‘Gentry and his co-authors provide a set of case studies of the environmental impact of private capital flows into four Latin American countries. What emerges are some important insights into, first, how these flows affect the environment (with some surprises), and, second, how public and private agents can work together to accommodate both commercial gain and improved environmental performance. Private capital flows, properly channeled, can contribute to our goal of sustainable development.’
– Wallace E. Oates, University of Maryland, US
‘The authors succeed admirably in introducing the reader to the main issues and complexities surrounding this topic. . . . The book’s major contribution, in my opinion, is that it challenges the conventional wisdom–widely held in Latin America and elsewhere in the developing world–that governments have sole responsibility for ensuring that environmental standards are met.’
– Dennis J. Mahar, The World Bank, US
‘Gentry and his colleagues have written a comprehensive and authoritative assessment of private capital flows to emerging market countries and of their impacts on the environment. They emphasize the critical role that private capital plays in the financial transfers from post-industrial to developing nations (far exceeding foreign aid) and illustrate the impact on four Latin American countries. Their analyses of the impacts, both positive and negative, of capital investment on environment and natural resources in emerging market countries yield the first objective assessment of how capital flows affect the prospects for sustainable development. This book will become a basic reference for policy makers, business executives, students of development, and environmental groups in discussions of the environmental consequences of economic globalization in the 21st century. The lessons of experience summarized here provide a strong set of directions for putting both wealthy nations and emerging market countries on the path to sustainable development.’
– Dennis A. Rondinelli, University of North Carolina, US
‘An important and timely contribution to the debate on sustainable development in the developing world and--implicitly--on the future of foreign aid. . . . It provides a balanced and much-needed assessment of the environmental effect that private capital flows--notably foreign direct investment--can exercise on the state of the environment in the developing world.’
– Cord Jakobeit, Stanford-in-Berlin Centre, Germany
With the dramatic shift from foreign aid to private investment as the engine of growth in many developing countries, what are the environmental implications? Can private capital actually be used to put us on the path to sustainable development? These are the questions tackled in Private Capital Flows and the Environment.
