Suchergebnisse

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) assessed the effectiveness of Bank support for decentralization between fiscal 1990 and 2007 in 20 countries, seeking to inform the design and implementation of future support. Given the difficulties of measuring the results of decentralization, the evaluation used intermediate outcome indicators-such as strengthened legal and regulatory frameworks for intergovernmental relations, improved administrative capacity, and increased accountability of sub national governments and functionaries to higher levels of government and to citizens-to assess the results of Bank support in these 20 countries. To examine potential lessons at a sectoral level, the evaluation also assessed whether Bank support for decentralization improved intermediate outcomes for service delivery in the education sector in 6 of the 20 countries.

The effectiveness and efficiency of a country's public sector is vital to the success of development activities, including those the World Bank supports. Sound financial management, an efficient civil service and administrative policy, efficient and fair collection of taxes, and transparent operations that are relatively free of corruption all contribute to good delivery of public services. The Bank has devoted an increasing share of its lending and advisory support to the reform of central governments, so it is important to understand what is working, what needs improvement, and what is missing. IEG has examined lending and other kinds of Bank support in 1999-2006 for public sector reform in four areas: public financial management, administrative and civil service, revenue administration, and anticorruption and transparency.Although a majority of countries that borrowed to support public sector reform experienced improved performance in some dimensions, there were shortcomings in important areas and in overall coordination. The frequency of improvement was higher among IBRD borrowers than among IDA borrowers. Performance usually improved for public financial management, tax administration, and transparency, but did not usually with respect to civil service. Direct measures to reduce corruption- such as anticorruption laws and commissions- rarely succeeded.

The World Bank Research Program. Abstracts of Current Studies is a compendium of research projects initiated, ongoing, or completed in fiscal years 2005 through 2007 (from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2007).1 Each abstract summarizes the research questions, analytical methods used, and findings and policy implications, and describes the research team and publications produced. The volume also includes a complete list of research outputs produced by World Bank staff during this period.This research program generates knowledge that is an essential intellectual foundation of the World Bank's cor

For the World Bank and its partners, the ever-present test is to deliver results-to lift people out of poverty and promote socially and environmentally sustainable development. Achieving such success in any individual country is increasingly intertwined with making progress on shared global challenges. The 2008 Annual Review of Development Effectiveness, an independent evaluation, presents evidence on the Bank's efforts in two important and connected areas: tracking outcomes of Bank projects and country programs; and progress in fostering global public goods, such as protecting the earth's climate and preventing the spread of dangerous communicable diseases.

Sub-Saharan Africa has recently enjoyed a surge in economic growth due to the rising prices of its commodities and natural resources. To sustain this growth in the face of intensifying global competition, African countries may wish to align their tertiary education and research systems more closely to national economic development based on a deepening of technological capabilities and local labor markets. This will require governments and societies to make strategic choices and targeted investments in specific types of training, specific disciplinary areas, and specific institutions. The succe

Over the past few years, the countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union have seen rapid productivity growth that has driven up living standards and reduced poverty. Unleashing Prosperity examines the microfoundations of the recent growth. The report shows that these countries have enjoyed substantial productivity gains from the reallocation of labor and capital to more productive sectors and firms, from the entry of new firms and the exit of obsolete firms, and from the more efficient use of resources. Unleashing Prosperity also illustrates that policy reforms that promote governa

Despite a low enrollment rate in higher education of 3 percent on average, in comparison with 8 percent in countries with comparable levels of development, Francophone African countries are currently facing an immense challenge in terms of numbers. The increased social demand associated with the progress made in universal primary enrollment and the increase in secondary enrollment could cause the student population to grow from 800,000 in 2004 to approximately 2 million in 2015, and to double the coverage. This increase exacerbates the financial problems of higher education institutions and mi

The Little Data Book on External Debt provides a quick reference for users interested in external debt stocks and flows, major economic aggregates, key debt ratios, and the currency composition of long-term debt for all countries reporting through the Debtor Reporting system. A pocket edition of the Global Development Finance 2008, Volume II: Summary and Country Tables, it contains statistical tables for 135 countries as well as summary tables for regional and income groups.

Now in its seventh edition, this pocket-sized reference on key development data for over 200 countries provides profiles of each country with 54 development indicators about people, environment, economy, technology and infrastructure, trade, and finance. It is intended as a quick reference for users of World Development Indicators, WDI Online, and the Atlas of Global Development.

Why have only 13 developing world economies achieved sustained, high growth since World War II? Why is engagement with the global economy necessary to achieve high growth? Why do some countries' growth strategies fail to win the public's confidence? Why are equity and equality of opportunity important components of successful growth strategies? Why do many countries, blessed with natural resource wealth, not achieve high growth? Why has no country ever sustained rapid growth without high rates of public investment? Why does it not always pay to devalue the exchange rate? When does it? Why is childhood nutrition so important to economic growth? Why do some economies lose momentum when others keep on growing? Why has no country ever sustained long-term growth without urbanizing? Why should there be an end to energy subsidies? Why do global warming and the rising prices of food, energy and minerals pose challenges to potential future growth in developing countries? Why does the aging of the world population matter for developing countries growth and employment prospects? The Growth Report does not have all the answers, but it does identify some of the key insights and policy levers to help countries achieve high, sustainable and inclusive growth. The result of two years work by 19 experienced policymakers and two Nobel prize-winning economists, the Growth Report is the most complete analysis to date of the ingredients which, if used in the right country-specific recipe, can deliver growth and help lift populations out of poverty.

Haiti: Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review is part of the World Bank Country Study series. These reports are published with the approval of thesubject government to communicate the results of the Bank's work on the economic and related conditions of member countries to governments and to the development community.This book summarizes the key findings and policy recommendations of a comprehensive diagnosis of a Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR). The PEMFAR is an exercise which integrates the analysis of a Public Expenditure Review, a Country Financial Accountability Assessment, and a Country Procurement Assessment Report. The analysis focuses on the linkages between public finance, growth, and poverty.Over the past years, Haiti has made good progress in reforming its public financial management system. However, significant challenges remain to improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability. Moreover, the growth-poverty response of the improved system has been limited. Haiti remains one the poorest countries in the world. Accelerating growth and reducing poverty will require bold policy actions with a strong emphasis on fiscal reforms. However, even with the best fiscal reforms, it is unlikely that Haiti will achieve in the near future the high growth rates required to significantly move the country out of the poverty trap. More foreign aid and predictable flows are needed to support economic growth and help overcome some of the vicious dynamic circles that lock Haiti in a low growth/high poverty equilibrium, and improve living standards. In this context, effective management of aid flows is crucial to ensure that their potential growth-enhancing, poverty-reducing, and human development-improving effects materialize.

The 2007 Global Monitoring Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) assesses the contributions of developing countries, developed countries, and international financial institutions toward meeting universally agreed development commitments. Fourth in a series of annual reports leading up to 2015, this year's report reviews key developments of the past year, emerging priorities, and provides a detailed region-by-region picture of performance in the developing regions of the world, drawing on indicators for poverty, education, gender equality, health, and other goals. Subtitled "Co

Sub-Saharan Africa is a critical development priority-it has some of the world's poorest countries and during the past two decades the number of poor in the Region has doubled, to 300 million-more than 40 percent of the Region's population. Africa remains behind on most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is unlikely to reach them by 2015. With some of the world's poorest countries, Africa is a development priority for the donor community. A major drag on Africa's development is the underperformance of the critical agriculture sector, which has been neglected both by donors and governments over the past two decades. The sector faces a variety of constraints that are particular to agriculture in Africa and make its development a complex challenge. Poor governance and conflict in several countries further complicate matters. IEG has assessed the development effectiveness of World Bank assistance in addressing constraints to agricultural development in Africa over the period of fiscal 1991-2006.

Climate change remains a global challenge requiring international collaborative action. Another area where countries have successfully committed to a long-term multilateral resolution is the liberalization of international trade. Integration into the world economy has proven a powerful means for countries to promote economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. The broad objectives of the betterment of current and future human welfare are shared by both global trade and climate regimes. Yet both climate and trade agendas have evolved largely independently through the years, despite their mutually supporting objectives. Since global emission goals and global trade objectives are shared policy objectives of most countries, and nearly all of the World Bank's clients, it makes sense to consider the two sets of objectives together. This book is one of the first comprehensive attempts to look at the synergies between climate change and trade objectives from economic, legal, and institutional perspectives. It addresses an important policy question - how changes in trade policies and international cooperation on trade policies can help address global environmental spillovers, especially GHG emissions, and what the (potential) effects of (national) environmental policies that are aimed at global environmental problems might be for trade and investment. It explores opportunities for aligning development and energy policies in such a way that they could stimulate production, trade, and investment in cleaner technology options.

The world's demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.World Development Report 2008 seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especiall