This study focuses on the process of technology catch-up and competitive advantage creation, drawing on the successful experiences of Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong -- the newly industrialized countries (NICs). It shows how the NICs countries have exploited the opportunities made...

This paper discusses key findings and policy proposals for modernizing Hungary's subnational government system the perspective of fiscal decentralization, local capacity building, and development of a competitive credit market. Hungary has been a pioneer in local government reform among...

A social development perspective is used to seek an answer to the question: why is the incidence of absolute poverty so different among developing countries in East Asia, South Asia and Latin America?

The transformation of Central and Eastern European agriculture started almost a decade ago. Looking back, it can be seen that the countries concerned made the right choice in setting their overall goals and policies for transition to a market economy, but the social costs have been high. Under...

The alleviation of poverty has been the prime objective of small-scale targeted credit programs such as the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Based on household survey data, this paper concludes that these programs can play an important role in both lesing poverty and sustaining household welfare on a...

The purpose of government intervention in the wheat market in Pakistan is to ensure food security of consumers and to provide adequate and stable incomes for producers. The cost of this intervention is high and its impact on the performance of agriculture has been significantly negative. The...

Alternative institutions, most notably non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have evolved in many countries in response to the shortcomings of the state and the market in providing various social developments inputs and credit to the poor. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) was...

This paper summarizes the World Bank assistance strategy for rural development in the ECA region. The rural sector includes the people; economic; development activities; institutional, economic, and social infrastructure; and natural resources in rural areas and is thus not confined to agriculture....