CHAPTER Ⅲ BUILDING INSTITUTIONS

摘要

With one billion people in developing countries living on less than $1 a day, the alleviation of extreme poverty remains high on the policy agenda of the international community. Despite the progress made in poverty reduction in some regions of the world over the past two decades, reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2015 remains out of reach for most developing countries—with the notable exception of east and south Asia— based on current trends. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, faces daunting challenges, with the incidence of poverty having risen in recent decades. Many middle-income countries also need to reduce unemployment and improve the lack of economic opportunity for large sections of their populations, to improve standards of living and foster a stable social environment. It is widely accepted that sustained high rates of economic growth are the key to further progress. While global growth reached 30-year highs in 2004—with sub-Saharan Africa recording its strongest growth performance in nearly a decade—in most countries growth rates remain well below what is needed to meet the MDGs. With considerable progress having been made toward a stable macroeconomic environment—an essential precondition for sustained growth—the challenge has increasingly become how to improve the quality of domestic institutional frameworks (such as stronger property rights, lower corruption, and better governance). For example, as discussed in the April 2003 World Economic Outlook, if insti- tutions in Africa could be improved to the level in developing Asia, African per capita GDP might be expected to almost double over the long term (Figures 3.1 and 3.2).