The focus of policy reform in developing countries has moved from getting prices right to getting institutions right, and accordingly countries are increasingly being advised to move towards "best-practice" institutions. This paper argues that appropriate…

This paper explores the causes and consequences of the more important market failures which impede the development of LOCs, and explains why the non-market institutions which often ameliorate the effects of market failures in developed countries are less…

This paper opens with a discussion of the types of institutions that allow markets to perform adequately. While we can identify in broad terms what these are, there is no unique mapping between markets and the non-market institutions that underpin them. The…

Mobile phone networks have been in operation for about 30 years. Penetration is now rapidly increasing in even quite poor countries. Adoption of money transfer networks using mobile phones has also arrived, such as M-PESA which is a mobile based banking network…

(December 2002)

A soaring currency is complicating the battle against inflation

Which emerging economies are at greatest risk of overheating?

Santiago Levy—the main architect of Progresa-Oportunidades—offers his unique perspective on the development of the program, the reasons for its success, the challenges it faces, and its applicability in other nations.