The Brazilian electronics industry operates within a policy regime which has promoted excessive diversification rather than concentrating on developing strong technological capabilities in appropriate areas. The international competitiveness of most...

The purpose of this paper is to set out a conceptual framework for policies to promote the diffusion of microelectronics in the context of developing countries. The author bases her discussion on the experience of Venezuela, a medium-sized Latin...

Investment in most heavily indebted countries has been weak since 1982. The widely accepted debt overhang proposition interprets the investment drop as a moral hazard problem: a heavy debt burden raises the incentive to consume, because the marginal...

Prior to the 1980s, India's electronics industry was heavily protected. The industry used inefficient production methods to produce obsolete products of low quality at high cost. Since 1983, various attempts were made to "liberalize" the industry....

The issue of the nature and extent of legal protection of software arises in the context of a global software industry in which: a) suppliers and users are both heavily concentrated in the OECD countries; b) US firms dominate the global market,...

The strategies of Japanese electronics firms have major implications for the electronics industries of the East Asian NIEs as well as the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries. Japan's electronics industry has been...

In 1957, when independence came, Ghana was one of the most advanced economies in sub-Saharan Africa. It seemed well placed to make rapid and substantial progress. In the event, economic performance was dismal, and by 1982 the economy was all but in...

Many developing countries lack access to future and option markets to hedge the enormous risks arising from the currency exposure of their foreign debt. And even if these markets are accessible, their maturities are often too short compared to the...

From 1983 to 1989 Mexico pursued a strategy of integration into the global economy and reducing dependence on the US economy. That strategy was based on bilateral sectoral negotiations with the United States and multilateral negotiations through GATT...

Maize is a relatively new crop in Thailand, but since commercial production began in the 1950s it has become the second most important crop in terms of planted area and one of the country's top four agricultural exports. Major changes are occurring...

This paper deals with the problem of definition and measurement of the efficiency of agricultural production. Using an agronomical simulation model, it makes comparisons of wheat, maize, sunflower and soybean production in different regions of...

In the 1960s and 1970s a number of views were formed about unemployment in developing countries, which have remained largely accepted since then. The views can be summarized as three propositions: a) the poor cannot afford to become unemployed; b)...

The process of adjusting the balance between the public and private sectors, an essential part of structural reforms launched in Ghana, took place in an improved macroeconomic environment. The policies pursued, Economic Recovery Programme I (1983-86)...

With annual production averaging over 20 million metric tons, Brazil is the second largest developing country producer of maize (after China) and the third largest in the world. This report analyses development and dissemination of maize research and...

In analysing Argentina's variable growth record over the period 1913 to 1984, the study develops a comprehensive framework which disaggregates the economy into three sectors: agriculture, nonagriculture and government. The aim is to examine the...

This paper investigates the application of the principle of comparative advantage to policy analysis and policy formulation. It is concerned with both the theory and the measurement of comparative advantage. Despite its central role in economics, the...

This study provides an economic and econometric analysis of agriculture in the economic cycle, with special reference to the recent experience of Brazil. Part One of the paper discusses the economic theory and points to the relevance of classical...

Maize has been a staple food in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times and is still an important source of calories and protein in daily consumption, especially for poor families. The pattern of consumption is nevertheless changing; with the share of food...

This study examines the role of public investment in determining the pattern of agricultural development in Pakistan. The focus is on investment in irrigation, which is seen to be the key to providing food self-sufficiency and allowing Pakistan to...

The variety of channels through which devaluation of the exchange rate impacts on real tax receipts, calls for empirical clarification. This paper should be seen as a first attempt towards empirical evidence. It establishes the causal relationships...