Policies For Economic Development

"The promotion of economic development is a recurrent area of interest, both in the policy ground as well as in the academic arena. Developed and developing countries are aware that there are pending issues to be solved. Trying to offer a response to some of them, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations balance social, economic and environmental factors which are in turn the pillars for sustainable economic growth. In this context, social changes, innovations, and technological advances would play a crucial role. But the needed changes require adequate economic policies aimed to promote sustainable economic development. Joint to this, the past financial and economic crisis has questioned the usefulness of several paradigms accepted by the academy and has also favored the research on economic policies. In the current globalized world, the new approaches to conduct economic policies, and the practical lessons that emerge from empirical analysis, are revealed as necessary tools to understand international economic relations. In this book, we provide some contributions that show the most recent approaches showing to which extent economic policies would overcome a sustainable economic development. First, we will review the current situation and the perspectives of development theories and policies. Next, we will show the scope of both demand-side and supply-side policies, when trying to achieve economic development. Finally, we will show several examples of how developing countries from the Latin America area are dealing with the current situation after the economic crisis, in light of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our results provide a vast and comprehensive analysis of the situation, the perspective and the proposals for the future of the economic policies for development"--

The interplay of ideas and policies is central to understanding the historical evolution of economies. Ideas shape economic institutions and real economic constraints are the source of new economic ideas. The history of economic ideas, both those that are fairly recent and those that are considerably older, may provide a fertile ground for new appr

Cornerstone of Development: Integrating environmental, social and economic policies

This book provides the theoretical and analytical background necessary to understanding the process of growth and the implementation of economic policies. First, it presents the growth theory landscape and the evolution of growth as well as modern growth theory arguments where the policy implications of the theoretical approaches are set. The book then covers the relationship between policy and growth, discussing not only the growth prototypes that prevail but also their relation to politics and economic policy formation and decision making. In this context, policy formation determinants, as well as the targets, instruments, and policy implementations, are crucial. The role of structural changes and structural reforms and their relationship with economic growth is also analyzed. The book ends with an interdisciplinary study of how institutions and cultural background, entrepreneurship and innovation affect policy formation.

Cases in Economic Development: Projects, Policies and Strategies presents cases on project analysis, sectoral planning, and macroeconomic policies. The cases are set in an imaginary country called Beracia in order to simulate actual planning experience. Beracia has been designed with a greater than normal range of problems, so that it can encompass the features of mineral-rich countries such as Zambia and Peru; agrarian economies such as the Philippines and Ivory Coast; and aspiring exporters of manufactures such as Colombia and Pakistan. This text has 11 cases divided into five sections. After providing an overview of development planning, development goals and strategies, and planning theory and practice, the book introduces the fictional country in the next section, which presents four reports similar to World Bank economic reports on developing countries (economic and political developments; income and employment; trade and payments; and fiscal and financial developments). Sufficient data are elaborated to explain the economy’s salient features. The third section focuses on assumptions and controversies surrounding project analysis, while the section on sectorial planning introduces the reader to input-output analysis, efficiency indicators, education planning, and industrial strategy. The section on macroeconomic planning covers macroeconomic forecasts; balance-of-payments crisis; fiscal planning and reform; and income inequality and poverty. The cases span many sectors, from mining and agriculture to manufacturing, transport, education, and health. This book is written primarily for students, professional economists, and experienced policy analysts.