the countries of the former Soviet bloc was accompanied by a sudden and sharp increase in mortality of some three million people over the period 1989-96. This analysis of the upsurge in mortality rates aims to contribute to policies to tackle the crisis.

This two-volume work examines the causes of civil war and consequent humanitarian emergencies in developing countries. Twenty-three international experts explain why wars start and how to prevent them -- offering a less costly alternative to the present reactive strategy.

There are many channels of access to land and each of these affects how land is used. This book analyzes each of these channels of access to land, and recommends ways of making them more effective for poverty reduction.

This book argues that the linear evolutionary paradigm of development that comes out of the modern Western view of knowledge is a contemporary form of colonialism. The authors propose a pluralistic vision and a decolonization of knowledge; the replacement of one-way transfers of knowledge and technology by dialogue and mutual learning.

This is a collection of papers examining the pressing issue of increasing inequality in the distribution of income in developing countries.

This acute examination of the quality of women's life addresses a variety of particularly urgent questions. It develops a universal account of women's quality of life and in doing so confronts issues of cultural relativism. An account of gender justice and women's equality is proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured.

This volume investigates the ways in which development strategies have affected traditional cultural values and social practices. Some of the positions advanced are controversial, all are imaginative and will provoke thought and reassessment in the field.

This book advocates a new approach to the relief of famine and hardship in developing countries by addressing the political issues that prevent fair distribution of resources, rather than by simply seeking to provide more food and services.

This is a volume of papers on the issue of common property resources such as forests, fisheries, the atmosphere, rivers, and oceans, ownership of which is common or shared.

Poor people in developing countries are often affected by droughts, floods, illness, crop failure, job loss, and economic downturns. This book evaluates alternatives in widening insurance and social protection provision, including sustainability and poverty effects, in thematic papers and case studies, development assessments, and policy analyses.

Examines how African policy makers might develop better coordination between the public and private sectors to identify the constraints to faster structural transformation, and to design, implement, and monitor policies to remove them.

Since the end of the Cold War, civil wars in developing countries have escalated to become the most significant source of human suffering in the world today. This is an overview of the nature and causes of the emergencies, including economic, political, and environmental factors.

This book deals with the importance of industrialization and the development of manufacturing in the economic development process. It focuses specifically on new challenges such as global value chains, the rise of China, climate change, and the role of state versus private sector entrepreneurs in forging appropriate industrial policies.

The volume explores how the Southern Engines, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa are reshaping the world economy. It looks at their development experiences, and examines how these could provide useful lessons to the developing world.

This volume examines how foreign aid has influenced democratic transitions and consolidation in sub-Saharan Africa.