Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity

Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World.

Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World

The paper examines the debates regarding place-neutral versus place-based policies for economic development. The analysis is set in the context of how development policy thinking on the part of both scholars and international organizations has evolved over several decades. Many of the previously accepted arguments have been called into question by the impacts of globalization and a new response to these issues has emerged, a response both to these global changes and also to nonspatial development approaches. The debates are highlighted in the context of a series of major reports recently published on the topic. The cases of the developing world and the European Union are used as examples of how in this changing context development intervention should increasingly focus on efficiency and social inclusion at the expense of an emphasis on territorial convergence and how strategies should consider economic, social, political, and institutional diversity in order to maximize both the local and the aggregate potential for economic development.

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The case for regional development intervention: place-based versus place-neutral approaches*

Geography and Trade

This book opens a fresh chapter in the debate on local enterprise clusters and their strategies for upgrading in the global economy. The authors employ a novel conceptual framework in their research on industrial clusters in Europe, Latin America and Asia and provide new perspectives and insights for researchers and policymakers alike.

Governance in global value chains

Since the reform of the Structural Funds in 1989, the EU has made the principle of cohesion one of its key policies. Much of the language of European cohesion policy eschews the idea of trade-offs between efficiency and equity, suggesting it is possible to maximize overall growth while also achieving continuous convergence in outcomes and productivity across Europe’s regions. Yet, given the rise in inter-regional disparities, it is unclear that cohesion policy has altered the pathway of development from what would have occurred in the absence of intervention. This article draws on geographical economics, institutionalist social science and endogenous growth theory, with the aim of providing a fresh look at cohesion policy. By highlighting a complex set of potential trade-offs and interrelations ‐ overall growth and efficiency; inter-territorial equity; territorial democracy and governance capacities; and social equity within places ‐ it revisits the rationale of cohesion policy, with particular attention to the geographical dynamics of economic development.

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Cohesion policy in the European Union: growth, geography, institutions

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is becoming an increasingly significant catalyst for output and trade in developing countries, in part due to a major expansion in the scope of Global Value Chains (GVCs). FDI delivers a number of important contributions to economic development in terms of investment, employment, and foreign exchange. However, it is FDI's spillover potential-the productivity gain resulting from the diffusion of knowledge and technology from foreign investors to local firms and workers-that is perhaps its most valuable input to long-run growth and development. While substantial empirical evidence has been amassed over the past decade on the existence and dynamics of FDI spillovers, the results are mixed-simply attracting FDI by no means guarantees that a country will benefit from spillovers. This chapter provides an overview of the objectives of the research for which the results are presented in this book. The aim of the research is to identify the critical factors for the realization of FDI-related spillovers including dynamic interactions between FDI and local suppliers, service providers, workers, local producers, customers, and institutions. The research involved detailed field surveys in three industries, characterized by GVCs, across eight countries, with a specific focus on low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Making Foreign Direct Investment Work for Sub-Saharan Africa : Local Spillovers and Competitiveness in Global Value Chains

As world leaders have agreed to massively support trade finance, this paper discusses the singularity of the issues related to trade finance in the context of the global economic crisis. Why should international trade finance be a particular issue of concern in the current circumstances? Are there specific market or government failures associated with trade finance that justify a special and differential treatment of the issue by policymakers? If so, what would then be the most appropriate policy instruments to address those concerns? The paper cautions against the notion of a large trade finance"gap,"yet highlights the possible rationales and conditions for an effective intervention in support of trade finance.

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Trade finance in crisis : market adjustment or market failure ?

China's recent moves to establish special economic zones (SEZs) in several African countries can make a significant contribution to industrialization in Africa. But the success of these projects is by no means guaranteed. Meeting the objectives of both China and African countries will require an active partnership and a framework for collaboration that includes engagement from host governments, processes for phasing-in local control, communication and enforcement of standards, and support for integration with local economies.

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China's investment in African special economic zones : prospects, challenges, and opportunities

Using a cross-section of more than 25,000 domestic manufacturing firms in 78 low and middle-income countries from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys, this paper assesses how mediating factors influence intra-industry productivity spillovers to domestic firms from foreign direct investment. It identifies three types of mediating factors: (i) foreign direct investment spillover potential, (ii) domestic firm absorptive capacity, and (iii) the host country's institutional framework. It finds that all three affect the extent and direction of foreign direct investment spillovers on domestic firm productivity. However, the impact of mediating factors depends significantly on the level of domestic firms' productivity and the structure of foreign ownership.

Foreign firm characteristics, absorptive capacity and the institutional framework : the role of mediating factors for FDI spillovers in low- and middle-income countries

Thomas Farole

Papers

Cohesion policy in the European Union: growth, geography, institutions

Making Foreign Direct Investment Work for Sub-Saharan Africa : Local Spillovers and Competitiveness in Global Value Chains

Trade finance in crisis : market adjustment or market failure ?

China's investment in African special economic zones : prospects, challenges, and opportunities

Foreign firm characteristics, absorptive capacity and the institutional framework : the role of mediating factors for FDI spillovers in low- and middle-income countries