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The private sector, after shifting fortunes in development theory and practice over the years, is now widely recognised as the key to economic growth, which itself is indispensable for poverty reduction. The Development Studies Association (DSA) Annual Conference in 2006 brought together academics, private sector actors, NGOs and policy makers to share insights and experiences on how this vital contribution to growth, development and poverty reduction can be realised. This paper summarises the main themes and discussions of the conference and introduces the papers selected for inclusion in this conference issue. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper bridges two related, but up to now, unconnected literatures: economic growth stability and population-economic growth. The paper differs from previous population-economic growth analyses by focusing on instability of economic growth in developing countries. This study contributes to a previous paper on the developing country growth collapse by adding important demographic variables. The paper provides an explanation for 'new' negative correlations of population and economic growth: because 1960s were a relatively smooth time for economic growth, youth dependency did not seem important; however, during turbulent 1970s and 1980s, countries with falling dependency burdens weathered economic shocks better. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws attention to an aspect of poverty reduction in rapidly developing economies that have enjoyed a sustained period of economic growth accompanied by a decline in absolute poverty. The paper sets out to show the following: First, growth that leaves income distribution unchanged necessarily involves the poor in its early stages. Second, as income grows and absolute poverty declines, and in the absence of distributional changes, the gap between absolute and relative poverty diminishes until it disappears at an identifiable transition point, after which the relationship between the two poverty types is reversed. Although this is examined in the specific context of the Malaysian economy, the analysis has much wider application and implications for poverty alleviation in particular, and policy development in general, as the latter will involve a more difficult balancing of growth and equity than in the past. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper returns to the question of what is the correct structural form for the relationship between aid, other financial flows, and economic growth rates, using a cross-section approach and -- for the first time -- data for the entire 1980s as well as the 1960s and 1970s. For the 1980s the aggregate partial regression coefficient of aid on growth emerges, for the first time, as positive and Gust) significant, although this result does not survive the partitioning of the sample into sub-groups. It remains obvious that the effect of aid on growth is country-specific, and in the later part of the paper we test a new approach under which aid effectiveness passes through a cycle, first increasing and then diminishing as a country's stage of economic development alters. If this approach is accepted (and the initial results, with an informal test, are promising) the overall cross-section relationship between aid and growth, abstracting from other influences, will be neutral in most periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper speculates that a linear causal chain runs from the natural resource endowment to the landholding system, the type of political state, the choice of development strategy and economic performance. It suggests that resource-deficient countries tend to have peasant-dominated landholding systems which foster autonomous political states and growth-promoting economic linkages. Such countries out-perform resource-rich ones which have more varied landholding patterns which emphasise conflicts over rents and foster factional political states and weaker economic linkages. The preoccupation with rents in resource-rich countries impedes beneficial land reform and creates inefficient industry in a counter-productive effort to create non-farm jobs. Resource-deficient countries cannot afford such inefficient transfers and pursue a development strategy which uses scarce resources more effectively. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has lifted a record number of people out of poverty, has had sustained levels of economic growth-at environmental and social costs-started a global economic and political rise and is developing effective responses to the global financial crisis. It is making these transformations with institutions that continue to surprise international observers. An increasing number of studies have started to articulate the lessons from China's development. This paper reviews the different interpretations of these lessons, and the process of lesson learning, and the question what China's dramatic transformations over the last 30 years imply for development studies and practice. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to quantify the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on social capital with cross-country data. Using data from the World Values Survey (WVS), the authors estimate reduced-form regressions of the main determinants of social capital controlling for HIV prevalence, institutional quality, social distance, and economic indicators. The results obtained indicate that HIV prevalence affects social capital negatively. The empirical estimates suggest that a one standard deviation increase in HIV prevalence will lead to a decline of at least 1 per cent in trust, controlling for other determinants of social capital. Moving from a country with a relatively low level of HIV prevalence, such as Estonia, to a country with a relatively high level, such as Uganda, there is a more than 11 per cent point decline in social capital. These results are robust in a number of dimensions and highlight the empirical importance of an additional mechanism through which HIV/AIDS hinders the development process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the roots of economic development. The debate about the predominance of institutions over geography is far from reaching a firm conclusion, and this analysis highlights the main difficulties that should be addressed in order to find out the real determinants of long-run economic growth. I argue that the institutional view is not as strong as it may appear: different specifications and different institutional indicators undermine the exclusive importance of institutions. Geographical factors, related to the health and sanitary conditions and to the accessibility to the sea of a country, play a role in economic development, that goes beyond the way in which they shape institutions. The empirical evidence implies that the development policies should be directed to improving not only the quality of governance, but also the sanitary conditions in the least developed countries. However, since there is a lack of accurate indicators and difficult problems of endogeneity, more reliable instruments and indicators of geography and institutions are needed in order to achieve a firm conclusion. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]