Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics
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This series provides the best papers from the Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics, a forum begun in 1989 for discussion and debate of important policy issues facing developing countries. The conferences emphasize the contribution that empirical economic research can make to understanding development processes and to formulating sound development policies. Conference papers are written by researchers in and outside the World Bank. The review process, a mix of internal and external review, is overseen by an Advisory Committee for the series. This series is produced by the World Bank's Development Economics Vice Presidency.
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Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Global 2010 : Lessons from East Asia and the Global Financial Crisis(World Bank, 2011) Pleskovic, Boris; Lin, Justin YifuThe Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) is a forum for discussion and debate of important policy issues facing developing countries. The conferences emphasize the contribution that empirical economic research can make to understanding development processes and to formulating sound development policies. Conference papers are written by researchers in and outside the World Bank. This year's ABCDE included sessions on the following themes: industrial policy and development; social capital, institutions, and development; financial crisis and regulation; the road to a sustainable global economic system; and innovation and competition. In light of the global financial crisis, speakers touched on fundamental questions: what caused the current crisis, and how can the world economy recover?Are the standard prescriptions of development economics adequate to the task? Should developing countries alter their basic growth strategies? What is the proper role of the state? Should developing countries reexamine their commitment to free trade? How can global imbalances be rectified (especially between China and the United States)? Within the globalized financial system, how can regulation are improved? In attempting to answer these questions, many of the speakers searched for solutions in the lessons offered by the experience of Korea and other East Asian countries, which reacted with varying degrees of success to the financial crisis of the late 1990s. This volume includes selected papers from the conference as well as keynote addresses by SaKong, chairman of the Korean G-20 summit coordinating committee, and two distinguished economists: Anne Krueger, Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University, and Simon Johnson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Global 2008 : Private Sector and Development(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009) Pleskovic, Boris; Lin, Justin Yifu; Lin, Justin Yifu; Pleskovic, BorisThe Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) is a leading forum for advanced, forward-looking research on important development issues. Each year, the ABCDE brings policy makers and politicians together with researchers from academe, international organizations, and think tanks. The diverse perspectives of the international development community mingle and coalesce through in-depth debates on important themes on the development agenda. The 2008 ABCDE was devoted to the theme 'the private sector and development' and highlighted such issues as financial inclusion, key factors in the business climate, and the provision of public services by non-state actors.Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics Global 2007 : Rethinking Infrastructure for Development(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007) Bourguignon, François; Pleskovic, BorisThe Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) is one of the best-known conferences for the presentation and discussion of new knowledge on development. It is an opportunity for many of the world's finest development thinkers to present their ideas. The 2007 ABCDE -- held in Tokyo on May 29-30, 2006, and cosponsored by the Government of Japan -- was devoted to "Rethinking Infrastructure for Development." The conference opened with remarks by Sadakazu Tanigaki, Japan's Minister of Finance, and Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank. Their remarks were followed by keynote addresses by Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank; Sadako Ogata, President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); and Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor at Columbia University. Six papers were presented addressing the issues of infrastructure for growth, sustainable development and infrastructure, rural infrastructure and agricultural development, and infrastructure and regional cooperation. François Bourguignon, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank, delivered closing remarks.Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Regional 2007 : Beyond Transition(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007) Bourguignon, François; Pleskovic, BorisThis annual conference is a global gathering of the world's leading scholars and practitioners. Among the attendees are participants from developing countries, think tanks, NGOs, and international institutions. The papers included in this book concern issues such as: inequality and growth in transition; trade liberalization, inequality and poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean; can economic policy overcome geographic disadvantage in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States; and patterns of spatial convergence and divergence in India and China.Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Europe 2004 : Economic Integration and Social Responsibility(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007) Bourguignon, Francois; Jacquet, Pierre; Pleskovic, BorisTo address these broad questions: How to analyze the impact of globalization? What is the effect of rich countries' policies on developing ones? How to redefine the development agenda and scale-up the aid effort? The European Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE-Europe) focused on some of the problematic features of globalization and discussed the global impact of developed countries' policies in a number of crucial areas for developing countries, such as farm trade, migrations, the protection of intellectual property, and capital flows. It also highlighted the role and responsibilities of the private sector. This volume, organized in twelve chapters, opens with the five plenary session papers that were at the core of the discussion and focuses on five crucial issues and policy challenges: agricultural trade, migration flows, intellectual property rights, the costs and benefits of international capital flows, and options for sovereign debt restructuring. The seven remaining chapters offer a collection of selected papers discussed in the parallel workshops held during the conference. They cover a wider range of issues, from the role and responsibilities of private actors and the components of the business environment, to the sources of development finance and the relationship between commodity resources and development, to the issue of scaling up, and the possibility of intensifying the volume and impact of development aid.Publication Annual World Bank Conference On Development Economics 2006 : Growth and Integration(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Bourguignon, François; Pleskovic, BorisThe Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) brings together the world s leading scholars and development practitioners for a lively debate on state-of-the-art thinking in development policy and the implications for the global economy. The 17th conference was held in Dakar, Senegal, on January 27, 2005. The theme of the conference was growth and integration, which was divided into five topics: growth and integration, financial reforms, economic development, trade and development, and investment climate.Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Europe 2006 : Securing Development in an Unstable World(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Bourguignon, François; Pleskovic, Boris; van der Gaag, JacquesThe Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) is one of the world's best-known series of conferences for the presentation and discussion of new knowledge on development. It is an opportunity for many of the world's finest development thinkers to present their ideas. In 1999, in recognition of Europe's pivotal role in the provision of development assistance and to bring the World Bank's research on development into close contact with European perspectives, the World Bank created a distinctively European platform for debate on development issues. The seventh Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics in Europe was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May 23-24, 2005. The conference was co-organized by the Government of the Netherlands. The theme of the conference was "Securing Development in an Unstable World." The conference opened with remarks by Jean-François Rischard, the World Bank's Vice President for Europe, and Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven, Minister for Development Cooperation, the Netherlands. Their remarks were followed by keynote addresses by François Bourguignon, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank; Hisashi Owada, Judge, International Court of Justice, and former Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan; Gerrit Zalm, Minister of Finance, the Netherlands; and Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico, and Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Yale University. Three papers-on macroeconomic vulnerability; vulnerability: a micro perspective; and health risks-were then presented.Publication Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics--Europe 2005 : Are We on Track to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals?(Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2005) Bourguignon, François; Pleskovic, Boris; Sapir, André; Bourguignon, François; Pleskovic, Boris; Sapir, AndréThis Sixth Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics, one of the world's best-known series of conferences, aims at the presentation, and discussion of new knowledge on development. The theme of the conference was "Doha, Monterrey, and Johannesburg: Are We on Track to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?" The conference provides a forum for the world's leading development thinkers to share new knowledge, and ideas. This Conference was designed to look at how four flows (flows of people, capital, aid, and trade) link developed and developing countries. Discussions show not only where some of the main opportunities are in each of these four areas, but also where the main blockages are, and what the real risks are-both when flows accelerate, and when flows dry up. Notably, it was argued that developed countries should have the courage to push globalization further: Europe, like the United States, is protectionist, and as long as it stays that way, there can be no real free trade on the global level. It was proposed a political counterpart to what exists on the economic level be created, i.e., to replace the G-8 of rich countries, with a G-8 of local and regional groups. Such a G-8 would grant a legitimate place to the South, and could serve as a forum for consultation among various continental structures - African Union, Mercosur, the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Such a G-8 would not only contribute to improved relations between various parties, but would also encourage various regions to intensify their cooperation. Similarly, the creation within the United Nations of an Economic, Social, and Environmental Security Council was proposed, which would form the new framework for globalization, thus monitor implementation of conclusions from large conferences, and, coordinate the major international institutions such as the World Trade Organization, International Labor Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank. Redistribution through official development assistance is extremely limited, and it is cancelled out by rich countries' restrictions that limit poor countries' market access. It is argued that the objective of aid is not to redistribute income today, in order to increase immediate consumption; the objective is to transfer growth potential from rich countries to poor countries. Trade flows, capital flows, and migration flows could also be seen as influencing the growth potential of the poorest countries. Maximizing this potential is essential for a future unambiguous, improvement in the world distribution of income. Furthermore, an alternative way forward for the Doha Round is presented, based on the principles of social justice and economic analysis. The World Trade Organization (WTO) needs to establish a source of impartial, and publicly available analysis of the effects of various initiatives on different countries.