Institutional Change and Economic Development [Paperback]

United Nations (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

The issue of institutional development has come to prominence during the last decade or so. During this period, even the IMF and the World Bank, which used to treat institutions as mere 'details', have come to emphasize their role in economic development. However, there are still some important knowledge gaps that need to be filled before we can say that we have a good grip on the issue of institutions and economic development, both theoretically and at the policy level. This book constitutes an attempt to fill these gaps.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Just when the institutionalist approach to economic development is at risk of seeming like a ‘black box’ for tautological non-explanations, this volume of richly historically informed and nuanced studies will restore confidence in the value, if not superiority, of this approach to the political economy of development.' —Jomo K. S., Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, United Nations

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

A comprehensive discussion of the issues surrounding institutional progression in relation to the economy of the developing world.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: United Nations University (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9280811436
• ISBN-13: 978-9280811438
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,677,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine study of nations' development strategies, February 5, 2009

By 

William Podmore (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Institutional Change and Economic Development (Anthem Studies in Development and Globalization) (Paperback)

Ha-Joon Chang, Reader in the Political Economy of Development at Cambridge University, has edited this important collection of 15 essays on institutions and economic development. There are 17 contributors, most from Britain, but also from Brazil, Switzerland, the USA, Uganda, Estonia and China.

Part 1 presents an overview. Part 2 looks at the evolution of particular institutions - civil services, central banks, corporate governance, tax systems, and legal systems. Part 3 studies different countries' experiences - Britain, the USA, Switzerland, Brazil, China, Botswana, Mauritius and Uganda.

These studies show that countries have taken many different routes to development, and that a `one size fits all' approach is quite wrong. But one common element to all their experiences is that they have not adopted the neo-liberal dogma that all a country needs is the holy trinity of liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation.

Yet the Brown and Bush governments have schemed together in the IMF and the World Bank to force this dogma on developing countries. They demand that developing countries adopt at once `global-standard' institutions, especially the strongest possible protection of private property rights. Orthodox academics serve the ruling class by falsely claiming that private property, and legislation guaranteeing it, was key to the growth of Western economies.

One of the most fascinating contributions, by Julius Kiiza of Uganda, examines the different experiences of Mauritius, Botswana and Uganda. He shows how Uganda has suffered because its leaders have rejected the post-colonial commitment to development. They dropped what he calls `developmental nationalism' in favour of economic liberalism, and they destroyed, by privatisations and sackings, Uganda's meritocratic civil service and its developmental bodies, such as the Uganda Development Corporation.

He points out that the developed countries developed by using nationalistic and mercantilist policies, such as infant industry protection. Now their governments tell the developing countries, `do as we say, not as we did'.