Small developing countries that have been historically caught up in great power politics often seem to be exotic destinations for travel books rather than concrete places. Cambodia is one such example. As an insignificant part of the international system, it is difficult to appreciate what is happening there without seeing it for yourself. But Cambodia is a microcosm of development, and the changes that are happening there by no means trivial.
The first part this essay introduces the concept of microfinance and the rationale behind targeting women, which is critically examined. The second part looks at the impact of microfinance initiatives on poverty alleviation. Drawing on examples from some African and Asian countries, the argument is built on the examination of two dimensions of poverty, namely income generation and empowerment.
The way policy makers define poverty dictates the types of strategies that they use for alleviation, and their success. In Latin America numerous definitions have been employed, the current favourite being the profiling approach. This essay examines the various definitions of poverty on offer to Latin America, and the problems associated with each of them.
This paper will evaluate and analyse the poverty alleviation strategies manifested by the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), explaining how they have converged over time. With the use of case studies it will argue that, whilst it might seem that the convergence has benefited poverty reduction, this is in fact not the case.
This paper agrees with the opinion that trade is an essential tool, which helps developing economies industrialise. However by using case studies, empirical data and analysing the adopted polices of the successful developing economies, this paper will support the argument that the most successful developing economies, developed under a more protectionist environment. Having completed this evaluation, the paper will then look at the policy implications of the conclusions made.
Donors are distributing foreign aid, to certain poor countries only. The most prominent justification for this policy action is as the statement suggests, ‘the prospects for aid being most effective are the poorest’ in these countries. This paper will ascertain how donors have come to reach this development policy, by analyzing the evolving theories and trends of aid. However it will also suggest that the justification, on which the current policy agenda is set, is not founded upon robust assumptions.
This essay discusses the characteristics of the Dutch Disease and its possible impacts on the development of economies. It outlines the case of Kazakhstan, which is the richest in oil resources of all the former Soviet republics and presents the solutions Kazakhstan adopted for mitigating the effect of resources on its development.
Developed regions are generally able to provide basic welfare services for their citizens, while developing regions are plagued by extreme poverty, government ineffectiveness, and other socioeconomic adversities.Many scholars have attributed these disparities to the different processes through which state formation occurred in developed and developing countries. It is the purpose of this essay to examine these claims by comparing the state building processes.
In the very first sentence of the book entitled ‘Whose Development? An Ethnography of Aid’, Emma Crewe and Elizabeth Harrison pose the following question: “Is development a failure?” (1998: 1). It might seem rhetorical at first, but by no means is it so.
This essay argues that neoliberalism seeks to frame highly political and morally-charged operations within a bland discourse that insists on the neutrality of the market. Thus it is necessarily flawed in its contribution to the study of offshore, because it attempts to disguise the invariably political and pragmatic functions of offshore in the contemporary global political economy.
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