ANTHONY BEBBINGTON is Professor in the Institute of Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester, UK. A geographer by training, he was previously Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Colorado, USA, and has worked at the World Bank, Overseas Development Institute, International Institute for Environment and Development and the University of Cambridge, UK. WILLY MCCOURT is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management in the Institute for Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester, UK. He has carried out research and consultancy