• Trade barriers seriously distort patterns of international trade, allocation of resources, and economic growth. The total economic costs of the barriers are estimated to exceed $475 billion per annum • Partial reform, such as envisaged in the Uruguay Round, would yield benefits of $195...

• Participation by civil society in public expenditure management promises to improve social and economic outcomes while increasing confidence in public institutions. • Participatory budgeting (PB) programmes depend on the effective engagement of three key domestic stakeholders: governments,...

Managing migration has become a priority for policy makers both in developed and developing countries; it is a difficult challenge indeed. Large immigration or emigration flows relative to domestic population’s impact on almost all aspects of an economy and society: family structures,...

In the history of adjustment, concern with the political aspects appeared only after long reflection. At the beginning of the 1980s, given the urgency of the financial crises afflicting many developing countries, the only thought was to restore macroeconomic balances, particularly the balance of...

. In 1990-1991, worldwide military expenditure amounted to $950 billion. This bill could be reduced by the year 2000 by over $300 billion.. . Excessive military expenditure jeopardizes development prospects. . Policies to achieve transparency and to strengthen military security arrangements...

• The unprecedented withdrawal of foreign private capital from Asia, more than 10 per cent of GDP in the crisis countries, confronts them with a transfer problem. Creditor governments should induce their home banks into financial rescue operations to reduce moral hazard in private-sector...

• Environmental policy should be inspired by the recognition that the environment is everyone’s business; all social actors must be involved in environmental management • Policies that implicitly subsidize a wasteful and environmentally destructive use of resources are pervasive: reforms...

• Adjustment does not necessarily increase poverty • Adjusting before a crisis reduces social costs • Refusal to adjust and the suspension of imports leads to self-centred underdevelopment, which is socially much more costly • The choice of macroeconomic stabilisation measures is...

It might seem obvious discovering an asset such as oil or copper would be wonderful news for the country making the find. Yet the opposite is often true. The windfall can bring poverty, civil strife, corruption, inequality, slower growth and undemocratic practices. The phenomenon is known as the...

• The rapid ageing of populations in the rich economies can be expected to stimulate strong growth in private funded pensions, providing a massive potential of foreign finance for developing countries. • Pension managers can reap big diversification benefits by investing on the emerging...