Famine in North Korea : markets, aid, and reform / Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland ; foreword by Amartya Sen.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-301) and index.

1. Introduction : famine, aid, and markets in North Korea -- Pt. I. Perspectives on the famine -- 2. The origins of the great famine -- 3. The distribution of misery : famine and the breakdown of the public distribution system -- Pt. II. The dilemmas of humanitarian assistance -- 4. The aid regime : the problem of monitoring -- 5. Diversion -- 6. The political economy of aid -- Pt. III. Dealing with a changing North Korea -- 7. Coping, marketization, and reform : new sources of vulnerability -- 8. Conclusion : North Korea in comparative and international perspective -- App. 1. Illicit activities -- App. 2. The scope of the humanitarian aid effort -- App. 3. The marketization balance sheet.

"In the mid-1990s, as many as one million North Koreans died in one of the worst famines of the twentieth century. The socialist food distribution system collapsed primarily because of a misguided push for self-reliance, but was compounded by the regime's failure to formulate a quick response - including the blocking of desperately needed humanitarian relief." "In their carefully researched book, Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland present the most comprehensive account of the famine to date, examining not only the origins and aftermath of the crisis but also the regime's response to outside aid and the effect of its current policies on the country's economic future. Their study begins by considering the root causes of the famine, weighing the effects of the decline in the availability of food against its poor distribution. Then it takes a close look at the aid effort, addressing the difficulty of monitoring assistance within the country, and concludes with an analysis of current economic reforms and strategies of engagement."--BOOK JACKET.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.