Suchergebnisse

The MEM is the World Bank's biannual flagship publication on Malaysia. It provides analysis of recent economic developments and the near-term outlook for Malaysia. Each publication also focuses on a special topic related to Malaysia's transformation into a high-income economy. Malaysia is at the forefront of a "new generation" of trade agreements that will shape trade and investment over the next decade. The 14th MEM focuses on how Malaysia can use trade agreements to bring new opportunities to the Malaysian economy and accelerate its transition to high income status.

Although weather shocks are a major source of income fluctuation, most of the world's poor lack insurance coverage against them. Absence of formal insurance contributes to poverty traps, as investment decisions are conflicted with risk management ones: risk-averse farmers tend to underinvest and produce lower yielding yet safer crops. In the past few years, weather index insurance has gained increasing attention as an effective tool to provide small-scale farmers coverage against aggregate shocks. However, there is little empirical evidence about its effectiveness. This paper studies the effect of the recently introduced rainfall-indexed insurance on farmers' productivity, risk management strategies, as well as per capita income and expenditure in Mexico. The identification strategy takes advantage of the variation across counties and across time in which the insurance was rolled-out. The analysis finds that the presence of insurance in treated counties has significant and positive effects on maize productivity. Similarly, there is a positive association between the presence of insurance in the municipality and rural households' per capita expenditure and income, although no significant relation is found between the presence of insurance and the number of hectares destined for maize production.

The idea of social inclusion has garnered considerable attention, especially in the context of two recent developments: the Sustainable Development Goals and the heightened attention to inequality. This paper reviews the manner and extent to which social inclusion is addressed in the first 17 Systematic Country Diagnostics (SCDs), which are ex ante, country-level assessments conducted by the World Bank Group, ahead of the preparation of its Country Partnership Frameworks. In addition to this primary purpose, the paper fulfils three other purposes. It allows for a broader reflection on the value of the social inclusion construct in macro-level diagnostics; it takes the opportunity to develop and refine a methodology to assess social inclusion and finally, it positions the narrative on social inclusion into the ongoing discourse on poverty, shared prosperity, inequality and the thinking around the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is therefore, a refined articulation of the idea of social inclusion in the context of global epistemological shifts

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is an international standard to promote open and accountable management of natural resources. By encouraging governments, extractive companies, civil society and the public to engage in discourse around transparency of the extractive sector, it aims to facilitate the management of a country's natural resource wealth to benefit all its citizens. The objective of this report is to present, in a structured form, data categories and their reporting formats, that can be used to standardize information generated under each EITI Requirement. The review conducted for this study included a sample of recent EITI Country Reports, as well as other initiatives and industry standards. 'Good' refers to reporting standards that meet the minimum data to be provided under each EITI Requirement. 'Better' typically refers to reporting standards that are enhancements of data covered under the good category. 'Best' refers to standard formats for reporting data that represent the highest international benchmarks and are considered to provide comprehensive information, beyond the minimum data requirements. The research team recommends a step by step approach to this, starting with a specific set of Requirements, across a number of countries. This would allow the EITI International Secretariat to develop a set of comparable statistics for various reporting entities, as well as start constructing guidelines for EITI implementers.

This report provides a review of the Armenian mining sector, and assesses its potential to contribute to sustainable economic growth and development. Based on the findings, it provides recommendations for initiatives and actions for the future development of the sector. The report was produced in the period October 2015 to April 2016. It was commissioned by the World Bank with the aim to assist the Armenian government to gain a better understanding of key social and environmental challenges and future opportunities for the Armenian Mining Sector; and to support the development of a minerals strategy which is line with international good practices and which contributes to sustainable development. The findings are based on: desktop reviews of existing documents; a large number of meetings and interviews with affected and interested stakeholders; field work performed in the main mining districts of Armenia; stakeholder workshops. Comments, suggestions and corrections on a draft version of this report has been provided by representatives of the GoA, and the World Bank. Further, oversight and feedback was continuously provided by representatives of the World Bank.

In the past decade, Turkey has experienced a notable level of poverty reduction at all levels (extreme poor, poor, and vulnerable). The steady decline in poverty was also resilient to the decline in gross domestic product per capita growth during the crisis. However, although poverty convergence was strong before the financial crisis, there was an absence of regional convergence afterward. This paper analyzes poverty trends, poverty convergence, economic mobility, and the determinants of poverty reduction at the regional level over the period 2006–13. The analysis finds that agricultural growth in the east was an important contributor to Turkey's regional poverty reduction. In additionally, employment growth in the services sectors boosted poverty reduction throughout the entire country. From a fiscal perspective, the amount of per capita central spending is also linked to poverty reduction, although more strongly for regions in the west.

Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in Southern Africa, and has one of the highest income inequality in the world. Home to about 2 million people, Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa, the second largest and most industrialized economy in Africa. Lesotho generates income mainly by exporting textiles, water, and diamonds, and is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Common Monetary Area (CMA). The national currency, the loti, is pegged to the South African rand. Lesotho's main trading partners are South Africa and the United States. The CPF will seek to mitigate four substantial risks to the implementation of the WBG program: (a) political and governance; (b) macroeconomic; (c) climate change and climate- induced disasters; and (d) operating risks (capacity and fiduciary). The lessons from the Country Assistance Strategy Completion and Learning Report (CPS CLR) will play an important role in addressing these risks. The CPF will give high importance to quality and risks at entry for new operations, and continue strong monitoring and supervision. These mitigation factors are essential for achieving sustainable results.

Limited state capacity to carry out core government and service delivery functions poses a major constraint in post conflict countries, especially those with low income levels. With regard to scope, the research carried out for this note primarily focuses on developing a detailed understanding of how civil service institutes are established and function, and to reflect on available information about their impact. This note synthesizes the findings from case studies covering three countries and four public service training institutes: Rwanda (Rwanda Management Institute (RMI)); Uganda (Civil Service College Uganda (CSCU)); and Liberia (Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA) and the Financial Management Training Program (FMTP)). The general policy rationale for establishing institutes of public service has been to improve national public sector capacity; while a key choice involves investing in longer and more in-depth or shorter-term training. To deliver training, a mix of some permanent staff with consultants recruited from the public sectors has worked well.

To discuss some of the key issues of interest to Bangladesh's migrant workers, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a dialogue titled Safeguarding Interests of Bangladesh Migrant Workers: Issues of Financial Inclusion and Social Protection on 21 October 2015 at Lakeshore Hotel, Dhaka jointly with the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE), Government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organization (ILO), Country Office in Bangladesh. The dialogue was an opportunity to raise awareness of the public in general, and policymakers in particular, as regards advancing the interests of Bangladesh's migrant workers in view of the emerging demands.

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) explores how Uzbekistan can consolidate its recent achievements and accelerate progress on the twin goals of eradicating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. The SCD is organized into five chapters. Chapter one frames the issues of poverty reduction and shared prosperity, and situates them in the context of Uzbekistan's recent development. It reviews the status and drivers of progress in these areas, identifies analytical constraints, and highlights areas for further study. Chapter two describes the necessary conditions for sustaining rapid economic growth and robust quality job creation. It underscores the importance of expanding private-sector participation and investment in key economic sectors. Chapter three considers how a well-functioning labor market and access to essential public services can enhance the inclusiveness of growth. Chapter four analyzes threats to the sustainability of Uzbekistan's recent gains over both the medium and the long term. Chapter five concludes by examining the constraints to growth and development revealed by the analysis, and it proposes a framework for prioritizing policy actions designed to address them.

This synthesis report details the process, outputs and intermediate outcomes of the above technical assistance (TA) which was aimed at service delivery improvement in urban water and sanitation, especially to the urban poor, by: (i) supporting the government in establishing efficient, autonomous and responsive utility in Peshawar; (ii) facilitating the provincial/regional governments in formulation of water sector policies; (iii) designing demand based 'Pakistan water sector technical advisory program' for clients; and (iv) strengthening and aligning the urban (water) reform agenda in three provincial urban units through national urban forum.

Azerbaijan's performance on the twin goals has been commendable. The middle class has doubled in size and extreme poverty has almost been eliminated in the space of a decade. At the same time, regional differences persist, with significantly higher poverty rates in lagging regions, and Baku dominating overwhelmingly in terms of share of GDP. Disparities in welfare also persist between rural and urban areas as well as across social groups. As the share of the poor fell in the bottom 40 percent of the welfare distribution, the share of the vulnerable has increased. All of this suggests taking a closer look at the challenges facing Azerbaijan as it seeks to sustain and 'even out' progress on the twin goals.

Cities are vulnerable to many types of shocks and stresses, including natural hazards like storms and sea level rise, but also man-made ones like economic transformation and rapid urbanization. These shocks and stresses have the potential to bring cities to a halt and reverse years of socio-economic development gains. Cities that are to grow and thrive in the future must take steps to address these shocks and stresses. Simply put, a resilient city is one that can adapt to these types of changing conditions and withstand shocks while still providing essential services to its residents. A resilient city can keep moving toward its long-term goals despite the challenges it meets along the way. In February 2015, a team of specialists from the World Bank Group worked with government officials, experts and stakeholders in Addis Ababa to identify the priority actions and investments that will enhance the city's resilience to these current and future challenges. They explored options to transform planned or aspirational projects into initiatives that will also enhance the city's resilience. As the largest city in Ethiopia and one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, Addis Ababa plays an important role in promoting the well-being of the country and economic prosperity in the region. For Addis Ababa, efforts to promote greater resilience must be closely aligned with the city's vision to be a safe and livable city, ensure the national goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2025, and become Africa's diplomatic capital.

How much do poor rural households rely on environmental extraction from natural ecosystems? And how does climate variability impact their livelihoods? This paper sheds light on these two questions with household income data from the Poverty and Environment Network pantropical data set, combined with climate data for the past three decades. The study finds that extraction of wild resources (from natural forests, bushlands, fallows, etc.) provides on average as much income (about 27 percent) as crops across the smallholder sample. The cross-section data on past reactions to household self-perceived economic shocks and observed production reactions to climate anomalies can, respectively, provide hints about livelihood vulnerability to current climate variability, which is likely to worsen with climate change. Forest extraction did not figure among the most favored response strategies to households' self-perceived economic shocks, but households undertake subtle substitutions in sector production in response to weather anomalies that accentuate suboptimal climatic conditions for cropping. By relying more on forest extraction and wages, households compensate quite successfully for declining crop incomes. This paints a cautiously optimistic picture about fairly flexible rural livelihood reactions to current climate variability, and featuring forests as potentially important in household coping strategies.

The connections between transport infrastructure and economic development have been extensively analyzed in previous research, but little is known about the cost of infrastructure investments in poor countries. This paper examines drivers of unit costs of construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure in low and middle income countries and documents that: (i) there is a large dispersion in unit costs for comparable road work activities; (ii) after accounting for environmental drivers of costs, residual unit costs are significantly higher in conflict countries; (iii) there is evidence that costs are higher in countries with higher levels of corruption; (iv) these effects are robust to controlling for a country's public investment capacity and business environment. Our findings have implications for governments aiming to increase connectivity in poor countries.