Much of the current debate about development has pitted proponents of unfettered markets against advocates of developmental states. Yet, often what best explains variations in economic performance among developing countries is not markets or states but rather the character of relations between business and government.

The contributors to Business and the State in Developing Countries identify a range of close, collaborative relations between bureaucrats and capitalists which enhance elements of economic performance and defy conventional expectations that such relations lead ineluctably to rent-seeking, corruption, and collusion.

All based on extensive field research, the essays contrast collaborative and collusive relations in a wide range of developing countries, most of them in Latin America and Asia, and isolate the conditions under which collaboration is most likely to emerge and survive. The contributors highlight the crucial roles played by capable bureaucracies and strong business associations.