Summary: Developed countries? economic performance since the global financial crisis has been disappointing, with subdued growth, weak labour markets, low levels of investment and poor productivity growth. This combination of poor performance and constrained policy options has ignited a debate over the fundamental causes of what some call is a ?secular stagnation? in developed economies. Averting a secular stagnation scenario, with negative long term impacts over the possibility of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, will require policies that address the short-and long-term factors behind the underlying savings-investment imbalance.
The Development Policy and Analysis Division at…
Development Issues No. 9: Low growth with limited policy options? Secular Stagnation ? Causes, Consequences and Cures
Bhutan is one of the 48 countries currently classified as least developed country (LDC). In line with economic growth and significant investments in social sectors, Bhutan has made rapid progress towards graduating from the LDC category. It met the graduation criteria for the first time at the triennial review in 2015 and is expected to meet the criteria again in 2018, making it eligible for a possible recommendation for graduation by the CDP. As such, there is a need to develop the economy further to make development sustainable over the long term, and to understand the implications of the removal of international support measures for LDCs.
The CDP is carrying out a project to help Bhutan…
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Summary: As indicated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, sustained economic growth will continue to be an important objective in developing countries, especially in those where extreme poverty is widespread and income per capita remains low. This has been, however, a major challenge for many developing countries, with the exception of the first years of the 21st century, up to the financial crisis in 2008. Since then, the global economy has remained on a markedly lower trajectory and the situation has progressively deteriorated for developing countries. More than ever, developing countries need to design a policy framework to strengthen domestic fundamentals for growth and to…
Development Issues No. 8: Global context for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Sustained global economic growth
Summary: The global economy remains trapped in prolonged episode of slow growth, of which weak international trade is both a cause and a symptom. While developing countries have become more integrated and benefitted from international trade in recent years, this has also made them more vulnerable to a slowdown in global trade. Ensuring an enabling global environment for trade is thus critical for progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular given the risks associated with protectionism and inward-looking policies, which is on the rise in many countries.
The Development Policy and Analysis Division at DESA, has prepared a series of policy notes to review current trends…
Development Issues No. 7: Global context for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: International trade
The paper reviews the provisions within the WTO multilateral trade regime which impact on the policy space for LDCs which are interested in pursuing industrial policies as latecomers. It finds that LDCs are more constrained by lack of capacity rather than by WTO provisions, in contrast to more advanced developing countries.
The paper first provides a brief overview of the LDCs economies and export structures. Then it explores the debates and perspectives on industrial policy taking into account the requirements of multilateral trade policy. The next section looks specifically at the provisions within the WTO regime and assesses the scope for policy space for industrial policies by LDCs…
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The paper investigates the effectiveness of trade preferences for LDCs. It confirms that overall trade preferences for LDCs increase LDC exports. However, it also finds that effectiveness differs across the nine providers included in the study (EU, US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation and Turkey) and that only a subset of LDCs is able to benefit from trade preferences.
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The paper overviews the evidence of good governance institutional reform agenda on the development outcomes of LDCs. For building development governance capacity in LDC for achieving sustainable development goals, successful examples suggest a few key common features: (1) existence of government/political leadership; (2) organizational set up for achieving national development goals; (3) structural transformation from poor human capital base and low quality of the bureaucracies. The lessons learned from these examples cannot simply be transmitted to other LDCs, but should be seen as practical policy lessons.
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The paper discusses two ways of building productive capacity in LDCs: the manufacture of products to foreign buyers? specifications, and the integration of resource-based sectors into global value chains using backward and forward linkages. Using country examples the paper then shows how government and the international community can support the growth of productive capacity in various ways including research institutes and public research organisations. The paper argues that some LDCs should try to leapfrog into newly emerging sectors such as renewable energy.
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The paper looks into the origins of Aid for Trade (AfT) and its objective of assisting developing countries to increase exports of goods and services and integrate into the multilateral trading system. Pointing out that AfT is not a new development fund nor a new aid category, the paper looks into the flows and impact of ODA resources allocated to AfT while focusing on LDCs as well as the effectiveness of AfT. Among the recommendations, the paper argues that most Aid for Trade is allocated to middle income countries and that a shift in this allocation pattern is needed to give more attention to LDCs, particular those that are not well integrated into the global market.
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