Debate In Development Economics Research Articles

Toward an Understanding of Economic Development in Post-2003 Iraq

Citizen inclusion in politics and voluntary organizations, a vibrant press and media, regular elections, or greater “political inclusion” more generally are often presented—both by international organizations as well as some researchers—as elements likely, even necessary, to promote “economic inclusion” and a more equitable distribution of material benefits. We avoid structural approaches that emphasize oil and instead utilize institutional analysis to understand Iraq’s post-2003 economic and social trajectory. Specifically, we analyze how Iraq’s post-2003 political settlement along with its already deteriorating economic institutions and unfavorable economic and social conditions have combined to shape poor economic outcomes. We show, using the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators as well as other data that the more inclusive political institutions that were established in Iraq post-2003 have worked to impede economic development and inclusion. That is, increased political openness and inclusion has not resulted in greater economic inclusion; instead, Iraq’s political institutions have worked to constrain economic inclusion and a more egalitarian distribution of oil income. This revisits a classic debate in development economics and casts doubt on the reliability of the often-promoted relationship between political pluralism and economic development.

How does financial openness affect economic growth at different stages of economies?

An area of debate in development economics is how financial openness affects economic development. In spite of considerable research, there is no consensus. This is because there are many financial openness indices, so the results are not robust to variations in the index, as discussed in Gräbner et al. (2021). Due to the possibility of different initial conditions, different levels of development, and/or different stages of transitions, the effect of financial openness could vanish without considering these factors. Therefore, this paper categorizes countries into stable countries (High-, Medium-, and Low-income countries) and transition countries (Transitioning to High and Transitioning to Medium income) based on World Bank Categorization. The results show that the effect of financial openness is positive for medium- and low-income level countries. However, it is not at a high-income level.

The income diversification strategies of smallholders in the hills of Nepal

AbstractMotivationThere is an ongoing debate in development economics about whether resources aiming to improve household welfare should be allocated to general development programmes, such as providing education, or to specific income enhancing programmes, such as promoting certain commodities or practices.PurposeThis article contributes to this debate by analysing income levels and income diversification strategies of households that were engaged in growing organic coffee in the hills of Nepal. Engaging in organic coffee production is hypothesized to be an important income enhancing activity for asset‐poor subsistence farmers.Approach and MethodsWe conducted a structured household survey of 441 coffee growers from Gulmi and Lalitpur districts in Nepal with a focus on the sources of income. The household income diversification was measured using the mean of the household share of each type of income and the share of a given source of income over a given group of households. We modelled the determinants of household income using Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit regressions.FindingsWe found that most households derive a higher proportion of income from off‐farm sources. The main finding is that education increases household off‐farm income by improving access to domestic and international labour markets, and this reduces dependence on farming. Low‐income households have a higher proportion of income from farming. Across all households, non‐certified coffee production is financially more attractive to farmers than organic production.Policy ImplicationsOur findings suggest that investing in general development, especially education, is more effective than a scheme to promote cash crops as it allows asset‐poor subsistence farmers to engage in regional and international labour markets.

Ouvrir la boîte noire des statistiques du développement : le groupe AMIRA (Amélioration des méthodes d’investigation en milieu rural africain) dans la revue StatÉco (INSEE)

Opening the «Black Box » of Development Statistics : the AMIRA Group (Amelioration of Investigation Methods in Rural Africa) in StatÉco (INSEE). At the junction between the National Statistics Administration (INSEE), ORSTOM, and the Ministry of Cooperation, the AMIRA Group carried out, between 1975 and 1988, methodological studies on socio-economic statistics in the context of development using an innovative multidisciplinary approach in resonance with the current methodological debates in development economics, but that today appear to have been forgotten. How was this group born ? How can we understand the influence of its reflections on the quantification of the informal sector, statistical units and fieldwork ? And what is its legacy today ? The socio-history of this group can open paths to understanding contemporary practices in development statistics.

What Drives Inclusive Growth? Evidence from Georgia

Inclusive growth is the current debate in development economics because it is seen as central to sustainable economic growth and development. Georgia is one country where growth seems to have been inclusive among the emerging economies. This stimulated a research interest. The paper used growth model and dynamic ordinary least squares method to analyse the Determinants of Inclusive Growth, using Georgia data generated from World Bank Development Indicators between 1996 and 2016. Result shows that growths in industrial and service sectors were significantly responsible for rise in the income share of the poorest and richest income group in Georgia.

The Relationship between Farm Size and Productivity in Agriculture: Evidence from Maize Production in Northern China

AbstractThe relationship between farm size and productivity has long been a topic of debate in development economics. Using farm‐level panel data from 2003 to 2013, we investigate the relationship between maize yield and farm size in Northern China. After controlling for farm‐specific characteristics, we restore a mild U‐shaped relationship between maize yield and cropping area from the apparent inverse U‐shaped curve. This suggests that an inverse farm size–productivity relationship persists for most small‐sized farms. Further analyses demonstrate that farmer input choice between labor and capital is likely to smooth the non‐linear farm size–productivity relationship, with capital use being more likely to affect the farm size–productivity relationship at a larger scale. The findings imply that subsidizing farmers to rent land without helping them become better‐equipped could result in resource misallocation towards larger farms using less‐efficient labor‐intensive technologies.

Right to Work? Assessing India’s Employment Guarantee Scheme in Bihar

There is a persistent debate in development economics about entitlement-based versus marketbased approaches to poverty reduction. As an example of a rights-based programme, this book focuses on a large-scale employment guarantee scheme. Introduced in 2006, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is the largest anti-poverty public employmentprogramme in India, and possibly the world. It guarantees 100 days of employment per year toevery rural household. By design, the scheme covers all households in possession of a job card(irrespective of social status); compensates if employment is not provided; pays a piece-rateindexed to inflation; and gives men and women equal wages. This book looks at the differentcomponents/elements of the programme from the demand side as well as the supply side. Theauthors meticulously point out that success depends on several factors, and that failure withrespect to the smallest of elements – such as knowledge about entitlement wage – tends toweigh heavily on the outcomes.

Wto, imf and the closing of development policy space for low-income countries: A call for neo-developmentalism

The object of this paper is to locate and extend the debate on the closing of development ‘policy space’ for low-income countries. The location is in the broader context of the current debate in development economics among neoliberals and ‘neo-developmentalists’. The extension is via an investigation of the gap between the wto's bound and applied tariff rates. We hypothesise that countries that receive aid and are therefore subject to imf ‘conditionalities’ are more likely to have a wider gap between bound and applied rates. We find this to be the case, provide other evidence to demonstrate that the imf acts as an aggressive implementing mechanism for the wto, that the policy space has shrunk since the implementation of the Uruguay Round, and that this may have adversely affected manufacturing in low-income countries.

The economic transformation of Asia

This book discusses the economic transformation of Asia in the context of the analytical debates in development economics. All the important analytical issues such as the impact of foreign aid and population policies are discussed in depth, followed by a survey of the available empirical evidence on these issues.

‘… More of Keynes and Less of Milton Friedman!’1

This paper gives an account of the scientific work of a pioneer whose heterodox ideas stimulated debate in development economics for more than three decades. It will be shown that his intellectual biography—in particular, his experiences as a victim of National Socialism—provided an important stimulus for his commitment to the problems of the socially underprivileged. This led him to initiate several studies of unemployment in the depressed areas of Great Britain during the Great Depression and the Second World War. Then, starting from the late 1940s, during the years of his affiliation with the UN, he made pathbreaking contributions to the economics of underdevelopment in fields such as the deterioration of terms of trade, the basic needs strategy, and food security. The topics will be discussed both in the context of history of thought and with regard to recent work in development economics.

Economic Convergence and Economic Policies

Many of the crucial debates in development economics are encapsulated in the question of economic convergence. Is there a tendency for the poorer countries to grow more rapidly than the richer countries, and thereby to converge in living standards? Or instead, are there tendencies for the to get richer, and the poor to get poorer, so that the gap between rich and poor nations tends to widen over time?

The Rocky Road to Reform: Adjustment, Income Distribution, and Growth in the Developing World

These case studies by an international roster of development economists provide valuable insights into the difficulty of establishing answers to the fundamental question of why nations grow at different rates, with inequitable patterns of wealth and income distribution.The case studies of Colombia, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, the Philippines, Mexico, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Zambia, and Senegal look at each country from the perspective of its own history and institutions, bringing to light factors that condition observed performances.The country studies are framed by introductory chapters by Lance Taylor. Taylor discusses the ideas underlying the cases and summarizes their implications. He sets current policy in a broader context surrounded by initial and boundary conditions on economic reform relevant for the 1990s: prior debates in development economics; the theory of the state; currently popular options for economic stabilization and adjustment; and trade, industrial, and agricultural strategies. Drawing on results of the country studies, Taylor also sets up a novel 3-gap macroeconomic model to calculate foreign resource requirements for growth.Lance Taylor is Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:The Environmental, Economic and Social Significance of Drought. Edited by J. V. LOVETTLivestock and Meat Marketing. By JOHN McCoy.Water Supplies and Economic Growth in an Arid Environment; An Arizona Case Study. By MAURICE M. KELSU, WILLIAM E. MARTIN and LAWRENCE E. MACK.Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics. By P. T. BAUERThe Theory of the Firm. Edited by G. C. ARCHIBALD.Making Decisions. By D. V. LINDLEY.

P. T. Bauer, <I>Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics</I>. London, 1971

P. T. Bauer, <I>Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics</I>. London, 1971

Book Review Section

Byham, William C. and Spitzer, Morton E. The Law and Personnel Testing.Byham, William C. and Spitzer, Morton E. The Law and Personnel Testing.Dailey, Charles A. Assessment of Lives.Eysenck, H. J. The IQ Argument.Buros, Oscar K. (Editor) The Seventh Mental Measurements Yearbook, Vols. I and II.Richardson, Roy. Fair Pay and Work.Alderfer, Clayton P. Existence, Relatedness and Growth: Human Needs in Organizational Settings.Hacon, Richard (Editor). Personal and Organizational Effectiveness.Pfeiffer, J. William and Jones, John E. (Eds.) The 1972 Annual Handbook for Group Facilitators.Pfeiffer, J. William and Jones, John E. A Handbook of Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training: Vols. I, II, & III.Nord, Walter R. (Editor). Concepts and Controversy in Organizational Behavior.Morea, Peter C. Guidance, Selection, and Training: Ideas and Applications. The value of principle is the number of things it will explain. R. W. Emerson, The PreacherRackham, Neil, Honey, Peter and Colbert, Michael (Eds.) Developing Interactive Skills.Desatnick, Robert L. Innovative Human Resource Management.Smith, Henry C. and Wakeley, John H. Psychology of Industrial Behavior.Otto, Calvin P. and Glaser, Rollin O. The Management of Training: A Handbook for Training and Development Personnel.Heller, Frank A. Managerial Decision Making: A Study of Leadership Styles and Power‐Sharing among Senior Managers.Morgan, John S. Managing Change: The Strategies of Making Change Work for You.Davies, Ivor K. The Management of Learning.Webber, Ross A. Time and Management.Baker, R. J. S. Administrative Theory and Public Administration.Price, Karl F. and Walker, James W. Issues in Business: An Introduction to American Enterprise.Carter, Robert M. (Editor). Communication in Organizations: A Guide to Information Sources.Adams, H. E. and Boardman, W. K. (Eds.) Advances in Experimental Clinical Psychology.Alberti, Robert E. and Emmons, Michael L. Your Perfect Right: A Guide to Assertive Behavior.Bardwick, Judith M. Psychology of Women: A Study of Bio‐Cultural Conflicts.Bardwick, Judith M. Readings on the Psychology of Women.Bauer, P. T. Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article Dissent on Development: Studies and Debates in Development Economics. By P. T. Bauer. Spatial Policy Problems of the British Economy. Edited by Michael Chisholm and Gerald Manners The Demand for Housing. By Colin Clark and G. T. Jones. Regional Input‐Output Study. By Walter Isard and Thomas W. Langford. Economics of Urban Problems: An Introduction. By A. F. Schreiber, P. K. Gatons and R. B. Clemmer. Cost‐Benefit Analysis: Theory and Practice. By Ajit K. Dasgupta and D. W. Pearce. The British Prices and Incomes Board. (Department of Applied Economics Occasional Paper 29) By Allan Fels. Economic Implications of Patents. (Social Science Series No. 1) By O. J. Firestone. The International Computer Industry: Innovation & Comparative Advantages. By Alvin J. Harman. Disputes Procedure in Action. By Richard Hyman. British Monetary Policy 1924‐1931. By D. E. Moggridge. Inflation Policy and Unemployment Theory: The Cost‐Benefit Approach to Monetary Planning. By Edmund S. Phelps. Take‐overs: Their Relevance to the Stock Market and the Theory of the Firm. (Department of Applied Economics Monographs 19). By Ajit Singh. The Distribution of Personal Income in the United Kingdom, 1949‐1963. By Thomas Stark. Competition, Collusion and Game Theory. (Aldine Treatises in Modern Economics Series). By Lester G. Telser. Cost‐Benefit Analysis in Education: A Case Study of Kenya. (World Bank Staff Occasional Papers No. 14). By H. H. Thias and M. Carnoy. 17th Century Economic Documents. Edited by Joan Thirsk and J. P. Cooper. Introductory Economics. (Lectures in Economics 2). By Kenneth F. Wallis.

Dissent on Development: Studies and debates in development economics

Dissent on Development: Studies and debates in development economics