Unlocking Economic Development


Book Description

"Despite the abundant literature about development policies and solutions, many developing countries continue to struggle with basic development issues. The author of this book argues that such a situation is due to the absence of an unlearning process that would aid in adjusting negative mindsets and outdated mental models that hinder economic development. This book addresses development issues from the behavioral perspective, linking negative mindsets and behaviors to growth and development strategies and policies. It identifies six mindsets and actions that impede the economic development of underdeveloped nations. Then, it suggests solutions to upgrade the mindsets according to the plans and policies. Moreover, the book highlights the different concepts and phenomena in a straightforward way with simple figures to facilitate their understanding for people who do not necessarily have a background in business or economics. At the same time, it fully respects scientific standards in addressing the topics and themes under discussion. Each chapter identifies the state of mind needed to 'unlearn' with real examples and experiences and offers suggestions to undertake and accomplish the unlearning process. Based on real and clear-cut examples, the book presents the main beliefs and psychological mechanisms that lead to underperforming behaviors of customers, investors, entrepreneurs and policy makers. Thus, the main audience for the book is scholars, students and researchers in economics and development, as well as policymakers, wishing to attempt new approaches to counteract the boomerang effect"--




Unlocking Africa's Business Potential


Book Description

Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world's highest returns and impacts Africa has tremendous economic potential and offers rewarding opportunities for global businesses looking for new markets and long-term investments with favorable returns. Africa has been one of the world's fastest-growing regions over the past decade, and by 2030 will be home to nearly 1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion worth of consumer and business spending. Increased political stability in recent years and improving regional integration are making market access easier, and business expansion will generate jobs for women and youth, who represent the vast majority of the population. Current economic growth and poverty-alleviation efforts mean that more than 43 percent of the continent's people will reach middle- or upper-class status by 2030. Unlocking Africa's Business Potential examines business opportunities in the eight sectors with the highest potential returns on private investment—the same sectors that will foster economic growth and diversification, job creation, and improved general welfare. These sectors include: consumer markets, agriculture and agriprocessing, information and communication technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, tourism, banking, and infrastructure and construction. The book's analysis of these sectors is based on case studies that identify specific opportunities for investment and growth, along with long-term market projections to inform decision-making. The book identifies potential risks to business and offers mitigation strategies. It also provides policymakers with solutions to attract new business investments, including how to remove barriers to business and accelerate development of the private sector.




Unlocking Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship


Book Description

Illuminating and timely, this book explores several theoretical and empirical issues related to the potential for increasing capacities for innovation, knowledge and entrepreneurship. It highlights the current academic and political consensus that calls for policy interventions targeted towards more balanced, inclusive and regionally cohesive growth.




Unlocking Economic Development


Book Description

Despite the abundant literature about development policies and solutions, many developing countries continue to struggle with basic development issues. The author of this book argues that such a situation is due to the absence of an unlearning process that would aid in adjusting negative mindsets and outdated mental models that hinder economic development. This book addresses development issues from the behavioral perspective, linking negative mindsets and behaviors to growth and development strategies and policies. It identifies six mindsets and actions that impede the economic development of underdeveloped nations. Then, it suggests solutions to upgrade the mindsets according to the plans and policies. Moreover, the book highlights the different concepts and phenomena in a straightforward way with simple figures to facilitate their understanding for people who do not necessarily have a background in business or economics. At the same time, it fully respects scientific standards in addressing the topics and themes under discussion. Each chapter identifies the state of mind needed to ‘unlearn’ with real examples and experiences and offers suggestions to undertake and accomplish the unlearning process. Based on real and clear-cut examples, the book presents the main beliefs and psychological mechanisms that lead to underperforming behaviors of customers, investors, entrepreneurs and policy makers. Thus, the main audience for the book is scholars, students and researchers in economics and development, as well as policymakers, wishing to attempt new approaches to counteract the boomerang effect.




Economic Development in Africa


Book Description

"The services sector critical source of income and employment in Africa. As the most dominant sector in many African economies, it has become a dynamic driver of growth in the continent in recent years. This dynamism, however, has not translated into a structural transformation of the continent. Africa's services provision remains suboptimal and is delivered at a high cost. Various regulatory and policy shortcomings prevail, which explain these inefficiencies and impede Africa's capacity to fully capitalize on the potential of its services sector. If the continent is to fully realize the benefits of development, services must play an enhanced role in the growth process. Regulation of and policies for infrastructure services need to better target existing market failures and address structural impediments to improve performance in the sector and unleash the potential of Africa's services economy. The Economic Development in Africa Report 2015, subtitled Unlocking the Potential of Africa's Services Trade for Growth and Development, examines some of the major policy issues that underlie Africa's services sector and provides policy guidance on how services could contribute to Africa's regional integration and generate inclusive growth and employment. More broadly, the report discusses how services can contribute to sustainable growth and development continent-wide, especially given the enabling role of services and their capacity to link with other sectors. Africa needs to boost services trade and become better integrated in global value chains. The report makes specific and actionable policy recommendations on how to better leverage Africa's services trade and the related development, employment and growth benefits. The report emphasizes the need for greater policy coherence at the national, regional and international levels to address services sector and trade policy disconnects."--Publisher's description.




Waste to Wealth


Book Description

Waste to Wealth proves that 'green' and 'growth' need not be binary alternatives. The book examines five new business models that provide circular growth from deploying sustainable resources to the sharing economy before setting out what business leaders need to do to implement the models successfully.




Economic Growth


Book Description

What is Economic Growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of increase in the real and nominal gross domestic product (GDP). How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Economic growth Chapter 2: Gross domestic product Chapter 3: Macroeconomics Chapter 4: Growth accounting Chapter 5: Capital intensity Chapter 6: Endogenous growth theory Chapter 7: Productivity Chapter 8: Convergence (economics) Chapter 9: Kuznets curve Chapter 10: Solow residual Chapter 11: Total factor productivity Chapter 12: Solow-Swan model Chapter 13: Development theory Chapter 14: Income and fertility Chapter 15: Oded Galor Chapter 16: Economic impact of HIV/AIDS Chapter 17: Education economics Chapter 18: Technological theory of social production Chapter 19: Eco-economic decoupling Chapter 20: Galor-Zeira model Chapter 21: Effects of economic inequality (II) Answering the public top questions about economic growth. (III) Real world examples for the usage of economic growth in many fields. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Economic Growth.







From Privilege to Competition


Book Description

'From Privilege to Competition: Unlocking Private-Led Growth in the Middle East and North Africa' sheds new light on the difficult quest for stronger and more diversified growth in a region of unquestionable potential. It underlines the need to strengthen reforms in many areas specifically, by reducing policy uncertainty and improving credit and real estate markets. It also highlights other important issues that restrain the credibility and impact of reforms in many parts of the region: conflicts of interest between politicians and businesses, an investment climate that favors a few privileged firms, and a dominant private sector that often opposes reforms. The book recommends that countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) engage in more credible reform agendas by improving the implementation of policies in a manner that will reduce discretion and privileges. This renewed commitment to stronger growth would entail several developments. First, governments will need to reduce opportunities for rent-seeking and foster competition. Second, they will need to work to reform institutions: private sector development policies will need to be systematically anchored in elements of institutional and public sector reforms in order to reduce discretion and opacity and improve the quality of services to firms. Third, they will need to mobilize all stakeholders, including larger representations from the private sector, around dedicated long-term growth strategies. Short of such a fundamental shift in the way private sector policies are formulated and implemented, investor expectations that governments are committed to reform will be limited. It will take political will and time to support sustained reforms that credibly convince investors and the public that changes are real, deep, and set to last. MENA countries are endowed with strong human capital, good infrastructure, immense resources, and a great deal of untapped creativity and entrepreneurship. The economic and social payoff of embarking on a more ambitious private-led growth agenda could thus be immense for all.




Making Of An Economic Superpower, The: Unlocking China's Secret Of Rapid Industrialization


Book Description

The rise of China is no doubt one of the most important events in world economic history since the Industrial Revolution. Mainstream economics, especially the institutional theory of economic development based on a dichotomy of extractive vs. inclusive political institutions, is highly inadequate in explaining China's rise. This book argues that only a radical reinterpretation of the history of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the West (as incorrectly portrayed by the institutional theory) can fully explain China's growth miracle and why the determined rise of China is unstoppable despite its current 'backward' financial system and political institutions. Conversely, China's spectacular and rapid transformation from an impoverished agrarian society to a formidable industrial superpower sheds considerable light on the fundamental shortcomings of the institutional theory and mainstream 'blackboard' economic models, and provides more-accurate reevaluations of historical episodes such as Africa's enduring poverty trap despite radical political and economic reforms, Latin America's lost decades and frequent debt crises, 19th century Europe's great escape from the Malthusian trap, and the Industrial Revolution itself.