Introduction to legal systems. Chapters include: The common law from a civil lawyer's perspective, by Philippo Bruno; Comparative law: academic perspectives and practical legal realities, by Daniel L. Wade; Introduction to civil law systems, by George A. Zaphiriou; The French legal system, by Claire M. Germain; The Mexican legal system, by Rubens Medina; Introduction to Asian law systems, by James V. Feinerman; The Japanese legal system, by Sung Yoon Cho; The Chinese legal system, by Constance A. Johnson; The Republic of China (Taiwan) legal sytem, by Wendy I. Zeldin; Customary law and western legal influences in modern-day Africa (case studies from Ghana and Nigeria), by Victor Essien; Building a medium-to-large foreign law collection, by Daniel L. Wade; Acquiring foreign legal materials : focus on Europe, by Margareta Horiba; Acquiring material from difficult jurisdictions : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, by Nicholas Thormer; Foreign law in translation : problems and sources, by Amber Lee Smith; Beyond books and libraries : providing foreign, comparative and international legal information in the 1990s and beyond, by M. Kathleen Price; International Legal Information Network (ILIN), by Rubens Medina; Library of Congress Class K for law, by Jolande E. Goldberg; LC classification in the USMARC format, by Rebecca S. Guenther; The Library of Congress legal bibliographic database on CD-ROM, by Elizabeth A. Leahy; Sources of assistance.

Substantial increases in agricultural investments in developing countries are needed to combat poverty and realize food security and nutrition goals. There is evidence that agricultural investments can generate a wide range of developmental benefits, but these benefits cannot be expected to arise automatically and some forms of large-scale investment carry risks for host countries. Although there has been much debate about the potential benefits and risks of international investment, there is no systematic evidence on the actual impacts on the host country and their determinants. In order to acquire an in-depth understanding of potential benefits, constraints and costs of foreign investment in agriculture and of the business models that are more conducive to development, FAO has undertaken research in developing countries.This publication summarizes the results of this research, in particular through the presentation of the main findings of case studies in nine developing countries. It presents case studies on policies to attract foreign investment in agriculture and their impacts on national economic development in selected countries in Africa, Asian and Latin America.