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 chapter reviews the experience of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models from the perspective of how they have, or have not, influenced public policy in developing countries. The paper describes different classes of empirical models from small, stylized to large, multisectoral applied...

Taxes have extraordinary roles in any country's economic development and policymaking. This study extends prior studies by investigating the impact of direct and indirect taxes on the economic development of 47 developed and 90 developing countries. All data about the variables involved in the...

In this paper, I discuss the reasons for Costa Rica's economic performance over the last quarter of a century. Three complementary sets of policies (investments in human capital, careful stabilization, and an intelligent and aggressive integration into the world economy) explain the successful...

The paper provides an evaluation of the development of the South African economy since the end of apartheid in 1994. Taking the 1993 situation as the point of departure, it gives an account of the path leading to the formulation of the major policy documents, and examines to what extent their...

The great debates of most fields associated with economic development rest on emergence versus intention and the interplay between the two. The “residual” of unexplained divergence between goal and outcome, in this sense, can be ascribed in part to the interplay, or co-evolution, between...

While the worldwide spread of smartphones continues, developing countries have become important markets for these devices. Smartphones’ independence of landline networks qualifies them for communication and Internet access in rural areas of developing countries. Drawing upon rural Southeast...