The private sector, public sector, and donor assistance in economic development : an interpretive essay

with a view of how host country policies, coupled with donor actions, have fostered vital private enterprise economies in developing countries, a study, herein presented, was made of the development history of four countries which have dramatically raised their peoples' standard of living in the last 20 years - Malawi, Cameroon, Thailand, and Costa Rica. After briefly reviewing the structural changes in the economies of the four countries, the study profiles their private sectors, noting the types of enterprises present and the linkages between them. Next, the role of markets in development and the limitations of purely market-oriented strategies are discussed and reasons for government interventions in markets listed. Finally, each country's political economy and role in the world economy is outlined. The study concludes that a free and competitive private sector is efficient in allocating resources and that public policies and donor interventions can, if wisely targeted, have a beneficial effect on such enterprises. Donors are encouraged - with some caveats - to help developing country governments facilitate the expression of creative energies within the private sector. Twenty-four case studies illustrate the report's arguments.