Why Governments Waste Natural Resources: Policy Failures in Developing Countries

William Ascher

ISBN 10: 0801860962 / ISBN 13: 9780801860966

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999

Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0801860962I3N00

Synopsis:

Explores the complex political and programmatic reasons why government officials in Third World countries often wilfully adopt wasteful natural resource policies. Drawing on 16 case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, the author documents how clashes among government agencies have led to results ranging from Indonesia's deforestation to the collapse of the Mexican water system, from the destruction of cocoa farms in Ghana to the waste of Nigeria's oil wealth. Covering a broad range of natural resources - forests, land, minerals, oil and water - William Ascher finds striking parallels in both the rationales for abusing natural resources and the strategies governments employ to pursue other goals at the expense of sustainable natural resource exploitation. Yet he also finds parallels - across world regions and for the whole range of resources - for overcoming political and institutional obstacles to better natural resource policies and practices. As the depletion of natural resources threatens to undermine the economic prospects of many developing countries, this text offers structural reform recommendations that seek to get to the heart of faulty natural resource management.

About the Author: William Ascher is a professor and director of the Center for International Development Research at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. He is the author of Natural Resource Policymaking in Developing Countries and Communities and Sustainable Forestry in Developing Countries.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Why Governments Waste Natural Resources: ...
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication Date: 1999
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket