This book sheds new light on the role of industrial districts in the industrial development of the past and present. Industrial districts, which refer to the geographical concentration of enterprises producing similar or closely related commodities in a small area, play a significant role in the...

The term ‘wasta’ stems from the Arabic root for ‘middle’ or ‘medium' and describes the phenomenon of using ‘connections’ to find job, government services or other favors to circumvent bureaucracy or bypass the system as a whole. The effects of ‘wasta’ may be both positive or...

This book investigates at both the micro- and macroeconomic levels the impact of mobile phones on poverty and inequality in developing countries. To gauge the effects of mobile phones on these aspects, the author refers to the standard concept of technology adoption and also analyses the actual...

This book demonstrates how rethinking and adapting basic employment services into labor intermediation services can help address the many labor market disconnections of developing country economies. It addresses how scarce resources required to escape poverty - good jobs, schools, and training -...

This book discusses the latest developments in the China Pilot Free- Trade Zone strategy. It puts forward and explains the idea that building the Shanghai Pilot Free-Trade Zone (SFTZ) is a national test, as it is a major strategic decision to help China cope with the new situation resulting from...

This book argues that development is a comprehensive societal process with two key elements: economic restructuring and sociocultural transformation. While either of these elements alone can initiate change, a strong development plan needs to address both in order to succeed

Entrepreneurial ecosystems involve a complex synergy of factors, including social and structural changes that are frequently cumulative within territories, promoting the improvement of citizens’ quality of life and higher development levels. Further, dynamic territories are characterized by...

The book explains the problem of insufficient capital accumulation and growth in a less developed country. In conventional analyses, such explanations are often found exogenised in terms of factors such as socio-cultural attitudes towards saving and investment, irrationality of peasant...

Nanak Kakwani and Hyu Hwa Son make use of social welfare functions to derive indicators of development relevant to specific social objectives, such as poverty- and inequality-reduction. Arguing that the measurement of development cannot be value-free, the authors assert that if indicators of...

This collection empirically and conceptually advances our understanding of the intricacies of emerging markets’ financial and macroeconomic development in the post-2008 crisis context. Covering a vast geography and a broad range of economic viewpoints, this study serves as an informed guide in...