During the 1990s, China has experienced a surge in imports of services, particularly those of communication, insurance and other business services, despite the fact that the authorities have maintained a plethora of restrictive measures limiting access to the service sector. Not only does this...

This paper discusses major policy issues related to commodity dependence and export diversification in low-income countries. Contrary to some widely-held view, it argues that natural resources are not necessarily a “curse” — that they do not condemn low-income countries to underdevelopment...

China is emerging as a leading Pacific economy in the 1990s. This paper examines the implications of China's entry into the world market for the OECD countries as well as for the regional economies of Asia and the Pacific. It argues that the shares of Asian countries in the OECD countries'...

The present paper examines the trade development of Pacific-Asian economies during the past decade from the perspective of regional integration. Its main focus is on the development of intra-regional and intra-industry trade. It provides some statistical evidence for the often-heard argument...

Trade-policy reform is an essential feature of China’s economic transition to a market economy. On the one hand, the liberalisation and decentralisation of export activities has boosted exports. On the other hand, the reform of China’s import regime has been progressing much more slowly....

This paper presents stylised facts about development aid and capital flows to developing countries. It compares their volumes and volatilities and finds that foreign aid is not the major source of finance for these countries any more, though not for all regions. The expansion of private flows...

The experience of the five examined industries (agro-food in Chile, cut flowers in Kenya, garment in Lesotho and in Mauritius and seafood in Thailand) demonstrates that non-traditional industries can emerge and achieved strong growth rates in very diverse settings in terms of geography and...

Aid ineffectiveness, fragmentation, and volatility have already been highlighted by scholars and OECD studies. Far fewer studies have been devoted to another problem of capital flows: herding behaviour. Building upon a methodology applied to financial markets, where herding is a common feature,...

This paper measures and compares fragmentation in aid sectors. Past studies focused on aggregate country data but a sector analysis provides a better picture of fragmentation. We start by counting the number of aid projects in the developing world and find that, in 2007, more than 90 000...