Publications

Exploring Understandings of Institutions and Uncertainty: New Directions in Natural Resource Management

IDS discussion papers;372

The paper examines the nexus between institutions and uncertainty in natural resources management contexts. It argues that conventional understandings of institutions fail to focus on how institutions deal with the ever-increasing forms of uncertainty impinging on rural livelihoods.

Melissa Leach & 2 others

Truth, trust and market transactions: What do we know?

36

John Humphrey and Hubert Schmitz have recently made an important contribution to the literature on trust and economic transactions between firms. Unfortunately, the evidence that high levels of societal trust contribute significantly to economic growth is far less reliable than they suggest. We...

Mick Moore

Power in Partnership? An analysis of an NGO’s relationships with its partners

Rural health prepayment schemes in China: towards a more active role for government

48

A large majority of China's rural population were members of health prepayment schemes in the 1970's. Most of these schemes collapsed during the transition to a market economy. Some localities subsequently re-established schemes. In early 1997 a new government policy identified health prepayment...

Gerald Bloom

The New Institutional Economics of Privitizing Africa’s Veterinary Services

18

David Leonard

Living Health

Danny Burns

Clustering and Industrialization: Introduction

27

The aim of this introductory article is fourfold. First, it traces briefly the trajectory of the debate on industrial clusters in developing countries. Second, it identifies what we - as editors - consider the key issues in this debate. Third, it highlights how the contributors to this Special...

Hubert Schmitz

Khalid Nadvi

Collective Efficiency and Increasing Returns

23

Recent research on industrial clusters in developing countries has unearthed some notable success stories of small local enterprises growing fast and competing in export markets. This paper focuses on some conceptual and theoretical points which help to explain them. The discussion is conducted...

Hubert Schmitz

Complex Political Emergencies and the State

20

It is argued that an understanding of the role and nature of the state and of processes of state collapse are vital for understanding Complex Political Emergencies for various practical reasons and for drawing general lessons from particular experiences: CPEs are often rooted in prior state...

Robin Luckham

Constraints on Civil Society Efforts to Curb Corruption

30

Anne Marie Goetz

Facing the New Competition: Business Associations in Developing Country Industrial Clusters

From Ascribed to Earned Trust in Exporting Clusters

48

This paper is concerned with the role of trust in export manufacturing. It asks how trust has developed in two industrial clusters which are located in developing countries and export most of their output to North America and Europe. The main conclusion is that trust was based initially on...

Hubert Schmitz