Welcome!

Welcome to the CIPE Development Institute,an innovative platform for self-study and classroom use focused on the role of democratic governance and market economy in development. Development is a complex issue and no single resource can address all its aspects. Our focus is on the importance of the nature of political and economic institutions, which are the ultimate source of each country’s development.

Our goal is simple: to help students around the world make the best out of their undergraduate education and become the agents of change. This website is a pilot that we intend to expand by adding new presentations, translating more materials, and incorporating new features. That is why we would very much appreciate your feedback. You can contact us at [email protected].

The Institute has been created by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), which is a non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy. CIPE programs are also supported through the United States Agency for International Development. CIPE’s mission is to strengthen democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market reform.

CIPE has supported more than 1,000 local initiatives in over 100 developing countries, involving the private sector in policy advocacy and institutional reform, improving governance, and building understanding of market-based democratic systems. To learn more about CIPE visit www.cipe.org.

Explore and enjoy!

Andrew Wilson
CIPE Managing Director

The Core Message

The resources presented here uncover and clarify the connections that exist between political and economic institutions.  Looking at democratic and economic reforms as two sides of the same coin, presentations detail how democracies and market economies work in reality.

The mutual relationship between democratic processes and market institutions is scarcely recognized but it is key to understanding successful reform efforts. The concepts presented here build on practical experiences of reformers from around the world while incorporating theories and analysis of economics, politics, business, legal studies, and other related fields.

Distinguishing Features

The Institute is a joint effort that relies on knowledge, expertise, and experience of distinguished CIPE partners around the world who not only consider the issues of development in an academic setting, but also apply them in their daily work with business associations, economic think tanks, and other private sector organizations.

The presenters who generously contributed their time and expertise to preparing online lectures hail from different countries, but share the same view on the importance of democratic governance and market economy in development. The Institute also emphasizes the need for countries to design their own grassroots approaches with the benefit of lessons learned from others.

Another important distinguishing feature of the Institute is its format as a free online resource, which makes it available to wide audiences around the world. Easy-to-view multimedia presentations and our Forum add an element of interactivity where users can not only watch the recorded lectures, but also engage in online discussions and exchange ideas with their peers. The Institute’s resources should be of interest not only to individual students but also to professors who can use them as the basis for classroom discussion.