The Political Economy of Poverty Reduction: Scaling Up Antipoverty Programs in the Developing World
In: Wolfensohn Center for Development Working Paper No. 2
50 results
Sort by:
In: Wolfensohn Center for Development Working Paper No. 2
SSRN
Working paper
Looks at Russian government's push toward a knowledge-based economy, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Quantifies and benchmarks sector's relative strengths, identifying opportunities to increase Russian productivity and competitiveness. Examines underlying firm-level determinants of knowledge absorption, competitiveness, and productivity, with an eye to improving workers' skill levels and the investment climate - Provided by publisher
In: World development: the multi-disciplinary international journal devoted to the study and promotion of world development, Volume 121, p. 33-52
World Affairs Online
In: Quarterly journal of political science: QJPS, Volume 6, Issue 2, p. 137-178
ISSN: 1554-0634
Moldova has suffered over the last two decades from rising poverty, territorial secession, armed conflict, and the spillover effects of a regional financial crisis, with declining population size and life expectancy, and an economy approximately one-half of what it was in 1990. The return of the Moldovan Communist Party (PCRM), which won two major elections after 2001, contributed to increasing centralization of governmental authority along with a reform agenda that emphasized greater state control over the economy, fiscal support to state enterprises and collective farms, land consolidation, economic protectionism, and the tolerance of monopolies in industry and energy. At the same time, the government has increased social expenditures, and taken major steps to improve public financial management. Bank engagement was moderately effective at the country and project levels, and substantially effective at the sector level. There was progress in several aspects of public financial management (PFM). Regulatory streamlining has reduced costs to business, although resistance to civil service reform has left much work to be done. The Bank has also helped achieve progress on Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) issues in primary education, roads, and private sector development. Education progress is highly uneven across regions, for example, overweight trucks continue to tear up roads, and private investment is not enough to make a dent in high unemployment. A graduated approach to country systems and road sector technical audits help address GAC issues at the project level. The overall impact of GAC strategy implementation was moderate. The GAC committees set up at the regional and sectoral Bank department levels are particularly useful mechanisms for disseminating practices from the GAC Council. Staff has been proactive in using Country Governance and Anticorruption (CGAC) resources. However, three applications for window one funding were not approved, reducing the ability of this small program to seize opportunities.
BASE
In: Economics of transition, Volume 14, Issue 3, p. 479-504
ISSN: 1468-0351
AbstractThere has been relatively little investigation of the effect of constitutional transformations on the economic transition in post‐communist countries. We develop a simple signalling model in which constitutionalism – a commitment to limit political power and provide judicial defence of basic rights – reinforces the credibility of pro‐market candidates' electoral promises and boosts public support for economic reforms. These findings are tested using opinion poll data on public support for reform in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the former Soviet Union, in the 1990s. In a two‐stage procedure we show that public support for market reforms is higher in countries where incumbents have taken deliberate steps to increase political accountability and judicial independence. Public support also spurs actual economic reform.
In: European journal of political economy, Volume 22, Issue 2, p. 370-387
ISSN: 1873-5703
In: World politics: a quarterly journal of international relations, Volume 42, Issue 4, p. 441-465
ISSN: 1086-3338
The nature of insurgencies is an ambiguous concept. As a step toward theory about it and prudent action in regard to it, the authors argue that insurgency should be regarded as a syncretic phenomenon—a highly potent compound that combines the "spirit" of archaic peasant rebellions (their apocalyptic, millenarian passions) with modern revolutionary ideologies and organization, and the practice of guerrilla warfare. Insurgency thus supplies both the "steam" and the "piston box" that Trotsky considered an irresistible revolutionary combination. The syncretic mix of disparate elements in insurgency has stood in the way of proper conceptualization of the phenomenon, and of good theory and practice regarding it. The authors further maintain that insurgency is generally confused with the Latin American foco as well as with urban terrorism and guerrilla wars of all kinds; in fact thefoco may well foreshadow the end of insurgencies as a special type of collective political violence.
In: World politics: a quarterly journal of international relations, Volume 42, p. 441-465
ISSN: 0043-8871
Contents: Peasant rebellion; Revolution; Guerrilla warfare.
In: Economics of Transition, Volume 14, Issue 3, p. 479-504
SSRN
In recent years the Russian government, concerned about sustaining its economic performance, has sought to promote more diversified and broader economic growth beyond the profitable natural-resource sector. Economic officials would like to see something closer to a "knowledge-based economy." One of the areas in clear need of upgrading is the manufacturing sector. This book quantifies and benchmarks the relative strengths of that sector, identifying opportunities to increase Russian productivity and competitiveness. Drawing on original survey data from Russian firms of all sizes, the authors formulate proposals that aim to • enhance the innovative potential of Russian firms, • upgrade the skills of their workforce, and • develop a business-friendly climate of lower administrative costs and greater policy certainty. This book examines the underlying firm-level determinants of knowledge absorption, competitiveness, and productivity, with an eye to improving workers' skill levels and improving the investment climate, which should in turn enhance the innovation needed to keep up in a globalized economy. The original research and analysis of Desai, Goldberg, and their colleagues will be of use to anyone interested in the problems of building manufacturing competitiveness, especially in Russia and the post-Soviet transition economies. It will also be of interest to organizations planning to do business with Russia or to invest in it.
In: European Journal of Political Economy, Volume 60, p. 101744
In: International studies quarterly: the journal of the International Studies Association, Volume 62, Issue 3, p. 505-519
ISSN: 1468-2478
In: The journal of development studies: JDS, Volume 50, Issue 1, p. 64-80
ISSN: 0022-0388
World Affairs Online
In: The journal of development studies, Volume 50, Issue 1, p. 64-80
ISSN: 1743-9140
Rural producer associations are considered a potential community-driven solution to the problems of smallholder agriculture. This article evaluates the impact of organising female farmers into producer associations in Gujarat, India. The initiative provided training, information, access to inputs, risk mitigation, and market linkages. Over 18 months, the programme weakly increased members' non-farm income and access to output markets. It had stronger impacts on members' awareness and utilisation of financial services. Impacts were heterogeneous, varying by pre-existing socioeconomic conditions. These findings suggest that producer associations can lower transaction costs for smallholders, but that poverty alleviation may be a longer-term prospect. Adapted from the source document.