Volume 1, No. 1, October 2016
This issue of the Development Digest focuses on matters related to unlocking new dimensions of economic growth, to new generations of trade agreements, to the impacts of sectoral transformation and the importance of human capital development.
List of articles in this issue:
- Foreword
- Tribute to Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai
Remembering the late Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai, former Executive Director at the Board of the World Bank Group and an accomplished Malaysian civil servant
- Global Hub for Development Solutions
The World Bank Group Global Knowledge and Research Hub in Malaysia is the first office of its kind for the World Bank
- New Generation Trade Agreements for Malaysia
Malaysia is at the forefront of a "new generation" of trade agreements that will shape trade and investment over the next decade. These trade agreements can bring new opportunities to the Malaysian economy and accelerate its transition to high income status.
Rafael Munoz Moreno - Rise of the South at a Crossroads: A view from East Asia and Latin America
Highlights from a World Bank conference on trade and economic integration in Kuala Lumpur, jointly organized by the Latin America and Caribbean Chief Economist Office and the Development Research Group - The Middle-Income Trap: Myth or Reality?
Middle-income countries must find drivers of productivity, innovation, and competitiveness to foster and stabilize growth. Reaching high-income is challenging – countries must have patience to manage the transition responsibly, avoid pitfalls, and promote new opportunities.
Greg Larson, Norman Loayza, Michael Woolcock - Productivity as the Key to Economic Growth and Development
Productivity is mainly driven by four components: innovation, efficiency and flexible allocation of resources. These factors are analyzed via the contexts of Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam and Chile, Mexico and Peru.
Young Eun Kim, Norman Loayza and Claudia Meza-Cuadra - Structural Transformation of the Agricultural Sector
Agricultural structural transformation has been shaped by three interrelated processes: improvements in productivity; change in composition in production; and change in mode of commercialization.
Raian Divanbeigi, Nina Paustian and Norman Loayza - Uncovering the Relationship between Women’s Employment and Trade Orientation
This study suggests that the relationship between women’s employment and trade liberalization exists but this linkage is not necessarily uniform, using firm-level survey data for 81 developing countries
Mohammad Amin, Asif Islam and Khrystyna Kushnir
- Using Case Studies to Explore and Explain Complex Interventions
Case studies could better identify the conditions under which diverse outcomes are observed, focusing in particular on the salience of contextual idiosyncrasies, implementation capabilities and trajectories of change
Michael Woolcock