The concept of basic needs is today at the center of many discussions about development and the international order. Some international organizations are rethinking their prior evaluation of development policies based largely on aggregate economic output, in particular, the welfare of the very...

This paper describes the methods used to construct an index to measure the maritime potential of nations. This prototype uses a limited number of variables to measure (a) the locational advantage of having a long coastline in comparison to the landmass (Maritime Potential Index MPI) , (b) the...

In the 1950s and 60s, in Latin America structuralism was considered as the preeminent form of analysis of economic development and growth. Nowadays, in contrast, as a mode of analysis structuralism is distinctly unfashionable, and has been superceded by newer endogenous growth theories, which...

Brazil is frequently portrayed as exhibiting persistent and structural economic inequality that is rooted in the early colonial experience, and is believed to undermine development in the long run. I construct original measures of agricultural inequality for 1905 in what is today Brazil’s...

Recent political transformations in Arab countries suggest that solutions have to be found for the problem of lacking economic prospects and particularly of high youth unemployment. Such solutions have to consist of economic growth that unfolds widespread employment effects. A tourism policy...

The paper analyses how the theoretical framework of social enterprise proposed in the academic debate could be operationalised in the specific socioeconomic context of Ecuador. Recently, this country designed a new economic paradigm based on the solidarity economy model to reconcile an ambitious...

Cluster policy has arrived at the mainstream of economic policy since the early 1990. In many developing countries including those on the African continent, clusters on the regional and local levels have been promoted. The North African countries offer an interesting case because of their...

Cluster policy has gained remarkable prominence in regional and sectoral structural policy in industrialized countries. Instead of compensating for weaknesses it focuses on strengths in the local and regional economic structure. In Germany, handing out regional development funds in competitions...

During the past two decades, the “Washington Consensus” has been the dominant recipe for unleashing economic growth in developing countries. In view of the strong criticism mounted against it, it seems to have lost prominence recently. The success of the East Asian newly industrialized...

The extent to which social protection programs in general and targeted programs in particular actually alleviate poverty has been a central issue in development debates for decades. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the debate by empirically examining the poverty-alleviation...