United Nations Series on Development – serie

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 exposed systemic failings at the core of economic policy making worldwide. The crisis came on top of several other crises, including skyrocketing and highly volatile world food and energy prices and climate change. This book argues that new policy approaches are needed to address such devastating global development challenges and to avoid the potentially catastrophic consequences to livelihoods worldwide that would result from present approaches. The contributors to the book are independent development experts, brought together by the UN to identify a development strategy capable of promoting a broad-based economic recovery and at the same time guaranteeing social equity and environmental sustainability both within countries and internationally. This new development approach seeks to promote the reforms needed to improve global governance, providing a more equitable distribution of global public goods. The contributors offer a critical evaluation of past development experiences and report on their creative search for new and well-thought out answers for the future. They suggest that economic progress, fairer societies and environmental sustainability can be compatible objectives, but only when pursued simultaneously by all.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.Attention is increasingly being paid to the conceptualization of the sustainable development agenda that should guide global development efforts beyond 2015. New trends are shaping the international environment, suggesting that the world emerging from the recent economic and financial crisis will probably be very different from the one we have known so far. The emerging issues demand new concerted responses and new international efforts, which will have to be framed by new rules and more democratic and inclusive mechanisms of global governance.Global Governance and Rules for the Post 2015 Era provides a unique assessment of global rules and governance, a reflection of how global rules have been shaping development experiences and outcomes, an identification of the shortcomings of current global governance mechanisms and innovative suggestions for reforming and improving them. The various chapters analyse whether current rules and governance structures enables the building of effective responses against international problems and promote a fair distribution of development opportunities among countries. This book is a timely contribution to the discussions on a new global development agenda undertaken under the leadership of the United Nations. It reflects the outcome of a research programme by a group of independent development experts brought together by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP), a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council. It will be of interest to policymakers worldwide, experts of international agencies, scholars, students and the wider public.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.Continuation along current development pathways is not sustainable. Available technology and production practices and the consumption patterns of modern societies are leading to global warming and ecological destruction. Business as usual is not an option. There is an urgent need to find a new development paradigm that ensures environmental sustainability while managing to provide, now and in the future, a decent livelihood for all of humankind. In Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development, experts in the area provide a variety of insights about the technical transformation needed for sustainable development. It spells out the behavioural and policy changes that would need to accompany the next technological transformation, taking into account the complexity of inducing technological change in the energy and agricultural sectors. The assessment suggests that this will require major, but doable improvements in national innovation systems and major, but affordable shifts in investment patterns and related macroeconomic adjustments.

This book spells out, in more detail than usual, what can and should be done to avert the real risks of disaster. It summons us to an endeavour worthy of the resources and ingenuity of the 21st century, towards bold initiatives with big costs, and much bigger benefits. It explores the interconnected issues of climate and development, laying the groundwork for such a new deal. It presents a challenging agenda, and highlights the needs and perspectives of developing countries which may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable to readers in high-income countries. The unfortunate truth is that any large country, or group of mid-sized countries, can veto any global climate solution by refusing to participate, so a solution will only work if it works for everyone.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.How much would poor nations need to invest to eliminate poverty, get all children in school and provide adequate basic health care for all? Can they afford it? Financing Human Development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East provides some clear answers to these questions. The contributors assess feasible financing strategies underpinning actions to enhance human development in pursuance of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The contributors analyse these strategies in the context of broader concerns of economic development in nine countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The assessments stress the importance of redesigning macroeconomic policies so as to make these more supportive of long-term economic growth and employment creation, while ensuring sufficient investments in human development in order to end poverty and overcome deep-rooted inequalities.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.How much would poor nations need to invest to eliminate poverty, get all children in school and provide adequate basic health care for all? Can they afford it? Financing Human Development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East provides some clear answers to these questions. The contributors assess feasible financing strategies underpinning actions to enhance human development in pursuance of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The contributors analyse these strategies in the context of broader concerns of economic development in nine countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The assessments stress the importance of redesigning macroeconomic policies so as to make these more supportive of long-term economic growth and employment creation, while ensuring sufficient investments in human development in order to end poverty and overcome deep-rooted inequalities.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com. While good governance is a worthy goal, this book argues that it is not a prerequisite for economic growth or development. The book exposes the methodological shortcomings of the commonly-used governance indicators developed within the World Bank. The authors argue that donors should not impose onerous good governance conditions, expecting the developing world to simulate now-developed countries. They contend that most poor countries lack the administrative and financial capacity to achieve these reforms or institutions - so donor conditionality often becomes a recipe for failure.In place of grand government reforms aimed at enhancing market efficiency, the book's position is that the reform agenda should target strategic bottlenecks for development and enhance the state's capacity to deal with these disruptions. Bringing together contributions from leading political scientists, political economists and development practitioners, this is the first book to provide a systematic critical perspective on received notions of good governance.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.In Retooling Global Development and Governance a team of UN experts debate new ideas about how to overcome deficiencies in the ongoing process of globalization and in the existing mechanisms for global economic governance. They do not claim to offer a blueprint, rather a set of ideas that could become the basis for a coherent "toolbox" designed to guide development policies and international cooperation.Promising directions for reform discussed in the book include:- Strengthening government capacities for formulating and implementing national development strategies- New strategies for ensuring that official development assistance is aligned with national priorities - Enhancing international trade and financial systems so that countries with limited capabilities can successfully integrate into the global economy- Creating new mechanisms for dealing with deficiencies, such as specialized multilateral frameworks through which to govern international migration and labour mobility, international financial regulation, multinational corporations and global value chains regulation and sovereign debt workouts. Above all, the book highlights the need for a strong mechanism for global economic coordination to establish coherence across all areas of global economic governance.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.In Retooling Global Development and Governance a team of UN experts debate new ideas about how to overcome deficiencies in the ongoing process of globalization and in the existing mechanisms for global economic governance. They do not claim to offer a blueprint, rather a set of ideas that could become the basis for a coherent "toolbox" designed to guide development policies and international cooperation. Promising directions for reform discussed in the book include: - Strengthening government capacities for formulating and implementing national development strategies - New strategies for ensuring that official development assistance is aligned with national priorities - Enhancing international trade and financial systems so that countries with limited capabilities can successfully integrate into the global economy- Creating new mechanisms for dealing with deficiencies, such as specialized multilateral frameworks through which to govern international migration and labour mobility, international financial regulation, multinational corporations and global value chains regulation and sovereign debt workouts. Above all, the book highlights the need for a strong mechanism for global economic coordination to establish coherence across all areas of global economic governance.

This book, co-published with the UN's Dept of Economic and Social Affairs, offers a critical appraisal of the conventional measures and analysis of poverty as well as of poverty reduction policies. It is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.Despite greater efforts in reducing poverty since the early 1980s, poverty remains stubbornly high in many parts of the world. This collection argues that the mainstream perspectives on poverty and deprivation have contributed to considerable distortion and misunderstanding and that is not unrelated to ineffectual policy perscriptions. In particular it highlights the World Bank's dollar-a-day measure of poverty and exposes the inadequacies of Bretton Woods-inspired poverty reduction programmes.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.This volume brings together new contributions from renowned academic scholars, from experts on economies in transition and from the United Nations, the European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as other international agencies. It aims to answer fundamental questions and spell out policy options to address the challenges for economies in transition. The volume includes comparative studies focusing on all transition economies, including Central and Eastern Europe, as well as regions such as Western Balkans and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.The world is witnessing the paradox of simultaneous increase in income and insecurity. According to available data, global average per capita income has increased in recent decades, while at the same time actual and perceived insecurity has also increased. This paradox is true for both developed and developing countries. However, the concrete form and causes of insecurity differs across these two groups of countries. To the extent that income levels in many developing countries are very low, economic insecurity in these countries takes a starker and chronic form. In Financing for Overcoming Economic Insecurity, leading experts examine the causes and consequences of rising economic insecurity and policy measures that can be adopted to overcome insecurity. The volume contains papers addressing issues of economic insecurity pertaining to both developed and developing countries and caused by both economic factors and natural hazards. It also discusses the issues at both macro and micro levels. The volume’s focus on policy measures, such as redistribution and reinvestment of profit income in developed countries and imposition of capital control and promotion of micro insurance in developing countries, should be of much help to policymakers as well as researchers.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.The world is witnessing the paradox of simultaneous increase in income and insecurity. According to available data, global average per capita income has increased in recent decades, while at the same time actual and perceived insecurity has also increased. This paradox is true for both developed and developing countries. However, the concrete form and causes of insecurity differs across these two groups of countries. To the extent that income levels in many developing countries are very low, economic insecurity in these countries takes a starker and chronic form. In Financing for Overcoming Economic Insecurity, leading experts examine the causes and consequences of rising economic insecurity and policy measures that can be adopted to overcome insecurity. The volume contains papers addressing issues of economic insecurity pertaining to both developed and developing countries and caused by both economic factors and natural hazards. It also discusses the issues at both macro and micro levels. The volume’s focus on policy measures, such as redistribution and reinvestment of profit income in developed countries and imposition of capital control and promotion of micro insurance in developing countries, should be of much help to policymakers as well as researchers.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com.This book studies the processes which lead to explosion of civil strife and tries to spell out the policy options available to address the challenges faced by post-conflict economies. It calls for a more integrated policy approach which can gradually repair trust in public institutions as it addresses the vulnerabilities and grievances that helped start the process. Usually, such societies do not have the luxury of meeting the goals of security, reconciliation and development in a measured or sequenced manner: to avoid an immediate return to violence they must begin the recovery process on all fronts simultaneously.