A wide range of voices around the world have stressed the need to understand development as a multidimensional phenomenon that involves and affects many aspects of people’s lives. Increasingly, it is recognised that current well-being and its long-term sustainability are the ultimate goals of...

To what extent do budgetary processes and institutions hamper infrastructural development in Africa? To answer that question, this report analyses the answers of budget officials to questionnaires administered in 22 African countries: Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad,...

This paper analyses the Policy-Making Process (PMP) of transport infrastructure projects in Colombia for the period 2002-10. It aims to identify the main bottlenecks to improve the implementation of public policies in the main phases of the transport infrastructure policy cycle, namely planning,...

This paper looks at the incidence of fiscal policy on the income distribution for Chile and Mexico. Notably by broadening the income concept to account for in-kind benefits and taxes, this paper provides a full picture of the effect of fiscal policy on reducing income inequality. The contrast...

Tax incentives can be a useful tool to stimulate investment in developing countries. However, in these countries interest groups often are able to exert considerable influence in its management, if not its design. From a power-based approach to the political economy of tax reform we find how...

This paper presents stylised facts about development aid and capital flows to developing countries. It compares their volumes and volatilities and finds that foreign aid is not the major source of finance for these countries any more, though not for all regions. The expansion of private flows...

Aid ineffectiveness, fragmentation, and volatility have already been highlighted by scholars and OECD studies. Far fewer studies have been devoted to another problem of capital flows: herding behaviour. Building upon a methodology applied to financial markets, where herding is a common feature,...

This study provides a general analysis of economic relations between Spain, as a donor of official development assistance (ODA), and Ecuador, as a partner and recipient of development aid. It seeks to assess the potential (in)coherence between Spain’s foreign economic activities and the goals...

The shift in global goods production towards Asia is well documented. But global consumer demand has so far been concentrated in the rich economies of the OECD. Will that also shift towards Asia as these countries get richer? This paper defines a global middle class as all those living in...

This paper investigates whether increased import competition leads firms to engage in incremental innovation reflected in product quality upgrading. The econometric analysis relies on a rich dataset of Chilean manufacturing firms and their products. Product quality is measured with unit values...