While economists continue to debate whether particular economic policies, such as those referred to in Willliamson’s (1993) “Washington Consensus,” can spur growth in developing countries, this paper demonstrates that it is combinations of policies that are more critical for growth. Policy complementarity refers to the mutually reinforcing benefits of policies that create an environment that is conducive to investment and growth. Quantitative measures of policy complementarity are developed, and the study shows empirically, through both an outcomes-based probability framework and a standard regression analysis, that these complementarities are significant and robust in explaining growth outcomes over the period 1985–95.

This report was prepared by a team led by Roberto Zagha, under the general direction of Gobind Nankani.

This paper explores how fiscal policy can affect medium- to long-term growth. It identifies the main channels through which fiscal policy can influence growth and distills practical lessons for policymakers. The particular mix of policy measures, however, will depend on country-specific conditions, capacities, and preferences. The paper draws on the Fund’s extensive technical assistance on fiscal reforms as well as several analytical studies, including a novel approach for country studies, a statistical analysis of growth accelerations following fiscal reforms, and simulations of an endogenous growth model.

Contrary to the common view that globalization undermines social agency, ‘alter-globalization activists', that is, those who contest globalization in its neo-liberal form, have developed new ways to become actors in the global age. They propose alternatives to Washington Consensus policies, implement horizontal and participatory organization models and promote a nascent global public space. Rather than being anti-globalization, these activists have built a truly global movement that has gathered citizens, committed intellectuals, indigenous, farmers, dalits and NGOs against neoliberal policies in street demonstrations and Social Forums all over the world, from Bangalore to Seattle and from Porto Alegre to Nairobi. This book analyses this worldwide movement on the bases of extensive field research conducted since 1999. Alter-Globalization provides a comprehensive account of these critical global forces and their attempts to answer one of the major challenges of our time: How can citizens and civil society contribute to the building of a fairer, sustainable and more democratic co-existence of human beings in a global world?

This report examines the precise nature of the required institutional reforms needed to achieve higher sustained rates of growth and to make a dent in poverty reduction and provides a framework for their design and implementation. The more modest objective is to examine how the concepts of the new institutional economics are useful for analyzing and designing institutions and to evaluate how political economy concepts can be used to develop strategies for implementing institutional reforms. Employing some of these concepts, the report demonstrates that sound institutional reform can be technically and politically viable in the following key sectors: banking; capital markets and legal institutions; educational institutions; judicial reforms; and public administration.

This book analyses the role of local content (LC) policy in the economic development of five resource-rich countries: Brazil, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia and the UK. The authors situate LC policy within a framework of sustainability in the form of industrial diversification and innovation-led growth, and examine how effective LC policies are in facilitating sectoral and economy-wide catching up. Structured in five chapters, the book begins with an introduction and then presents an overview of LC definitions and situates LC policies within a framework of economic development. The third chapter compares specific examples of LC development and highlights variations in practice as well as learning across case countries. The fourth chapter focuses on macro-economic, micro-economic and institutional challenges conditioning LC development and the ability of LC policies to assist innovation-led growth. The authors conclude by examining what the future holds for LC policies and their role in promoting economic growth and addressing the wider social, political and economic challenges in resource-rich countries.

This text examines the vital connections between trade, environment and development. It argues that current international trade rules and institutions must be significantly reformed to address environmental concerns while still promoting economic growth and development.