This paper analyses frameworks for the design of the rules for international trading, assuming that it is possible to have some rule of law.
This essay concerns the process of globalization, the integration of economies around the world which has put new demands on nation-states at the very same time that, in many ways, it has reduced their capacities to deal with those demands. The nation-state today is squeezed, on one side, by the forces of global economics and, on the other side, by the political demands for devolution of power.
Much has been said about the failing policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this essay, I attempt to explain why the IMF has pursued policies that in many cases not only failed to promote the stated objectives of enhancing growth and stability, but were probably counterproductive and even flew in the face of a considerable body of theoretical and empirical work that suggested these poilcies would be counterproductive. I argue that the root of the problem lies in the IMF’s system of governance.
Developing countries face a wide range of environmental and resource problems including many already solved in industrialized countries. Since agriculture, forestry, and fisheries constitute a much larger part of the economy in these countries and the poor are disproportionately concentrated in these sectors, problems of resource depletion such as inappropriate allocation of surface water, soil erosion and deforestation are all very important.
Why focus on energy? In our view there are four reasons for doing so. This paper considers these aspects of energy and development and briefly covers the value of improved energy service availability. The paper concludes with a summary of lessons learned from energy-related development activities and implications for future activities in this area.
This paper proposes to (1) summarize existing literature on the causes of deforestation and the magnitude of the various forest benefit components; (2) critically discuss the usefulness of forest valuation exercises; (3) discuss the main market failures underlying deforestation; and (4) highlight the relationship between different property rights regimes, market failures, and policy effectiveness.
In this paper we present a survey of the literature that studies the interaction between international trade, capital mobility, and environmental quality. Our focus is on three main issues relevant to developing countries. First we evaluate whether trade moves a country’s growth path in a direction that systematically favors or harms various aspects of environmental quality. For this purpose, we critically evaluate the pollution haven hypothesis. We draw attention to sources of comparative advantage usually more important than pollution policy. And we also discuss the potential changes in environmental policy that accompany freer trade.
Development of both the theory and practice of environmental accounting over the past decade and a half suggests that the policy rule for increasing social welfare is to maintain positive genuine saving. This paper argued that while better and more environment-friendly economic policy does not automatically follow from greener measures of income, analysis of genuine saving offers a more direct route to policy.
This paper examines the record of urban population growth, health, and health care spending in developing countries, describes the linkage between urban air pollution and health, and weighs policy responses to reduce stationary and mobile source air pollution, illustrating options through case studies.