A Checklist for Development Economics
What medical strategies can economists apply to repair developing world economies?
By Jeffrey D. Sachs, July 6, 2005
I. |
Poverty Trap |
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Poverty mapping using household surveys and other data |
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Proportion of households lacking basic needs |
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Spatial distribution of household property |
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– Rural, urban |
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– Concentrated in a few regions vs. evenly spread |
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Spatial distribution of basic infrastructure |
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Ethnic, gender, generational distribution of poverty |
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Key risk factors |
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– Demographic trends, environmental trends, climate shocks, disease, commodity price fluctuations, others |
II. |
Economic Policy Framework |
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Business environment |
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Trade policy |
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Investment policy |
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Infrastructure |
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Human capital |
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– Nutrition, public health, disease control, education, family planning |
III. |
Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Trap |
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Public sector revenues and expenditures by category |
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– Absolute levels in comparison with international norms, percent of GNP
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Tax administration and expenditure management |
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Public investment needs to meet poverty reduction targets |
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Macroeconomic instability |
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Overhang of public sector debt |
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Quasi-fiscal debt and hidden debt |
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– Central bank debt |
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Medium-term public sector expenditure framework |
IV. |
Physical Geography |
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Transport conditions |
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– Proximity to ports, trade routes, navigable waterways, access to paved roads and motorized transport |
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Population density |
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– Costs of power connectivity, telecoms and roads, arable land per capita, environmental impacts of population-land ratios |
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Agronomic conditions |
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– Temperature, precipitation, solar insolation, length and reliability of growing season, soils, topography, suitability for irrigation, interannual climate variability, long-term trends in climate patterns |
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– Human, plant and animal diseases |
V. |
Governance Patterns and Failures |
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Civil and political rights |
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Public management systems |
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Decentralization and fiscal federalism |
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Corruption patterns and intensity |
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Political succession and longevity |
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Internal violence and security |
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Cross-border violence and security |
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Ethnic, religious,and other cultural divisions |
VI. |
Cultural Barriers |
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Gender relations |
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– Discrimination against women and girls |
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Ethnic and religious divisions |
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Diaspora |
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– Role in investment, remittances, social networking |
VII. |
Geopolitics |
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International security relations |
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Cross-border security threats |
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– War, terrorism, refugees |
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International sanctions |
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Trade barriers |
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– Developed-world tariffs and subsidies that impede development |
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Participation in regional and international groups |
The checklist is long. Answers to these questions cannot be ascertained in a 15-minute checkup at a clinic, nor, in practice, can they be addressed by a single international agency like the IMF.
The answers must be systematic, continually updated and put into a comparative framework for sound analysis. Many institutions
Tags: development, poverty, IMF, Millennium Development Goals, infrastructure, World Bank, investment, world community, human capital, debt relief, Jeffrey Sachs, clinical economics, market reform, trade liberalization, The End of Poverty