During the second half of the 20th century Asia as a whole experienced a much higher increase in production per inhabitant than Africa, due to several factors which caused improvements in industrial development and moderation in the rates of population growth. We present a comparison, at area...

The rise and fall of the Soviet Union and the communist empire was one of the distinguishing events of the twentieth century. The 21 countries that made up the Warsaw Pact simultaneously made a transition from Communism to more market-based economic systems. These countries all shared a common...

Researchers have linked sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) poor growth performance in recent decades to several factors, including geography, institutions, and low returns to investment. This literature has not yet integrated the research that identifies linkages between gender, economic development,...

This paper puts sub-Saharan Africa's economic development into perspective. While much did not go as hoped for at independence, much of the region has been on a more promising development trajectory since the mid-1990s, as we illustrate using growth, poverty, and human development indicators. We...

This contribution examines how gender equality features in the World Bank's World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development, focusing on its conceptual framework, use of empirical evidence, and policy recommendations. It concludes that despite acknowledging that liberalization and...

We consider whether Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are mainly poor because they are governed worse than other countries, as suggested by recent studies on the supremacy of institutions. Our empirical results show that the supremacy of institutions does not hold. SSA countries appear to face...

An analysis of data for 39 sub-Saharan African countries during 1985-96 indicates that the variations in tax revenue-GDP ratios within this group are influenced by economic policies and the level of corruption. Namely, these ratios rise with declining inflation, implementation of structural...

According to the conventional theory of the demographic transition, mortality decline has represented the major trigger for fertility decline and eventually sustained economic development. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a devastating impact on mortality, by...

This paper has revisited the roles of agricultural sector development for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in responding to the twofold challenges – broadening the base of economic growth and sustaining growth momentum. Based on a holistic and long-term perspective on the mechanism of an economic...

This paper has revisited the roles of agricultural sector development for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in responding to the twofold challenges – broadening the base of economic growth and sustaining growth momentum. Based on a holistic and long-term perspective on the mechanism of an economic...