The papers in this volume address three important issues: the role ofexchange-rate policy in enhancing the competitiveness of African manufactured exports; the steps that can be taken to improve productionefficiency; and the role of institutional and structural reforms in promoting...

Tables of national competitiveness give an easily comparable ranking of the winners and losers of global economic competition, but they do not explain why the poor countries are four times less productive than the rich ones or why some rich countries are twice as productive as others. Using...