Books

The role of institutions in explaining the variation of economicdevelopment performance of developing countries is now well established in theliterature. The historical and empirical evidence suggests that alongsideenvironmental, geographic and technological factors, institutional factors arefound 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 onthe costs of exchange and production. As such, institutions affect thewell-being of all individuals in a given society directly and indirectly.

In recognition of the importance of the role of institutions indevelopment performance, and in view of its function as a specialized thinktank on matters relating to development policy design and implementation, theArab Planning Institute organized an international Conference on Institutionsand Economic Development Performance (Beirut8-9 June, 2004). Papers embodying relevant research results based oncross-country comparisons as well as papers on country experiences, werepresented and discussed in the Conference. This volume carries the paperspresented in the Conference and a summary of the discussion that has takenplace therein.
Without getting involved in technical details, and despite the acknowledgeddiversity among Arab countries in terms of the level of development, it isperhaps safe to conclude that the Conference signaled the major challengesfacing Arab countries in terms of the quality of their institutions. While itis recognized that institutions evolve very slowly over time, it is alsorealized that Arab countries need to face the challenge of seriously embarkingon institutional reforms relevant to their societies. The objective of suchinstitutional reforms, it is generally agreed, is to enhance the quality of theinherited institutions with a view of encouraging private initiatives andrationalizing the resource allocation process.