Long before the socialist industrialized nations began to call their centrally planned, or government controlled, economies into question, policymakers in many developing countries with dirigistic, interventionist systems, including capitalist oriented ones, had started to rethink their economic...

The Brady Initiative has led to the conclusion of several debt-relief agreements. Opinion on the effects of these agreements on the debtor countries involved vary widely. The following article aims at clarifying the debate.

Many developing countries are currently considering liberalisation of external capital flows. While the ultimate objective of financial opening is to raise efficiency and growth, the reform process must be carefully designed to achieve these results. A recent conference has discussed the policy...

The priority previously given to urban areas by development programmes was replaced in the 1980s by efforts to implement deliberately targeted rural development. These often relatively complex projects showed less sustainable success than had been expected, however. What are the requirements for...

An increasing number of voices have recently been claiming that an economic system based more strongly on the market should be introduced in Third World countries for reasons of efficiency. What conditions need to be met in the developing countries for this to be possible? What specific measures...

The actual effects of integration among developing countries often diverge considerably from the gains which the participants had expected. Thomas Straubhaar examines the reasons for this and outlines the conditions which must be fulfilled for integration to be successful.

Government intervention in developing countries has often been biased towards the support of urban industries and the urban population. The resulting distortions in exchange rates and in the prices of the factors of production have had serious detrimental effects on rural areas. A gradual...

The international trade with weapons and its effects on the Third World are rarely mentioned in papers on international trade. This is not really surprising, given the fact that military affairs are kept very secret. Of all social science data it is probably that of the military sector which is...

Increased trade among the developing countries is often seen as a viable and more gainful alternative to their trade with developed countries. The following article examines trends in the volume, composition and direction of South-South trade since 1970 and addresses the question as to whether...