Timor-Leste’s first ten years of independence have been turbulent and a large share of the population remains poor. Broad-based improvements in living standards will require improvements in agricultural production since most Timorese are subsistence farmers and since there is no modern sector...

1. A Poor Young Nation -- 2. From Independence to Turmoil -- 3. Political, Economic and Social Developments 2007-2018 -- 4. Population Growth and Job Creation: The Search for a Modern Sector -- 5. The Agricultural Sector -- 6. Oil and the Resource Curse -- 7. Conclusions and a Look to the Future.

Timor-Leste’s first ten years of independence have been turbulent and a large share of the population remains poor. Broad-based improvements in living standards will require improvements in agricultural production since most Timorese are subsistence farmers and since there is no modern sector...