Weitzenegger's Publication Review 2007

November 2007

Donor Interventions in Value Chain Development, SDC VCRD CoP 2007
http://www.bdsknowledge.org/...
These guidelines highlight the most important issues that development agencies need to consider when they engage in value chain development in rural areas. The paper offers guiding principles for development practitioners and policy makers, and points to further useful material. This paper is based on the insights gained during the online debate on the forum “Value Chains in Rural Development” operated by SDC starting in December 2004, with its various and sometimes contradicting examples, cases, perceptions and discussions. Over 120 persons, from around 35 countries joined and discussed practically relevant topics during 9 debate cycles. In this paper the main highlights of the work so far are pulled together and presented for discussion.Individual syntheses from each of the 9 debate cycles are available. The most recent addition is the Info Flash from November 2007.

News weekly service: EPA negotiations: Where do we stand?
www.acp-eu-trade.org/epa
At a time when the pace of the EPA negotiations has increased in all regions, and the state of play is ever changing, accessing the latest information available on these wide-ranging agreements is of essence. Pursuing its efforts to increase the transparency of the highly sensitive EPA negotiations, ECDPM has decided to set up dedicated pages for each ACP region negotiating an EPA with the EU at www.acp-eu-trade.org/epa . (The same content is also accessible at www.ecdpm.org/epa .) French versions of the updates are available for Central Africa, West Africa and ESA .

Addressing the Meta-Level: New Approaches to Private Sector Development
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/SV_PWF_Meta-Level_Tools_0407.pdf
This GTZ/BMZ Discussion Paper aims to deliver concrete concepts and models for development practitioners to address the meta-level within private sector development initiatives. The ultimate objective is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of development work.

Entrepreneurship: New Data on Business Creation and How to Promote It
http://rru.worldbank.org/...
The World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey continues to extend our knowledge of the importance of entrepreneurship for a dynamic economy. In its second year, with more countries participating, the survey again shows a strong relationship between entrepreneurship, the business environment, and governance. New data shed light on how the distribution of businesses among sectors varies by level of development. And analysis of new data on business registration suggests that automation can greatly reduce the barriers to starting a business. This finding makes a strong case for pursuing e-government initiatives to spur entrepreneurship.

Guidelines to Evaluate Social Performance
http://publications.accion.org/insight/IS24EN.pdf
This ACCION InSight describes a framework that microfinance institutions can use to assess and report on their social performance. ACCION has applied this framework to analyze how six leading microfinance institutions adhere to these social performance criteria. The results of this application inform this InSight.

Developing Economies Locally Through Action and Alliance (DELTA)
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/...
The World Bank's DELTA program (Developing Enterprises Locally through Alliance and Action) focuses on building institutions within municipal governments and exploiting private sector resources that can foster and support policy reform for private sector development. The World Bank Group Small and Medium Enterprise Department, together with Open Society Institute Local Government and Public Sector Reform Initiative (OSI/LGI), has piloted this program with the goal of addressing institutional and policy reforms at the local level. The program was developed in great part using the best practices of the OECD from countries in which OECD had engaged in Strategic Planning for Local Economic Development. It was also based partially on several World Bank LED projects across Eastern Europe.

Tools for Economic Recovery in Post-Conflict Situations: A Brief Literature Review
http://www.bdsknowledge.org...
This USAID microNote is intended for practitioners, donors, governments,and business representatives working on economic recovery in conflict-affected countries. It serves as a reference for guidance and best practices on pro-gramming for conflict-affected countries. First it outlines the definitions and methodology used in the literature review then provides a brief summary of each tool and an index of the tools reviewed. The 25 tools reviewed come from a wide variety of sources including the ILO, International Alert, USAID, DFID, World Bank, CARE, IDRC, OECD and ARC.

Promoting Pro-Poor growth: A Practical Guide to ex-ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/39/38978856.pdf
Enabling poor women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth is critical to creating a path out of poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Yet without ex ante assessment of likely impacts, policies and programmes often fail to achieve the desired pro-poor impacts. To help donors and partner countries identify the consequences of their interventions, the DAC Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET) has developed a modular, ex ante Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA) approach. This practical guide will help staff in development agencies and their partners to plan and execute PIA, and to interpret the findings it produces. OECD DAC Guidelines and Reference Series.

Innovation clusters: A statistical analysis and overview of current policy support
http://ec.europa.eu/...
Clusters can be powerful engines of regional economic development and drivers of innovation. They enable companies to integrate in clusters where they can collaborate with and learn from research institutions, suppliers, customers and competitors. The Cluster Report published by Directorate General Enterprise and Industry offers an overview of the main statistical findings obtained so far by the European Cluster Observatory. The Report also describes the main Community instruments in support of cluster development giving particular emphasis on the aspects of trans-national cooperation.

ETF Yearbook 2007: Quality in Vocational Education and Training and Modern Learning Processes
http://www.etf.europa.eu/...)/99A3FE3CFCB5F455C125736200526A24?OpenDocument
The ETF Yearbook 2007 identifies qualification as the pivot connecting national qualification frameworks, schools, headmasters, teachers and trainers, and learning processes. Different components of quality development are analysed in six chapters that assess how they contribute to increased quality learning.

Practitioner’s guide: business consultancy fund
http://www.eldis.org/go/display&type=Document&id=34049
This manual outlines a process for the establishment of a Business Consultancy Fund (BCF) in order to improve access to the resources and services offered by business development centres (BDCs). The manual also provides a number of templates that could be used in the establishment of a BCF.

Policy Coherence for Development - Migration and Developing Countries
http://www.oecd.org/...
What are the costs and benefits of migration for developing countries? How can migration flows be better organised to yield greater benefits for all parties concerned—migrant-sending countries, migrant-receiving countries, and the migrants themselves? This OECD book seeks to answer these questions, taking stock of what we know about the effects of migration on development, and distilling from that knowledge a set of policy recommendations for sending and receiving countries. It draws on a large number of country and regional case studies co-ordinated by the OECD Development Centre to illustrate the mechanisms that link migration and development: labour-market effects, the brain drain, remittances, diaspora networks and return migration. Migrant-receiving countries are encouraged to look at their migration policies through a development lens; migrant-sending countries, conversely, should look at their national development policies through a migration lens. Interlinking migration and development policies promises a more effective pursuit of the objectives of both sets of policies. This volume provides the basis for a productive debate surrounding policy innovations maximising the overall benefits of international migration.

Rural Credit and Microenterprise Development
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/...
This is a descriptive report by Bandeth Rosdrawn from various literature to indicate the roles of microcredit and microfinance in rural development. This is an assignment to fulfill one of my paper (International Rural Development Paper)

Monitoring Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)
www.ecdpm.org/dp79
By Sanoussi Bilal, Franziska Jerosch, Niels Keijzer, Christiane Loquai and Francesco Rampa, ECDPM Discussion Paper 79, October, Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management

Linking social protection and the productive sectors
http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/briefing/bp_oct07_social_protection.pdf
This ODI Briefing Paper, based on a collaboration between the ODI and the UK Department for International Development’s Renewable Natural Resources and Agriculture Team, sets out current practice and future prospects in respect of how social protection and agriculture (broadly defined to include crops and livestock) relate to each other.

Rural employment and migration: In search of decent work
http://www.odi.org.uk/...
This ODI Briefing Paper by Steve Wiggins and Priya Deshingkar looks at new thinking on rural employment which is needed to create more and better rural jobs. Growth in agriculture is essential, and growth in the rural non-farm economy is especially important. Job prospects improve as education, skills, health and early nutrition levels rise. Rural-urban migration (whether temporary or permanent) opens new opportunities and also helps tighten rural labour markets. With rising productivity and wages, it becomes easier to push for better labour standards, to reduce child labour and correct gender inequalities.

Determinants of Corruption in Developing Countries
http://www.hwwi.de/...
This HWWI study concludes that government should focus the economic factors to curb the level of corruption.

Financing small businesses: recommendations for action
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/...
What are the best ways of improving the flow of finance to small firms? The European Commission, the Member States and finance professionals have recently looked at ways that promise to improve the situation of many SMEs. This summary presents the key conclusions of five reports that have reviewed both loan and equity finance and complements the conclusions on seed investment.

Public-Private Dialogue in Developing Countries - Opportunities and Risks
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/...
Putting aside the euphoria of supporters of public-private dialogue and the doom prophecies of its detractors, this analysis identifies the advantages that it can bring, while cautioning against the very real dangers it can present to fragile states and relatively recent democracies. The type of state involved, the level of organisation within the national private sector and the kind of support offered by donors all have an influence on the potential and real success of PPD.

Impact Analysis on the Application of the Nucleus Approach in Sri Lanka
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/...
This GTZ document by Rainer Mueller-Glodde and Simone Lehmann presents the results of the application of the Nucleus Approach 5 years after its introduction. The Nucleus Approach interlinks capacity building in business associations and chambers with the promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and lobbying aiming at improving the business environment. It was first developed in Brazil and is currently applied in Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Algeria. The Nucleus impact analysis is based on interviews of 852 entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. The impact caused by the introduction of the Nucleus Approach in business chambers clearly led to significant changes in the Nucleus enterprises and the chambers. Broad effects have been reached: At the end of 2006, the participating chambers had organized about 180 Nuclei with 2,700 entrepreneurs. The introduction of the approach in Sri Lanka started 2002.

Integrated Financial Supervision: An Institutional Perspective for the Philippines
http://www.adbi.org/discussion-paper/...
This ADB paper looks at the issue of reforming financial regulatory structures from the New Institutional Economics perspective. In particular, it examines how the broader institutional environment in developing countries like the Philippines may affect the institutional arrangements for financial regulation, and how these might be taken into consideration when designing or reforming financial regulatory structures.
The paper argues that the state of financial conglomerates in the Philippines does not warrant a shift toward integrated financial supervision. Instead, any effort to reform the financial supervisory structure must explicitly address the country’s most fundamental need: to strengthen institutions and governance structures.

Microfinance in Mozambique: Achievements, Prospects & Challenges
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/...
This report by Fion de Vletter traces the development of microfinance activity in Mozambique. It also assesses the current status of microfinance sector in Mozambique.

October 2007

Migration: New Policies for Greater Gains
http://www.oecd.org/...
Migration can benefit all parties involved: migrant-sending countries, migrant-receiving countries and the migrants themselves; says the OECD Development Centre in a report on Gaining from Migration: Towards a New Mobility System.

OECD: Private Sector Development in Poor Countries
Seeking Better Policy Recipes?
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/24/38641808.pdf
Building a successful Public-Private dialogue (PPD) requires much more than legal procedures and administrative structures. Dialogue and compromise are necessary for governments to learn about the private sector's problems and adjust policies to foster its growth and development. This study addresses the obstacles to efficient PPD in low-income countries, with a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

OECD 2006 Survey on Monitoring the Paris Declaration
http://www.oecd.org/...
This OECD report assesses the effectiveness of aid at helping developing countries eradicate poverty. The report presents the results of a survey conducted in 34 developing countries and in 55 donor countries. It points to major areas that must be addressed if countries and donors are to accelerate progress on achieving the Paris Declaration.

ICT and Local Economic Development
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/...
ICT and Business development will be influenced by the extent to which people have access to ICT as clients, employees and citizens. Development may also influenced by the municipal approach to stimulating local economic growth. Without a critical mass of empowered users, the impact of ICT to stimulate local eco-nomic development will be limited. Similarly, training programmes to help SMEs access the market by the creative use of ICT will fail if many potential clients are on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Assessing the Applicability of Private Sector Development Instruments in Agricultural Economic Development
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/Neu_SV_PWF_PSD_AED_0607.pdf
The starting point of this MesoPartner paper is the observation that private sector development (PSD) and agricultural economic development (AED) have historically been two distinct approaches in development cooperation. Both looked at ways to promote productive development in developing countries. But they were based on different disciplines, they were founded on different concepts, they applied different instruments and tools, and they involved separate communities of practice. The current effort to redefine intervention strategies in African countries under the header of ''sustainable economic development” creates an opportunity to reflect on the two approaches. In this paper, the angle will be on contributions that PSD can make to AED.

Monitoring economic partnership agreements. a methodological overview
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=33709
This InBrief by Southern African Regional Poverty Network presents a preliminary overview of some methodological issues linked to the design of a monitoring mechanism for the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the European Union (EU) countries. The authors conclude that there is no ready-made approach for monitoring EPA negotiations and implementation.

ICT and Business Development
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/...
This short briefing note provides guidance for material or presentations on the topic of ICT and the local economy. They set out examples to illustrate the ICT impact on business, including web sites, e-mail, finance software, Internet networks and a range of technologies enabling work out of the office. They also give a broad vision of the role of the public sector in business development through ICTs, including through a legal framework, connectivity and innovation

Peace, Prosperity, and Pro-Growth Entrepreneurship
http://www.wider.unu.edu/...
Support for entrepreneurship is widely seen as a mechanism to facilitate prosperity and peace in a growing number of post-conflict states. This paper critically evaluates this view. It argues that entrepreneurship is a ubiquitous quality in post-conflict states but not necessarily always for the good. Unproductive and destructive entrepreneurship may inhibit the resurgence of the private sector and might even cause a relapse into conflict. To limit unproductive and destructive entrepreneurship there are at least six dimensions which need to be taken into consideration, namely: the context of war, the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship, the role played by ethnic/immigrant (minority) entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in diaspora, the scope of the market, human and financial capital requirements, and appropriate forms of government support. Further research on entrepreneurship in post-conflict states is needed to overcome the current lack of data, which constrains policy design. WIDER Discussion Paper 2007/02 by Wim Naudé

Donor Approaches to Local Economic Development in Africa
http://www.mesopartner.com/publications/mp-wp12_LED_in_Africa.pdf
Doug Hindson compares in this paper five approaches to Local Economic Development (LED) that are currently being applied in Africa. These are the World Bank (WB), Local Economy (ECOLOC), International Labour Office (ILO), GTZ and UN-Habitat approaches. (...) By contrasting different features of these approaches and assessing them against the challenges that LED faces on the continent, I hope to open a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing LED in these different ways. The paper is intended mainly for LED practitioners and decision-makers in government and business seeking support for LED promotion.

Financial development and innovation in small firms
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/...
This World Bank paper uses firm level data from a cross-section of 57 countries to study how financial development affects innovation in small firms. The analysis finds that relative to large firms in the same industry, spending on research and development by small firms is more likely and sizable in countries at higher levels of financial development.

Grundsätze der sozialen und ökologischen Marktwirtschaft in der deutschen Entwicklungspolitik
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/Grundsaetze-SoeMw.pdf
Die Grundsätze sollen für eine bessere Orientierung auf das Leitbild und höhere Verständlichkeit des deutschen Profils sorgen.
Die Grundsätze basieren auf Erfahrungen aus Südosteuropa. Die flexible Weiterentwicklung der Marktwirtschaft im Hinblick auf ein ökologisch nachhaltiges und sozial ausgewogenes Wachstum sind zentrale Themen, ebenso die Anpassung von Sozialversicherungssystemen.

Maintaining Policy Space for Development: A Case Study on IP Technical Assistance in FTAs
http://www.iprsonline.org/...
This ICTSD study addresses the issue of how technical assistance is dealt with in the intellectual property (IP) chapters of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The study focuses on some of the technical assistance concerns raised by a new generation of IP obligations. It looks at the impact of such obligations and the challenges faced by developing countries with regard to their implementation, as well as human and institutional capacity building.

Capacity building for the promotion of trade and investment in Africa: challenges and strategies
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=33741
Given the experience of Africa over the last half century, it is clear that trade reform and openness alone is not sufficient to sustain economic growth and poverty reduction. Commitments made to developing countries under the Doha Development Agenda, to help them participate in negotiate and implement WTO agreements have not been backed by adequate resources. Lack of capacity has been pivotal to Africa's inability to exploit investment and trade opportunities in the global economy. Constraints and challenges include ineffective policies, poor management systems and frameworks, weak governance, the presence of conflicts, the effects of HIV and AIDS and heavy external debt.

Sustainability of Self-Help Groups in India: Two Analyses
http://www.cgap.org/...
The massive outreach of SHGs has generated interest in the model’s sustainability and replicability in India and elsewhere. Although SHGs have been widely studied, relatively little information has been published on their financial performance.
The CGAP studies look primarily at the financial viability of these SHG programs and its methodology.

The state of responsible business: global corporate response to environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges
http://www.eiris.org/...
This report by Bob Gordon provides an overview on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts of corporations. Data is presented by country/region and contextual analysis is provided. Issues covered include corporate governance, equal opportunities, human rights, supply chain labour standards, environmental responsibility and community involvement. In addition, the report also addresses topics including climate change. HIV and AIDS and responsible business practices in emerging markets.

Budget support and beyond: can the Paris Agenda on aid be delivered?
http://www.odi.org.uk/...
The last few years have seen increasing attention paid to issues of effectiveness and accountability in development aid, which are addressed most comprehensively in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of 2006. One way donors are responding to these challenges is by increasing their use of budget support as a means of delivering aid. This ODI paper reports on a workshop organised by the Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure (CAPE), which brought together donor agencies, recipient governments, academics and practitioners to explore how and to what extent budget support can help improve the quality of aid.

Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact of Business Training on Microfinance Clients and Institutions
http://www.ruralfinance.org/...
This study measures the impact of a business training program for female micro entrepreneur clients of a group banking program in Peru. The study shows strong benefits for the microfinance institution, as well as improved business processes and knowledge by the clients. Also, there are strong positive impacts on repayment rates and client retention for FINCA, the lender.

The Code of Conduct for a better division of labour in the development policy
– is it a real milestone?
http://library.fes.de/...
During the German EU-Presidency division of labour in the development policy was one of the political priorities in the field of development co-operation. As a result of the consultation process the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on the division of labour and a Code of Conduct. The German Ministry for Development Co-operation called the Code of Conduct ''a milestone and bestpractice model for the international donor community”. But what does it mean? Paper by Dr. Ernst Stetter, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES)

September 2007

Addressing the Meta-Level - New Approaches to Private Sector Development
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/SV_PWF_Meta-Level_Tools_0407.pdf
GTZ Discussion Paper: Systemic competitiveness is the guiding framework for private sector development within the context of development cooperation. This framework distinguishes four interlinked levels of intervention: the micro-, the meso-, the macro- and the meta-levels of competitiveness. The latter denotes the socio-cultural, economic and political patterns and orientations in a given society or country and is often linked to long-term societal changes and dynamics. Even though the meta-level is highly relevant for private sector development, it is seldom explicitly addressed in practical development work. The study to hand has been initiated so as to explore innovative approaches for private sector development which address the metalevel of systemic competitiveness.

Approaches to Action Learning in Technical and Vocational Education and Training http://www.unevoc.net/...
This publication by Frank Buenning outlines the principles of action learning as a discipline and explores implications for this approach to teaching in TVET. It introduces action-theoretical models and provides an overview of selected action-learning teaching concepts. Action learning provides a method of accelerating learning that enables people to handle difficult situations more effectively. Action learning advocates questioning and reflection to prompt a deeper level of analysis, to test assumptions, and to explore possibilities.

Benchmarking de las Microfinanzas en Centroamérica 2006” y Tendencias 2004 - 2006
http://www.redcamif.org/...
La Red Centroamericana de Microfinanzas (REDCAMIF) y el Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) lanzaron en conjunto el Informe Regional ''Benchmarking de las Microfinanzas en Centroamérica 2006”, que examina el desempeño financiero y operacional de las instituciones de microfinanzas de Centroamérica. El nuevo informe cubre seis países Centroamericanos (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y Panamá) con una muestra record de 68 instituciones de microfinanzas y amplía el análisis con las Tendencias de mercado del período 2004 al 2006 y el uso de grupos pares que muestran las tendencias regionales más importantes.

Global Development Finance 2007
http://econ.worldbank.org/...
Net private capital flows to developing countries reached a record $647 billion in 2006, although the rate of growth of these flows slowed from 34 percent in 2005 to 17 percent in 2006. Emerging Europe attracted an increasing share of the overall flows and equity financing grew much faster than debt, says Global Development Finance 2007. Despite commitments made by donors, aid flows were disappointing, and the shift from official to private sources of finance continued.

Business Incubation in Latin America and the Caribbean
http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.329.aspx
The incubator initiative has supported more than 60 business incubators in countries worldwide with financial and technical assistance, leading to the establishment of five regional networks in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Cities in the Knowledge Economy: New Governance Challenges - Final report
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/...
The report argues that cities must be recognised as key players in the knowledge economy, encouraging entrepreneurship and avoiding social polarisation. To capitalise on local strengths, cities need to improve the links between research infrastructure and business and between education and the needs of the local economy. The report considers strategies for different types of cities.

Competing for business: A guide to investment incentives
http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/subsidies/newsletter/4_note.asp
With the progressive dismantling of formal trade barriers as a result of many rounds of global trade negotiations, subsidies have become increasingly important as a way for governments to regulate economic activity within their territories. While subsidies are not necessarily bad policy, it is important to weigh their expected benefits against the possibility of efficiency, equity, or even environmental problems that may result. By Kenneth P. Thomas.

Competitiveness in the CFA Franc Zone
http://www.imf.org/...
This IMF paper reviews the evolution of competitiveness in the CFA franc zone using a proposed comprehensive competitiveness framework. In particular, we examine competitiveness in the WAEMU and CEMAC regions by analyzing the ''environment'' and ''policy'' components of competitiveness and their quantifiable determinants, including indicators to measure productivity and labor market conditions, prices and costs, macroeconomic performance, business environment, governance, and technology and infrastructure.

Desarrollo de ventajas competitivas: pymes exportadoras exitosas en Argentina, Chile y Colombia
http://www.eclac.cl/publicaciones/xml/5/29585/LCG2339eYoguel.pdf
Este artículo de la CEPAL analiza el patrón de especialización de las Pymes exportadoras de Argentina, Chile y Colombia en el período 2001-2004, con el objetivo de identificar los factores que inciden en el grado de éxito de estas empresas. Para ello se aplica un indicador de éxito exportador al universo de Pymes exportadoras de los tres países y se diferencian dos grupos de agentes: los exitosos y los no exitosos.

Donor Interventions in Value Chain Development, SDC VCRD CoP 2007
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/...
These guidelines highlight the most important issues that development agencies need to consider when they engage in value chain development in rural areas. The paper offers guiding principles for development practitioners and policy makers, and points to further useful material. This paper is based on the insights gained during the online debate on the forum ''Value Chains in Rural Development” operated by SDC starting in December 2004, with its various and sometimes contradicting examples, cases, perceptions and discussions. Over 120 persons, from around 35 countries joined and discussed practically relevant topics during 9 debate cycles. In this paper the main highlights of the work so far are pulled together and presented for discussion.

Engaging business in development: Results of an international benchmarking study
http://www.gppi.net/fileadmin/gppi/Engaging_Business_Final_06222007.pdf
This study examines ways of engaging business in development through Public Private Partnerships (PPP). It highlights areas of best practice and likely advances for the partnership tool in development assistance, potential avenues for future research and possibilities for enhanced donor collaboration. To do so the study adopted a collaborative benchmarking approach, building a network of benchmarking partners who intend to learn from each other.

Entrepreneurship: New Data on Business Creation and How to Promote It
http://rru.worldbank.org/...
This World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey continues to extend our knowledge of the importance of entrepreneurship for a dynamic economy. In its second year, with more countries participating, the survey again shows a strong relationship between entrepreneurship, the business environment, and governance. New data shed light on how the distribution of businesses among sectors varies by level of development. And analysis of new data on business registration suggests that automation can greatly reduce the barriers to starting a business. This finding makes a strong case for pursuing e-government initiatives to spur entrepreneurship.

Gaining from Migration: Towards a New Mobility System
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/...
This OECD report presents a summary of recommendations on how we can all gain from migration. New ideas, based on an exhaustive review of past policy experiences in Europe and elsewhere, are offered for policies related to labour markets, integration, development co-operation and the engagement of diasporas.

Good governance, aid modalities and poverty reduction
http://www.odi.org.uk/...
The first working papers from this major ODI two-year project are available now.

GTZ: Planung, Organisation und Betrieb von Qualifizierungseinrichtungen
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/...
Qualifizierungseinrichtungen sind Stätten, in denen neben Beratung und Informationstransfer in besonderem Maße Qualifizierung im Sinne des ''lebenslangen Lernens'' durchgeführt werden. Sie sollten multifunktional geplant werden, damit sie durch Modifizierungen flexibel auf Änderungen des zukünftigen Bedarfs an Qualifizierungs-, Informations- und Beratungsleistungen reagieren können. Dieser Leitfaden ist als praxisorientierte Handreichung entstanden, um notwendige Planungs- und Managementprozesse in der Aufbauphase unterstützend zu begleiten.

International Migration, Economic Development & Policy
http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=6354581
This book World Bank provides new evidence on the impact of migration and remittances on several development indicators. Additionally, the book analyzes the effect of host country policies on migration flows, examines the determinants of return and repeat migration, and explores the degree of success of return.

KfW: Focusing on results, advancing development
http://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/...
Presentation of the 2006 Annual Report on Cooperation with Developing Countries. KfW Entwicklungsbank and DEG committed some EUR 3.4 billion in support for developing and transition countries.

Private Sector Development in Rural Areas - Assessing the Applicability of PSD Instruments in Agricultural Economic Development - Discussion Paper
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/SV_PWF_PSD_AED_0607.pdf
The starting point of this MesoPartner paper is the observation that private sector development (PSD) and agricultural economic development (AED) have historically been two distinct approaches in development cooperation. Both looked at ways to promote productive development in developing countries. But they were based on different disciplines, they were founded on different concepts, they applied different instruments and tools, and they involved separate communities of practice. The current effort to redefine intervention strategies in African countries under the header of ''sustainable economic development” creates an opportunity to reflect on the two approaches. In this paper, the angle will be on contributions that PSD can make to AED.

The state of responsible competitiveness 2007: making sustainable development count in global markets
http://www.accountability21.net/...
The first section includes two chapters on the Responsible Competitiveness Index (CRI). The first paper argues that responsible competitiveness is partly delivered by market forces but requires global rules to ensure sustainable development. The following section discusses strategies for shifting to a low-carbon market. The authors argue that the abatement costs are lowest if firms act early on combating greenhouse gas emissions. The second article in this section provides guidance for businesses on reducing emissions with the final article proposing the development of a global carbon fund.

The value of EU preferences for the ACP and EPA contribution to market access
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=33163
This South Centre fact sheet addresses questions on access to the EU market by African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

The World Bank and Middle-Income Countries: Business as Usual?
http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/mic
The Independent Evaluation Group's new report-Development Results in Middle-Income Countries (MICs)-finds that the World Bank's work with MICs over the past decade has contributed to the growth and significant poverty reduction achieved by those countries. Indeed four-fifths of respondents to an IEG survey of opinion-leaders in MICs said they value the Bank's programs and services. The report also notes that the Bank's work needs to yield stronger results in dealing with inequality, corruption and the environment. It makes a clear recommendation: that the Bank should continue to engage with middle-income countries, but depart from business as usual for a greater impact.

Understanding Your Local Economy: A Resource Guide for Cities
http://www.citiesalliance.org/...
A Resource Guide for Cities, that addresses the challenges of analysing local economic conditions and a city’s comparative and competitive advantages. Funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Guide presents practical approaches to conducting citywide and regionwide economic and competitive assessments. It includes advice on how to choose local economic development (LED) indicators and tools that can assess a local economy’s competitiveness.

What Drives China's Growing Role in Africa?
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=21282.0
This IMF paper attempts to provide a quantified assessment of China's multifaceted influence as market, donor, financer and investor, and contractor and builder. Though in the past official development aid predominated, the paper argues that government policies, markets for each other's exports, Africa's demand for infrastructure, and differences in China's approach to financing have together moved commercial activities-trade and investment-to the center of China-Africa economic relations.

Who's in First? A Regional Development Index for the PRC's Provinces
http://www.adbi.org/discussion-paper/...
This ADB paper offers an index system that provides clear information on the relative position of each province in the People's Republic of China in different fields of development. The index assesses achievements using ten field indices, which constitute an overall regional development index; among them are infrastructure, environmental protection, economic development, and social equity.

August 2007

African Economic Outlook 2007
http://www.oecd.org/...
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), African Development Bank

Beyond Good Intentions: Measuring the Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/...
A publication in the CGAP Focus Note Series of the Consultative Group to assist the Poor (CGAP). This Focus Note highlights the emerging emphasis on social performance in microfinance and reviews some of the assessment tools recently developed."

Business engagement in humanitarian relief: key trends and policy implications
http://www.eldis.org/...
This paper explores the new roles that companies are playing in humanitarian action. It examines the various forms corporate engagement, with a particular focus on partnerships, and explores the underlying motivations behind this involvement.

Business for Development: Fostering the Private Sector 2007
http://www.oecd.org/...
This OECD book details the activities of the private sector in developing and emerging economies. It demonstrates how these activities are inter-related with government policies. Understanding these activities and public-private interactions is indispensable for allowing the private sector to play its fullest role in a nation’s development process. To this end, several case studies are presented to provide concrete examples from Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Their analysis includes, among others, the opportunities for expanding markets and upgrading skills in global value chains, the regulatory conditions that could best promote private sector development and the respective roles that government, business and donors can play in that process.

Business Licensing Reform: A Toolkit for Development Practitioners
http://rru.worldbank.org/Toolkits/BusinessLicenses/?cid=1295
guide gives project managers the tools for reforming business licensing regimes at the national level. Good licensing regimes rest on laws, have clear appeals procedures, and validity across sub-national jurisdictions. With guidance on identifying levers of reform, designing programs, involving stakeholders, and assessing impacts from start to finish, the reform process is broken down into four distinct phases: foundations, preparation, design, and implementation.

Corporate social responsibility: an implementation guide for business
http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/csr_guide.pdf
This document presents a corporate social responsibility CSR implementation guide for international businesses. It provides an overview of the basic steps to, and instruments for, implementing a CSR strategy adapted specifically to your business or organisational context.

Enhancing the Role of SMEs in Global Value Chains
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/43/38900592.pdf
The OECD Global Conference on Enhancing the Role of SMEs in Global Value Chains, held in Tokyo on 31 May-1 June 2007 brought together experts from governments, international organisations, academia, business and civil society to examine the conclusions of the study, review best practice policies and programmes and draft the Tokyo Action Statement – including policy recommendations -- for further work in this area.

Entrepreneurship: New Data on Business Creation and How to Promote It
http://rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/Open.aspx?id=7874
The World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey continues to extend our knowledge of the importance of entrepreneurship for a dynamic economy. In its second year, with more countries participating, the survey again shows a strong relationship between entrepreneurship, the business environment, and governance. New data shed light on how the distribution of businesses among sectors varies by level of development. And analysis of new data on business registration suggests that automation can greatly reduce the barriers to starting a business. This finding makes a strong case for pursuing e-government initiatives to spur entrepreneurship.

Global Corruption Report 2007
http://www.transparency.org/publications/gcr
Transparency International

Growth with Responsibility in a Globalized World - Findings of the Shadow G-8
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/global/04472.pdf
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES); Occasional Papers, Authors: J. E. Stieglitz, S. Griffith-Jones

Jump start to the outcome oriented M&E System
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/...
The modular approach should be used for the M&E System (www.pacplan.com) where modules could be implemented as needed by organisation and situation and slowly progress to cover the entire organisation’s Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System. It is important to note that the M&E System is the on-going progress measurement in the organisation. The original design of M&E System should allow for this modular approach where better approach and new technologies can be modularised and added on at a later stage.

Local and Regional Economic Development in Leyte Province:
http://www.smedsep.ph/...
Report on the Action Planning 2006 / Training of Trainers II for LRED-Facilitators Mission, by Rolf Speit / GTZ, Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Programm (SMEDSEP)

Six-Pack for SME Development
www.bds-forum.net/6-pack-for-sme.htm
Product descriptions for the development of small and medium enterprises (SME), by Dieter Gagel, Heidelberg 2007

Skills Development Policies and International Cooperation in East and South-East Asia
http://www.norrag.org/wg/papers.php
Paper on the Hong Kong Meeting, hosted by the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) of the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. It focused on skills development policies and international cooperation in East and South-East Asia, with particular attention to Asian approaches to skills development. , TVET System Development, Skills Development for (Self-)employment

Technical and Vocational Skills Development
http://www.norrag.org/issue.php?id=38
Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD) seems to be on the rise again. This appears particularly to be the case in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst factors that may have sparked the renewed interest is a sense that high quality technical and vocational skills have played a critical role in East and South East Asia’s dramatic rise. Precisely what the contribution of labour force skills has been is still debated, and we carry the debate forward in this special issue. Equally in Latin America and in Europe, technical and vocational skills remain a key element in the discussions about sustaining the moves towards a knowledge economy.

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/mdg2007.pdf
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007:
Making Sustainable Development Count in Global Markets
http://www.accountability21.net/...
This AccountAbility paper argues that responsible competitiveness is partly delivered by market forces but requires global rules to ensure sustainable development. It goes onto state that low-carbon technologies, closing the gender gap, building governance and accountability and enhancing labour standards provides enormous opportunities for business. The section also includes recommendations on how to improve responsible competitiveness and efforts to advance the CRI.

Transparency in the Supply Chain
http://www.globalreporting.org/...
This document presents the findings of research conducted to evaluate the benefits of increased transparency in the supply chain of Multinational Enterprises (MNE's)."

Who fears competition from informal firms ? evidence from Latin America
http://www.ruralfinance.org/...
This World Bank paper investigates who is most affected by informal competition and how regulation and enforcement affect the extent and nature of this competition. Using newly-collected enterprise data for 6,466 manufacturing formal firms across 14 countries in Latin America, the authors show that formal firms affected by head-to-head competition with informal firms largely resemble them.

July 2007

OECD: Business for Development: Fostering the private sector (2007)
http://www.oecd.org/...
How can private enterprise help economies grow and reduce poverty? This question lies at the heart of our new book on ''Business for Development''. This indispensable book analyses private-sector activities in developing and emerging economies, drawing on case studies in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. It provides fresh thinking on how public and private actors can work together to expand markets, upgrade skills in global value chains, and develop a private sector that plays a stronger role in development.

Staying Competitive in the Global Economy. Moving Up the Value Chain
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?SF1=DI&CID=&LANG=en&ST1=5L4QDG54607L
This report brings together OECD data on the globalisation of value chains, including the rise of outsourcing/offshoring. It first examines how OECD countries are affected by the globalisation of production, on both the macroeconomic and sector-specific levels. The costs and benefits of globalisation are then discussed, with an emphasis on employment and productivity. Finally, this report analyses how globalisation impacts the competitiveness of OECD countries, highlighting the need for an effective innovation strategy. The report discusses not only the moving up the value chain that takes place in OECD countries but also in China, as R&D is increasingly going to emerging countries.

Private Sector Development in Poor Countries: Seeking Better Policy Recipes
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/24/38641808.pdf
OECD Policy Insight No. 48 by Federico Bonaglia and Kiichiro Fukasaku

Shaping value chains for development. Global value chains in agribusiness
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/05-0280.pdf
This GTZ study by John Humphrey analyses these challenges from a global value chain perspective, examining their implications for policies at both the micro and meso levels (technical assistance, local institutional capabilities, producer organisations, etc.) and the broader, macro level of the framework of institutions and policies that regulate agricultural production and trade, including standards-setting, intellectual property rights and global competition policy, as well as trade capacity building and trade promotion initiatives.

The value chain approach in development cooperation
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/05-1037.pdf
This GTZ study by Bettina Merlin was updated with the objective of checking and updating all existing links to present only recent information. Additionally, new internet research was completed without the strong agriculture focus of the first study. The updated version also integrates institutions working in different sectors relevant to development cooperation.

A systemic approach to value chain interventions, by Marshall Bear
http://162.23.39.120/dezaweb/ressources/resource_en_150829.pdf
SDC SED Workshop 2007

Value Chains for Growth and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries
http://www.tropentag.de/2005/proceedings/node142.html
Presentation by Christoph Kohlmeyer, German BMZ

Upgrading in global value chains
http://www.ilo.org/...
Working Paper No. 28 by John Humphrey, International Labour Office

Analysis of existing theories, methodologies and discussions of value chain approaches within the development cooperation sector
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_32.pdf
Prepared for SDC by Daniel Roduner, LBL, 2004

Global value chains in the agrifood sector
http://www.ruralfinance.org/...
John Humphrey, Olga Memedovic / Institute of Development Studies, UNIDO 2006
The value chain perspective has highlighted issues of codification of knowledge in value chains, supplier competence, strategies to reduce the costs of governance, power asymmetries, and concentration. These issues are decisively affected by the two major trends in agribusiness value chains, the increasing importance of standards and increasing concentration, subjects of this paper.

Participatory value chain analysis for pro-poor enterprise development
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_4.pdf
Linda Mayoux, 2003

Productive Strategies and Empowerment of Poor Rural Families to Participate Successfully in Global Markets - scoping study
http://www.odi.org.uk/plag/PROJECTS/06_idrc_scopingstudy.htm
This project seeks to provide a map for cutting edge problems and research agendas in rural economies in developing countries. By Jon Mitchell.

Diseño de Estrategias para Aumentar la Competitividad de Cadenas Productivas con Productores de Pequeña Escala
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_35.pdf
Manual de Campo; CIAT, 2003

Integrating SMEs in Global Value Chains: Towards Partnership for Development
http://www.unido.org/userfiles/PuffK/partnerships02.pdf
This report was produced in 2001 as an effort to establish a sound conceptual basis for UNIDO’s partnership programme with the business community.

Introduction: Globalisation, Value Chains and Development
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/classics/gereffi_et_al_32(3).pdf
IDS Bulletin 32.3, 2001

The ValueLinks Manual. A Methodology for value chain promotion
http://www2.gtz.de/publikationen/isissearch/publikationen/details.aspx?RecID=BIB-GTZ070900
This GTZ manual is the reference book for the ValueLinks methodology. ValueLinks is the name given to a systematic compilation of action-oriented methods for promoting economic development with a value chain perspective. It provides essential know-how on ways to enhance employment and the business income of micro and small-sized enterprises and farmers by promoting the value chains they are operating in. The ValueLinks manual is intended for use by development projects or by public agencies promoting specific agribusiness, handicraft or manufacturing sub-sectors of the economy. It has no specific sectoral focus. However, the emphasis is on those product markets that offer opportunities for the poor. The ValueLinks manual is one of several knowledge products that use the ValueLinks methodology. The ValueLinks training seminars for professional staff of public agencies and development programmes comprise an important instrument for sharing know-how, and are given by recognised ValueLinks trainers. Order the First Edition on CD-ROM from value-links@gtz.de. For further information please
refer to Andreas Springer Heinze, Andreas.Springer-Heinze@gtz.de.

Making Value Chains Work Better for the Poor
A toolbook for practitioners of Value Chain Analysis
http://www.markets4poor.org/...
The toolbook is designed as a concise document aimed to provide value chain practitioners with an easy to follow set of tools for value chain analysis, focused on poverty reduction. The aim is to bridge the gap between value chain analysis and pro-poor development. Hence the tools that are presented here are similar to those presented in other handbooks, but the main special feature of the toolbook is that within each of the tools there is a clear focus on how to apply the tool in order to analyze the impact of the value chain from the point of view of the poor.

A Handbook for Value Chain Research
http://www.globalvaluechains.org/docs/VchNov01.pdf
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/global/pdfs/VchNov01.pdf
This Handbook identifies the importance of value chains in the current era of globalisation, provides an overview of conceptual issues, describes specific methodological tools, and explores the policy relevance of value chain research. Prepared for the IDRC by Raphael Kaplinsky and Mike Moris.

The Manual for Value Chain Research on Homeworkers in the Garment Industry
http://www.globalvaluechains.org/docs/wiegomanualendnov01.pdf
by Dorothy McCormick and Hubert Schmitz focuses on the role of informal production in global value chains, and in particular on the role of women in these informal activities. It is designed to facilitate research by activists and discusses particular methodological tools in an accessible style.

ILO Guide for Value Chain Analysis and Upgrading
http://www.bdsknowledge.org/...
The purpose of the guide is to look at how to practically carry out value chain analysis, find upgrading solutions and implement them, using an ILO approach towards upgrading. The structure of the guide is divided into two sections: The first part gives an example for the value chain approach towards upgrading, as well as explanations for basic concepts. The second part is all about putting theory into practice: it is divided into five modules that outline a kind of project approach with real outcomes at every stage.

CAPSA, Capacitating Sector Analyses
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_45.pdf
A practical methodology to analyse value chains; Hans Posthumus Consultancy, 2004

Alliances and Joint Ventures: Patterns of Internationalization for Developing Country Enterprises.
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download/?file%5fid=53677
This UNIDO training package is addressed to entrepreneurs and policymakers of developing countries. Part One of the training package presents the international development scenario, the competitive environment and the drivers for global expansion of enterprises. It highlights the patterns of multinational expansion, the various types of inter-firm collaboration agreement, the global manufacturing strategies of multinational enterprises and the related challenges and opportunities for developing countries. In this context, Part One presents the role of global value chains and global production networks as elements of global operations management by multinational enterprises and as vehicles for technological development of firms of developing countries. Attention is also given to the role of the governments of developing countries in creating suitable locational conditions for multinational enterprises and in providing critical support to domestic enterprises in their path for technological capability building and internationalization. Part Two will follow shortly.

Info-Cadena: Instruments to foster value chains
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_34.pdf
by Andreas Springer-Heinze, GTZ, 2004

Guía Metodologica para el Analisis de Cadenas Productivas
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_39.pdf
Ruralter - SNV - CICDA - IC, 2004

Guía para la elaboración de estudios de cadenas productivas locales
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_53.pdf
PADER-COSUDE, Bolivia (available only en Spanish)

Local and Regional Economic Development
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-0604.pdf
This handbook for LRED practitioners is based on GTZ's recent experience in supporting Local and Regional Economic Development (LRED) in South Africa. It enriches and enhances GTZ's general conceptual approach to LRED with practical experiences, further concepts and additional tools based on the LRED experience of a variety of programmes.

Export Strategy Design
http://www.intracen.org/wedf/ef2006/Strategy-Tools/Product-Sectors-En.pdf
Guidelines for Strategy-Makers: Sector-Level Strategy – Product Sectors

Trickle-down, trickle-up or puddle? Participatory value chains analysis for pro-poor enterprise development
http://www.enterprise-impact.org.uk/informationresources/toolbox/valuechainsanalysis.shtml
EDIAIS Publication 2003

Rural Finance for Value Chains Quarterly
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/filedownload.do?itemId=1068476
This newsletter is a publication of the Practitioner Learning Program (PLP)in Strategic Alliances for Financial Services and Market Linkages in Rural Areas.

Knowledge Management in Value Chains;
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_3.pdf
Newsletter No. 11 GTZ, March 2004

The Markets and Development Bulletin (MDB)
http://www.markets4poor.org/...
A bimonthly newsletter on topical market-related issues produced jointly with the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF) and the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).

The Rural Development News
http://www.agridea-international.ch/publications/rural_development_news/index.htm
n information magazine for staff of development projects and programmes, co-operation offices, NGOs, consultants, information departments and all those interested in subjects related to rural development.

Small Enterprise Development - June 2006 edition
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/...
ITDG Publishing, Volume 17, Number 2, June 2006 / 7/4/2006
Is small still relevant? Author: Vandenberg, Paul
Mapping the market: participatory market-chain development in practice. Authors: Albu, Mike; Griffith, Alison
Value chain programmes to integrate competitiveness, economic growth and poverty reduction. Authors: Kula, Olaf; Downing, Jeanne; Field, Michael
Shea kernels from Mali: a value chain case study. Authors: Lusby, Frank; Derks, Eric
From behind the veil: industry-level methodologies for disadvantaged communities in Pakistan. Authors: Jones, Linda; Snelgrove, Alexandra

Exploring the Links Between International Business and Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Unilever in Indonesia
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/livelihoods/unilever.htm
Participation in value chains such as UI’s does not automatically guarantee improvements in the lives of people living in poverty.

A fair share for smallholders: a value chain analysis of the coffee sector
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/rc/filedownload.do?itemId=1097575
This report, written by Bart Slob, focuses mainly on Fair Trade and compares the Fair Trade value chain to mainstream value chains.

Business Linkages: Lessons, Opportunities and Challenges, 2007
http://www.value-chains.org/...
This report draws on a number of brief case studies to propose a typology of corporate action to promote business linkages:
- value chain SME development and linkage programmes
- ''beyond the value chain'' SME development and linkage programmes
- strengthening the enabling environment for business linkages
- hybrid approaches
IFC, International Business Leaders Forum, John F Kennedy School, Harvard University, May 2007

Strengthening value chains in Sri Lanka's agribusiness: A way to reconcile competitiveness with socially inclusive growth?
http://www.die-gdi.de/...
Stamm, Andreas et.al. (2006), DIE Studies No. 15, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn

Enhancing the Value of Rural-Urban Links
http://www.ifpri.org/divs/fcnd/dp/fcndp195.htm
This paper examines how market institutions can affect links between urban and rural areas with specific emphasis on goods market integration in the national context.

Value Chains and BDS Development: Linking Communities to Mainstream Markets in Mindanao
http://www.value-chains.org/...
The final report summarizes the entire project, describing interventions and progress in the following fruit and vegetable value chains: kaong, mango, strawberry, nipa palm and an overall quality seal for public markets.

Value Chains in the Agri-Food Sector;
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_36.pdf
Jill E. Hobbs, Ann Cooney & Murray Fulton, 2000

Value Chain Management and Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas:
Project Experience from Kyrgyzstan
http://www.sdc-valuechains.ch/resources/resource_en_129.pdf
Helvetas 2005

Shaping Value Chains for Development: Global Value Chains in Agribusiness
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/05-0280.pdf
By John Humphrey, GTZ

The Global Wood Furniture Value Chain:
What prospects for upgrading by developing countries?
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download?file_id=11904
The paper asks what producers need to do in order to upgrade their activities, particularly in developing countries. This experience is then used to generate a series of generic policy challenges, which might be transferred to other countries and to other sectors.

The Global Automotive Industry Value Chain:
What prospects for upgrading by developing countries?
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download?file_id=11902
The UNIDO paper shows that developing countries can increase the possibility of integration into the global value chains of transnational automotive companies by opening up their domestic markets. It concludes with emphasizing the importance of fostering networks of small firms in developing countries as a means of entering new markets.

More than T-shirts: the Integration of Developing Country Producers in Global Value Chains
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/59/38647249.pdf
The international fragmentation of production activities into global value chains has resulted in a phenomenal build-up of manufacturing capabilities as well as export growth in many developing countries, not only in traditional labour-intensive manufacturing, but also in more high-tech industries and in services. By Federico Bonaglia and Andrea Goldstein, based on Business for Development 2007.

The Global Apparel Value Chain: what prospects for upgrading by developing countries
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download?file_id=11900
This UNIDO paper distinguishes between three new models of competition in the North American market namely the East Asian, Mexican and Caribbean Basin model. Each model presents different perspectives and challenges for industrial innovation and learning

Poverty Orientation of Value Chains for Domestic and Export Markets in Ghana
http://www.berlinerseminar.de/...
The SLE study findings suggest that pro-poor potentials of production and processing for domestic markets are under-utilised in Ghana. Price levels on export markets do not justify a sole focus on export promotion, especially if the cost and possibility of market entry of the poor are taken into account.

Value chains for a better integration of smallholders to trade - the case of chilli in Ghana
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/06-1267.pdf
The objective of this study by Christin Schipmann is to compare international and national value chains with regard to potential benefits for smallholders and existing entry barriers to their integration. The research was carried out in the chilli sector of Ghana.

BOAM’s Experience with Value Chain Promotion
http://www.bds-ethiopia.net
Business Organisations and their Access to Markets (BOAM) is a private sector development programme of The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in Ethiopia. The BOAM Programme will shortly wind up its pilot phase and get into expansion phase counting on its achievements and the lessons taken form the former. The pilot phase of the programme has been promoting four value chains namely: Oilseeds & Edible Oil, Honey & other Bee Products, Milk & Dairy Products and Perennial Crops with specific focus on Pineapple

Competing and Learning in Global Value Chains:
Firms’ experiences in the case of Uganda
http://www.mtti.go.ug/...
A study of five sub-sectors with reference to trade between
Uganda and Europe. By Jörg Wiegratz, Paschal Nyabuntu and Charles Omagor.

Africa's Private Sector: Ready to Seize Business Opportunities?
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/37/27/38570522.pdf
Policy Insight No. 43 by Yoshiko Matsumoto-Izadifar

May 2007

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2007
http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/wesp2007_en.pdf
This report provides an overview of recent global economic performance and short-term prospects for the world economy and of some key global economic policy and development issues. One of its purposes is to serve as a point of reference for discussions on economic, social and related issues taking place in various United Nations entities in 2007.

OECD African Economic Outlook 2007
http://www.oecd.org/...
The African Economic Outlook combines the expertise of the OECD with the knowledge of the African Development Bank on African economies. The objective is to review annually the recent economic situation and the likely short-term evolution of selected African countries. The 2007 focus is on Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation

Value chains for a better integration of smallholders to trade - the case of chilli in Ghana
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/06-1267.pdf
Christin Schipmann / FU Berlin, GTZ 2006
The objective of this study is to compare international and national value chains with regard to potential benefits for smallholders and existing entry barriers to their integration. The research was carried out in the chilli sector of Ghana.

Global value chains in the agrifood sector
http://www.ruralfinance.org
John Humphrey, Olga Memedovic / Institute of Development Studies, UNIDO 2006
Trends in global agribusiness and their consequences for strategies to eradicate poverty through increasing export growth are analysed in this paper using the GVC perspective. This perspective analyses inter-firm linkages in global agribusiness, placing agricultural production and processing in developing countries in the context of the dynamics of the broader global agribusiness and agrifood systems. The value chain perspective has highlighted issues of codification of knowledge in value chains, supplier competence, strategies to reduce the costs of governance, power asymmetries, and concentration. These issues are decisively affected by the two major trends in agribusiness value chains, the increasing importance of standards and increasing concentration, subjects of this paper.

Measuring microenterprise profits : don't ask how the sausage is made
http://www-wds.worldbank.org
Woodruff, Christopher; McKenzie, David; de Mel, Suresh, World Bank 2007
A large share of the world's poor is self-employed. Accurate measurement of profits from microenterprises is therefore critical for studying poverty and inequality, measuring the returns to education, and evaluating the success of microfinance programs. But a myriad of problems plague the measurement of profits. The authors report on a variety of different experiments conducted to better understand the importance of some of these problems and to draw recommendations for collecting profit data. The authors conclude that firms underreport revenues by about 30 percent, that account diaries have significant effects on both revenues and expenses but not on profits, and that simply asking profits provides a more accurate measure of firm profits than detailed questions on revenues and expenses.

Microfinance Cracking the Capital Markets II
http://www.accion.org/insight/
Rekha Reddy / ACCION 2007
Investment in microfinance, particularly cross-border investment, is booming. Where is this investment coming from? How is it being absorbed? What types of advances need to occur to build a healthy infrastructure for debt and equity investments into microfinance? How do we manage the risks investors face? These questions were discussed as part of the second annual Microfinance Cracking the Capital Markets conference, hosted by ACCION International and sponsored by Credit Suisse. The conference highlighted the growth in microfinance investment, recent innovations in structured deals, and ways in which microfinance institutions (MFIs) need to develop to integrate more fully into the capital markets.'', Microfinance

Creating an enabling business environment in Asia: To what extent is public support warranted?
http://www.die-gdi.de/...
Tilman Altenburg / Christian von Drachenfels / German Development Institute 2007
This paper critically reviews the assumptions of the NMA (''New Minimalist Approach''), with a special focus on evidence from Asia. It supports the view that policy reforms to ease private commercial activities are an important, but certainly not sufficient, element of growth strategies. Other growth constraints may be more important, such as lack of entrepreneurial skills, failures in technology markets, or lack of information about export market trends. These constraints however cannot be overcome by applying laissez-faire policies. The exclusive NMA focus on government failure diverts the attention away from the need to address market failures in a proactive way. Furthermore, the NMA systematically ignores potential trade-offs, e.g. between the need to make business procedures easier on the one hand, and certain regulations that are required to lubricate the market economy, to internalize social and environmental costs, or to achieve equity goals on the other.

The Landscape of Microinsurance in the World's 100 Poorest Countries
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/40285_file_15.pdf
Jim Roth, Michael McCord, Dominic Liber / MicroInsurance Centre 2007
The report provides: A description of how microinsurance works, and a landscape study of microinsurance in the world´s 100 poorest countries.

Analysis of Business Registration and Licensing in the Philippines
http://www.smedsep.ph/...
Deanna Lijauco, Aurma Manlangit / GTZ, SMEDSEP 2007, Philippines
This study aims to conduct an inventory of the laws, rules and regulations that govern business and licensing procedures in the Philippines on the national and local levels. The study will also describe and analyze their impact on the actual process of securing business permits.''

The Local Business Environment and Local Economic Development: Comparing Approaches
http://www.mesopartner.com/publications/mp-wp11_Local-BE.pdf
Doug Hindson, Joerg Meyer-Stamer / Mesopartner 2007 / Global, -
From the LED perspective, a favourable business environment involves a broad set of locational factors which is only partly shaped by government. While BE interventions have a tendency to be top-down and to depend on external consultants, the LED approach emphasises bottom-up processes and a strong involvement of local actors. A consistent effort to reduce red tape and improve the local regulatory environment is an important element of bottom-up LED processes. In fact, an argument can be made that efforts to improve the business environment will have a stronger impact in already strong locations, so that it can ultimately widen the gap between growing and lagging locations and thus reinforce spatial disparities.

The Local Business Environment and Local Economic Development: Comparing Approaches
http://www.mesopartner.com/publications/mp-wp11_Local-BE.pdf
By Doug Hindson & Jörg Meyer-Stamer

Access to Credit and Borrowing Behaviour of Rural Households in a Transition
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/files/39950_file_33.pdf
Cuong H. Nguyen, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK 2007. This paper assesses the determinants of rural household credit activity using data from Vietnam.

Acuerdos de libre comercio entre los países andinos y los Estados Unidos
http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/28333/S77CI-L2678e-P.pdf
José E. Durán Lima Carlos L. de Miguel Andrés R Schuschny / CEPAL 2006 -

Are Social Entrepreneurs important for Social and Economic Development?
http://www.business4good.org/2007/04/importance-of-social-entrepreneurship.html
This PDF-paper reviews the Social Entrepreneurship literature and links it with studies ob Entrepreneurshop from OECD and others. It identifies four key areas where Social Entrepreneurs are creating social and economic value: Employment Development, Innovation and new products/services, Social Capital as well as Equity Promotion. (contributed by Juergen Nagler)

Business Incubation Sustainability Model
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/...
This model is an interesting good practice form a local business incubator in Medellin, Colombia. Incubadora de Empresas de Base Tecnolgica de Antioquia (IEBTA) is self-sustainable and has been in business for 10 years.

Corporate Governance in Latin America
http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=963281
Chong, Alberto E. / IADB 2006
This paper analyzes recent trends in Latin America's institutional development regarding to investor protection.

Do workers in Chile choose informal employment? A dynamic analysis of sector choice
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/...
Packard, Truman G.; / World Bank 2006
The degree to which a labor market is segmented and jobs in the formal sector of the economy are rationed is critical to the analysis of coverage of social insurance and pensions. Using unique panel data spanning the 1998-99 contraction in Chile, the author finds little evidence that self-employment is the residual sector of a dualistic labor market, as is often depicted in the literature. Data on transitions between sectors show that self-employment is not a free-entry sector, and that entrepreneurs can be ''pushed'' out of self-employment just as others are pushed out of formal employment during economic downturns. But employment without a contract does exhibit many of the features of the free-entry, employment safety net depicted in the dualistic literature.

Facts & Figures: Africa's Trade
http://www.tradeforum.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/1139/
Sub-Saharan Africa's economic stability, combined with a favourable global growth climate, now offers opportunities that the region has begun to exploit. But further work is needed at the ''micro'' level to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals.

Indigenous peoples in Latin America : economic opportunities and social networks
http://www-wds.worldbank.org...
Lunde, Trine; Skoufias, Emmanuel; Patrinos, Harry Anthony; World Bank 2006
Despite significant changes in poverty overall in Latin America, the proportion of indigenous peoples living in poverty did not change much from the early 1990s to the present. While earlier work focused on human development, much less has been done on the distribution and returns to income-generating assets and the effect these have on income generation strategies. The authors show that low income and low assets are mutually reinforcing. For instance, low education levels translate into low income, resulting in poor health and reduced schooling for future generations. Social networks affect the economic opportunities of individuals through two important channels-information and norms. However, the analysis shows that the networks available to indigenous peoples do not facilitate employment in nontraditional sectors.

Jobs for Youth/Des emplois pour les jeunes, Spain
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?sf1=identifiers&lang=EN&st1=812007081p1
This OECD book surveys the main barriers to employment for young people in Spain, and assesses the adequacy and effectiveness of existing measures to improve the transition from school to work.

La igualdad en el trabajo: afrontar los retos que se plantean (ILO 2006
http://www.ilo.org/...
Informe global con arreglo al seguimiento de la Declaración de la OIT relativa a los principios y derechos fundamentales en el trabajo.

Making Business Registration and Licensing Easier, Cheaper and More Attractive
http://www.businessenvironment.org...
This Bangkok Conference Session examines the lessons that can be learned from reforming business registration and licensing procedures in Asia. Case studies are drawn from Vietnam, Philippines and Laos. In addition, a practitioners guide for reforming business registration and licensing is presented, which includes a number of country examples; India is the only one in Asia.

OECD Report: Financing Development: Aid and Beyond
http://www.oecd.org/...
Aid alone cannot finance development; new actors and fresh sources of finance are essential complements to it. This highly stimulating book takes a deep look at the changes in the ''international development finance architecture.

OECD: Micro-Policies for Growth and Productivity
http://www.oecd.org/...
The project’s objective has been to identify the critical areas of the business environment for each driver of growth and to identify effective micro-policies for each of these critical areas in order to develop a more coherent growth strategy for the micro level of the economy. Its target has been to identify critical policy areas for each of the micro-drivers of growth – entrepreneurship, information and communications technology (ICT), innovation and human capital – through a quantitative benchmarking methodology. Three documents are available: the Synthesis and Benchmarking User Guide is a brochure which provides a brief synthesis to the Micro-Policies for Growth and Productivity Project Final Report and also serves as a guide to the benchmarking methodology used in the analysis. A summary of key findings is also available for download.

Returns to capital in microenterprises : evidence from a field experiment
http://www-wds.worldbank.org...
Christopher Woodruff, David McKenzie, Suresh de Mel / World Bank 2007
Small and informal firms account for a large share of employment in developing countries. The rapid expansion of microfinance services is based on the belief that these firms have productive investment opportunities and can enjoy high returns to capital if given the opportunity. However, measuring the return to capital is complicated by unobserved factors such as entrepreneurial ability and demand shocks, which are likely to be correlated with capital stock. The authors use a randomized experiment to overcome this problem and to measure the return to capital for the average microenterprise in their sample, regardless of whether they apply for credit.

The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid
http://www.wri.org/business/pubs_description.cfm?pid=4142
Four billion low-income consumers, a majority of the world’s population, constitute the base of the economic pyramid (BOP). New empirical measures of their aggregate purchasing power and behaviour as consumers suggest significant opportunities for market-based approaches to better meet their needs, increase their productivity and incomes, and empower their entry into the formal economy.

Capacity building for business information networking
http://www.unido.org/doc/28890
SMEs need tailor-made information solutions, i.e. business information services that assess, verify and apply information to a specific business problem. From there the UNIDO developed a programme that ''creates value added by bringing together information from different sources and transforming that information into solutions, including ICT and e-business support, in order to enable the integration of SMEs in national and global value chains.

SME cluster and networking development
http://www.unido.org/userfiles/PuffK/SMEbrochure.pdf
Individual SMEs experience difficulties in achieving economies of scale in the purchase of such inputs as equipment, raw materials, finance and consulting services and are often unable to take advantage of market opportunities that require large production quantities, homogenous standards and regular supply. Small size is also a constraint on internalization of functions such as training, market intelligence, logistics and technology innovation, while preventing the achievement of a specialized and effective internal division of labour.

April 2007

Local and Regional Economic Development - Towards a common framework for GTZ's LRED interventions in South Africa
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/gtz_LRED_manuscript_ii.pdf
Anja Ruecker, Gabriele Trah / GTZ, Divsion 41 Economic Development and Employment 2007, This handbook for LRED practitioners is based on GTZ's recent experience in supporting Local and Regional Economic Development (LRED) in South Africa. It enriches and enhances GTZ's general conceptual approach to LRED with practical experiences, further concepts and additional tools based on the LRED experience of a variety of programmes. These programmes provide a diverse range of knowledge and experience by looking at LRED from different angles, such as Rural Economic and Enterprise Development (REED), Local Economic Development (LED) and Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). This handbook presents the result of these efforts: a common framework on LRED, which aims to enable LRED practitioners - implementers and designers of projects, programmes or initiatives - to approach LRED from a strategic and conceptual angle, which can guide the application of tools and instruments and orient the facilitation of LRED processes in different contexts.

Financing Innovation: How to Build an Efficient Exchange for Small Firms
http://rru.worldbank.org/PublicPolicyJournal/Summary.aspx?id=315
More than 24 countries operate separate boards and exchanges aimed at small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Equity markets play a critical role in fostering economic productivity by financing innovation. But only a few SME exchanges function properly, providing coveted fresh capital and liquidity. What steps are key to building an efficient exchange to provide risk capital for SMEs? Creating an SME-friendly market architecture supported by effective institutions and forging links to policies that foster a new class of investable equities. World Bank Public Policy Journal No. 315.

Entrepreneurship: How Much Does the Business Environment Matter?
http://rru.worldbank.org/PublicPolicyJournal/Summary.aspx?id=313
Entrepreneurship is important for the continued dynamism of modern economies and for job creation. Policymakers need to know how new firms get started and what financial and institutional factors promote entrepreneurial activity. A new cross-country, time-series data set shows a strong correlation between entrepreneurship and the quality of the legal and regulatory environment, ease of access to finance, and prevalence of informality. This finding tells policymakers what they can do to promote entrepreneurship. World Bank Public Policy Journal No. 313.

Effective Policies for Small Business: A Guide for the Policy Review Process and Strategic Plans for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development
http://www.ruralfinance.org
This comprehensive guide by Allan Gibb begins by noting that micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) make important contributions to economic and social development. In all economies they constitute the vast majority of business establishments, are usually responsible for the majority of jobs created and account for one third to two thirds of the turnover of the private sector. In many countries they have been the major engine of growth in employment and output over the last two decades. In developing countries they are seen as a major ‘self-help’ instrument for poverty eradication.

Cluster Management Guide – Guidelines for the Development and Management of Cluster Initiatives
http://www.clusterforum.org/media/CLOE_Clusterguide.pdf
cloe - Clusters Linked over Europe 2006. Globalisation has a significant impact on the development of industries and regions and their competitiveness. The present document takes a step forward and offers - based on the experience of successful cluster initiatives - a practical handbook giving an overview of essential tasks which are to be undertaken or at least considered within the scope of cluster building processes and their management. This practical handbook is designed to help regional actors, cluster and project managers and their supporting staff to develop and manage cluster activities in a proper and successful way.

Three-Cs Information Brief No. 3: Coordination of Trade Capacity Building Assistance
http://www.three-cs.net
This Information Brief introduces the most important findings and key recommendations of the joint evaluation on Coordination of Trade Capacity Building Assistance in Third Countries. The evaluation examines the extent to which the European Commission and the Member States have achieved effective co-ordination and complementarity in the area of Trade Capacity Building initiatives. The study focuses on Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and on the Doha agenda period from 2001 to the present.

New ACP-EC waiver at the WTO
http://www.ecdpm.org/dp71
Is the diplomatic and trade environment at the WTO favourable to the introduction of a new waiver that would extend the Cotonou trade regime between the ACP countries and the European Union which is due to expire on 31 December 2007? Would a new waiver be the best option for the parties to the Cotonou Agreement to enable them to meet the challenge of ensuring the harmonious integration of the ACP countries into the multilateral trading system?

Navigating New Waters: A Reader on ACP-EU Trade Relations
http://publications.thecommonwealth.org
Dr. Sanoussi Bilal and Dr. Roman Grynberg. An essential reader and reference tool for trade experts and interested parties, bringing together key analysis on all aspects of trade negotiations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the European Union. The editors, both highly experienced in trade negotiations, have selected the most useful articles on all key aspects of trade negotiations, including market access, services, fisheries, regional integration, compatibility with the multilateral framework, the development dimension and capacity building in trade negotiations. The introduction highlights the major concerns of the book, focusing on ensuring that the priorities of developing countries are addressed.

User's Guide to OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and of Current Invisible Operations
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/21/23/38072327.pdf
The Users' Guide aims to provide an easily accessible summary of the principles of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and of Current Invisible Operations, as well as technical commentary to the understandings and interpretations developed in their implementation. The Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations constitute legally binding rules, stipulating progressive, non-discriminatory liberalisation of capital movements, the right of establishment and current invisible transactions (mostly services).

Dual Pricing is counterproductive - how low priced rural credit goes against the cause of financial inclusion
http://www.financialexpress.com
Marie Luise Haberberger and Ramakrishna / The Financial Express, April 04. ''It is for the second time that India’s finance minister announced in his Budget speech the reduction of interest rates on farm lending from 9% to 7% per annum for all credit below Rs 300,000. At the same time, interest rates in the general economy have been increasing due to the liquidity squeeze in the banking system. It is estimated that 80% of rural Indians do not have access to the formal banking system in spite of the vast network of rural credit outlets. How does this very low level of financial inclusion relate to the minister’s enforcement of a below-market-rate policy on farm lending?

Are Public Development Institutions Crowding Out Private Investment in Microfinance?
http://www.ruralfinance.org
Julie Abrams, Damian von Stauffenberg / MicroRate 2007. This paper suggests that the rapid growth of foreign private lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the last several years has led to a surprising reversal of roles between government-owned development institutions and private lenders. Development institutions (International Financial Institutions - IFIs) are concentrating their loans in the strongest MFIs, leaving private lenders to look for opportunities among smaller, riskier borrowers. A MicroRate commissioned study of funding patterns confirmed that IFIs are not complementing private lenders; they are crowding them out of the most attractive parts of the MFI market – this report documents what was found.

Capital market development: whither Latin America ?
http://www-wds.worldbank.org
Schmukler, Sergio L. ; Gozzi, Juan Carlos ; de la Torre, Augusto / The World Bank 2006. Over the past decades, many countries have implemented significant reforms to foster capital market development. Latin American countries were at the forefront of this process. The authors analyze where Latin American capital markets stand after these reforms. They find that despite the intense reform effort, capital markets in Latin America remain underdeveloped relative to markets in other regions. Furthermore, stock markets are below what can be expected, given Latin America's economic and institutional fundamentals.

Overview :Financial services and trade agreements in Latin America and the Caribbean
http://www-wds.worldbank.org
Stephanou, Constantinos ; Goncalves, Marilyne Pereira / The World Bank 2006, The authors review the international framework governing trade in financial services, describe the treatment of financial services in recent trade agreements involving Latin America and Caribbean countries, and analyze the liberalization commitments made in three selected country case studies.

Leveraging Efforts on Remittances and Financial Intermediation
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/library/detail.asp?number=3557
Manuel Orozco and Rachel Fedewa / INTAL 2006 Recent policy recommendations have stressed the importance of linking remittances to financial intermediation as a strategy to harness the development impact of such earnings. This paper attempts to identify emergent trends in the remittance and finance world that potentially point to a deepening connection between remittances and development vis-à-vis financial intermediation. It is a case study analysis of nine financial institutions, and focusing on three basic indicators: institutional ability to provide remittance transfers to its clients and community, to offer low cost remittance services, and to compliment transfer services with other financial services.

Making Finance Work for Africa
http://web.worldbank.org
World Bank 2007 Making Finance Work for Africa takes a panoramic view of Africa’s financial systems, both at the large scale (''finance for growth'') and the small scale (''finance for all''). Things are changing for the better in African finance. Credit growth is underway after a long pause, solid new intermediaries are entering the marketplace, and the reach of microfinance is growing steadily. Finance can be a leading sector in transforming African economies - by opening up business opportunities to a wider clientele and by channeling larger resources more effectively.

Towards a Sustainable Microfinance Outreach in India - Experiences and Perspectives
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/MF_Book_Final.zip
NABARD, GTZ, SDC 2006. NABARD with the support of GTZ and SDC organized a conference with the active participation of microfinance practitioners from India and abroad to share their best practice experiences in microfinance. Academics, policy makers and practitioners made invaluable contribution during the conference for drawing up a roadmap for the future.

Combining microinsurance and new technologies to protect the poor
http://www.ilo.org
Microcredit can help the poor rise above poverty. Microinsurance can help them stay there. By providing protection against certain perils, microinsurance complements other financial and social services. Still, its development relies on significantly reducing operating expenses relative to premiums. A new ILO co-publication entitled ''Protecting the poor: A microinsurance compendium” says new technologies may hold the key to boosting microinsurance as an effective poverty-reduction strategy.

13th KfW/DEG Forum on Development Strategies
http://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/
The latest KfW/DEG Forum ''Microfinance - experiences, innovations and further developments'' took place on 18 December 2006 in the KfW-Liaison Office to the European Union in Brussels. Presentations available:
- New Developments in Microfinance - Instrument of Financial Sector Promotion in Developing and Transition Economies, by Dr Klaus Glaubitt & Monika Beck,
- Reaching the poor, involving the private sector and further developments, by Klaus Tischhauser
Challenges and risks - a practical example from Mozambique: Socremo - Banco de Microfinançasa, by Christoph Diehl

Globalisation, Corruption and the Private Sector
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/Globalisation_Corruption_Private_Sector.doc
Georg Huber-Grabenwarter, Hannes Hechler, Dr. Dedo Geinitz / GTZ 2007. Since the early 1990s our world has experienced a significant and irreversible process, which we now generally call globalisation. This process is foremost an economic process associated with increasing economic openness, growing economic interdependence, and deepening economic integration between countries in the world economy.

SMEs and entrepreneurship in the EU
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
This publication by the European Commission summarises the role of smaller and medium-sized enterprises in the European economy. The importance of SMEs in terms of number of enterprises, value-added and employment in different activities are shown. Included are also analyses of differences in apparent labour productivity and recent gains/losses in employment. The contribution of SMEs to various aspects of entrepreneurship is highlighted, including comparisons with the situation in the US.

ECAS Guide 2007 to European Union Funding – Accessing Europe’s Largest Donor, Vol. 1 & 2
http://www.ecas.org/Publications/2374/default.aspx?ID=601
ECAS published the 13th edition of its guides to EU funding for NGOs. These two volumes - on funding within and outside the EU - are an invaluable source of information on a wealth of EU funds, making it easy for you to find your way around the programmes. They have been fully updated and revised for this year, including an essential chapter on the new financial perspectives for 2007-13.

The Informal Sector in Jamaica
http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=917344
The informal economy plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in economies throughout the world. Informal activities can provide a much needed source of income for a great number of people. At the same time, informality motivated by regulatory distortions, tax evasion, or in the pursuit of illegal activities can be a development trap that deprives governments of needed funds and leaves participants without legal protection.''

Evolución reciente y perspectivas del empleo en el Istmo Centroamericano
http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/0/28170/L768.pdf
Carlos Guerrero de Lizardi / CEPAL 2006. En el presente documento se analizan la evolución reciente y las perspectivas del mercado laboral en el Istmo Centroamericano. El examen histórico abarca el período desde la implantación del nuevo modelo de desarrollo en la región, básicamente a fines de los años ochenta y principios del decenio de 1990, hasta el año 2004, y el estudio prospectivo cubre hasta el año 2010.

Mexican Microenterprise Investment and Employment
http://www.iadb.org
Christopher Woodruff / INTAL 2006. Using data from Mexican surveys of Microenterprises conducted between 1992 and 1998, we examine the association between migration to the US and investment in microenterprises, the use of paid and unpaid labor, and the earnings of micro entrepreneurs. We find that investments in microenterprises are positively associated with migration rates and that in enterprises owned by females, migration is also associated with greater use of unpaid labor.

Which industrial policies are meaningful for Latin America?
http://www.iadb.org
Marcelo de Paiva Abreu / INTAL 2006. This paper’s main concern is to assess which ''industrial policies'' would be meaningful for Latin America nowadays. The first section introduces the theme while the second section considers definitions of ''industrial policies'' and their nature in the past. The third section centers on national growth experiences that may serve as paradigms.

Measuring Corruption: Myths and realities
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/findings/english/find273.htm
Daniel Kaufmann / World Bank 2007. Over the past decade measuring corruption has become an ever-growing empirical field. Since the mid-nineties, we have undertaken various projects to measure corruption at the aggregate and disaggregated level. Among the latter, we have carried out and analyzed many surveys of the enterprise sector.

Handreichung: Aufbau und Einführung eines Kostenrechnungssystems an Berufsbildungseinrichtungen
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/D-Leitfaden-komplett-18-12-2006.pdf
Andreas Joerk / GTZ 2006. Wirtschaftliches Wachstum durch technologisch-industrielle Entwicklung benötigt qualifizierte Fachkräfte. Bei der Ausbildung dieses Humankapitals nehmen Berufsbildungseinrichtungen eine Schlüsselfunktion ein. Im Rahmen von Vorhaben der technischen und finanziellen Zusammenarbeit werden deshalb in vielen Partnerländern Reformprozesse im Sektorbereich der beruflichen Bildung begleitet.

March 2007

English-French glossary for small enterprise development
http://www.gret.org/ressource/resume.asp?cle=317
Ce glossaire bilingue français-anglais et anglais-français des termes de l'appui non financier aux entreprises et de la formation professionnelle a été créé pour les praticiens. Il est avant tout conçu comme un outil d'aide à la traduction, facilitant la compréhension du vocabulaire de référence, notamment pour les francophones qui souhaitent avoir accès aux ouvrages anglo-saxons. Il se compose de 42 fiches terminologiques dans les deux langues, d'un lexique d'une centaine de termes et d'une bibliographie commentée.

Enterprises in Information Society
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/library/lib-information_society/libr-info_society.html
This is a reference source for European Commission information society related publications with a special focus on the ICT environment within which European Enterprises act. The publications are grouped by type: Studies and conference proceedings, Periodicals, Guides, Statistics and Official documents. Titles are given in English, but other language versions often exist as well. When available, we have added a link to the electronic format edition.

Financing Innovation: How to Build an Efficient Exchange for Small Firms
http://rru.worldbank.org/
World Bank, Public Policy Journal, Issue 315, by JaeHoon Yoo
More than 24 countries operate separate boards and exchanges aimed at small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Equity markets play a critical role in fostering economic productivity by financing innovation. But only a few SME exchanges function properly, providing coveted fresh capital and liquidity. What steps are key to building an efficient exchange to provide risk capital for SMEs? Creating an SME-friendly market architecture supported by effective institutions and forging links to policies that foster a new class of investable equities.

Monitoring Implementation of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Action Plan (2006 – 2010)
http://www.smedsep.ph
The Philippines' SME Policy is based on RA 8289, the ''Magna Carta” for Small Enterprises, which laid down the legal basis for a comprehensive approach to promote, develop and assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines...
The SMED Council was mandated to carry out the provisions of the law and be primarily responsible for the promotion, growth and development of the SME sector in the Philippines. One of its main functions is to formulate a comprehensive SME development plan that would be integrated into the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) development plans.

Participatory approaches to agroentreprise development
http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/
Three guides are provided by the CIAT, which presents the approaches they developed for the promotion of rural agro-entreprises.

SMEs drive employment growth
http://bookshop.europa.eu/eubookshop/
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have confirmed their status as the backbone of the EU economy. They have been the main driver of net employment growth within the non-financial business economy. They represented 99.8% of all EU-25 enterprises in 2003, employing about two-thirds of the workforce and generating more than half (57.3%) of its value added. Economic theory would suggest that economies of scale should lead to larger firms generating more value added per person employed than smaller enterprises. However, this is not necessarily the case within many parts of the service sector, where economies of scale are not so obvious, barriers to entry are sometimes low, and where proximity to market is often of considerable importance.

SMEs, Growth and Poverty: Do Pro-SMEs Policy Work?
http://rru.worldbank.org/Documents/PublicPolicyJournal/268-private.pdf
This note explores the relationship between the size of the small and medium-size enterprise (SME) sector and economic growth and poverty reduction. A new study finds no support for the widely held belief that SMEs promote higher growth and lower poverty. But it does provide some support for the view that the quality of the business environment facing all firms, large and small, influences economic growth.

Cluster Management Guide for Practitioners
http://www.clusterforum.org/media/CLOE_Clusterguide.pdf
The CLOE network has developed a ''Cluster Management Guide: Guidelines for the Development and Management of Cluster Initiatives” that is among the first of such guides to help cluster managers in their dayto-day work. The ''Cluster Management Guide” goes beyond academic discussion and offers -based on the experience of successful cluster initiatives in several European regions - a practical handbook which gives an overview of essential tasks to be undertaken within the scope of cluster building processes and their management. It touches on topics such as financing, launching cluster initiatives, information and communication, marketing and PR for clusters and internationalisation. This guide is designed for regional actors, cluster and project managers and their supporting staff to help them develop and manage cluster activities in an effective and successful manner.Harcopies: Beatrice Negeli-Ganz beatrice.negeli-ganz@tmg.at

Donor Approaches to Supporting Pro-Poor Value Chains
http://www.sedonors.org/resources/download.asp?id=386
The Linkages and Value Chains Working Group commissioned Tilman Altenburg to carry out a scoping study of the current work of members to develop pro-poor value chains, and to propose a framework for future analysis.
This study serves several purposes, namely: to discuss the analytical foundations of the concept, help to clarify terminology and discuss areas of overlap as well as conceptual distinctions between ''value chain” and ''linkage” approaches and related concepts in the field of private sector development; to examine the implications of the increasing coordination and globalization of value chains for pro-poor growth in developing countries; to identify strategies and interventions for value chain development in ways that contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction; and to identify questions for further discussion among the donor agencies involved.

Institutional Capacities for Small Business Policy Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
http://www.iadb.org/
This IDB study offers a description of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector in LAC by gathering and analyzing the available data. It high-lights the quality of information that exists in the region, and thus identifies gaps in the information. The study also presents a comparative analysis of the capacity of national MSME institutions to support small business development in the LAC region. Based on this assessment the authors draw attention to a lack of quality information about the MSME sector and disparate levels of institutional capacity in Latin America and recommend the development of an MSME Institutional Learning System to organize and promote the sharing of information among MSME support institutions of all types in LAC, as well as with their inter-national counterparts and international development organizations.

Strengthening entrepreneurship and local economic development in East Germany
http://www.oecd.org/...
This project provides an opportunity for participants in East Germany to stand back and reflect on their overall options, needs and priorities and by facilitating an international exchange of information on innovations and best practices from a range of OECD Member countries.

ACP-EU relations: Will the EU deliver on its promises?
http://www.afrikas-perspektive.de
CONCORD Cotonou Working group Briefing Paper on challenges of the 10th EDF Programming process

EC publications on Enterprise and Industry
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/library/index.htm
This section is a bibliographic reference source for the documents published by the Enterprise Directorate General. The titles are given only in English, but some documents have been published in various official languages.

EC publications on Innovation and Technology Transfer
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/library/lib-innovation/libr-innovation.html
This is a reference source for European Commission publications on innovation and technology transfer, grouped by type: Periodicals, Studies, conference proceedings, and Official documents. Titles are given in English, but other language versions often exist as well. When available, we have added a link to the electronic format edition.

An Economic Development Model for IT in Developing Countries
http://www.acts.or.ke
Information Technology (IT) has revolutionized the world economy in the past few decades by practically changing the economic activities globally. Given its applicability in various manufacturing and services sectors, IT has significantly affected the economy by providing information and development content on products and processes. Accordingly, faster rates of output and productivity growth have become the trends of information processing and communications. For instance, India and Ghana have yet to achieve significant economical advancement through the use of IT. To address this issue, we propose: An Economic Development Model Based on IT for Developing Countries (EDM-BITDC).

Capabilities for catching up - Economic development and competitiveness in Uganda
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-0020.pdf
Jörg Wiegratz discusses in the paper implications and develops recommendations to enhance the contribution that the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector can make to addressing major human resource development deficits in Uganda. It summarises the main arguments, findings, conclusions, and recommendations of an extensive research and in-depth analysis process carried out in 2006.

Career Guidance. A resource handbook for low- and middle-income countries
http://www.ilo.org/
The dual purpose of this ILO Handbook is to focus the attention of policy-makers and programme administrators in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) upon the core issues in the reform of career guidance services in those countries; and to provide programme planners and practitioners at the national and local levels with a wide variety of country examples and practical career guidance tools to use as models for possible adaptation and use.

District based Poverty Profiling, Mapping and Pro-Poor Planning - As a Tool for Monitoring and Evaluation
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/LGPRSP_Report_2007-03_Poverty_Profiling.pdf
This report describes a participatory planning methodology termed Poverty Profiling, Mapping and Pro-Poor Programming. It was designed to enable development practicioners identify the incidence and prevalence of poverty in the districts, locate the groups regarded as poor, and describe and categorise them in socio-economic clusters and geographical space

India’s Role in the Emerging World Order
http://www.fes-globalization.org
The author Ummu Salma Bava examines how India’s emerging economic status is
redefining its self-image and its perception by others, leading
to a new political role. Briefing Paper 4-07, FES New Delhi, March 2007

New reading list: building a successful regulatory system
http://rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/ReadingList.aspx?topicid=94& ?cid=1295
Regulatory risks and costs are among the most significant obstacles for doing business and attracting foreign direct investment to developing countries. Flawed regulation translates into major constraints on growth, productivity, and the formal economy. The potential impact of reforms is significant. Least developed countries have the most business unfriendly regulatory frameworks and therefore the most to gain from regulatory reform. Regulatory reform programs must strike an appropriate balance between quick-wins and long term institution-building that can sustain reform. In the reading list, you’ll find information and resources on designing and evaluating regulatory institutions, tools for improving regulatory systems, and ways of fostering dialogues between regulators and the business sector.

Participation in formal technical and vocational education and training programmes worldwide: an initial statistical study
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001496/149652e.pdf
There is a common perception that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is diversifying and expanding in terms of its supply and demand. Practitioners and policymakers often believe that educational systems are offering a wider array of programmes at different levels and in various fields of study. They also assume that these programmes are attracting larger and more diverse populations. Yet, there has been a shortage of comparable quantitative data and indicators on global TVET participation. There are several reasons for this void: lack of data for a vast number of countries; comparability issues; methodological difficulties in defining relevant indicators; and even the misrepresentation of TVET as being less relevant than other forms of education. Fortunately, comparable data are becoming increasingly available as these programmes become more visible and justly valued. In addition, the reported data, which are provided to the UIS by education ministries or their equivalents, refer solely to formal education programmes. As a result, this study provides only a cross-sectional view: additional monitoring will be required to track trends over time.

Reducing urban poverty. Lessons learnt from technical cooperation projects
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-0034.pdf
The present GTZ-study by Manfred Niermann describes problems of urbanisation in our partner countries in development cooperation, and presents examples of three completed projects which
illustrate the results and impacts achieved by the measures taken. It also identifies relationships between the city district, the municipal administration and the central government as levels of intervention, and specifically the importance of municipal self administration and decentralisation in reducing urban poverty.

Regional Community Development News
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/fdi/
A weekly compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development. The purpose of this weekly e-Newsletter is to make ''regional community'' development approaches visible. I send an email to organizations featured. It is a free subscription – use this email link: regions_work-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe. No other information is required. Un-subscription is just as easy, an option at the end of every issue.

Supporting cleaner energy
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/environment/
This second report from the High Level Group (HLG) on Competitiveness, Energy and the Environment examines Europe’s long-term energy future and investment in power generation and energy efficiency. It includes a number of specific recommendations on how policies can be developed to build a sustainable, low-carbon, and competitive energy system. Composed of high-level stakeholders, the HLG envisions ways to support legislative initiatives and help create a more stable and competitive regulatory framework that will contribute to attaining Europe’s climate change objectives.

The Role of education and training in sustainable development: social, economic and environmental dimensions
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001459/145929m.pdf
This paper aims at: Analyzing the status quo of TVET in some Arab states is relation to their role in sustainable development. Pinpointing some important factors, that contributes to the failure of some systems of TVET in implementing their role in sustainable development. Highlighting recommended approaches to develop a better and affective role of Arab TVET in sustainable development. English and Arabic version

Women in business
http://www.gemconsortium.org/download.asp?fid=478
Women account for more than a third of all the people involved in entrepreneurial activities in the world, contributing greatly to the international entrepreneurship spirit. This report is the second in a series of publications aiming to provide a comprehensive study of the role played by such women. It provides a cross-national assessment of women’s business activity in 35 countries. The study also provides an analysis of the key characteristics of female entrepreneurial activity and how their approach to business may differ to that of their male counterparts.

February 2007

Safe and Accessible: Bringing Poor Savers into the Formal Financial System
http://www.cgap.org
Poor people's savings often remain in mattresses, piggybanks, or even holes in the ground. But a new CGAP Focus Note turns the spotlight on those savings and examines why they are so often invisible to financial institutions, while formal deposit services remain inaccessible to most poor savers. The answers have to do with weak institutional capacity, but also incomplete financial infrastructure, unhelpful donor practices, and unbalanced policy frameworks. The good news? Financial institutions, donors, and policy makers all have a role to play in increasing poor people's access to quality savings services.

Budget support in the EC's development cooperation
http://www.die-gdi.de
By German Development Institute (DIE)

Designing for Results: Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation in Conflict Transformation Programs
http://www.frient.de/materialien/detaildoc.asp?id=420
Cheyanne Church, Mark Rogers | Search for Common Ground, United Stated Insitute for Peace, Alliance for Peacebuilding | 2006

Women in education and employment 2010
http://www.etf.europa.eu/
Report by the European Training Foundation (ETF)

Guidelines on group formation and management
http://www.scn.org/cmp/modules/bld-grp.htmCo-operatives among small farmers to grow out of poverty
This document describes what groups are, strategies of formation, training, group management and providing other hints on the formation of successful groups. It provides a list of traits of mobilizers engaged in group formation and leadership qualities. Committees to ensure successful group management are also recognized. The section on methods of group formation however, needs some modifications to reflect on the lessons learnt in the past few years. At least the three steps of group formation will have to be revised. The document gives the impression that groups are ''formed” by an outsider. This conveys a wrong signal! Groups are actually formed by the local people to meet their identified and unidentified benefits. If a group is formed by an outsider, it belongs to the outsider! What is more appropriate is an outsider to facilitate the group formation process while the actual formation itself becomes the responsibility of the local people. (Contributor: Anura Widanapathirana)

Does Africa really benefit from trade?
http://www.hwwi.de/8_Consequences_of_E.1127.0.html
We empirically analyse the impact of trade on income levels in the sub-Saharan African countries. The results indicate that the linkage between these two variables is negative for these countries. This outcome may explain the negative sign of the Africa dummy in income (or growth) regressions. HWWI Research Paper.

Consequences of Economic Partnership Agreements between East and Southern African countries and the EU for inter- and intra-regional integration
http://www.hwwi.de/8_Consequences_of_E.1127.0.html
HWWI Research Paper by Axel Borrmann, Matthias Busse, Manuel de la Rocha

Environment and trade: a handbook
http://topics.developmentgateway.org
This handbook published by the United Nations Environment Program and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in 2006 explains how trade can affect the environment, both positively and negatively, and how environmental concern can work through the trading system to foster or hinder development in both rich and poor countries. The publication is addressed to those who have some knowledge about trade, environment or development, but who are not expert on the intersection of the three. It should serve as a practical reference tool for policy-makers and practitioners, and be equally useful to the media and civil society. With this in mind, the handbook uses clear language and a minimum of jargon to foster a greater understanding by all segments of the public.

Afrika Spectrum
http://www.giga-hamburg.de/english/index.php?file=news.html&folder=news
Afrika Spectrum is an inter-disciplinary refereed academic journal focusing on social science dealing with Africa, first published in 1966 by the Institute of African Affairs in Hamburg. The journal is dedicated to promote a deeper understanding of African peoples and cultures. It contains contributions of empirical and problem-oriented nature from all social science disciplines. Afrika Spectrum is the only academic journal in Germany exclusively devoted to Africa. The journal is published thrice a year with articles written in German, English, and French.

Where Enterprises Lead, People Follow? Links between Migration and German FDI
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/
The aim of this paper is to analyze the interaction between different channels of integration empirically. More specifically, we use state-level German data to answer the question whether and how migration and FDI decisions and thus integration of labor and capital markets are linked. Our findings suggest that FDI and migration have similar determinants. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that factors cluster. (Contributor: Brian Wilcox)

Manual Exporting to the European Markets
http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo/cbi/?action=showDetails&id=2584
Basic information for all exporters from developing countries to the European markets on recent market developments/trends and pointers on doing business in the EU. The manual addresses the EU, its members, enlargement, its role in world trade and EU trade rules and agreements; demographic, social and cultural developments in the EU and important trends in consumer and industrial markets; and doing business in EU markets, cultural differences, different forms of business etiquette and business practice. The manual can be downloaded from the website of CBI (www.cbi.eu) by registered users. Registration is free. (Contributor: ton lansink)

Determinants of German FDI: New Evidence from Micro-Data
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/
This paper provides new evidence on the foreign direct investment stocks of German firms. We use firm-level data for the years 1990-2000 to describe the regional and sectoral patterns of German FDI through gravity-type equations. (Contributor: Brian Wilcox)

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Instruments of economic growth and development in a South African regional dispensation
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/
The South African economy is currently characterized by high levels of unemployment, abject poverty, high illiteracy, low productivity and low international competitiveness. It is also struggling to attract and retain foreign direct investment and portfolio investments. Amidst this situation, the formal sector is also continuously shedding jobs. Furthermore, the formal sector absorption capacity is steadily declining as is apparent over the past three decades, where formal the absorption capacity declined from approximately 75 per cent to about three per cent currently. Related to this is the fact that although the South African economy is growing, even at the currently low levels, it seems to be one that can be described as 'jobless growth'. (Contributor: Brian Wilcox)

Competition for Aid and Trade Policy
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
This paper considers the optimal allocation of a given amount of foreign aid between two recipient countries. It is shown that, given consumer preferences, a country following a more restrictive trade policy would receive a smaller share of the aid if the donor country maximises its own welfare in allocating aid. If, on the other hand, the donor country allocates aid in order to maximize the sum of the welfare of the two recipient countries, the result is just the opposite. Finally, we analyze the situation where the recipient countries compete with each other for the given amount of aid. It is shown that this competition tends to lower the level of optimal tariffs in the recipient countries. (Contributor: Brian Wilcox)

Aid, Governance, and Private Foreign Investment: Some Puzzling Findings and a Possible Explanation
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/
Does official aid pave the road for private foreign investment or does it suffocateprivate initiative by diverting resources towards unproductive activities? In this paperwe explore this question using data for a large number of developing and emergingeconomies. Controlling for countries’ institutional environment, we find that, evaluatedat the mean, the marginal effect of aid on private foreign investment is close to zero. (Contributor: Brian Wilcox)

How trade, aid, and remittances affect international migration
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/
Policymakers typically assume that trade liberalization and foreign aid ultimately reduce international migration - that is, that trade and aid are substitutes for migration. In the Heckscher-Ohlin framework, too, trade liberalization (by reducing international price differentials between factors) leads to a decline in international migration. The author's model shows that trade liberalization in either the sending or the receiving country is likely to increase migration in the long run. In the short run, the effect is ambiguous. The author maintains the Heckscher-Ohlin framework but adds two features found in developing economies of the south and east that affect migration: migration costs and imperfect capital markets. He assumes that migration costs may be a constraint on migration, especially when combined with imperfect capital markets. Poor migrants without collateral may have trouble getting loans at reasonable rates, especially if they plan to emigrate. And for most migrants, the cost of migration is not negligible. They must pay for transportation and for living expenses until they find a job in the new country, and illegal immigrants must make payments to intermediaries for services and information (to reduce the chance of being caught). (Contributor: Brian Wilcox)

Can Private Sector Action Tackle Corruption?
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/findings/english/find270.htm
Corruption is an impediment to growth and poverty reduction. As the authors in this issue of Development Outreach well document, corruption limits opportunities, creates inefficiencies and forms additional barriers to the smooth delivery of services. Crucially, from the perspective of the World Bank Group, corruption cumulatively undermines progress towards achieving development objectives, not least as its impact is most adversely felt by the world’s poor. The World Bank has taken a clear public stance—based on exhaustive research—to seek ways to combat corruption. Paper by Frannie Léautier, Djordjija Petkoski, and Michael Jarvis.

Business and international humanitarian law
http://www.icrc.org/eng/business-ihl
Business enterprises increasingly operate in unstable environments or areas affected by armed conflict. Some of them have already declared a commitment to conducting their activities in a conflict-sensitive way. Most of them have become fairly familiar with human rights law. However, businessenterprises are generally less familiar with IHL.

The Cluster Initiative Greenbook
http://www.cluster-research.org
The Cluster Initiative Greenbook, prepared for the 6th Global TCI Conference, takes a closer look at CIs around the world, mainly in OECD countries. It is built on a unique data-set of over 250 cluster initiatives, derived from the 2003 Global Cluster Initiative Survey and a series of case studies. Industrial clusters have important knowledge sharing implications, and their development marks movement towards a knowledge economy.

Microinsurance: A public-private partnership to combat the poverty spiral
http://www.deza.admin.ch/index.php?langID=1&navID=26465&itemID=151090
Although they are among those who are at greatest risk, few poor people have access to insurance services. This fact only serves to further exacerbate the poverty spiral. How can this vicious circle be broken? After the microcredit, made famous by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus one of its ''spiritual fathers'', microinsurance is another useful financial service for risk management, and hence poverty reduction.

Microfinance as business
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/content/article/detail/36514
How do some MFIs succeed in covering costs, earning returns, attracting capital and scaling up? By Roodman, D. & Qureshi, U., Center for Global Development (CGD).

Transformation of micro-finance operations from NGO to regulated MFI
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/content/article/detail/36733
This paper identifies key issues and challenges in transforming NGOs delivering microfinance to commercial organizations. By Hishigsuren, G., Institute for Development, Evaluation, Assistance and Solutions (IDEAS).

UNCTAD: 'China Syndrome'
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=4063&lang=1
China´s economic achievements over the past two decades have made its development experiences distinct in many ways from those of many other economies. This UNCTAD feature examines key issues in the country's development. (Contributor: Persephone Economou)

Does Foreign Direct Investment Help Emerging Economies? by Anil Kumar
http://dallasfed.org/research/eclett/2007/el0701.html
The gap between the world’s rich and poor countries largely comes down to the financial and physical assets that create wealth. Developed economies possess more of this capital than developing ones, and what they have usually incorporates more advanced technologies. The implication is clear: A key aspect of economic advancement lies in poorer nations’ capacity to acquire more capital and scale the technological ladder. Emerging economies undertake some capital formation on their own, but in this era of globalization, they increasingly rely on foreign capital.

January 2007

Quality infrastructure:
a contribution to the promotion of the economic development in Technical Cooperation
http://www.ptb.de/de/org/q/q5/Quality%20Infrastructure%20english.pdf
This 12-page brochure describes the correlations between quality infrastructure and promotion of the economic development in a concrete way. It reflects the work of PTB’s TC from the point of view of the current discussion on development politics, gives a clear orientation and illustrates its potential. Great importance is attached to the interaction with the international institutional MSTQ landscape, and the linkage with the WTO agreements is shown. It is pointed up that a complete and internationally recognized network for quality infrastructure is not only indispensable, but also universally applicable.

Metrology - in short, 2nd Edition, April 2004
http://www.euromet.org

Quality Infrastructure, Conformity Assessment - Metrology, Standardization, Testing, Quality Management (MSTQ)
http://www.bmz.de/en/service/infothek/fach/konzepte/konzept130.pdf
German BMZ Concepts No. 130

Benefit of Legal Metrology for the Economy and Society
http://www.oiml.int/publications/E/birch/E002-e03.pdf
A study by John Birch A.M. for the International Committee of Legal Metrology

An Introduction to Standards and Standardization
http://www.standardization.divx.to
by Wilfried Hesser, Alex Inklaar

EUROMET's policy on the Application of Quality System in National Metrology Institutes
http://www.euromet.org/docs/guides/docs/E-G01-v02_1.pdf

EUROMET and its International Relations
http://www.euromet.org/docs/guides/docs/E-G02-v01_1.pdf

Establishment of National Capability Providing Instrumentation Support Services: Case Study
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download/?file_id=55879
UNIDO Trade Capacity Building, Industrial Promotion and Technology Branch, UNIDO Working Paper Series 04/05

Guidelines for the establishment of simplified metrology regulations
http://www.oiml.org/publications/G/G015-e92.pdf

Elements for a Law on Metrology
http://www.oiml.org/publications/D/D001-e04.pdf

DTI - Innovation Report
http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file12093.pdf
Competing in the Global Economy: the Innovation Challenge

International vocabulary of terms in legal metrology (VIML) (bilingual French-English) / Vocabulaire international des termes de métrologie légale (VIML) (bilingue français-anglais) http://www.oiml.org/publications/V/V001-ef00.pdf

Certification of Organic Foodstuffs in Developing Countries
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/02-5121.pdf
A GTZ publication

Do standards matter for export success?, Tsune Otsuki, Maggie Xiaoyang Chen, John S. Wilson, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3809.
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/
In this paper the authors examine how meeting foreign standards affects firms' export performance, reflected in export propensity and market diversification. The analysis draws on the World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade Survey database of 619 firms in 17 developing countries. The results indicate that technical regulations in industrial countries adversely affect firms' propensity to export in developing countries.

The cost of compliance with product standards for firms in developing countries: an econometric study,
http://econ.worldbank.org
This World Bank Policy Research Working Paper uses econometric models to provide the first estimates of the incremental production costs for firms in developing nations in conforming to standards imposed by major importing countries. They use firm-level data generated from 16 developing countries in the World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Survey Database. Their findings indicate that standards do increase short-run production costs by requiring additional inputs of labor and capital.

Standards and Global Trade: A Voice for Africa
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download/?file_id=12960
The World Bank 2003

Values and Rules of Global Trade
http://www.ptb.de/de/org/q/q5/docs/gg_eng.pdf
Quality Infrastructure: a Step towards Good Governance

The Role of International and National Agencies in Trade-Capacity Building
http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download/?file_id=12962
by Susan Prowse, UNIDO

ISO Publications http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueListPage.CatalogueList
ISO Store http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/ISOstore/store.html
Catalog of OIML Publications: http://www.oiml.org/publications

NORMAPME Newsletter
http://www.normapme.com/english/Newsletter.htm
Subscriptions: Birte M. Day, Press and Communications officer, Ph: +32 2 2820 539, info@normapme.com

PTB's Candela
http://www.ptb.de/lists/
Information sheet published at regular intervals with communications and news from PTB's Technical Cooperation.

ISO Management Systems e-newsletter
http://www.iso.org/iso/en/iso9000-14000/ims/IMSAlert_form.html
Alerts to new ISO press releases and new ISO Web site items on ISO 9000, ISO 14000, social responsibility.

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