Informal employment is a widespread phenomenon in Romania and a key challenge for the country’s development. Policies should target two distinct groups: those who voluntarily opt out of the formal system and those with no alternative. Transforming people’s attitudes towards the state and...

With concern about how to finance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) widespread, recent donor pledges to raise aid volumes are welcome. However, aid alone will not suffice – bringing in new actors and sources of development finance will be essential. In many developing countries, this is...

Alors même que les volumes d’aide publique augmentent, l’accès aux sources de financement du développement devient de plus en plus complexe. Les gouvernements des pays en développement ont besoin de mieux connaître les flux privés de financement pour pouvoir concevoir des politiques de...

Despite growing aid volumes, financing development is becoming more difficult, not less. Better information on private finance flows will help developing-country governments craft more effective policies. Without stronger government leadership, well-intentioned but diverging donor approaches...

Sustainable development requires well co-ordinated and functioning formal and informal institutions. In developing countries, courts, regulations and formal conventions are often observed in the breach or fail to function. By default, informal institutions – tradition, culture, family...

The financing of health care is a major challenge for developing countries, especially since deficiencies in national health systems specifically harm the poor. Innovative financing mechanisms, such as private health insurance, offer benefits and risks. Their implementation requires caution on...

L’emploi informel – extrêmement fréquent en Roumanie – freine son développement. Les politiques doivent viser deux groupes distincts : ceux qui quittent délibérément le système formel et ceux qui n’ont pas d’autre alternative. L’État doit faire évoluer l’attitude des...

Les institutions informelles – traditions, normes sociales, pratiques religieuses…– peuvent tantôt favoriser développement, tantôt lui faire obstacle. Tout effort pour faciliter le changement de ces institutions nécessite de prendre la pleine mesure des réalités locales et...

Le financement des soins de santé est un défi majeur pour les pays en développement, avant tout parce que ce sont les plus pauvres qui pâtissent des déficiences des systèmes de santé nationaux. Les mécanismes financiers novateurs, tels que l’assurance maladie privée, comportent à la...

Informal institutions — family and kinship structures,traditions, and social norms — not only matter for development, but they are often decisive factors in shaping policy outcomes in environments of weak states and poor governance structures. Based on concrete examples in the areas of...