Economists around the world rely in addition to official statistics on business (and consumer) surveys, which are more up-to-date. However, for many emerging and developing countries there is a lack of such surveys. This gap can, at least partly, be filled by the Ifo World Economic Survey (WES)....

During the 1990s, overall economic performance of South East Asian countries was remarkable in many respects, including a significant increase in economic development. This paper empirically assesses the reasons behind such progress by focusing on the impact of foreign direct investment, trade...

Mobilization of national saving is an important determinant of investment and growth. It assumed greater importance in the case of the Iranian economy, given the difficult external environment. This paper discusses the recent saving performance of the Iranian economy, particularly in relation to...

The post-war experience of developing countries leads to two depressing conclusions: only a small number of countries have successfully developed; and development theory has not produced development. In this article we examine one critical fact that might provide insights into the development...

The literature on remittances is large and growing. However, its focus has mainly been on the effects of remittance inflows on the receiving economies. Little has been done on the sending economies. In this paper, we use data from Saudi Arabia, one of the top remitting countries in the world, to...

The literature on remittances is large and growing. However, its focus has mainly been on the effects of remittance inflows on the receiving economies. Little has been done on the sending economies. In this paper, we use data from Saudi Arabia, one of the top remitting countries in the world, to...

With all the talk in Europe about Islam and Muslim culture it is surprising how little hard-core empirical evidence exists on the compatibility of Muslim culture with positive patterns of political, social, and ecological development in the world system in the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. This...

Japan has an impressive history when it comes to aid, industrial policy, and infrastructure development, both as a country that saw meteoric development of its own, and as a country that has been one of the world's largest donors for decades. Looking towards an uncertain future in which...

Becoming a rich country requires the ability to produce and export commodities that embody certain characteristics. We classify 779 exported commodities according to two dimensions: (1) sophistication (measured by the income content of the products exported); and (2) connectivity to other...

Becoming a rich country requires the ability to produce and export commodities that embody certain characteristics. We classify 779 exported commodities according to two dimensions: (1) sophistication (measured by the income content of the products exported); and (2) connectivity to other...