The relative costs of trading different goods vary much less than the relative costs of producing them. The costs of trade are also often high. In consequence, as this paper shows theoretically and with simulations, demand elasticities in open economies are much lower than substitution...

Between mid-1988 and mid-1989, Vietnam greatly reduced a very high inflation rate at the same time as removing almost all administrative control over individual prices. This paper examines that experience, in relation to the quite different experiences of most other socialist countries. The...

Cross-country econometric analysis informed by Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory suggests that the concentration of Africa's exports on unprocessed primary products is caused largely by the region's combination of low levels of education and abundant natural resources. In some African countries, the...

What is the role of a bilateral donor such as DFID in the field of finance and development? What should be its priorities, and what instruments are available in the three domains in which it can act - internationally, through governments, and on the private sector? In this article, we offer some...

Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory suggests that greater openness tends to enlarge intercountry differences in stocks of skill (or human capital), which new growth theory suggests would cause intercountry divergence of per capita incomes. Econometric analysis of data on about ninety countries during...

A survey of eight unitary development plans (UDPs) in metropolitan district authorities outside London is reviewed. The survey sought to assess the policy content of each UDP for its contribution towards the goal of sustainable development. Within the present framework of local-national...