This report presents the results of an investigation into the sources of, and obstacles to, economic growth in the small Pacific island economies. The analytical framework is that provided by Hausmann, Rodrik, and Velasco (2005). The focus of this framework is on identifying the binding constraints to economic growth within a country, given that the investigator has detailed knowledge of the co...

Nat iona l and international economic policy has usually ignored the environment. In areas where the environment is beginning to impinge on policy, as in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it remains a tangential concern, and the presumption is often made that economic growth and economic liberalization (including the liberaliz...

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a principal driver of economic development and social change, worldwide. In many countries, the need for economic and social development is used to justify investments in educational reform and in educational ICT. Yet the connections between national development goals and ICT-based education reform are often more rhetorical than programmatic. Th...

This symposium explores the role of health as an 'economic engine' in the lower Mississippi River Delta region of the United States. The health as an economic engine model proposes that health is an important and perhaps critical determinant of economic growth and development. This model is the reverse of the more commonly considered paradigm in which economic conditions are major determinants ...

This paper applies the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to establish environmental quality indices for 30 administrative regions in China from 2003 to 2011 and employs panel data analysis to study the relationships among the urbanization rate, economic development and environmental change. The results reveal a remarkable inverted-U-shaped relationship between the urbanization rate and change...

This paper surveys (1)the reasons for economic reform in China to be introduced in 1978, (2)the major components of economic reform, (3) the characteristics of the reform process, (4) why reform was successful, (5) the shortcomings of China’s economic institutions, (6) the factors contributing to rapid economic growth, and (7) the future prospects of further reform and growth, with important co...

Over the last few decades several countries have looked towards tourism as a means of promoting development and economic growth. Tourism has grown to become the world’s second largest industry, directly accounting for 3.8 percent of global GDP in 2005 according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Experiences from various countries have shown that tourism can have significant effects...

Article history: Using objective measures Received 4 January 2008 Received in revised form 3 December 2008 Accepted 8 December 2008 Available online 14 December 2008

INTRODUCTION Despite a multitude of opinions and debates on exactly how to achieve this, many, including my colleagues at the Harvard Kennedy School, share an idealism that government can be improved to not only promote economic growth, but to also help ensure that the poor and disadvantaged can participate in increased prosperity. This idea has always motivated my research and teaching, as I u...

It has been shown, for non-Communist developed and developing countries, that earlier development of agriculture, a dense population, and a state-level polity is associated with a higher income and more rapid economic growth in the late 20 Century. We investigate whether this was also the case for countries under Communism and for the same countries in transition to a market economy. Our findin...