Abstract: The analysis of state failure and the policy debate have been driven by two very different underlying views of what the state does. The first, which we call the “service-delivery ” view says the role of the state is to provide law and order, stable property rights, key public goods and welfarist redistributions. In failing to provide these, state failure contributes to economic under-performance and poverty. State failure of this type is in turn related to an inter-dependent constellation of governance failures including corruption and rent-seeking, distortions in markets and the absence of democracy. All of these need to be addressed to focus the state on its core service-delivery tasks. The second locates the developing country state in the context of “social transformation”: the dramatic transition these countries are going through as traditional production systems collapse and a capitalist economy begins to emerge. Dynamic transformation states have heavily intervened in property rights and devised rent-management systems to accelerate the capitalist transition and the acquisition of new technologies. State failure according to this view has been driven by the lack of institutional capacities in these respects, and more importantly, the incompatibility of institutional capacities with pre-existing distributions of power. An examination of the econometric data and historical evidence raises serious doubts as to whether the governance reforms suggested by the first view can improve growth, while the need for reforms identified by the second view are much better supported. This suggests the need for a significant shift in the focus of institutional reform, as well as identifying the importance of political reorganization in poorly performing economies.

and concerns as other countries, whether developed or developing, notably strengthening judicial accountability. The judicial systems in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are under heightened scrutiny these days, 17 years after tran-sition began. In Central

, International Journal of Epidemiology, JAMA, Preventive Medicine, and The Lancet, as well as epidemiologists, methodologists, statisticians, and practitioners from Europe and North America. Written contributions were sought from 10 other individuals who declared an interest in contributing to STROBE, but could

Economics,Germany.The sole discussant of the two papers was Dr Avik Chakrabarti

3rd annual conference

Two points of view have dominated the economic literature on income inequality, or on distribution of resources in general. According to the first, distribution can be considered more or less independent of economic activity and efficiency. If markets function perfectly and if lump-sum redistribution- that is positive or negative

, Fine (2001). Some time later, I received an email from a World Bank organizer of its annual conference, the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, ABCDE, requesting me to suggest a theme for its 2002 conference to be held in Stockholm. Being of a critical, or is that cynical, realist bent

– We believe that the best way to present a narrative to a computer is to let the author explicitly create a rich semantic structure for the article during writing. – We propose an open-standard, widely (re)useable format, the ABCDE format for proceedings and workshop contributions that can

An outcome of the Energy Access theme prepared for distribution at the International Conference for Renewable Energies, Bonn 2004About GNESD The Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD) is a UNEP facilitated knowledge network of industrialized and developing world Centres

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