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...

The situation in East Timor is turbulent and future growth prospects are indeterminate. This paper discusses the economic challenges facing East Timor. Most inhabitants depend on subsistence farming and there is a need to both modernize agriculture and to foster a modern sector that can generate...

1. ‘Where the Sandalwood Is Born’: East Timor until the Mid-Eighteenth Century -- 2. The Two Last Centuries of Portuguese Domination -- 3. The Indonesian Occupation -- 4. The Economy under Occupation -- 5. Launching a New State -- 6. Conclusions

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.