Ideological debates on the role of government in development have focused on two contrasting prescriptions: one calling for large scale government interventions to solve problems of massive market failures, the other for the unfettering of markets, with the dynamic forces of capitalism naturally...

This paper explores the causes and consequences of the more important market failures which impede the development of LOCs, and explains why the non-market institutions which often ameliorate the effects of market failures in developed countries are less effective- in doing so in LOCs. This...

The 1999 Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics, the eleventh anniversary, was held at the Bank on April 28-30, 1999. The discussions focused on three trends of development: 1) the emerging international financial architecture; 2) challenges to social development; and 3) lessons...

Success in development over the past half-century was based on manufacturing-led export growth. Because the share of global employment in manufacturing will decline, manufacturing won't play the same role in the coming decades. An increase in manufacturing employment won't suffice to meet the...

This paper analyzes the role of real exchange rate (RER) policies in promoting economic development. Markets provide a suboptimal amount of investment in sectors characterized by learning spillovers. We show that a stable and competitive RER policy may correct for this externality and other...

This paper analyzes the role of real exchange rate (RER) policies in promoting economic development. Markets provide a suboptimal amount of investment in sectors characterized by learning spillovers. We show that a stable and competitive RER policy may correct for this externality and other...

Developed and less developed countries differ in numerous ways. Incomes per head are different, capital stocks are different, the levels of education of their citizens differ. Whether a cause or consequence of these differences, some of the most salient differences are related to technological...

The existing theoretical analysis of microfinance focuses on the nature of the loan contracts that mitigates the pervasive problems of moral hazard and adverse selection in the absence of physical collateral. We depart from the existing literature and draw attention to the role of missing or...