The New Economy And Developing Countries

The New Economy in Development presents conceptual and empirical analyses of the opportunities offered by information and communications technologies (ICT). Contributors include scholars and policy makers from international organizations, and the chapters include understudied cases from Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia.

The new book that's sparked discussion both in Washington and European financial capitals Policy makers in the developing world are grappling with new dilemmas created by openness to trade and capital flows. What role, if any, remains for the state in promoting industrialization? Does openness worsen inequality, and if so, what can be done about it? What is the best way to handle turbulence from the world economy, especially the fickleness of international capital flows? In The New Global Economy and Developing Countries Dani Rodrik argues that successful integration into the world economy requires a complementary set of policies and institutions at home. Policy makers must reinforce their external strategy of liberalization with an internal strategy that gives the state substantial responsibility in building physical and human capital and mediating social conflicts.

Shifts that have taken place in growth patterns of the economies of Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development countries in recent years are examined. The key factor to examine is productivity, since its increase allows the achievement of faster rates of noninflationary economic expansion. By the end of the 1990s, evidence of productivity growth driven by information and communication technology (ICT) emerged. A surge in hardware and software investment, new networks between suppliers, and expanded consumer choice played their part. ICT appears to facilitate productivity only when accompanied by increased skills and changes in the way work is organized. Policies that combine ICT, human capital, competition, innovation, and entrepreneurship with inflation control are likely to enhance productivity. These factors are mutually reinforcing and not as beneficial used separately. Chapter 1 examines the facts about growth in GDP capital in OECD countries in the past decade. Chapter 2 examines the kinds of policies that are needed to enhance the wider diffusion of ICT. Chapter 3 argues that policies concerning innovation can allow new technologies to expand. Chapter 4 looks at how human capital can promote growth. Chapter 5 focuses on the role of business creation. Chapter 6 warns that the balance of economic and social factors is vital to growth if its benefits are to be widely shared. (Contains 64 references.) (RKJ)

In recent years the world economy has been undergoing drastic changes, the East Asian miracle, the financial crisis, and today, globalization and the fundamental changes associated with the “new economy”. This book integrates these developments with macroeconomics for business managers and policymakers.Macroeconomics is essential background for the business manager and policymaker. Consequently macroeconomics is an integral part of the business curriculum in mature and developing countries alike. And well it should be. The economy affects decisions by investors, manufacturers, distributors, importers and exporters, etc. in all parts of the world. Often, it is the difference between growth and profitability on one hand, and stagnation or failure on the other. In recent years as the world economy has undergone overwhelming changes, especially in East Asia and now in the advanced countries, understanding what is going on in the local economy and “out there in the world” has become a particular challenge to managers. The new developments, of which the “new economy” is the most recent one, do not supercede the basic theoretical framework of macroeconomics. But they add greatly to the challenge of understanding the economic situation and to its uncertainty.This book was originally written to meet the needs of a business curriculum based on the program at the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok in collaboration with the Wharton and Kellogg Business Schools in the United States. The book is intended for a broad audience — both domestic and international — that includes mature MBA business students, intermediate level undergraduates, and informed laypersons.

Provides an agenda for future work on activities to improve understanding of innovation strategies in the medium and short term.

This book provides an innovative framework to analyze the process of industrial upgrading and diversification, a key feature of economic development. Based on this framework, it provides concrete advice to development practitioners and policy makers on how to unleash a country's growth potential.

Manufacturing-led development has provided the traditional model for creating jobs and prosperity. But in the past three decades the conventional pattern of structural transformation has changed, with the services sector growing faster than the manufacturing sector. This raises critical questions about the ability of developing economies to close productivity gaps with advanced economies and to create good jobs for more people. At Your Service? The Promise of Services-Led Development (www.worldbank.org/services-led-development) assesses the scope of a services-driven development model and policy directions that can maximize the model’s potential.

How to empower people and communities with user-centric data ownership, transparent and accountable algorithms, and secure digital transaction systems. Data is now central to the economy, government, and health systems—so why are data and the AI systems that interpret the data in the hands of so few people? Building the New Economy calls for us to reinvent the ways that data and artificial intelligence are used in civic and government systems. Arguing that we need to think about data as a new type of capital, the authors show that the use of data trusts and distributed ledgers can empower people and communities with user-centric data ownership, transparent and accountable algorithms, machine learning fairness principles and methodologies, and secure digital transaction systems. It’s well known that social media generate disinformation and that mobile phone tracking apps threaten privacy. But these same technologies may also enable the creation of more agile systems in which power and decision-making are distributed among stakeholders rather than concentrated in a few hands. Offering both big ideas and detailed blueprints, the authors describe such key building blocks as data cooperatives, tokenized funding mechanisms, and tradecoin architecture. They also discuss technical issues, including how to build an ecosystem of trusted data, the implementation of digital currencies, and interoperability, and consider the evolution of computational law systems.