The paper aims to examine the role of institutions relative to economic policy and geography in explaining the diff erential level of development across countries over time. To that end, it att empts to construct a Development Quality Index (DQI) and an Institutional Quality Index (IQI) using...

A widely used tool in law and development programmes is the supply of well-designed laws from the outside. This method of law development has now been embraced by international organizations as a way to improve the legal framework for global markets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has...

This paper examines the implications of some of the main features of the globalization process for developing countries. It also makes several proposals for developing countries in considering national-level policies to face the globalization challenge, as well as coordination among developing...

The paper reviews the literature on the fallacy of composition with an emphasis on labour-intensive manufactures. It briefly addresses the protectionist and the partial-equilibrium versions of the argument before focusing on general-equilibrium considerations and the debate on the manufactures...

In the aftermath of the breakdown of the multilateral trade negotiations in Cancun in mid-September 2003, various ideas have been put forward not only for their re-launching but also more broadly for the reform of the WTO as an institution and as a repository for agreements on trade and related...

This paper looks at the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the evolving global financial system from the perspective of developing country interests. It finds that on certain issues, such as the scope and purposes of its lending operations, a consensus has been reached that IMF...

Recent corporate scandals have led to a wide-ranging re-examination of standards for corporate governance with repercussions that extend to financial regulation and the key standards for financial systems which are a major component of current initiatives to strengthen the international...

The IMF’s economically-weighted voting system gives rise to a major asymmetry of political power, both directly and indirectly, and to serious systemic inertia. The increasing financial pressure on the Fund, a credible “walk-away” threat by “emerging market” economies, and the...

In order to assess the proposal of the IMF to create a Reserve Augmentation Line (RAL), this paper first reviews the conditions that led to the loss of IMF control over balance of payments financing, and how private capital flows increased the liquidity requirements for system stability. It then...

Remittances have emerged as an important source of external development finance for developing countries in recent years. This paper examines the causes and implications of remittance flows. It first highlights the severe limitations in remittance data, in sharp contrast to other sources of...