"This volume in the Mansholt series presents state of the art discussions on a wide variety of topics in the field of (agricultural) development. More than 20 chapters have been prepared by internationally known scholars and policy analysts, providing a concise overview of a variety of recent debates in development economics. While the background of most contributors is in economic science, the chapters are prepared so that they feed into ongoing policy discussions and are accessible to a wide readership. The contributions in this volume are organized around five themes: prospects for rural poverty alleviation, sustainable management of natural resources, strategies for enhancing food security, markets and the role of the state, and institutions and governance. It is obvious there are many links between these themes, and indeed the integration between them is emphasized in various chapters. This book is prepared as a festschrift or Liber Amicorum for professor Arie Kuyvenhoven. His retirement from the Development Economics Group at Wageningen University, The Netherlands is a good opportunity to take stock of recent developments in the area of agricultural development economics. Therefore, in addition to being a valuable source of information for readers with an interest in development, this volume is also intended as a farewell gift: to Arie, from friends and colleagues."

The Southern Africa region has experienced more than its fair share of problems in recent years. Just when it seemed that the hardships wrought by the devastating cycle of droughts and floods of 2000 to 2002 were a thing of the past, other problems emerged. At one level, there have been the weak and often erratic governance mechanisms and political crises in some countries of the region, leading to severe disruptions in agricultural production to the point that supplies and markets have virtually disappeared. At another level, socio-cultural rigidities have often militated against the adoption of efficient farming practices, resulting in sub-optimal choices that lock smallholders into a low equilibrium trap. In the face of the disappearing supplies and missing markets, these have engendered hyper-inflationary trends of a magnitude unknown anywhere else in the world. But in the midst of all this apparent dreariness, cases are emerging from which immense lessons can be drawn. This book assembles a collection of research papers based on studies completed in 2008 and 2009 in Southern Africa that examine various dimensions of the institutional constraints small farmers are facing in the region and how they are going about dealing with them. The papers draw from these diverse and polar experiences and present some theoretical and practical insights that should form the basis for more in-depth, country-level, sector-specific analyses, focusing mainly on citrus, horticultures, cotton and livestock. The thematic issues of income inequality, land reform, natural resource management and value chain governance and chain choice, are covered in this book and are expected to be of interest for a wide constituency, including researchers, development practitioners, rural animators, and policy makers.

Annotation This 12th Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics focuses mainly on four areas: new development thinking, crises and recovery, corporate governance and restructuring, and social security including public and private savings.

Gender-sensitive policy and programming have an integral role to play in fostering inclusive agricultural growth to meet the commitments of African countries to the Malabo Declaration goals. The 2019 Annual Trends and Outlook Report from ReSAKSS applies a gender lens to key issues that must be addressed to fully achieve these goals. Chapters examine the intersections between gender and (1) the context and institutions within which rural people operate; (2) the natural resources that men and women depend on for agriculture, sources of vulnerability, and resilience to shocks; (3) assets and income; and (4) livelihood strategies and well-being. The report serves as the official M&E report for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), tracking progress on over 30 CAADP indicators.

The Move to the Market? brings together recent contributions that critically review and examine the role that trade and industry policy reforms have played in the transitional economies. It relates trade and industry policy to the wider set of reforms being implemented as part of the process of moving from a predominantly centrally planned to a more market-oriented economy. The book highlights the different and complex patterns of development that are emerging between the transitional economies of Europe, Africa and Asia.

The book gives an overview of important research topics recently addressed in evolutionary Neo-Schumpeterian Economics. The list of research questions and applications of Neo-Schumpeterian reasoning impressively demonstrates the rich possibilities ranging from theoretical issues addressing human behaviour to applied areas like the emergence of biotechnology in developing countries, the role of innovation on financial markets and the R&D strategies of multinational enterprises. The chapters in this book bring together a rich set of new analytical and empirical methodologies which allow for new relevant and rigorous insights in innovation processes which are responsible for economic development and structural change.​

What guidance does academic research really provide to economic policy development? The critical and analytical surveys in this volume investigate links between policies and outcomes by surveying work from broad macroeconomic policies to interventions in microfinance. Asserting that there are no universal correspondences between policies and outcomes, contributors demonstrate instead that only an intense familiarity with the development context and the universe of applicable economic models can generate successful policies. Getting cause-and-effect right is essential for policy design and implementation. With the goal of drawing researchers and policy makers closer, this volume highlights our increasing understanding of ways to combine economic theorizing with careful, thoughtful empirical work. - Presents an accurate, self-contained survey of the current state of the field - Summarizes the most recent discussions, and elucidates new developments - Although original material is also included, the main aim is the provision of comprehensive and accessible surveys

Development Economics: Theory, Empirical Research, and Policy Analysis by Julie Schaffner teaches students to think about development in a way that is disciplined by economic theory, informed by cutting-edge empirical research, and connected in a practical way to contemporary development efforts. It lays out a framework for the study of developing economies that is built on microeconomic foundations and that highlights the importance in development studies of transaction and transportation costs, risk, information problems, institutional rules and norms, and insights from behavioral economics. It then presents a systematic approach to policy analysis and applies the approach to policies from around the world, in the areas of targeted transfers, workfare, agricultural markets, infrastructure, education, agricultural technology, microfinance, and health.

This handbook is an indispensable teaching, research and reference guide for anyone interested in issues of labour and employment. The editors have assembled a top-flight group of authors and the end-product is an encompassing state-of-the-art review of the industrial relations field′ - Professor Bruce E Kaufman, AYSPS, Georgia State University ′This Handbook will quickly become the standard reference in industrial relations research. It provides the most comprehensive and challenging presentation of the key theoretical debates and topics of research that will shape our field well into the 21st century. All who wish to contribute to this field will need to read this volume and then build on what these authors have to say′ - Professor Thomas A. Kochan, MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research ′This authoritative panorama of the field demonstrates the contemporary vitality, breadth and critical depth of industrial relations scholarship and research. Thirty-four stimulating essays, by an international blend of leading academics, expertly review the analytical and empirical state of play across all aspects of industrial relations enquiry. In doing so, a rich agenda for further scholarly endeavour emerges′ - Paul Marginson, University of Warwick Over the last two decades, a number of factors have converged to produce a major rethink about the field of Industrial Relations. Globalization, the decline of trade unions, the spread of high performance work systems and the emergence of a more feminized, flexible work-force have opened new avenues of inquiry. The SAGE Handbook of Industrial Relations charts these changes and analyzes them. It provides a systematic, comprehensive survey of the field. The book is organized into four interrelated sections: " Theorizing Industrial Relations " The changing institutions that shape employment practice " The processes used by governments, employers and unions " Income inequality, employee wellbeing, business performance and national comparative advantages The result is a work of unprecedented scope and unparalleled ambition. It offers a compete guide to the central debates, new developments and emerging themes in the field. It will quickly be recognized as the indispensable reference for Teachers, Students and Researchers. It is relevant to economists, lawyers, sociologists, business and management researchers and Industrial Relations specialists.

This book provides different facets of India's agro and food processing industry in both organised and unorganised segments. It brings forth the topical issues having potential to accelerate the pace of growth in its employment, investment and productivity and strive for improving the global competitiveness. Using advanced quantitative techniques, it brings new evidences on inter-sectoral (agriculture-industry-services) employment and production linkages, contractual arrangements through Farmer Producer Companies, and subcontracting in the processed food sector. It also throws light on India's comparative advantage in export of primary and processed food products. With rising per capita income, urbanisation, and changing food habits of people, India is increasingly striving to improve productivity and competitiveness in agriculture and manufacturing. A concerted policy focus to accelerate private investment in food processing, largely viewed as a sunrise industry, is expected to contribute to large scale job creation and external trade not only in the manufacturing but also in the agricultural sector. Keeping this in mind, considerable insights are featured in the book at the industry and firm levels due to a significant bearing of technological, tariffs and non-tariff barriers and labour regulations on their trade intensity, employment and efficiency. Containing perspectives from the top agriculture and industry economists in the country, the book will be very useful to researchers, academicians, trade analysts and policy makers.