الكتب

The role of institutions in explaining the variation of economic development performance of developing countries is now well established in the literature. The historical and empirical evidence suggests that alongside environmental, geographic and technological factors, institutional factors are found to be vital. These institutions have evolved over long periods of time, reflecting deeply-embedded value systems and social behavior. Thus, institutions affect the performance of the entire economy by their impact on the costs of exchange and production. As such, institutions affect the well-being of all individuals in a given society directly and indirectly.

In recognition of the importance of the role of institutions in development performance, and in view of its function as a specialized think tank on matters relating to development policy design and implementation, the Arab Planning Institute organized an international Conference on Institutions and Economic Development Performance (Beirut 8-9 June, 2004). Papers embodying relevant research results based on cross-country comparisons as well as papers on country experiences, were presented and discussed in the Conference. This volume carries the papers presented in the Conference and a summary of the discussion that has taken place therein.
Without getting involved in technical details, and despite the acknowledged diversity among Arab countries in terms of the level of development, it is perhaps safe to conclude that the Conference signaled the major challenges facing Arab countries in terms of the quality of their institutions. While it is recognized that institutions evolve very slowly over time, it is also realized that Arab countries need to face the challenge of seriously embarking on institutional reforms relevant to their societies. The objective of such institutional reforms, it is generally agreed, is to enhance the quality of the inherited institutions with a view of encouraging private initiatives and rationalizing the resource allocation process.