For four decades the UN has attempted to foster development in the countries of the global south. The book provides a synopsis of these efforts, from the Brandt Commission Report to Boutros Boutros Ghali's Agenda for Development. Prof. Milkias presents opposing arguments in allotting responsibility for the growing gap between the North and the South and details the Millennium Development Goals and assesses their successes and failures so far. He provides suggestions for closing the gap, for removing the debt burden that is currently crushing the nations of the South, and for relieving the poverty, ignorance and disease that plague so much of humanity

This pocket-sized reference on key environmental data for over 200 countries includes key indicators on agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, energy, emission and pollution, and water and sanitation. The volume helps establish a sound base of information to help set priorities and measure progress toward environmental sustainability goals.

Contributed papers presented at the International Conference on "Building a New Asia: Towards Asian Economic Community," on 10-11 March, 2003, at New Delhi.

This annual publication analyses the global and national dimensions of the investment climate for developing countries, in terms of the policy and institutional environment. This edition examines the growth of regional trade agreements, which have risen eight-fold in two decades with currently, as much as 40 percent of global trade taking place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement. Issues discussed include: regional trading trends; effects of regional agreements on trade creation, trade facilitation and services, investment, intellectual property rights, and labour mobility; whether the proliferation of agreements poses risks for multilateral trading system, and if so, options for managing them. The report finds that agreements leading to open regionalism (that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs) are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Although regional agreements can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse effects on excluded countries, and the lowering of border barriers around the world is crucial to minimising these effects. The completion of the Doha Development Agenda by all WTO countries will reduce the risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements.

"To study the effects of tariffs on gross domestic product (GDP), one needs import demand elasticities at the tariff line level that are consistent with GDP maximization. These do not exist. Kee, Nicita, and Olarreaga modify Kohli's (1991) GDP function approach to estimate demand elasticities for 4,625 imported goods in 117 countries. Following Anderson and Neary (1992, 1994) and Feenstra (1995), they use these estimates to construct theoretically sound trade restrictiveness indices and GDP losses associated with existing tariff structures. Countries are revealed to be 30 percent more restrictive than their simple or import-weighted average tariffs would suggest. Thus, distortion is nontrivial. GDP losses are largest in China, Germany, India, Mexico, and the United States"--Abstract.

"Unrealized potential exists for increasing accountability and transparency in Chilean tertiary education by allocating resources based on achieved results rather than historical precedence and political negotiation. Against this background, Thorn, Holm-Nielsen, and Jeppesen profile approaches to results-based funding of tertiary education to identify efficacious finance reform options for Chile. International experience shows that financing by results is not a ready-made concept, but a broad label that offers a menu of design options. To decipher results-based funding, the authors cover all phases in designing and implementing a results-based funding system and highlight strengths and weaknesses of concepts, such as taximeter funding, performance contracts, and formula-based allocations. This paper--a product of the Human Development Department, Latin America and the Caribbean Region--is part of a larger effort in the region to increase accountability for results"--World Bank web site.

This book, based on extensive original research by a range of leading experts, examines many key aspects of current reforms in China's financial sector and China's increasing integration into the international economy. Subjects covered include: the derivatives market; stock market liberalisation; and international foreign direct investment by Chinese firms.