Economic Development Problems of Landlocked Countries

Do landlocked countries face special economic development problems? Whereas traditional neoclassical theory is ambiguous, more recent directions in trade theory and the theory of economic growth suggest reasons why landlocked countries might be at a disadvantage. Our empirical evidence confirms the hypothesis that landlocked countries experience slower economic growth.Economic growth, Geography, Trade, Landlocked

Pension systems for the informal sector in Asia

This paper looks at the experiences of various Asian countries in expanding the coverage of the pension system to informal sector workers. The paper argues that given aging and growing informality, a rapid forward-looking response from governments in the region is necessary to provide protection against the risk of poverty in old age. This risk is particularly acute in the case of informal sector workers, as is the difficulty of reaching them through traditional formal-sector pension approaches. From the analysis of various case studies the paper concludes that expanding coverage to informal sector workers through mandatory systems is unlikely to work. Alternative, voluntary arrangements are need. However, because informal sector workers tend to have lower savings capacity and high discount rates, targeted subsidies might be required to encourage enrollment. The paper discusses some of the issues related to the design of these programs - including those related to administration and the collection of contributions. In all cases, the paper emphasizes the need to resolve difficult tradeoffs between these transfers to prevent poverty during old-age and expenditures in other social programs.,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets,Access to Finance

Global public goods and the global health agenda: problems, priorities and potential

The 'global public good' (GPG) concept has gained increasing attention, in health as well as development circles. However, it has suffered in finding currency as a general tool for global resource mobilisation, and is at risk of being attached to almost anything promoting development. This overstretches and devalues the validity and usefulness of the concept. This paper first defines GPGs and describes the policy challenge that they pose. Second, it identifies two key areas, health R&D and communicable disease control, in which the GPG concept is clearly relevant and considers the extent to which it has been applied. We point out that that, while there have been many new initiatives, it is not clear that additional resources from non-traditional sources have been forthcoming. Yet achieving this is, in effect, the entire purpose of applying the GPG concept in global health. Moreover, the proliferation of disease-specific programs associated with GPG reasoning has tended to promote vertical interventions at the expense of more general health sector strengthening. Third, we examine two major global health policy initiatives, the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the bundling of long-standing international health goals in the form of Millennium Development Goals (MDG), asking how the GPG perspective has contributed to defining objectives and strategies. We conclude that both initiatives are best interpreted in the context of traditional development assistance and, one-world rhetoric aside, have little to do with the challenge posed by GPGs for health. The paper concludes by considering how the GPG concept can be more effectively used to promote global health

Covid-19 and the Global Demographic Research Agenda

This volume contains sixteen thoughtful essays on how Covid-19 could shape global demographic research needs over the next five to ten years. These reflections from recent Population and Development Review authors joined by Population Council researchers offer a time capsule of current thinking in the field