Development Economics Seminar

Project Information

The objective was to make the BP managers more aware of the developmental context in which their oil and gas projects in developing and transition countries are undertaken. Three main presentations were developed. The first provided a broad overview about how the ideas of Development Economics have evolved in the past fifty years since Indian Independence. The second analysed the mechanisms whereby many resource rich developing economies had squandered the developmental benefits of their natural resources. This presentation sought also to identify elements of good policy practice that might be adopted both by host governments and foreign investors to try to mitigate the so-called “resources curse”. The third provided a review of current thinking and policies regarding the poverty agenda in developing and transition economies. The formal presentations were elaborated in two sets of break-out sessions designed and facilitated by the OPM team.