Competition among governments to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) has grown significantly. This paper investigates the extent to which the size of incentive packages offered to investors by governments is driven by competitive pressure to attract mobile investment projects. It finds that...

This paper sets out a framework within which the problem of corruption may be analysed in any specific country. It does not seek to establish the importance of such activity in a general sense, or seek to propose particular economic policy or institutional programmes that should be pursued in...

The paper addresses two core questions: do investment banks’ recommendations have an impact on the allocation of portfolio flows in the emerging-markets asset class? Above all, are these recommendations related to the business of investment banks? In order to answer these questions, we...

What contribution can information technology (IT) make to India’s overall economic development? This paper provides an analytical framework centred around the concepts of comparative advantage, complementarities, and innovation. There is strong evidence that India has a strong and sustainable...

The paper focuses on relations between experts and politicians in Latin America. It is divided into three parts. The first outlines the distinctive features of the political economy of expertise in Latin America. This provides the context to the second part, which focuses on the analysis of...

The developing countries of the Southern Mediterranean (SOM) have missed the extraordinary surge of private international investment in recent years. Although the SOM region was an important destination for foreign direct investments, its share of world FDI has declined. In 1994, private capital...

The main policy implication that emerges from this study is that subsidised education without at the same time provision for the creation of growth-enhancing jobs can be good for the individual but bad for growth (and presumably public finances). There is evidence of very high private returns to...

The aim of this Working Paper is to broaden the debate on “pro-poor growth”. An exclusive focus on the income dimension of poverty has neglected the non-income dimensions. After an examination of prominent views on the linkages between economic growth, inequality, and poverty reduction this...

The process of adjusting the balance between the public and private sectors, an essential part of structural reforms launched in Ghana, took place in an improved macroeconomic environment. The policies pursued, Economic Recovery Programme I (1983-86) and II (1987-89), have followed so far a...

This Technical Paper presents the results of research on the impact of taxation and other regulations on micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in two countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The fiscal and other regulations of the countries studied — Niger and Swaziland — and their administrative...