Resources

Devesh Kapur is the Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and Arvind Subramanian is Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. This note is based on their talk at CEM's Vivek and Vandana Sharma India Lecture, moderated by CEM Director Ravi Ramamurti. The talk drew on findings from their book, A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India's Development Odyssey. Their core message: India's decision to democratize before it developed was not an accident. It was a deliberate choice that held a diverse and fractured country together but made sustained economic development significantly harder.

Recent research by Ferretti, Manivannan, and Marques examines why voluntary sustainability standard organizations (VSSOs) spread unevenly across low- and middle-income economies. Drawing on a study of 131 agrifood VSSOs across 152 countries, the paper shows that these standards are more most commonly found not in institutional “voids” but in countries with stronger local trade, financial, and social protection institutions. The findings suggest that VSSOs are most active where domestic institutions help firms access export facilitation, technical support, and credit for standards adoption and upgrading within global value chains. Surprisingly the strength of environmental stewardship institutions is not significantly associated with VSSO diffusion. For policymakers, the implication is clear: attracting VSSOs and supporting sustainable upgrading may depend less on filling institutional voids alone and more on strengthening the local support system that enable companies to comply with and benefit from sustainability standards.

This brief examines how multinational companies (MNCs) can play an important role in climate action in emerging markets, overcoming the political roadblocks and country-specific barriers – such as inconsistent regulations or lack of technology – that have stalled global coordination. Drawing on recent research by Allen, Barbalau, Chavez and Zeni, it identifies four key features that position MNCs uniquely to address the climate challenge: their size and reach, resources and technology, collaborative networks, and superior access to capital. Together, these features enable MNCs to act as conduits for transferring the resources necessary to finance the climate transition. Although MNCs have been major contributors of global emissions, their extensive and efficient internal markets for governance, financing, and technology allow them to diffuse best practices and clean technologies more efficiently than piecemeal government regulation. By designing the right public and private incentive mechanisms, decision-makers can realign MNC objectives and harness their potential to decarbonize the economy.

This brief explores the institutional factors driving or hindering sustainability in the global construction industry. It draws on recent research indicating that home country corruption and high import tariffs significantly undermine a company's commitment to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These institutional pressures create uncertainty and increase the cost of sustainable technologies. However, robust intellectual property rights (IPR) protection can buffer firms against these challenges, enabling long term investment in responsible practices. For decision makers in emerging markets, this work suggests that fostering transparent governance, open trade, and strong innovation protection is vital to helping transition the high impact construction sector toward a resilient, sustainable future.

This brief analyzes India's response to the 1995 TRIPS Agreement, which replaced process patents with stricter product patents. Previously, Indian firms thrived through reverse engineering, exploiting a legal framework that allowed them to manufacture affordable versions of patented drugs by altering the production process. The new intellectual property regime threatened this source of competitive advantage. By combining government policies that balanced research incentives with the social goal of affordable medicines and an industry focus on high quality manufacturing, India became a global leader in generic medicines. For decision makers in emerging markets, this case highlights how proactive policy and niche specialization can sustain competitiveness amidst shifting global standards. India's experience shows that global institutional shifts do not necessarily lead to industrial decline when states and firms respond strategically through coordinated action.

This policy brief examines whether China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is primarily building new infrastructure through greenfield investments (where a company starts a new operation from the ground up) or acquiring existing assets through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Analyzing outward foreign direct investment data from 2005 to 2021, Valderrey, Trigos, and Kaltenecker reveal that M&A is the dominant entry mode for most significant projects, challenging the widespread perception of the BRI as primarily a series of greenfield investments from Chinese enterprises. While energy investment policy remained remarkably steady over the entire period, the finance and transportation sectors experienced significant fluctuations, particularly following the formal announcement of the BRI in 2013. For managers and policy makers in emerging market, these findings suggest that Chinese engagement often involves shifting ownership of existing local assets, requiring sharpened skills in legal, cultural, and environmental negotiations to ensure mutual benefit.

Drawing on original research from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, plus practitioner perspectives from global leaders, the Fall 2025 issue of Insights @ Center for Emerging Markets examines how institutional choices shape whether growth in emerging markets is sustainable, inclusive, and resilient to disruption.

Osei, Barnard, Derban, and Essuman show that giving rural Ghanaians free, mobile-enabled bank accounts and financial literacy training did not meaningfully increase account use. In a field experiment with 142 participants, only 2 percent used their accounts, typically when required to receive payments. The study found that usage depended less on access or knowledge, and more on income stability and concrete financial needs. These results highlight the limits of standalone literacy interventions and underscore the importance of linking financial inclusion strategies to broader efforts that raise incomes and enable purposeful transactions. For financial tools to work, the conditions for their use must exist.

Farhad Forbes is Co-Chairman of Forbes Marshall, a privately held engineering company approaching its 80th anniversary, and served two terms as global chair of the Family Business Network International, representing 4,000 family companies across 65 countries. This note is based on Forbes' keynote at CEM's Family Business Summit in October 2025. His message: Family businesses face a dual mandate: managing the business itself while managing the family's relationship to that business. Mastering both determines whether families build lasting enterprises or become cautionary tales.

Li, Cuypers, Ertug, Bapuji, and Liu reveal that not all political connections affect environmental outcomes equally. Using data from 6,758 private Chinese firms, the study finds that ties to national and provincial officials tend to reduce pollution, while ties to local officials often increase it, reflecting different governmental priorities. The authors show how owner social class and shifts in policy attention further shape these effects. Their findings underscore the need for coordination across government levels and strategic engagement by firms to ensure political ties promote, rather than undermine, sustainability and industrial accountability in emerging markets.