Urban and rural areas enjoy different and often complementary assets, and better integration between them is important for socio-economic performance. This report provides a framework to understand the changing relationships between urban and rural areas. It is focused on one approach that can...

Urban and rural areas enjoy different and often complementary assets, and better integration between them is important for socio-economic performance. This report provides a framework to understand the changing relationships between urban and rural areas. It is focused on one approach that can...

The trade liberalisation agreements signed between the European Union and the southern Mediterranean countries carry risks as well as benefits. They reveal structural weaknesses in the partner countries, including continued rent seeking, market segmentation, a weak modern private sector and...

International competition, accelerating technological change and shifting societal concerns are important drivers of structural change, both within and across firms, industries and regions. As well as bringing undoubted opportunities, structural adjustment raises acute challenges. This must be...

This publication identifies the requirements for successful reallocation of labor and capital to more efficient uses in response to the emergence of new sources of competition, technological change and shifting consumer preferences. At the same time, it focuses on limiting adjustment costs for...

The once booming dynamic economies in Asia were drawn into a whirlpool of business failures and economic devastation following the flotation of the Thai baht in July 1997, and the consequent collapse of asset prices and currency depreciations in several East Asian countries. High growth in these...