The recent currency crises in Latin America and Asia have hit countries with strong macroeconomic fundamentals but weak domestic financial systems. Private capital flows, attracted by disorderly financial liberalisation and exchange rate pegs, reversed abruptly when financial-sector weaknesses...

Raising manufacturing productivity is of central importance to the developing world and an essential element of policy making. <I>Overcoming Barriers to Competitiveness</I> is about establishing the most reliable analysis of manufacturing productivity possible and helping policy makers set their...</i>

In recent years, as China’s reform of state–owned enterprises (SOEs) has gathered momentum, the number of workers made redundant has been rising. Until now, the dismissals have affected only a fraction of the “surplus labour”, which has been estimated at 20–25 per cent of total...

This paper synthesises the existing literature on human capital formation and foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries. The aim is to take a bird’s eye view of the complex linkages between the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and policies of host developing...

This paper presents the results of a survey of the impact of regulations and taxes on small and micro enterprises, considered here as part of the informal sector, in Thailand. The survey covered a large sample of enterprises (more than 500) in Bangkok and ten other provinces. Three sectors were...

Le cadre institutionnel d’un pays joue un rôle déterminant pour les femmes qui y vivent. Ce document examine les cas de quatre pays, l’Inde, le Kenya, le Soudan et la Tunisie. Dans chaque étude de cas nous avons analysé le statut des femmes ainsi que les réformes qui ont été...

The lagging economic performance of the Southern Mediterranean (SOM) region over the past decade is often attributed to the region’s relative lack of openness to international trade. The closer analysis of the region’s trade patterns undertaken in this study suggest a more complex picture....

It is relatively easy to assess the progress, achievements, and possible future direction of an existing regional integration pact. However, evaluating the prospects for a successful revival of the East African Community (EAC), a regional integration scheme that collapsed in 1977, is arguably a...

Many developing countries lack access to future and option markets to hedge the enormous risks arising from the currency exposure of their foreign debt. And even if these markets are accessible, their maturities are often too short compared to the maturities of long-term debt. The important...

Natural disasters (droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, floods, wind storms) damage wellbeing, both in their immediate and long-term aftermath, and because the insecurity of exposure to disasters is in itself harmful to risk-averse people. As such, mitigating and coping with the risk of natural...