The Bottom Billion

The Bottom Billion PDF Author: Paul Collier
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195374630
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The Bottom Billion is an elegant and impassioned synthesis from one of the world's leading experts on Africa and poverty. It was hailed as "the best non-fiction book so far this year" by Nicholas Kristoff of The New York Times.

The Bottom Billion

The Bottom Billion PDF Author: Paul Collier
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195374630
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The Bottom Billion is an elegant and impassioned synthesis from one of the world's leading experts on Africa and poverty. It was hailed as "the best non-fiction book so far this year" by Nicholas Kristoff of The New York Times.

The Natural Resources Trap

The Natural Resources Trap PDF Author: Federico Sturzenegger
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262013797
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 535

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Book Description
"This book is important and timely, bringing together some of the world's leading economists. The theory chapters provide new insights and apply new developments in contract theory to the problems of natural resources and credible host country policies. The case studies provide up-to-date illustrations of the difficulties and development of host country policy in Latin America and the UK." Roderick Duncan, Charles Sturt University, Australia "This book is likely to become a standard reference in the area of natural resources and credible host country policies-coming, as it does, with a solid grounding in modern economic theory." Tim Worrall, University of Manchester Volatility in commodity prices has been accompanied by perpetual renegotiation of contracts between private investors in natural resource production and the governments of states with mineral and energy wealth. When prices skyrocket, governments want a larger share of revenues, sometimes to the point of nationalization or expropriation; when prices fall, larger state participation becomes a burden and the private sectoris called back in. Recent and newsworthy changes in the price of oil (which fell from an all-time high of $147 in mid-2008 to $40 by year's end) are notable for their speed and the steepness of their rise and fall, but the up-and-down pattern itself is not unusual. If the unpredictability of commodity prices is so predictable, why do contracts not allow for this with mechanisms that would provide a more stable commercial framework? In The Natural Resources Trap, top scholars address this guestion in terms of both theory and practice. Theoretical contributions range across a number of fields, from contract theory to public finance, and treat topics that include taxation, royalties, and expropriation cycles. Case studies examine experiences in the U.K., Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela, and other parts of the world. --Book Jacket.

Civil War is Not a Stupid Thing

Civil War is Not a Stupid Thing PDF Author: Christopher Cramer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
This book takes issue with two common perspectives on violence and war. The first is the liberal interpretation, according to which war is exclusively negative in its effects and peace is easily achieved through democratisation and free trade. In this view, modern liberal market democracies have outgrown violence, and only resort to it in self-defence. The second is a romantic, utopian view of violence. Transposed into political rhetoric, these two views are often directly opposed, as they are nowadays in Iraq and in the 'War on Terror'. Cramer's book forges an alternative way of understanding the role of violence in the transition to capitalism and a global economy.

Confronting the Curse

Confronting the Curse PDF Author: Cullen S. Hendrix
Publisher: Peterson Institute for International Economics
ISBN: 0881326763
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
The political economy of natural resource wealth poses two interrelated challenges for American foreign policy, both involving governance issues in countries that are abundantly endowed with natural resources. The potentially negative impact of natural resources on development is captured in the phrase "the resource curse". The implications are the greatest for the commodity producers themselves, ranging from complications for macroeconomic management to political authoritarianism and, in the extreme, the precipitation of violent civil conflict. For US policy, the resource curse presents challenges with respect to coping with state failure and associated transborder phenomena. The issues extend to broader geopolitics. Resource abundance confers financial and political power on producers. China's emergence as a major importer and investor in extraction, willing to accommodate authoritarian producers, exacerbates the challenge, potentially undercutting international efforts to encourage greater transparency and improved management of natural resource wealth. This issue is of particular importance for US policy toward Africa

Capitalism In The 21st Century: Why Global Capitalism Is Broken And How It Can Be Fixed

Capitalism In The 21st Century: Why Global Capitalism Is Broken And How It Can Be Fixed PDF Author: Donghyun Park
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9813274530
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
'Dr Donghyun Park is a prominent and rare economist in Asia who can combine frontline economic theories, lively data, and real-time policy analyses. Capitalism in the 21st Century is a masterful book by Dr Park, providing a comprehensive understanding of heterogenous trajectories of economies around the globe and more fundamental mechanisms of the modern capitalistic system. This is a 'must-read' for those who are interested in comparative economic systems, global economy, and international development.'Yasuyuki SawadaChief Economist, Asian Development BankProfessor of Economics, University of Tokyo'Donghyun Park makes clear that capitalism gets a bad rap, in large part because of too much emphasis on capital as in financial engineering, and too much emphasis on capitals as in government protectionism. Park argues a compelling case that genuine capitalism, which is about entrepreneurship, is necessary to solve the big problems most people face around the globe.'Adam S PosenPresident, Peterson Institute of International EconomicsGlobal capitalism is currently suffering from an unmistakable malaise, epitomized by wide and growing inequality that is eroding popular support for capitalism. Such anti-capitalist sentiment, coupled with a growing anti-globalization mood, delivered Brexit in a UK referendum and swept Donald Trump to the US presidency. In Capitalism in the 21st Century, internationally well-regarded economist Dr Donghyun Park articulately explains why more capitalism is needed to tackle global problems such as climate change and inhumane poverty. While defending capitalism against its unfair demonization, the author makes a positive case for entrepreneurial capitalism, which creates wealth and jobs as well as drives human progress. According to the author, reforming the financial industry, which has become a self-serving leviathan, and more fundamentally, tweaking the economic role of the government, which stifles growth-promoting entrepreneurship, are critical to restoring the vitality of capitalism. The book is explicitly written in such a way that the general reader without any background in economics or finance can easily understand it.Related Link(s)

The Economics of Poverty Traps

The Economics of Poverty Traps PDF Author: Christopher B. Barrett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022657430X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
What circumstances or behaviors turn poverty into a cycle that perpetuates across generations? The answer to this question carries especially important implications for the design and evaluation of policies and projects intended to reduce poverty. Yet a major challenge analysts and policymakers face in understanding poverty traps is the sheer number of mechanisms—not just financial, but also environmental, physical, and psychological—that may contribute to the persistence of poverty all over the world. The research in this volume explores the hypothesis that poverty is self-reinforcing because the equilibrium behaviors of the poor perpetuate low standards of living. Contributions explore the dynamic, complex processes by which households accumulate assets and increase their productivity and earnings potential, as well as the conditions under which some individuals, groups, and economies struggle to escape poverty. Investigating the full range of phenomena that combine to generate poverty traps—gleaned from behavioral, health, and resource economics as well as the sociology, psychology, and environmental literatures—chapters in this volume also present new evidence that highlights both the insights and the limits of a poverty trap lens. The framework introduced in this volume provides a robust platform for studying well-being dynamics in developing economies.

Natural Resources, Neither Curse nor Destiny

Natural Resources, Neither Curse nor Destiny PDF Author: Daniel Lederman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821365460
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
'Natural Resources: Neither Course nor Destiny' brings together a variety of analytical perspectives, ranging from econometric analyses of economic growth to historical studies of successful development experiences in countries with abundant natural resources. The evidence suggests that natural resources are neither a curse nor destiny. Natural resources can actually spur economic development when combined with the accumulation of knowledge for economic innovation. Furthermore, natural resource abundance need not be the only determinant of the structure of trade in developing countries. In fact, the accumulation of knowledge, infrastructure, and the quality of governance all seem to determine not only what countries produce and export, but also how firms and workers produce any good.

Resource Abundance and Economic Development

Resource Abundance and Economic Development PDF Author: R. M. Auty
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199246882
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Since the 1960s the per capita incomes of the resource-poor countries have grown significantly faster than those of the resource-abundant countries. In fact, in recent years economic growth has been inversely proportional to the share of natural resource rents in GDP, so that the small mineral-driven economies have performed least well and the oil-driven economies worst of all. Yet the mineral-driven resource-rich economies have high growth potential because the mineral exportsboost their capacity to invest and to import."Resource Abundance and Economic Development" explains the disappointing performance of resource-abundant countries by extending the growth accounting framework to include natural and social capital. The resulting synthesis identifies two contrasting development trajectories: the competitive industrialization of the resource-poor countries and the staple trap of many resource-abundant countries. The resource-poor countries are less prone to policy failure than the resource-abundant countriesbecause social pressures force the political state to align its interests with the majority poor and follow relatively prudent policies. Resource-abundant countries are more likely to engender political states in which vested interests vie to capture resource surpluses (rents) at the expense of policycoherence. A longer dependence on primary product exports also delays industrialization, heightens income inequality, and retards skill accumulation. Fears of 'Dutch disease' encourage efforts to force industrialization through trade policy to protect infant industry. The resulting slow-maturing manufacturing sector demands transfers from the primary sector that outstrip the natural resource rents and sap the competitiveness of the economy.The chapters in this collection draw upon historical analysis and models to show that a growth collapse is not the inevitable outcome of resource abundance and that policy counts. Malaysia, a rare example of successful resource-abundant development, is contrasted with Ghana, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Argentina, which all experienced a growth collapse. The book also explores policies for reviving collapsed economies with reference to Costa Rica, South Africa, Russia and Central Asia. Itdemonstrates the importance of initial conditions to successful economic reform.

The Curse of Natural Resources

The Curse of Natural Resources PDF Author: Sevil Acar
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137587237
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This book examines the paradox that resource-rich countries often struggle to manage their resources in a way that will help their economies thrive. It looks at how a country's political regime and quality of governance can determine the degree to which it benefits - or suffers - from having natural resources, shifting away from the traditional focus on economic growth data to study the complex implications of these resources for human well-being and sustainable development. To this end, Acar examines a panel of countries in terms of the effects of their natural resources on human development and genuine saving, which is a sustainability indicator that takes into account the welfare of future generations by incorporating the changes in different kinds of capital. Acar finds that the exportation of agricultural raw materials is associated with significant deterioration in human development, while extractive resource exports, such as energy and minerals, have negative implications for genuine savings. Next, the book compares the development path of Norway before and after discovering oil, contrasting it with Sweden's development. The two countries, which followed almost identical paths until the 1970s, diverged significantly in terms of per capita income after Norway found oil.

Natural Resources and Economic Growth

Natural Resources and Economic Growth PDF Author: Marc Badia-Miró
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317669193
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
The relationship between natural capital and economic growth is an open debate in the field of economic development. Is an abundance of natural resources a blessing or a curse for economic performance? The field of Economic History offers an excellent vantage to explore the relevance of institutions, technical progress and supply-demand drivers. Natural Resources and Economic Growth contains theoretical and empirical articles by leading scholars who have studied this subject in different historical periods from the 19th century to the present day and in different parts of the world. Part I presents the theoretical issues and discusses the meaning of the "curse" and the relevance of the historical perspective. Part II captures the diversity of experiences, presenting thirteen independent case studies based on historical results from North and South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. This book emphasizes that an abundance of natural resources is not a fixed situation. It is a process that reacts to changes in the structure of commodity prices and factor endowments, and progress requires capital, labour, technical change and appropriate institutional arrangements. This abundance is not a given, but is part of the evolution of the economic system. History shows that institutional quality is the key factor to deal with abundant natural resources and, especially, with the rents derived from their use and exploitation. This wide ranging volume will be of great relevance to all those with an interest in economic history, development, economic growth, natural resources, world history and institutional economics.