September2004 - February 2005
Roma in an expanding Europe / This book brings together original sociological research, evaluations of programs, and the first comparative cross-country household survey on ethnicity and poverty. It finds that Roma poverty is multi-faceted and can only be addressed by a comprehensive policy approach that attends to all dimensions of Roma social exclusion. It proposes an inclusive policy approach which would expand and promote Roma involvement and participation in mainstream society, while maintaining cultural and social identity and autonomy. Policy mechanisms include those which make existing policies more accessible to Roma and identifying areas where targeted initiatives are needed.Guide Making a Large Irrigation Scheme Work: A Case Study from Mali /
The success of the reform process lies in the way Mali’s government came to commit to the irrigation reforms. The paper indicates how commitment by other governments may be achieved by using the same and other tools. Making Large Irrigation Schemes Work is a useful resource for professionals involved in the transfer of management authority from government to user associations.
Capital Markets and Non-bank Financial Institutions in Romania: Assessment of Key Issues and Recommendations for Development
/ This study assesses key issues and recommendations for development, and reviews the specific changes which are necessary in four areas: structural reforms, market institutions, and infrastructure; accounting, transparency, and disclosure; market infrastructure; and credit enhancements
Mobilizing Private Finance for Local Infrastructure in Europe and Central Asia: An Alternative Public Private Partnership Framework
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The objective of this paper is to explore the possible innovative elements of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in an effort to rekindle the sagging private finance interest in municipal infrastructure in the ECA Region. The contemplated PPP model would involve government, municipalities, Local Infrastructure Investment Trusts, private equity funds and/or turnaround advisors, and International Financial Institutions.
Improving Health, Nutrition and Population Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of the World Bank /
This book takes an in-depth look at health, nutrition, and population (HNP) challenges faced by Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly how disease, malnutrition, and high fertility affect poverty reduction. The authors contend that the World Bank has a comparative advantage in contributing within four broad areas: 1) macroeconomics and health, 2) multisectoral action for health, 3) strengthening health systems, and 4) financing service delivery. They also address the opportunities and challenges within these four areas and conclude with suggestions on how the Bank can better operate within the sector and work effectively with partners..
Investment Climate, Growth, and Poverty: Berlin Workshop Series
2005 /
Investment Climate, Growth, and Poverty addresses important topics discussed at the fifth annual forum of the Berlin Workshop Series co-hosted by InWent and the World Bank, held in September 2003. At the meetings, key researchers and policy makers from Europe, the United States, and developing countries around the world met to identify and brainstorm on development challenges and successes that are examined in-depth in the World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone.
Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries
/Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries presents research findings based on a series of commodity studies of significant economic importance to developing countries. First, the book sets the stage with background chapters and investigations of cross-cutting issues. Trade and domestic policy regimes affecting agricultural and food markets are described, and the resulting patterns of production and trade are assessed.
Customs Modernization Handbook / Customs Modernization Handbook provides an overview of the key elements of a successful customs modernization strategy and draws lessons from a number of successful customs reforms as well as from customs reform projects that have been undertaken by the World Bank.
Economies in Transition: An OED Evaluation of World Bank Assistance
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Economies in Transition assesses the effectiveness of Bank assistance to the transition, focusing particularly on five topics: 1) private sector development; 2) governance, public sector management, and institution-building; 3) the financial sector; 4) social protection; and 5) energy.
World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone
/The World Development Report 2005 argues that improving the investment climates of their societies should be a top priority for governments. Drawing on surveys of nearly 30,000 firms in 53 developing countries, country case studies, and other new research, the Report explores questions such as:
· What are the key features of a good investment climate, and how do they influence growth and poverty?
What can governments do to improve their investment climates, and how can they go about tackling such a broad agenda?
· What has been learned about good practice in each of the main areas of the investment climate?
· What role might selective interventions and international arrangements play in improving the investment climate?
· What can the international community do to help developing countries improve the investment climates of their societies?
Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth / Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth is the second in a series of annual reports investigating the scope and manner of regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. New quantitative indicators on business regulations and their enforcement can be compared across 145 countries—from Albania to Zimbabwe—and over time.
Responsible Growth for the New Millennium: Integrating Society, Ecology, and the Economy / Responsible Growth for the New Millennium contends that economic growth is essential for development, but that it is not enough. It presents a vision of a responsible approach to growth – sustainable growth in consumption, healthfulness, human capital, environmental quality and social equity – that can achieve a far more equitable world in 2050.
World Bank Atlas (36th edition) / The World Bank Atlas is changing its publication cycle. Beginning in 2004, the World Bank Atlas will publish in September each year. The World Bank Atlas (36th edition) is the edition following the World Bank Atlas 2003.
The World Bank Atlas (36th edition) vividly illustrates the key development challenges in the world today. It provides easy-to read, colorful world maps, tables, and graphs highlighting key social, economic, and environmental data for 208 countries.
The World Bank Annual Report 2004 / The Annual Report is prepared by the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA) in accordance with the by-laws of the two institutions. James D. Wolfensohn, President of the IBRD and IDA and Chairman of the Boards of Executive Directors, submits the Report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.
Targeting of Transfers in Developing Countries / Drawing on a database of more than one hundred anti-poverty interventions in 47 countries, the report provides a general review of experiences with methods used to target interventions in transition and developing countries. it conveys what targeting options are available, what results can be expected as well as information that will assist in choosing among them and in their implementation. Key messages are:
· While targeting “works” - the median program transfers 25 percent more to the poor than would a universal allocation - targeting performance around the world is highly variable.
· Means testing, geographic targeting, and self-selection based on a work requirement are the most robustly progressive methods. Proxy means testing, community-based selection of individuals and demographic targeting to children show good results on average, but with considerable variation. Demographic targeting to the elderly, community bidding, and self-selection based on consumption show limited potential for good targeting.
· There is no single preferred method for all types of programs or all country contexts. Successful targeting depends critically on how a method is implemented.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative: An Independent Evaluation of the World Bank's Support Through 2003 / This book provides an independent assessment of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative for the World Bank as well as the broader development community. It offers a frank and in-depth review of the progress thus far, with particular focus on the role and effectiveness of the Bank’s support, drawing from extensive discussions with national stakeholders in Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP) countries, research and analytical work, and country case study reports on ten PRSP countries: Albania, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
Public Pension Fund Management: Governance, Accountability, and Investment Policies / The publication highlights the key themes and findings of the Second Public Pension Fund Management Conference which was organized by the Bank and took place in May 2003. This book addresses issues of governance, accountability, and investment policies and aims to foster ongoing dialogue and exchange of experiences across regions and between emerging and developed economies.
Accelerating Development: Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 2004 / The Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) is one of the world's best known series of conferences for the presentation and discussion of new knowledge about development. First held at World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. in 1988, the ABCDE has become broader in scope as the world's economies have become more interconnected and challenges have become more complex.
Presenting the proceedings of the May 2003 World Bank Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), the volume imparts new research findings and discussions on key policy issues related to poverty reduction by eminent scholars and practitioners from around the world. Topics include Fostering Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Growth; Challenges of Development in Lagging Regions; Participation, Inclusion and Results and Scaling Up and Evaluation. Contributors to the volume include, Nicholas Stern, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank; Azim Hasham Premji, Chairman of Bangalore’s Wipro Corporation; Francois Bourguignon of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Possiy, France; Partha Dasgupta of Cambridge University; Justin Lin of Hong Kong University; Rakesh Mohan, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Jean Philippe Platteau of the University of Namur, Belgium; Karen Polenske of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; T. N. Srinivasan, of Yale University; and Anthony Venables of the London School of Economics.
Transition Years: Reflections on Economic Reform and Social Change in Europe and Central Asia / The Europe and Central Asia region has experienced unprecedented challenges since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. This vast region of 28 countries and 500 million people faced a triple transition: moving from central planning to market economies, from integrated to fragmented economies space, and from communism to democracy. Johannes Linn was a close observer of and participant in this process as Vice President of the World Bank’s ECA regional office from 1996 to 2003.
Green miniAtlas / The Green miniAtlas is an "at-a-glance" guide to the most pressing environmental problems around the world. It draws on data from the World Bank's Little Green Data Book, providing a wealth of information on key environmental topics for over 200 countries and territories. Taking an in-depth look at such critical issues as agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, energy, emission and pollution, water and sanitation, protected areas, the Green miniAtlas is a unique and timely resource for better understanding the world's most urgent environmental challenges.
International Financial Reporting Standards: A Practical Guide / Applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in a business situation can have a significant effect on the financial results and position of a division or an entire business enterprise. International Financial Reporting Standards: A Practical Guide gives private – or public-sector executives, managers, or financial analysts without a strong background in accounting the tools they need to participate in discussions and decisions on the appropriateness or application of IFRS.
Financial Sector Policy and the Poor
Selected findings and issues / Financial Sector Policy and the Poor is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank’s ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion.
Gender, Conflict, and Development / The authors identify a link between gender and conflict issues and provide the most comprehensive review of external and internal sources on gender and conflict, with a particular focus on policy relevance for an institution such as the Bank.
The microeconomics of income distribution dynamics
in East Asia and Latin America / Economists have had much to say about what causes aggregate economic growth, but they have been more reticent about the distributional dimension of that growth. Understanding development and the process of poverty reduction requires understanding not only how total income grows but also how its distribution behaves over time. This book is a major new contribution to that process.
A guide to
Competitive vouchers in health / The book provides a broad outline of the problems health systems face, the rationale behind government intervention particularly in the form of subsidies, and the different ways that governments and donors subsidize health care.
Reshaping the future / The aim of Reshaping the Future is to draw international attention to the key role that education can play in both preventing conflict and in reconstructing post-conflict societies. The author also hopes to alert developing countries and donors alike to the devastating consequences of conflict on a country’s education systems and outcomes, as well to emphasize the importance of maximizing the opportunities to reform education systems presented by a reconstruction setting, adopting a long-term development perspective, and emphasizing equity and quality in the delivery of education services.
Perspectives on Development
autumn 2004 / “Perspectives on Development” provides information on regional perspectives, thematic perspectives, selected development indicators and links to World Bank websites.
Deeper Integration and Trade in Services in the Euro-Mediterranean Region: Southern Dimensions of the European Neighborhood Policy / This title analyzes the adjustment needs and policy options associated with deeper integration between the two sides of the Mediterranean Sea. It puts specific emphasis on the dynamics of deeper integration at the company level, including issues such as outward processing trade, supply-chain integration, and the outsourcing of back-office functions. In addition to a general discussion of deeper integration and trade in services liberalization, the title also contains a detailed assessment of individual sectors – especially the backbone services (e.g. transport, telecommunication, financial markets, electricity) and other markets of particular relevance for deeper integration (e.g. tourism, IT-enabled services, distribution services).