Latin America and the Caribbean Continues to Grow, in Spite of Deteriorating International Economic Context. ECLAC report estimates a deceleration in 2009 due to volatility and uncertainty, as well as rising inflation and other factors. Produced by Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) 2008

'The rise of social entrepreneurship has resulted in an increasing number of businesses seeking to maximise both social and financial returns. Like traditional businesses, social enterprises need equity capital to grow and achieve their strategic objectives.  nef's research indicates that traditional equity markets pose a challenge to many social purpose businesses because of their single-minded focus on profit maximisation, short term perspective, and speculative nature, which does not value s more...

'This report provides an overview of FDI flows to and from the region in 2007 and of the recent activities of transnationals in the region and of trans-Latins outside their home countries.'

Investment is crucial for economic development. A number of empirical studies document a relationship between social development and aggregate foreign direct investment (FDI). This study complements aggregate studies by conducting an econometric analysis of the relationship between social development variables and FDI flows at the industry level.'

We question conventional views on investment climates with a study of mobile telecommunications in three insecure states that score very badly in the World Governance Index: Afghanistan, DRC and Somalia. Data is limited but suggests insecurity and 'bad governance' may not be the barriers to investment that are normally supposed. Indeed, it is possible – at least for this type of digital technology – that they may encourage investment.

Private capital flows have the potential to bring important investment benefits to developing countries. In reality, however, capital flows are concentrated towards a few countries, and are highly volatile. The first part of this paper discusses the latest developments in international capital flows and financial market regulation. The second section considers the impacts of capital instability and lack of regulation on poverty reduction

The strong growth performance of the least developed countries (LDCs) as a group has been one of the most encouraging features of the global economy in the current decade. Economic growth since 2000 has been higher than in the 1990s. In 2005 and 2006, there was further growth acceleration and the LDCs
together achieved their strongest growth performance in 30 years. Their average
growth rate in both these years exceeded the 7 per cent target set by the LDCs and their development partners as a more...

By Tokihiro Nakamura, Mayor of Matsuyama
10 May 2008: The tourism hotspot of Matsuyama in southern Japan has forged a reputation as an early adopter of optical capabilities in local industry and town planning, earning it the designation IT Business Model District by the central government.

Located in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Matsuyama City is the nucleus municipality in the prefecture with a population of some 513,000. The metropolitan area is highly accessible as it takes more...

In this Technical Paper, the author argues that fiscal policy is more effective than monetary policy, whether the exchange rate is fixed or flexible.

While capital inflows can provide emerging market economies with invaluable benefits in pursuing economic development and growth, they can also pose serious policy challenges for macroeconomic management and financial sector supervision, as has been experienced by emerging Asian economies in recent years. This Asian Development Bank Institute policy brief describes the patterns of capital flows in and their impact on emerging Asian economies and discusses possible policy measures to manage surge more...