Search results for ""Overseas Development Council,U.S.""

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the poorest in the world with the largest proportions of their populations in poverty and the lowest indicators of social progress. Many of these same countries are also among the most aid dependent in the world. And yet there is evidence that aid in large quantities is a double-edged sword; large amounts of aid over an extended period of time can make the strong stronger and the weak weaker. What, then, is to be done about aid dependence in Africa? In this essay, the culmination of a two-year collaborative study between ODC and the African Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi, the authors explore strategies for reducing aid and aid dependence in Sub-Saharan Africa. They begin by addressing four key questions related to a smooth transition from aid dependence in Africa: What is aid dependence? What are the causes and consequences of aid dependence? What has been the experience of particular countries with aid dependence? And, what are the most important elements that aid donors and recipients should consider in a strategy to reduce aid dependence? Dr. Lancaster proposes a value-free definition of aid dependence, explores in detail the elements and impact dependence (especially on recipient institutions and organizations), develops empirical materials on aid dependence in individual African countries, and finally, proposes specific strategies for reducing aid dependence. With the prospect of further decreases in aid to Africa and the rising concerns about the disappointing impact of large flows of aid to many African countries, it is timely and even urgent that the issue of reducing aid dependence be addressed. This essay makes an important contribution toward advancing this important task.

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A growing consensus has emerged in recent years among donors, and between aid agencies and their developing country counterparts, on development strategies. Almost everybody now agrees that sustainable development requires macroeconomic stability, substantial integration into the global economy, better public sector management, more effective poverty alleviation, and greater attention to the private sector and to civil society in general. At the same time, it has become increasingly apparent that in many countries, particularly in the least developed that are the most heavily aided, much has gone awry. In Perspectives on Aid and Development a distinguished group of policy experts offer perspectives on the lessons learned from development experience and how these lessons have been translated into new thinking on aid and development issues.

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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.

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This essay addresses the "new-new" issues on the emerging agenda for the global trade negotiations to follow the recently concluded Uruguay Round. The authors first examine the extent to which international rules in new trade areas are needed and then consider the three highest profile issues: competition policy, labor standards, and linking trade and environment. Robert Lawrence argues that if an international agreement on competition policy was possible, developing countries would derive considerable benefits. Dani Rodrik examines the evidence and concludes that labor standards-or lack thereof-have consequences for trade and foreign investment patterns. He then considers whether a social-safeguards approach can be made to work for labor standards and suggests that the risks of not negotiating such a clause outweigh the dangers of an inappropriately designed process. Finally, John Whalley argues that the central issue for trade and the environment is whether developing countries should be compensated for policies encouraging environmental restraint.

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What role should international trade rules and the World Trade Organization (WTO) play in the protection of the environment? While many environmentalists argue that trade rules and procedures must be made more "green," many trade proponents fear that the international trading system will be undermined by extreme demands of environmentalists. In this essay, Gary Sampson scrutinizes these contending views and assesses the effects of trade liberalization on the environment; the role of the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism; the potential impact of WTO rules, including those dealing with production processes; and the relationship that should exist between the WTO and specific multilateral environmental agreements. In his discussion of these issues, Sampson puts forward a priority agenda for trade and environmental ministers and proposes ways to enhance the WTO's environmental protection role and strengthen the trading system at the same time.

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