Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics-Europe 2004

The fifth ABCDE-Europe was held in Paris, France, on May 15-16, 2003. The conference was co-organized by France's Agence française de développement (AfD), the Conseil d'Analyse Économique (CAE), and the World Bank. The theme of the conference was "Economic Integration and Social Responsibility". Topics covered in this volume include the impact of globalization and the effectof the policies of rich countries on developing ones, the protection of intellectual property, and the roles and responsibilities of the private sector.The Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) provides a forum for the world's leading development thinkers to share new knowledge and ideas. In 1999, in recognition of Europe's pivotal role in the provision of development assistance and in order to bring the World Bank's research on development into close contact with European perspectives, the World Bank created a distinctively European platform for debate on development issues.