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Following the violent overthrow of the Allende regime, Chile embarked on economic reforms that emphasized free markets. These reforms were followed by rising inequality as well as growth. In 2005, business leaders speak out on the necessity of reducing the inequalities.

Focuses on the formulation of the Northwestern Ordinance as the core of a development strategy for capitalism and democracy in the United States. A precursor to the Constitution, the Northwestern Ordinance was based on the New England Model to achieve a broad and relatively equal distribution of land, ensuring that the distribution of economic and political power was also roughly congruent. By the time Alexis de Tocqueville made his study of American democracy, he observed that capitalism was producing economies of scale and increasing productivity, leading to heightened inequality and the eventual formation of an aristocracy, i.e., capitalism was driving incongruities between economic and political power.

Explores the role of the U.S. military in facilitating the establishment of a spectacularly successful free trade area in one of the most devastated areas of Bosnia. NATO's imposition of law and order, plus protection from local political protection rackets, led to spontaneous growth of a market with over $100 million in annual sales.

Collectively owned township and village enterprises (TVEs) played a pivotal role in China's rapid growth during the 1980s and 1990s. Although they originated in the policies and institutions of the Maoist era, TVEs thrived only after Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms redistributed property rights, taxing powers, and responsibility for the provision of public goods. These reforms made local governments dependent on their TVEs for tax revenues and gave party cadres powerful incentives to promote economic growth. Local officials often helped TVEs under their jurisdiction to gain access to technologies, capital, and production permits. Instead of rapidly privatizing its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), China gradually liberalized aspects of its economy in a controlled manner, often establishing a "market track" alongside its planned system. As the SOEs' share of output and employment shrank, that of the TVEs dramatically increased. By the mid- to late 1990s, TVEs accounted for nearly 40% of China's industrial output and had created about 100 million jobs. Nevertheless, party officials questioned whether the TVEs were a viable form of organization for an economy with ever-larger firms, more complex products and production processes, and the need for more capital and more skilled managers.

GDP per person in northern Italy caught up with average incomes in Britain, France, and Germany in the 1970s, but incomes in southern Italy (the Mezzogiorno) fell further behind. This was partly due to cultural and societal differences that dated to the Renaissance, but even more obviously to northern dominance of the new nation in 1860 and Mafia dominance of much of the south. This case focuses on 50 years of efforts to correct this problem. Italy, with its north-south income divergence, is a good metaphor for the global economy with its divergence between First World and Third World incomes. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

In 1992, a corruption investigation and two assassinations created a crisis that prompted the Italian government to dispatch 7,000 troops to Sicily to "retake the island" from the Mafia. This case examines the crisis and the efforts of both the Italian state and the city of Palermo to deal with it. Also explicitly contrasts two development theories in an attempt to explain the economic problems of the South: one cultural (proposed by Robert Putnam); the other political (contained in the writings of Samuel Huntington, Sidney Tarrow, and Simona Piattoni). A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Discusses various macroeconomic, regulatory, technological, and financial forces that led to increased corporate restructuring in the United States beginning in the mid-1980s. The U.S. financial system is often viewed as the most developed in the world and a model for other countries to follow. Similarly, the U.S. model of corporate governance--with its emphasis on shareholder value and an active market for corporate control--is also viewed as a model. Examines pressures for corporate restructuring and the emergence of an active market for corporate control for very large firms beginning in the early 1970s. Discusses the effects of this restructuring on corporate profitability and productivity, and provides data on the evolution of a number of indicators of performance, including productivity by sector, market capitalization relative to replacement cost, and rates of return both on assets and on equity. In brief, it finds that U.S. firms showed significantly improved after-tax returns on shareholder equity over the period while failing to make significant improvements on their pretax returns on assets--adjusted for the effects of the business cycle. Given the lack of comparable accounting data on returns across countries, conclusions about the performance of U.S. firms versus European ones isn't possible.

Substantially rewritten to establish the relevance of countries in the global context. It does so in terms of their differing economic performance in recent decades, and also by contrasting those that have "converged" toward the rich country norm (as theory would predict) from those that have not. It then develops the country analysis framework, with a scheme to identify context, strategy, and performance. Adds a political dimension, following Sam Huntington's emphasis on the strength of a state/government rather than its form; Hernando de Soto's notion that property rights are more important for most Third World countries than FDI receipts; and Joe Stiglitz's thesis that the notion of differing positions on a common production function is simply not plausible. Thus, advantages remain to be created, and substandard returns should be expected in order to catch up. In addition, provides an economic strategy matrix for the classification of strategies, or for the analysis of their evolution through time. A short bibliography is included. A rewritten version of an earlier note.

Taiwan has enjoyed remarkable growth since 1950. This case presents differing views of the role and contribution of the state in this process. Then it explores recent industrial policy in semiconductors.

California has long been a lead state in terms of population growth, income, and societal norms. In the 1990s, California voters approved referenda to restrict benefits to immigrants and to prohibit affirmative action. Is this likely to be another leading indicator for the country as a whole?

With the failure of foreign aid and similar development projects, many analysts are saying that poor countries should just free up their economies and let markets do the work. The Heritage Foundation's 1997 Index of Economic Freedom expands on this line of reasoning in a survey of government intervention and economic development. In his review, Harvard Business School Professor Bruce Scott contends that although some of the Index's claims make sense, the editors have mistaken the chain of causation in many cases. Governments in South Korea and Taiwan, for example, liberalized only after their heavy-handed actions brought their economies a degree of prosperity. Some freedoms, such as an internal market without barriers, promote economic development, but free trade for a developing country can actually get in the way. It is not clear that the magic of the marketplace can take care of everything. Citizens still need government for some things--and a broader framework of analysis than the Index for tackling economic choices.

In an economy marked by severe inflation, a balance of payments problem, and large investment needs for modernization, the Minister of Finance has been asked to design a remedial program that cannot include borrowing abroad. He does so, and the case describes the outcome of the policies in the early 1880's. Discussion is expected to focus mainly on the long-term institutional spin-offs from these policies, and on the appropriateness of these institutions to the needs of a developing country.

Riots in 1969 bring martial law and a new, more firmly Malay government which sets out to promote redistribution of opportunity, income, and wealth by race-based quotas. Dr. Mahatherl, a Malay nationalist says Malays have a non-competitive alliance which must be forced to change.

Minimal background to permit interpretation of positive or negative balances in the key summary accounts of a balance of payments statement; also to permit relating these balances and relevant supporting detail to a possible national development strategy. Designed for use with Foreign Investment in Canada (A).