World Economics Journal Archive
The contents of all previous issues of World Economics are listed below. Subscribers have access to the complete back issue archive: click on titles to view abstracts and full text of articles (PDF). If you are not a subscriber, sign-up online now.
Sovereign Wealth Funds: What they are and what’s happening
Stephen Jen, World Economics, December 2007
Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), much in the news of late, are a new and growing class of funds that are already large in size, and will likely grow very rapidly in the coming years. How they will operate, both in terms of their portfolio allocation and the way in which t ... More
The Opium Economy: A Possible Approach to Reform
Jeremy Berkoff, World Economics, December 2007
This paper reviews options for reform of the opium economy within a holistic world context, emphasising the economic forces at work at each stage of the marketing chain. Rather than choosing between prohibition and legalisation, the paper proposes an incremental approac ... More
Keynes in the Long Run
Robert Skidelsky, World Economics, December 2007
In the light of recent market volatility, this essay asks: is Keynes dead or alive? The broad conclusion is that while macroeconomic models are still used, very little survives of Keynes’s original theory. 'New Keynesians' have replaced his key concept of radical uncert ... More
Exploring the Present Through the Past: Claudia Goldin on human capital, gender and the lessons from history
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
World Economics, December 2007
Claudia Goldin is one of the world’s leading economists and economic historians, and has made a series of outstanding and original contributions particularly to the cliometric (or ‘The New Economic History’) literature. In this interview, Professor Goldin discusses with ... More
HIV/AIDS: A Growing Concern to Business
David E. Bloom, Lakshmi Reddy Bloom, Paul De Lay, Fiona Paua, Richard Samans & Mark Weston, World Economics, December 2007
Recent years have seen calls for the private sector to become more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Business has valuable skills and other resources that could assist government and civil society efforts, and some firms (although by no means all) also have strong ... More
The Uneven Build Up of Global Reserves: Ways forward
Rohinton Medhora, World Economics, December 2007
The universal, large and uneven build up of international reserves is both a cause and a symptom of fundamental problems in the international financial system. The phenomenon represents several interlinked processes at play, so that "root cause" sorts of arguments must ... More
Multilateral Surveillance: Is the IMF shooting for the stars?
Graham Bird & Thomas D. Willett, World Economics, December 2007
The IMF presents multilateral surveillance as one of its core responsibilities and has recently sought to enhance this role via a series of multilateral consultations with systemically important countries, designed to coordinate exchange rate and macroeconomic policy in ... More
The Role of the IMF in Low-Income Countries: Recent issues
Domenico Lombardi, World Economics, December 2007
The question of whether the IMF should effectively engage with its low-income member countries has recently generated a wide debate among development economists, policymakers, and advocates from nongovernmental organizations. This note elaborates on the important role t ... More
Leonardo Martinez-Diaz on Carol Lancaster, Foreign Aid: Diplomacy, Development, Domestic Politics
World Economics, December 2007
New Light or Fixed Presumptions?: The OECD, the IMF and the treatment of climate change issues
David Henderson, World Economics, December 2007
Two leading international agencies, the OECD and the IMF, are now becoming more closely involved with climate change issues, in conjunction with finance and economics ministries within their member countries. This broader official involvement opens up an opportunity: it ... More
How to Tackle Poverty: Economists are closing in on the answers
Diane Coyle, World Economics, September 2007
There has been an unprecedented political focus on economic development and poverty reductions since the Gleneagles Summit of 2005, yet it seems economists have been unable to agree on how to capitalise on the opportunity. Is more aid the solution? Or the problem? This ... More
A Dynamic Theory of China–U.S. Trade: Making sense of the imbalances
Amar Bhidé & Edmund Phelps, World Economics, September 2007
China's trade surplus with the U.S. is now more than a quarter of the U.S. trade deficit and, with China growing faster than the U.S., raises questions about its future course. Some media commentators term the chronic trade surplus "mercantilist" but offer no persuasive ... More
The Future of North Korea is South Korea: (Or hope springs eternal)
Marcus Noland, World Economics, September 2007
North Korea's famine was in significant part a product of state failure, and unleashed an unintended grassroots process of marketization. Reforms undertaken in 2002 are more usefully interpreted as a response to this development than as a pro-active attempt to improve e ... More
The Power of Ideas: Joel Mokyr on the intellectual origins of the Industrial Revolution and modern economic growth
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
World Economics, September 2007
Joel Mokyr is one of the world’s leading economic historians, known internationally for his numerous publications on the history of technology and the Industrial Revolution. He has also written extensively on demographic issues and Irish economic history. In this interv ... More
Monetary Policy, Governance and Economic Development: The Botswana experience
Michael Chibba, World Economics, September 2007
Botswana is at a crossroads, as economic growth has slowed significantly in recent years while social problems remain largely unresolved. Exacerbating this situation is a monetary policy in crisis as over a decade of generally high interest rates have failed to address ... More
Do Current Assessments Underestimate Future Damages From Climate Change?
Stéphane Hallegatte, World Economics, September 2007
While the economic debate on climate policy focuses on discounting, we do not know yet what to discount. The potential (non-discounted) socio-economic cost of climate change, indeed, is still unknown. Only a few studies have tried to estimate socio-economic costs of cli ... More
Managerial Performance and Contract Instability in the Market for National Football Coaches
Lynne Nikolychuk & Brian Sturgess, World Economics, September 2007
In this paper, the authors investigate the relationship between managerial performance of national football coaches and their length of contract term to consider the extent to which relatively higher turnover may have affected team performance outcomes. The contract per ... More
Economic Drivers of Pharmaceutical Investment Location
David Lewis, Edward Bramley-Harker & Joshua Farahnik, World Economics, September 2007
The article examines the range of economic factors that underlie decision making about the location of investments by research-based pharmaceutical companies. Set in the context of the commercial challenges facing the industry, structured interviews with 34 senior execu ... More
![Colin I. Bradford and Johannes F. Linn reply to Graham Bird’s review in the last issue of World Economics [8(2): 285-287] of their co-edited volume, Global Governance Reform: Breaking the Stalemate](https://www.worldeconomics.com/images/CMS/LoadedContent/ArticleIcons/306.jpg "Colin I. Bradford and Johannes F. Linn reply to Graham Bird’s review in the last issue of World Economics [8(2): 285-287] of their co-edited volume, Global Governance Reform: Breaking the Stalemate")
Colin I. Bradford and Johannes F. Linn reply to Graham Bird’s review in the last issue of World Economics [8(2): 285-287] of their co-edited volume, Global Governance Reform: Breaking the Stalemate
World Economics, September 2007
![James Raymond Vreeland responds to Graham Hacche’s review article [World Economics, 8(2): 97-118] on his latest book, The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending](https://www.worldeconomics.com/images/CMS/LoadedContent/ArticleIcons/307.jpg "James Raymond Vreeland responds to Graham Hacche’s review article [World Economics, 8(2): 97-118] on his latest book, The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending")
James Raymond Vreeland responds to Graham Hacche’s review article [World Economics, 8(2): 97-118] on his latest book, The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending
World Economics, September 2007
Tim Lankester on Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
World Economics, September 2007
Joe Perkins on Peter Diamond & Hannu Vartiainen (editors), Behavioral Economics and Its Applications
World Economics, September 2007
Jack Goldstone on Gregory Clark, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World
World Economics, September 2007
Prospects for Commodity Exporters: Hunky Dory or Humpty Dumpty?
Paul Collier & Benedikt Goderis, World Economics, June 2007
Those low-income countries that export non-agricultural commodities are in the midst of a resource transfer. It is undoubtedly the biggest opportunity for transformative development that these societies have experienced, dwarfing both aid and previous commodity booms. T ... More
Can China Learn from Sweden?
Arne Bigsten, World Economics, June 2007
China is undergoing a very rapid process of structural and institutional transformation, which has led to dramatic increases in income levels. During this process, the country is facing a series of development challenges that need to be dealt with in order to sustain gr ... More
How Many Wildebeest do You Need?
Mike Norton-Griffiths, World Economics, June 2007
The catastrophic decline of wildlife in Kenya—some 60% over the last 30 years—finally galvanised the government into a review of wildlife policy. But what should have been a sober discussion of market failures, institutional failures, policy failures and conservation fa ... More
Reform of the IMF and World Bank: Where do things stand?
Anthony Elson, World Economics, June 2007
Reform of the IMF and World Bank has been the focus of discussion since the middle of the last decade when efforts began to adapt the two institutions to deal with new problems of financial globalization associated with a series of financial crises among emerging market ... More
A Non-Definitive Guide to the IMF: A review article
Graham Hacche, World Economics, June 2007
The recent book by James R. Vreeland, The International Monetary Fund: Politics of Conditional Lending, is meant to provide “a definitive guide to the organization”. This review article argues that it falls well short of this ambitious aim. It is already somewhat ... More
On Solving the World’s Economic Problems by Doing Something Unfashionable
Graham Bird, World Economics, June 2007
The world currently faces a number of economic problems. These include the large global economic imbalances that may prove to be unsustainable; international poverty, where projections suggest that it is unlikely that the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved; a ... More
Response to ‘The Stern Review: A Dual Critique—Part I: The Science’
Ian Simmonds & Will Steffen, World Economics, June 2007
In their comments on part one of the ‘Dual Critique’ [Vol. 7, No. 4] the authors draw attention to a number of instances where the treatment of sources and evidence is selective and biased, and perhaps where it reveals a modest understanding of the vast amount of conven ... More
Response to Simmonds and Steffen
David Holland, Robert M. Carter, Chris de Freitas, Indur M. Goklany & Richard S. Lindzen, World Economics, June 2007
A Stern Reply to the Reply to the Review of the Stern Review
Richard S. J. Tol & Gary W. Yohe, World Economics, June 2007
Tol and Yohe point out that, in their reply [Vol. 8, No. 1] to Tol and Yohe’s review [Vol. 7, No. 4], the Stern team demonstrates the fragility of the numerical findings of the cost–benefit analysis in the Stern Review. At the same time, the Stern t ... More
Climate Science and the Stern Review
Robert M. Carter, Chris de Freitas, Indur M. Goklany, David Holland & Richard S. Lindzen, World Economics, June 2007
Fundamentals of the climate science dispute and common misunderstandings of some issues raised about Part 1 of the Dual Critique of the Stern Review [Vol. 7, No. 4] are discussed. One consideration is that a distinct anthropogenic greenhouse gas signal has not yet been ... More
Governments and Climate Change Issues: The case for rethinking
David Henderson, World Economics, June 2007
Governments, and in particular the governments of the OECD member countries, are mishandling climate change issues. Both the basis and the content of official policies are open to serious question. Too much reliance is placed on the established process of review and inq ... More
Right for the Right Reasons: A final rejoinder on the Stern Review
Simon Dietz, Dennis Anderson, Nicholas Stern, Chris Taylor & Dimitri Zenghelis, World Economics, June 2007
Four authors of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and Dennis Anderson who provided advice and background papers for the Review, make a final rejoinder on the debate about the Review that has occupied recent issues of this journal. They respond to comm ... More
Losses and Gains to Developing Countries from the Migration of Educated Workers: An overview of recent research, and new reflections
Oded Stark & C. Simon Fan, World Economics, June 2007
This paper synthesizes and extends recent research on “The New Economics of the Brain Drain”. In a unified framework, the paper shows that while recently identified adverse repercussions of the brain drain exacerbate the long-recognized negative impact of the brain drai ... More
Does China Still Need Hong Kong?
Friedrich Wu, World Economics, June 2007
As the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region reaches the 10th anniversary of the territory’s reunion with its sovereign in China this year, it faces several looming competitive challenges from its ambitious and aggressive “sister” cities on the mainland. Going forward ... More
Tim Lankester on Andrew Glyn, Capitalism Unleashed: Finance, Globalization, and Welfare
World Economics, June 2007
Fabian Eser on Joseph Stiglitz et al., Stability with Growth: Macroeconomics, Liberalization and Development
World Economics, June 2007
Graham Bird on Colin I. Bradford Jr. and Johannes F. Linn, editors, Global Governance Reform: Breaking the Stalemate
World Economics, June 2007
Challenges to the Multilateral Trading System
Peter Sutherland, World Economics, March 2007
Ever since the GATT was established in 1948, the growth in international trade and economic growth has been remarkable. The traditional mercantilism of trade relations is less and less appropriate for the global economy. Bilateral trade deals make the business environme ... More
Aid for Trade: An essential component of the multilateral trading system and WTO Doha development agenda
Faizel Ismail, World Economics, March 2007
The paper argues that increased Trade and Aid are both essential to enhance the development of many developing countries. It argues further that trade-related technical assistance and capacity building is not only an essential element of the concept of special an ... More
The EU, the Middle East, and Regional Integration
Bessma Momani, World Economics, March 2007
The European Union’s venture into enhancing trade linkages with the Middle East, as conceived by the 1995 Barcelona Process, had high hopes but failed in producing the intended political and economic deliverables. The Euro–Mediterranean Partnerships were flawed, as they ... More
Globalisation and Inflation
Charles Bean, World Economics, March 2007
In this paper, Charles Bean, Executive Director, Chief Economist and member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, discusses the impact of globalisation on the industrialised countries and in particular the inflation process. He explains how globalisat ... More
How Can Norway Become A Climate-Friendly Society?
Jørgen Randers & Knut H. Alfsen, World Economics, March 2007
In March 2005, the Norwegian Government appointed a seven-person expert Commission on Low Emissions and asked it to describe how Norway could cut its greenhouse gas emissions by about two–thirds below its Kyoto obligation, by 2050. The Commission delivered its unanimous ... More
Addressing Climate Change: Is there a role to be played by the IMF?
Peter S. Heller, World Economics, March 2007
Global climate change has moved high on the agenda of key policy makers in many industrial countries. As a “global public good,” a coordinated global response in terms of efforts at mitigation will be critically necessary. Equally, many countries will face serious econo ... More
REFLECTIONS ON THE STERN REVIEW (1) A Robust Case for Strong Action to Reduce the Risks of Climate Change
Simon Dietz, Chris Hope, Nicholas Stern & Dimitri Zenghelis, World Economics, March 2007
Those who deny the importance of strong and urgent action on climate change essentially offer one of, or a combination of, the following arguments. First, there are those who deny the scientific link between human activities and global warming; most people, and the vast ... More
REFLECTIONS ON THE STERN REVIEW (2) A Growing International Opportunity to Move Strongly on Climate Change
Lorraine Hamid, Nicholas Stern & Chris Taylor, World Economics, March 2007
This paper highlights the basic economic principles behind the policy recommendations in the Stern Review and takes forward the analysis and proposals of the Review. It is written in the light of developments since the Review was published, reflecting on interaction wit ... More
Ethics of the Discount Rate in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change
Wilfred Beckerman & Cameron Hepburn, World Economics, March 2007
Any comparison of the costs and benefits of climate change is dominated by the chosen discount rate. But, although the Stern Review emphasises the ethical nature of the parameters entering into its choice of a relatively low discount rate, its discussion of the ‘pure ti ... More
The Stern Review and the Costs of Climate Change Mitigation: A response to the ‘Dual Critique’ and the misrepresentations of Tol and Yohe
Dennis Anderson, World Economics, March 2007
Responding to the ‘Dual Critique’, and the Tol and Yohe paper in the previous issue of World Economics, Professor Anderson counters a number of assertions made in those papers including the claims that the Stern Review is ‘alarmist’ or scaremongering, biased in its esti ... More
Response to Carter et al.
John F. Mitchell, Julia Slingo, David S. Lee, Jason A. Lowe & Vicky Pope, World Economics, March 2007
This article has been written at the initiative of UK climate scientists, from both the academic sector and the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, in response to an article in the previous issue of World Economics by Carter et al., which was part of a ‘D ... More
Response to ‘The Stern Review: A Dual Critique’
Nigel Arnell, Rachel Warren & Robert Nicholls, World Economics, March 2007
This article is a response to the articles in the previous issue of World Economics by Carter et al. and Byatt et al., which criticized the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change’s assessment of the potential impacts of climate change. The authors demonstrate t ... More
A Response to ‘The Stern Review: A Dual Critique’
Andrew Glikson, World Economics, March 2007
Any consideration of the potential economic consequences of climate change depends critically on the physical evidence for this process. In this response, Andrew Glikson questions the Dual Critique authors’ understanding of the science. Also, the paper’s repeated use of ... More
Is Suicide Terrorism a Novel Economic Phenomenon?: A response to Mark Harrison’s ‘An Economist Looks at Suicide Terrorism’
Aldo Matteucci, World Economics, March 2007
Reply to Aldo Matteucci, ‘Is Suicide Terrorism a Novel Economic Phenomenon?’
Mark Harrison, World Economics, March 2007
Shalendra D. Sharma on the Sachs–Easterly debate.: Can Massive Foreign Aid Eliminate Extreme Poverty?
World Economics, March 2007
Alan Budd on Diane Coyle, The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters
World Economics, March 2007