This collection of essays from eminent scholars discusses different phases and measures of economic development, evaluating the success of national economic transitions and providing valuable policy lessons for developing economies.

Eminent scholars explore the political institutions and economic policies in use in developing countries, analysing their effectiveness

PART I: PRESIDENTIAL LECTURE The Five Phases of Economic Development and Institutional Evolution in China, Japan and Korea; M.Aoki PART II: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS Social Organizations, Risk Sharing Institutions and Economic Development; A.Greif , M.Iyugun & D.Sasson Before and Beyond Divergence: A New Look at the Economic History of China and Europe; J.Rosenthal & R.Wong Why Development Patterns Differ; The Czech and Serbian Cases Compared; J.Svejnar & M.Uvalic PART III: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: FINANCE, TRADE AND MIGRATION Sharing the Future: Financial Innovation and Innovators in Solving the Political Economic Challenges of Development; S.Jha The Evolution of Domestic Trade Flows When Foreign Trade is Liberalized: Evidence from the Chinese Maritime Customs Services; W.Keller , B.Li & C.Shuie Physical, Social and Informational Barriers to Domestic Migration; P.Choudhury & T.Khanna PART IV: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS Political Consequence of the Middle East's Islamic Economic Legacy; T.Kuran Separation of Powers and the Medieval Roots of Institutional Divergence between Europe and the Islamic Middle East; E.Chaney Political Institution and Long Run Economic Trajectory: Some Lessons from Two Millenia of Chinese Civilization; D.Ma PART V: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURE Understanding the Individualism-Collectivism Cleavage and its Effects: Lessons from Cultural Psychology; Y.Gorodnichenko & G.Roland Developmental "Paths" and "Civilizations" in Africa and Asia: Reflections on Strategies for Integrating Cultural and Material Explanations of Differential Long-Term Economic Performance; G.Austin Making Sense of Institutional Change in China: The Cultural Dimension of Economic Development and Modernization; C.H.Pillath PART VI: CHALLENGES OF FOOD SECURITY UNDER GLOBALIZATION Supply Responses to Food Price Changes in Asian Countries; K.Imai , R.Gaiha , G.Thapa & A.All Structural Transformation, Small Farmers and Food Security in Asia; C.Timmer Food Security, Commodity Price Volatility and the Poor; J.von Braun & G.Tadesse