BiblioVault - Books about Economic Development

Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies

Policies, Practices, and Consequences

Edited by Sebastian Edwards

University of Chicago Press, 2007

Some scholars argue that the free movement of capital across borders enhances welfare; others claim it represents a clear peril, especially for emerging nations. In Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies, an esteemed group of contributors examines both the advantages and the pitfalls of restricting capital mobility in these emerging nations.

In the aftermath of the East Asian currency crises of 1997, the authors consider mechanisms that eight countries have used to control capital inflows and evaluate their effectiveness in altering the maturity of the resulting external debt and reducing macroeconomic vulnerability. This volume is essential reading for all those interested in emerging nations and the costs and benefits of restricting international capital flows.

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Capitalism in Context

Essays on Economic Development and Cultural Change in Honor of R.M. Hartwell

Edited by John A. James and Mark Thomas

University of Chicago Press, 1994

Following the approach of R. M. Hartwell, the influential historian of the British Industrial Revolution, these essays explore the cultural contexts and institutional constraints that have shaped growth and development over the past two centuries. Capitalism in Context offers new perspectives on why economic development took place where and when it did.

Thirteen chapters cover: social progress during economic development; the influence of cultural values on social and economic change; economic foundations of development—labor, capital, and technology; and organizational arrangements—property rights, government, and markets. These studies will appeal to economists, historians, and social scientists alike for their wide-ranging treatments of economic development and cultural change.

The contributors are N. F. R. Crafts, Lance E. Davis, Stanley L. Engerman, David W. Galenson, Robert E. Gallman, Stephen Innes, John A. James, Eric L. Jones, Thomas W. Laqueur, Gary D. Libecap, Joel Mokyr, Douglass C. North, Mark Thomas, John J. Wallis, Jeffrey G. Williamson.

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Capitalism with a Comrade's Face

Kenneth Murphy

Central European University Press, 1998

Are nations that are journeying away from communism succeeding in becoming free-market democracies? In what ways do decades of totalitarian rule continue to distort the institutional shape of these societies? Which of communism's legacies may remain as permanent features of their landscape? In an effort to answer these questions, Roman Frydman, Kenneth Murphy, and Andrzej Rapaczynski analyze the turbulent transitions that have taken place in the post-Communist world since the revolutions of 1989-1991.

Each of the essays in this collection dissects the institutional upheaval in a particular institution in transition, such as central banking, the trade union movement, capital markets, or corporate govern-ance. In a lively and accessible style, the authors bring out the links between what was and what will be in the social fabric of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. They expose the fragility of political and economic institutions that can easily threaten the region's rebirth, but they also believe that many post-Communist countries are successfully seizing the opportunity to become reunited with the West and the global economy.

With both sweeping perspective and critical depth, Frydman, Murphy, and Rapaczynski show the wide range of institutional improvisations under way. They weigh the advantages and disadvantages of different reform strategies and assess the role of politics in fostering or arresting the process of transformation. Each essay illuminates the pro-found difficulties of reconciling the needs of economic development with the special interests fighting for their survival.

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Changes in Exchange Rates in Rapidly Developing Countries

Theory, Practice, and Policy Issues

Edited by Takatoshi Ito and Anne O. Krueger

University of Chicago Press, 1999

The exchange rate is a crucial variable linking a nation's domestic economy to the international market. Thus choice of an exchange rate regime is a central component in the economic policy of developing countries and a key factor affecting economic growth.

Historically, most developing nations have employed strict exchange rate controls and heavy protection of domestic industry-policies now thought to be at odds with sustainable and desirable rates of economic growth. By contrast, many East Asian nations maintained exchange rate regimes designed to achieve an attractive climate for exports and an "outer-oriented" development strategy. The result has been rapid and consistent economic growth over the past few decades.

Changes in Exchange Rates in Rapidly Developing Countries explores the impact of such diverse exchange control regimes in both historical and regional contexts, focusing particular attention on East Asia. This comprehensive, carefully researched volume will surely become a standard reference for scholars and policymakers.

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Chicago Essays in Economic Development

David Wall

University of Chicago Press, 1972

What happens when the methods of the Chicago school of economics are applied to development problems? By collecting fifteen prime examples for this volume, David Wall has shown that these methods go a long way toward the clarification and solution of the economic problems faced by the world's underdeveloped countries. The contributors, all members of the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago, are Theodore Schultz, Harry G. Johnson, Arnold C. Harberger, Bert F. Hoselitz, and Larry A. Sjaastad, and D. Gale Johnson.

These Chicago economists share a common intellectual framework universally recognized in the profession and derived from three beliefs: first, that theory is of fundamental importance; second, that theory is irrelevant unless set in a definite empirical context; and third, that in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the market works. Critics of the Chicago school tend to ignore the first two of these and to overlook the qualifying proviso of the third. This volume sets out to rectify that misunderstanding and to circulate more widely some of the best work produced by the Chicago school.

The essays in the opening "general" section clearly illustrate the characteristics of the Chicago school while also reflecting some well-known idiosyncrasies of four of its more prominent spokesmen. The other two sections, "Domestic Policy" and "Trade and Aid," cover topics on which Chicago authors have made a marked impact. Together, these essays will provide a basic reference book for students of the subject, illustrating one of the leading methods of analyzing economic development problems.

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Chicago Studies in Political Economy

Edited by George J. Stigler

University of Chicago Press, 1988

"There is no question that a well-defined 'Chicago School' of political economy has emerged, built largely around the work of George J. Stigler and his colleagues. Chicago Studies in Political Economy brings together the key works in this field, works that have been extremely influential among economists who study political processes. It is a collection of enormous value."—Roger G. Noll

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China's Transition to Industrialism

Producer Goods and Economic Development in the Twentieth Century

Thomas G. Rawski

University of Michigan Press, 1980

China's Transition to Industrialism studies the history and development of a group of industries which have played key roles in China's recent economic gains. Drawing on a wide range of materials, the author focuses on engineering, chemicals, and allied producer industries, showing how the growth of these sectors sparked a dynamic process of development which has spread to encompass the entire Chinese economy. Rawski traces this industrialization process to three distinct sources: vigorous prewar development in the private sector, which created a nucleus of experienced producers in Shanghai and other urban centers; the resource mobilization efforts of the post-1949 Communist government; and a series of economic reforms which relaxed the performance constraints found in other socialist economies and stimulated a burst of innovative activity which has propelled China's economy from the depression of the early 1960s to a record of economic achievement unmatched among the large nations of the developing world.

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Cities and Economic Development

From the Dawn of History to the Present

Paul Bairoch

University of Chicago Press, 1988

When and how were cities born? Does urbanization foster innovation and economic development? What was the level of urbanization in traditional societies? Did the Industrial Revolution facilitate urbanization? Has the growth of cities in the Third World been a handicap or an asset to economic development?

In this revised translation of De Jéricho à Mexico, Paul Bairoch seeks the answers to these questions and provides a comprehensive study of the evolution of the city and its relation to economic life. Bairoch examines the development of cities from the dawn of urbanization (Jericho) to the explosive growth of the contemporary Third World city. In particular, he defines the roles of agriculture and industrialization in the rise of cities.

"A hefty history, from the Neolithic onward. It's ambitious in scope and rich in subject, detailing urbanization and, of course, the links between cities and economies. Scholarly, accessible, and significant."—Newsday

"This book offers a path-breaking synthesis of the vast literature on the history of urbanization."—John C. Brown, Journal of Economic Literature

"One leaves this volume with the feeling of positions intelligently argued and related to the existing state of theory and knowledge. One also has the pleasure of reading a book unusually well-written. It will long both be a standard and stimulate new thought on the central issue of urban and economic growth."—Thomas A. Reiner, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

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The Colonization of the Amazon

By Anna Luiza Ozorio de Almeida

University of Texas Press, 1992

Deforestation in the Amazon, one of today's top environmental concerns, began during a period of rapid colonization in the 1970s. Throughout that decade, Anna Luiza Ozorio de Almeida, a Stanford-trained economist, conducted a complex and massive economic study of what was going on in the Amazon, who was investing what, what was gained, and what it cost in all its aspects. The Colonization of the Amazon, the resulting work, brings together information on the physical, demographic, institutional, and economic dimensions of directed settlement in the Amazon Basin and raises significant questions about the gains and losses of the settlers, the reasons for these outcomes, and the economic rationale behind the devastation of the rainforest.

Particularly illuminating is Almeida's exploration of the role of the frontier in Brazil and her distinction between types of migrants and migrations. She concludes that the political costs avoided by not undertaking agrarian reform are being paid by devastating the Amazon, with the conflict between distribution and conservation steadily worsening. Today, it can no longer be circumvented.

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Contrasting Styles of Industrial Reform

China and India in the 1980s

George Rosen

University of Chicago Press, 1992

Since World War II, China has had a command economy administered under a dictatorship, while India's democracy has introduced a highly regulated economy. Despite obvious differences in their political systems, each country endured remarkably similar economic problems with respect to industry during the 1960s and 1970s. Both embarked in the 1980s on a series of industrial reforms designed to improve technology and efficiency in the use of resources, as well as to stimulate industrial growth in the face of declining productivity.

For economists, the two countries offer an interesting test case for examining similar reform programs launched from disparate political and economic systems. For policymakers concerned with the region's stability, a clear view of the economic futures of these two major powers is paramount.

Examining and comparing the reform experiences of China and India up to the present, George Rosen shows that although China enacted more sweeping reform measures and produced more impressive local growth, it also experienced more significant inflationary spurts. Two-thirds of each nation's population was involved in agriculture at the start of the reform period and nearly that many at the conclusion. Ultimately, the effects of the past industrial reforms in both countries in terms of significantly greater industrial employment or well-being of their populations were limited. An important lesson in these findings, argues Rosen, is that they actually reveal more about the political factors that limit and shape economic policy reforms in a dictatorship or democracy than they confirm the virtues of either capitalism or communism.

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Corporate Governance in Central Europe and Russia

Banks, Funds, and Foreign Investors

Roman Frydman

Central European University Press, 1996

The studies in this two-volume work shed new light on the range and viability of the emerging corporate governance institutions in the transitional economies of Central Europe. Regional specialists and experts on corporate governance in advanced economies examine the emerging forms of ownership and complementary monitoring institutions in leading transition companies.

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Corporate Governance in Central Europe and Russia

Insiders and the State

Andrzej Rapaczynski

Central European University Press, 1996

The studies in this two-volume work shed new light on the range and viability of the emerging corporate governance institutions in the transitional economies of Central Europe. Regional specialists and experts on corporate governance in advanced economies examine the emerging forms of ownership and complementary monitoring institutions in leading transition companies.

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Cotton City

Urban Development in Antebellum Mobile

Harriet E. Amos Doss

University of Alabama Press, 2001

The exploration of the North-South relationship and the growth of of antebellum Mobile.

Cotton City offers a compelling exploration of Mobile, Alabama’s transformation into a thriving urban center during the antebellum period. Historian Harriet E. Amos examines how economic ambition, civic planning, and the cotton trade shaped the city’s development between 1819 and 1861. Through detailed archival research, Amos reveals how Mobile’s leaders sought to modernize infrastructure, expand commerce, and assert the city’s regional importance—all while navigating the tensions of slavery, class, and Southern identity.

This richly contextualized study highlights the interplay between urban growth and the broader forces of the Southern economy, making Cotton City a vital contribution to the histories of the American South, urbanization, and antebellum society.

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Credit Where It's Due

Rethinking Financial Citizenship

Frederick F. Wherry

Russell Sage Foundation, 2019

An estimated 45 million adults in the U.S. lack a credit score at time when credit invisibility can reduce one’s ability to rent a home, find employment, or secure a mortgage or loan. As a result, individuals without credit—who are disproportionately African American and Latino—often lead separate and unequal financial lives. Yet, as sociologists and public policy experts Frederick Wherry, Kristin Seefeldt, and Anthony Alvarez argue, many people who are not recognized within the financial system engage in behaviors that indicate their credit worthiness. How might institutions acknowledge these practices and help these people emerge from the financial shadows? In Credit Where It’s Due, the authors evaluate an innovative model of credit-building and advocate for a new understanding of financial citizenship, or participation in a financial system that fosters social belonging, dignity, and respect.

Wherry, Seefeldt, and Alvarez tell the story of the Mission Asset Fund, a San Francisco-based organization that assists mostly low- and moderate-income people of color with building credit. The Mission Asset Fund facilitates zero-interest lending circles, which have been practiced by generations of immigrants, but have gone largely unrecognized by mainstream financial institutions. Participants decide how the circles are run and how they will use their loans, and the organization reports their clients’ lending activity to credit bureaus. As the authors show, this system not only helps clients build credit, but also allows them to manage debt with dignity, have some say in the creation of financial products, and reaffirm their sense of social membership. The authors delve into the history of racial wealth inequality in the U.S. to show that for many black and Latino households, credit invisibility is not simply a matter of individual choices or inadequate financial education. Rather, financial marginalization is the result of historical policies that enabled predatory lending, discriminatory banking and housing practices, and the rollback of regulatory protections for first-time homeowners.

To rectify these inequalities, the authors propose common sense regulations to protect consumers from abuse alongside new initiatives that provide seed capital for every child, create affordable short-term loans, and ensure that financial institutions treat low- and moderate-income clients with equal respect. By situating the successes of the Mission Asset Fund in the larger history of credit and debt, Credit Where It’s Due shows how to prioritize financial citizenship for all.

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