This document has been produced by the World Bank to support the Government of Guatemala as it improves its transport and logistics sector management in pursuit of enhanced country competitiveness.
... See More + It identifies and defines elements of a National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) through the development of a methodology which analyzes bottlenecks and related costs along the main logistics corridors. It does so with a view to (a) mobilizing support in the trading community (essentially private sector) for logistic service improvements, (b) identifying the need for broader public-sector reforms in transport which indirectly impact logistics performance, and (c) helping the Government to set sector priorities and hence to prioritize public investment. At the same time, it points out where improved data and monitoring of performance are needed in order to better quantify economic costs, diagnose key logistics issues, and track improved performance. It thereby proposes, as part of the set of recommended activities, to build the Government of Guatemalas capacity to measure performance and take action. While the document is based on sound analysis of some aspects of the countrys logistics system, it must be considered primarily a starting point which is subject to broad country dissemination and debate by public and private stakeholders.
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Working Paper 93529 JAN 01, 2015
Dumitrescu, Anca C.; Smith, Graham; Osborne, Theresa K.
This paper investigates the causal consequences of Tropical Storm Agatha (2010) -- the strongest tropical storm ever to strike Guatemala since rainfall records have been kept -- on household welfare.
... See More + The analysis reveals substantial negative effects, particularly among urban households. Per capita consumption fell by 12.6 percent, raising poverty by 5.5 percentage points (an increase of 18 percent). The negative effects of the shock span other areas of human welfare. Households cut back on food consumption (10 percent or 43 to 108 fewer calories per person per day) and reduced expenditures on basic durables. These effects are related to a drop in income per capita (10 percent), mostly among salaried workers. Adults coped with the shock by increasing their labor supply (on the intensive margin) and simultaneously relying on the labor supply of their children and withdrawing them from school. Impact heterogeneity is associated with the intensity of the shock, food price inflation, and the timing of Agatha with respect to the harvest cycle of the main crops. The results are robust to placebo treatments, household migration, issues of measurement error, and different samples. The negative effects of the storm partly explain the increase in poverty seen in urban Guatemala between 2006 and 2011, which national authorities and analysts previously attributed solely to the collateral effects of the global financial crisis.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7177 JAN 01, 2015
Baez, Javier E.; Lucchetti, Leonardo; Genoni, Maria E.; Salazar, Mateo
This economy profile for Doing Business 2015 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Guatemala. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2015 is the 12th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Guatemala ranks 73. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business known as indicators. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2014 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2013).
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The development objective of the Pilot to Improve the Development and Nutrition of Young Children in Poor Rural Areas in Guatemala Project for Guatemala is to strengthen the capacity of parents and communities to improve and monitor child development outcomes (physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and linguistic skills) for children under two in project intervention areas.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) mapping early stimulation practices in (and applicable to) the participating communities. Conducting a diagnostic of current practices and beliefs in understanding the context and in designing an appropriate parenting and early stimulation package; (2) investigating current child feeding and caring behaviors; (3) conducting the consultation process in intervention areas following the guidelines included in the municipal code (articles 38, 60, 65, and 66), as well as the framework included in the present indigenous people's plan (IPP); (4) creating an ethics code for proper socio-cultural interaction of project staff with beneficiaries and community members following local norms and belief systems; and (5) organizing the project activities by observing the indigenous ritual and festive calendars.
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This is the first edition of the of the Guatemala Economic DNA (Diagnostic for National Action) with a focus section on job creation. The report highlights the important achievements of Guatemala on the macroeconomic stability front.
... See More + It also argues that these achievements will need to be secured and makes the case for an increased focus on accelerating economic growth. For example, this edition highlights that in 2013 the country's economic activity expanded by 3.7 percent in 2013, and is projected to grow around 3.6 percent in the near-term, in line with the growth of Central American economies but below the growth rate in emerging markets. Meanwhile, inflation has been managed and the authorities deserve to be recognized for their commitment to maintain macroeconomic stability. Guatemala's economy has recovered at a modest but consistent pace since the global financial crisis of 2008-09. Guatemala's macroeconomic resilience is due to prudent macroeconomic policies and a more diversified economy in comparison to other Central American countries, which has helped cushion the impact of shocks. Accelerating growth can substantially reduce poverty in Guatemala, but this will require improvements in economy-wide productivity. Public investment is essential to achieving Guatemala's development goals, yet it remains tightly constrained by a lack of resources, and the government continues to collect the lowest share of public revenues in the world relative to the size of its economy. This report, underscores the extent to which structural constraints on enterprise development slow hiring rates, discourage technology transfer, and promote informality. Several cross-cutting factors are also closely correlated with job creation in Guatemala, including financial depth, exposure to corruption, and informality. Strengthening the rule of law and streamlining regulatory systems will be essential to facilitating firm growth, fostering greater competitiveness, and boosting the returns to both labor and capital.
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Working Paper 90491 AUG 01, 2014
Hernandez, Marco Antonio; Tiongson, Erwin; Saldarriaga, Miguel Angel; Clavijo, Mateo; Loyola, Jorge; Lothrop, Sean; Scott, Kinnon; Udomsaph, Charles; Coates, Brendan; Leon, Cesar; Hanusch, Marek; Arnal, Matias; Lachy, DianaSpanish
This is the first edition of the of the Guatemala Economic DNA (Diagnostic for National Action) with a focus section on job creation. The report highlights the important achievements of Guatemala on the macroeconomic stability front.
... See More + It also argues that these achievements will need to be secured and makes the case for an increased focus on accelerating economic growth. For example, this edition highlights that in 2013 the country's economic activity expanded by 3.7 percent in 2013, and is projected to grow around 3.6 percent in the near-term, in line with the growth of Central American economies but below the growth rate in emerging markets. Meanwhile, inflation has been managed and the authorities deserve to be recognized for their commitment to maintain macroeconomic stability. Guatemala's economy has recovered at a modest but consistent pace since the global financial crisis of 2008-09. Guatemala's macroeconomic resilience is due to prudent macroeconomic policies and a more diversified economy in comparison to other Central American countries, which has helped cushion the impact of shocks. Accelerating growth can substantially reduce poverty in Guatemala, but this will require improvements in economy-wide productivity. Public investment is essential to achieving Guatemala's development goals, yet it remains tightly constrained by a lack of resources, and the government continues to collect the lowest share of public revenues in the world relative to the size of its economy. This report, underscores the extent to which structural constraints on enterprise development slow hiring rates, discourage technology transfer, and promote informality. Several cross-cutting factors are also closely correlated with job creation in Guatemala, including financial depth, exposure to corruption, and informality. Strengthening the rule of law and streamlining regulatory systems will be essential to facilitating firm growth, fostering greater competitiveness, and boosting the returns to both labor and capital.
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Working Paper 90491 AUG 01, 2014
Hernandez, Marco Antonio; Tiongson, Erwin; Saldarriaga, Miguel Angel; Clavijo, Mateo; Loyola, Jorge; Lothrop, Sean; Scott, Kinnon; Udomsaph, Charles; Coates, Brendan; Leon, Cesar; Hanusch, Marek; Arnal, Matias; Lachy, DianaEnglish
The Urban Infrastructure Project (PIU) of Guatemala aims to improve the quality of life for residents of communities in distress within the Commonwealth Big City South (MGCS) through actions to improve infrastructure and crime prevention activities and violence.
... See More + In that sense this framework aims to ensure that communities and vulnerable social groups, can participate in the design and implementation of project activities, by the fact that it is the social base to which the project is addressed. A special emphasis on indigenous peoples is included in this Guide in order to ensure that the rights of peoples shall not be violated, and that also included mechanisms to ensure their participation in the implementation of this project. The activities under the project could pose some potential effects on the social and economic level that could affect vulnerable populations and indigenous peoples. The nature of the project, is not supposed to have high-impact effects, because it does involves massive population displacements and considerable loss of land, housing and assets The possible effects that may result from this project and specific actions for subprojects, which require the full participation of stakeholders groups of the vulnerable and indigenous, to enhance its positive effects and reduce the negative impacts are as follows: 1) Reducing crime and violence in communities by improving infrastructure in urban slums (access, lighting, decoration and public spaces), which requires active social participation of communities to design and implement best options for investments benefitting the greatest number of inhabitants; 2) Training bodies at Community level in which the project works should be comprehensive and long-term benefits to effectively contribute to improving the living conditions of the population and also have a favorable impact on reducing crime and delinquency since a strong involvement of community organizations avoid the risk that the works deteriorate rapidly becoming obsolete; 3) Increase access to basic services because the communities and townships that will be included in this project, have very little in terms of basic services, and that is what is to be solved with this project; 4) Recovery of public spaces as the project aims to restore public spaces to reconvert them into areas of mobility, recreation, or culture.
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The objective of the Urban Infrastructure Project of Guatemala is to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of precarious communities within the Commonwealth Big City South through actions of infrastructure improvement and prevention measures of crime and violence.
... See More + Land acquisition or relocation may result from some of the sub-projects such as vehicular streets cobbled entrances, sidewalks and pedestrian stands, signage and naming of streets, construction of public transport and street lighting could have an impact that is only temporary or partial. Another type of sub-projects, such as community centers or parks, may require the acquisition of overall properties. In order to mitigate these impacts it will be necessary to: a) Minimize resettlement from the project, and the impact generated for them to be the same. b) Assist the affected people in a resettlement in improving their standard of living or, at least, to maintain pre-resettlement conditions. c) Consider all social and economic aspects of resettlement at the time of making the same, in order to give effective coverage benefits of the affected population.
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