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 drugs economy has now developed into a major factor in many developing countries. What effects on the economies of the countries concerned do drugs production and the drugs trade have? How should the prospects of success for substitution policies be judged? What strategy to curb the demand...

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...

As the debate over the structural adjustment policies of the 1980s showed, the success of government policies in developing countries is also partly determined by the activities of a variety of interest groups. The same is also likely to apply to environmental policy. This article looks into the...

Adjustment programmes promoted by the IMF and the World Bank have met with mixed success in recent years. What part has the interaction of interest groups in the countries concerned played in this connection? What lessons are to be learnt for future adjustment programmes?

Eco-labelling has become an increasingly popular instrument in recent years. Among the new developments which have been called for are that they should also be used as a means of encouraging developing countries to apply stricter environment policies. The following article investigates whether...

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...