Despite the acknowledged importance of capacity development to developing countries achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and one quarter of global aid going to this purpose, there is little evidence of progress in this area. There are many reasons for this, of which one is the ineffective...

This paper systematically reviews recent experience with debt-for-development swaps in Indonesia, the only debtor country where the number of such operations could warrant its qualification as a genuine government debt relief and development finance policy. First, we show that the 11 swaps...

It is widely acknowledged that gender inequality impedes the attainment of development objectives. Specific to the health sector, inequality is evidenced through excess mortality of females and differences in life expectancy that are contrary to biological norms (Stotsky, 2006). Citizen-led...

In this paper, the process for firms to decide whether or not to invest in corporate social responsibility is treated from a real option perspective. We extend the Husted (2005) framework with an important extra parameter that allows us to understand the timing of CSR investment and explain why...

Conformément au Code électoral en vigueur au moment de la déclaration de candidature aux élections de 2010, le dossier des candidats aux élections communales, législatives, sénatoriales et présidentielles devait contenir une attestation de bonne conduite, vie et moeurs. Des poursuites...

This article conducts a value chain analysis of smallholder burley tobacco production in Malawi for the 2003/04 and 2009/10 agricultural seasons. The comparison suggests in 2003/04 smallholder profits from growing burley were limited by two main factors: first, the practices of leaf merchant...

During the past century tobacco production and marketing in Nyasaland/Malawi has undergone periods of dynamism similar to changes since the early 1990s. This article highlights four recurrent patterns. First, estate owners have either fostered or constrained peasant/smallholder production...

Rich measures of micro-level violent conflict intensity are key for successfully providing insight into the legacy of civil war. Yet, the debate on how exactly conflict intensity should be measured has just started. This paper aims to fuel this awakening debate. It is demonstrated how existing...

More than 200 years after its first publication, the Malthusian thesis is still much debated, albeit in a modified form. Rather than predicting a global catastrophe, most neo-Malthusians stress the local character of the relationship between population pressure, natural resource scarcity, and...

Remittances in the Philippines, as a consequence of an increasing migration, are flowing into the country as 'manna-from-heaven'. For the majority of recipient families, remittances finance on average between 30% and 45% of their living expenses. While cross-country studies tend to overestimate...