What is a region? Towards a statehood theory of regions

This article presents the outline of a statehood theory of regions with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of what regions are, how they function and how they emerge. First, a definition of region is introduced that starts from the use of the concept of region in everyday language. It is argued that ‘region’ is a discursive tool used to refer to governance units that are not states but have some statehood properties. Second, a comparative framework is developed that allows to present theories of regions in a systematic way. Third, this framework is used to outline a general theory of regions at the supra-national, sub-national or cross-border level. This theory can be labelled as a ‘statehood theory of regions’ as it underlines the statehood properties of regions as well as the complex relationships between states and regions. According to this theory, regions are in a double relation to states: they are to some extent supportive to the state(s) that created them, and they have a tendency to gain autonomy from their creators. The whole paper can also be regarded as an exercise in interdisciplinarity as it brings in perspectives from psychology and personality theory in order to transpose the Hobbesian metaphor of states acting as persons to the understanding of regions.     

Structural adjustment with a human face — a comment on Adelman and Taylor

Development Strategy in Thailand. By Robert J. Muscat. The Pall Mall Press Ltd. 1966. Pp. xvi, 310. 105/‐.

Planning Without Facts: Lessons in Resource Allocation from Nigeria's Development. By Wolfgang F. Stolper. Harvard University Press &; Oxford University Press: London. 1967. Pp. xx, 321. Appendix. Index 64/‐.

Pan‐Africanism and East African Integration. By Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Oxford University Press, London and Nairobi. 1966. Pp. x, 307. Index. 45/‐.

International Aid to Thailand. The New Colonialism? By Ronald C. Nairn. Yale University Press: New Haven and London. 1966. Pp. 223. Index. 48/‐.     

Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: Can There be a Benefit without a Cost?

This article investigates how financial development helps to reduce poverty directly through a distributional effect, beyond its indirect effect through economic growth. The results obtained with data for a sample of developing countries from 1966 through 2000 suggest that the poor benefit from the ability of the banking system to facilitate transactions and provide savings opportunities (through the McKinnon ‘conduit effect’) but to some extent fail to reap the benefit from greater availability of credit. Moreover, financial development is accompanied by financial instability, which is particularly detrimental to the poor. Nevertheless, the benefits of financial development for the poor outweigh the cost.