The Monitor provides an update of developments in Pacific economies and explores topical policy issues.

This Paper documents that the rise of (Western) Europe between 1500 and 1850 is largely accounted for by the growth of European nations with access to the Atlantic, and especially by those nations that engaged in colonialism and long distance oceanic trade. Moreover, Atlantic ports grew much...

Emerging world countries have experienced over the last two decades a significant change in their trade patterns. Bold trade reforms have been followed by rapid rises in international trade levels. However, despite these radical changes, we know remarkably little about how changes in trade...

The formation of a Regional Technical Group (RTG) on Aid for Trade for Asia and thePacific was a key recommendation that emerged from the Aid for Trade Regional Review Meeting at the ADB headquarters in Manila in 2007 and the Global Aid for Trade Review Meetings at the World Trade Organization...

We estimate the respective contributions of institutions, geography, and trade in determining income levels around the world, using recently developed instruments for institutions and trade. Our results indicate that the quality of institutions 'trumps' everything else. Once institutions are...