Journal•ISSN: 0957-8811
The European Journal of Development Research
Palgrave Macmillan
About: The European Journal of Development Research is an academic journal published by Palgrave Macmillan. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Development studies & International development. It has an ISSN identifier of 0957-8811. Over the lifetime, 1451 publications have been published receiving 32050 citations.
Topics: Development studies, International development, Sustainable development, Globalization, Development anthropology
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the socially embedded nature of institutions for common property resource management and collective action and show that institutions formed through bricolage are a dynamic mixture of the modern and traditional, 'traditional', 'formal' and 'informal'.
Abstract: This study challenges the oversimplified way in which abstract and bureaucratic 'design principles' derived from resource management literature are translated into development policy and practice, in pursuit of robust and enduring institutions. Drawing on research in the Usangu Basin, Tanzania, it explores the socially embedded nature of institutions for common property resource management and collective action. The concept of 'institutional bricolage' is outlined; a process by which people consciously and unconsciously draw on existing social and cultural arrangements to shape institutions in response to changing situations. Contrary to much theory, this study shows that institutions formed through bricolage are a dynamic mixture of the 'modern' and 'traditional', 'formal' and 'informal'.
666 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the construct validity of the indicators and raise the question of whether researchers and policymakers are relying on wrong data, rather than poor data, which raises questions about the utility of these indicators.
Abstract: As policymakers and researchers focus more on the question of the impact of governance in economic development, they have required measures of the quality of governance to set policy or to conduct analyses. A number of measures of the quality of governance have been created. Among these are the Worldwide Governance Indicators, which rank countries on six aspects of ‘good governance’. Critics have focused on problems of bias or lack of comparability that raise questions about the utility of these indicators. However, a more fundamental question is that of whether the indicators have ‘construct validity’ – whether they measure what they purport to measure. This paper considers the construct validity of the indicators and raises the question of whether researchers and policymakers are relying on wrong data, rather than poor data. Les responsables politiques et les chercheurs ont besoin de mesures concretes de la qualite de la gouvernance afin de pouvoir determiner l’impact de celle-ci, en particulier par rapport au developpement economique. Un certain nombre d’indicateurs ont recemment ete crees, parmi lesquels les Indicateurs de gouvernance dans le monde de la Banque Mondiale, qui classent les pays a partir de six criteres de « bonne gouvernance ». L’utilite de ces indicateurs a ete mise en question pour des raisons de distorsion ainsi que des problemes de manque de comparabilite. Cependant, une question plus fondamentale est celle de la validite theorique de ces indicateurs, c’est-a-dire, s’ils mesurent ce qu’ils pretendent mesurer. Cet article considere la validite conceptuelle de ces indicateurs et cherche a determiner dans quelle mesure les chercheurs et les responsables politiques ne sont pas en train de se baser sur des donnees fausses, plutot que des donnees insuffisantes.
494 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide an introduction to the papers in the special section of this edition of the European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) and discuss four papers that advance this research agenda.
Abstract: In this article we provide an introduction to the papers in the special section of this edition of the European Journal of Development Research. We start by framing the challenges posed by female entrepreneurship to the research community, note some of the findings in the literature pertaining to the cross-national understanding of female entrepreneurship, and review the existing literature on the role and experience of female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Despite progress in understanding the motivations, constraints and issues that confront female entrepreneurs, there is still substantial scope for further research. We then discuss four papers that advance this research agenda.
390 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the key pillars of FI are outlined, and several international cases are discussed to extract lessons learned, and explanatory FI models are presented Given the current global financial crisis, the need to scale-up FI efforts is now more imperative than at any other time in recent history.
Abstract: Although the chosen and conventional approaches to tackling poverty and other millennium development goals (MDGs) are useful and necessary, they are not sufficient to address the challenge Financial inclusion (FI) offers incremental and complementary solutions to tackle poverty, to promote inclusive development and to address the MDGs This treatise is advanced in the following ways: (i) based on the FI-poverty reduction (PR)-MDG nexus, and supported by field research and related literature, the key pillars of FI are outlined; (ii) several international cases are discussed to extract lessons learned; and (iii) explanatory FI models are presented Given the current global financial crisis, the need to scale-up FI efforts is now more imperative than at any other time in recent history This paper also offers potentially useful approaches to planning, policy-making and programming in order to strengthen the FI-PR-MDG nexus
337 citations
TL;DR: Larson et al. as discussed by the authors presented the first volume of the Bellagio Conference on Governance and Environment in Latin America, which was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Resources Institute.
Abstract: Anne M. Larson is a Research Associate at the Center for International Forestry Research and Nitlapan Institute for Research and Development, Managua, Nicaragua. Jesse C. Ribot is a Senior Associate at the Institutions and Governance Program, World Resources Institute (WRI), Washington, DC. They are indebted to the Rockefeller Foundation for providing the funds and an inspiring venue for the conference at Bellagio, at which the papers in this volume were first presented. They wish to express their thanks to: the Africa Bureau of USAID for funding much of the background research for the Africa contributions to this project and for supporting many of the Bellagio participants; Jon Anderson at the Africa Bureau of USAID for encouraging critical thinking, policy research and outreach on governance issues at the frontier between environment and democracy; David Kaimowitz at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia, for contributing CIFOR’s experience and in-depth research to the Bellagio meeting by generously financing several CIFOR participants, and for supporting the research behind the Latin American cases in this volume; the South Africa office of the Ford Foundation for generously supporting the final stages of this publication; Judy Butler for diligent copy-editing; Catherine Benson for logistical support; and Peter G. Veit at WRI for being supportive of this project throughout. They also acknowledge the key role of the anonymous peer reviewers.
301 citations