Dani Rodrik

Structural reforms: lessons from other lands

In this talk Prof. Dani Rodrik distills some of the principles that emerge from advanced countries’ experiences with structural reform that can serve as a guide to structural reform in countries such as Greece.

Friday 02.10.2015

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Structural reform has become a major issue in Greece, as a critical component of what the country needs to do to get out of the crisis and stimulate economic growth. The discussion of structural reform in the euro zone revolves largely around textbook ideas and simple economic principles. Latin American, Asian, and advanced countries themselves have a rich history of experience with structural reform. This empirical background rarely figures prominently in the discussions, even though it holds important lessons. Key points relate to contextual specificity (desirable reforms vary), prioritization (tackling more binding constraints before others), economics of the second-best (some reforms may well backfire), and function versus form (it’s what institutions do and not how they look that matters).

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Dani Rodrik is Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy. He has published widely in the areas of economic development, international economics, and political economy. His current research focuses on the political economy of liberal democracy and economic growth in developing countries. He is the recipient of the inaugural Albert O. Hirschman Prize of the Social Sciences Research Council and of the Leontief Award for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. His most recent book is Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science (Norton, forthcoming). He is also the author of The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy (2011) and One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth (2007). He teaches courses on economic development and political economy. Author of the blog "Unconventional thoughts on economic development and globalization".
Dani Rodrik

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