The main goal of this paper is to document and analyze the long-term evolution of inequality of opportunity and thus extend the recent empirical literature, which is mainly concerned with its measurement at a specific point in time.
... See More + Using repeated cross-section surveys for five European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Switzerland), the evolution of inequality of opportunity is measured for a period of about two decades for the whole populations, as well as for different birth cohorts. Relative inequality of opportunity represents an important portion of total income inequality, with values ranging from 30 to 50 percent according to the standard deviation of logs (and reaching a lower share in case of mean log deviation) and, for all the countries, it shows a stable or declining time trend. When the birth cohorts are followed across time, inequality of opportunity decreases with age: the effect of circumstances seems to weaken over the life cycle. This is a quite different age profile from that of inequality of outcomes (income or consumption), which generally increases with age. A decomposition of the relative inequality of opportunity allows highlighting some key drivers of its time evolution. In all the countries, there has been a clear enhancement of equality of educational opportunity (as captured by a downward trending intergenerational education persistence) and a reduction of the returns to education. However, for some countries, notably Italy, these trends have failed to translate into decreasing inequality of opportunity in the income distribution because of the increasing role of parental networking (an additional channel through which parental background affects the incomes of offspring).
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8700 JAN 15, 2019
Sixteenth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2019 covers 11 areas of business regulation.
... See More + Ten of these areas - 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 - are included in the ease of doing business score and ease of doing business ranking. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in these two measures. Doing Business provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. This economy profile presents indicators for Germany; for 2019 Germany ranks 24.
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Doing Business 2018 is the 15th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Germany. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies; for 2018 Germany ranks 20. Doing Business measures aspects of regulation affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. 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 features of labor market regulation, which is not included in this year’s ranking. Data in Doing Business 2018 are current as of June 1, 2017. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms of business regulation have worked, where and why.
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This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Germany. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2016 Germany ranks 17. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2017 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2016 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January–December 2015).
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The portability of social benefits is gaining importance given the increasing share of individuals working at least part of their life outside their home country.
... See More + Bilateral social security agreements (BSSAs) are considered a crucial approach to establishing portability, but the functionality and effectiveness of these agreements have not yet been investigated; thus importance guidance for policy makers in migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries is missing. To shed light on how BSSAs work in practice, this document is part of a series providing information and lessons from studies of portability in four diverse but comparable corridors: Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco. A summary policy paper draws broader conclusions and offers overarching policy recommendations. This report looks specifically into the working of the Germany-Turkey corridor. Findings suggest that the BSSA between Germany and Turkey is broadly working well, with no main substantive issues in the area of pension portability and few minor substantive issues concerning health care portability and financing. Some process issues around information and automation of information exchange are recognized and are beginning to be addressed.
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This report covers the remarks by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim about development in a time of global interdependence, at Berlin, Germany.
... See More + He spoke about challenges that are as complex and vexing which the world faces today. He explained about how the major issues that evolve in a developing country now swiftly move to affect developed countries. He discussed about the following three points to tackle the global issues: 1) First, addressing the challenge of global threats that cross boundaries and regions will become ever more central to achieving the mission to end extreme poverty; 2) Second, must focus much more effectively on managing risk and uncertainty; and 3) Third major change is to do much more to address the deep pockets of poverty and rising inequality in countries at every income level. He concluded by saying that in this rapidly changing world, the number of threats are growing and they are increasingly global, and World Bank Group, is now better equipped to tackle these global threats.
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This report covers the remarks by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim about development in a time of global interdependence, at Berlin, Germany.
... See More + He spoke about challenges that are as complex and vexing which the world faces today. He explained about how the major issues that evolve in a developing country now swiftly move to affect developed countries. He discussed about the following three points to tackle the global issues: 1) First, addressing the challenge of global threats that cross boundaries and regions will become ever more central to achieving the mission to end extreme poverty; 2) Second, must focus much more effectively on managing risk and uncertainty; and 3) Third major change is to do much more to address the deep pockets of poverty and rising inequality in countries at every income level. He concluded by saying that in this rapidly changing world, the number of threats are growing and they are increasingly global, and World Bank Group, is now better equipped to tackle these global threats.
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This report covers the remarks by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim about development in a time of global interdependence, at Berlin, Germany.
... See More + He spoke about challenges that are as complex and vexing which the world faces today. He explained about how the major issues that evolve in a developing country now swiftly move to affect developed countries. He discussed about the following three points to tackle the global issues: 1) First, addressing the challenge of global threats that cross boundaries and regions will become ever more central to achieving the mission to end extreme poverty; 2) Second, must focus much more effectively on managing risk and uncertainty; and 3) Third major change is to do much more to address the deep pockets of poverty and rising inequality in countries at every income level. He concluded by saying that in this rapidly changing world, the number of threats are growing and they are increasingly global, and World Bank Group, is now better equipped to tackle these global threats.
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This report covers the remarks by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim about development in a time of global interdependence, at Berlin, Germany.
... See More + He spoke about challenges that are as complex and vexing which the world faces today. He explained about how the major issues that evolve in a developing country now swiftly move to affect developed countries. He discussed about the following three points to tackle the global issues: 1) First, addressing the challenge of global threats that cross boundaries and regions will become ever more central to achieving the mission to end extreme poverty; 2) Second, must focus much more effectively on managing risk and uncertainty; and 3) Third major change is to do much more to address the deep pockets of poverty and rising inequality in countries at every income level. He concluded by saying that in this rapidly changing world, the number of threats are growing and they are increasingly global, and World Bank Group, is now better equipped to tackle these global threats.
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This report discusses the remarks delivered by Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank at press conference. He discusses on the following topics: using every innovative financial tool, utilizing loans and grants, mixing them together, trying to figure out ways to create hope, and optimism in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Tunisia; unemployment rates among college-educated people; insurance policy against the disaster of pandemic; and answers to question on Panama papers and corruption.
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Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations.
... See More + It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2016 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business.This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in The g7 . It also shows the regional average, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2015 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January–December 2014).
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This economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Germany. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2016 is the 13th 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 Germany ranks 15. 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 sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2015 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2014).
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This report discusses the remarks delivered by Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. He discusses on applying the world’s best ideas, knowledge, and experience in development to accomplish our twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030, and boosting shared prosperity.
... See More + He speaks about helping the poor and vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries in the world not only for poverty reduction within their borders, but is important for growth around the world, especially going forward. He talks about the strategy to invest in people, especially through education and health. He stresses on investments in girls and women that are particularly important because they have a multiplier effect on the well-being of the extreme poor. He speaks about protecting people from deadly pandemics especially in developing countries. He insists the students that they must apply what they have learnt, and must do, for the sake of the poorest, for the children, and for the sake of our humanity.
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This economy profile for Doing Business 2015 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Germany. 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 Germany ranks 14. 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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Germany's contributions to the World Bank Group (WBG) totaled United States (U.S.) 8,339.2 million dollars for fiscal years 2009-14. In the first six months of fiscal year 2014, Germany contributed U.S. 708.3 million dollars to the International Development Association (IDA), U.S. 150.6 million dollars to International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and IDA trust funds (TFs), and U.S. 305.9 million dollars to Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs).
... See More + The number of active TFs at end of FY14 was 63, including 48 IBRD and IDA TFs, 12 FIFs, and 3 International Finance Corporation (IFC) TF. Germany ranked third among development partners in terms of contributions to WBG TFs over fiscal years 2009-14. German contributions were received mainly from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), at 73 percent, and from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), at 21 percent. This portfolio at a glance brief contains the following headings: WBG TFs receiving cash contributions; top WBG TF agreements (first two quarters of FY14); IBRD and IDA TF disbursements; and WBG TF portfolio comparisons.
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This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Germany. In a series of annual reports, Doing Business assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 189 economies and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and trading across borders.
... See More + This year's report data cover regulations measured from June 2012 through May 2013. The report is the 11th edition of the Doing Business series.
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This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in European Union (EU). It also shows the regional average, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions: East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and OECD High Income.
... See More + The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2013, except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January to December 2012. Regional Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across countries in a single region. They provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. The report sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. 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, over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high-income economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why.
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This paper investigates the adverse effects of oil price volatility on economic activity and the extent to which countries can hedge against such effects by using renewable energy.
... See More + By considering the Realized Volatility of oil prices, rather than following the standard approach of considering oil price shocks in levels, the effects of factor price uncertainty on economic activity are analyzed. Sample countries represent developed and developing, oil importing and exporting and service/industry-based economies (United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, India, and Malaysia) and thus complement the standard literature's analysis of Western OECD countries. In a vector auto-regressive setting, Granger causality tests, impulse response functions, and variance decompositions show that oil price volatility has more-adverse effects in all sample countries than oil price shocks alone can explain. The paper finds that the sensitivity to oil price volatility varies widely across countries and discusses various factors which may determine the level of sensitivity (such as sectoral composition and the energy mix). This implies that the standard approach of solely considering net oil importer-exporter status is not sufficient. Simulations of volatility shocks in hypothetical energy mixes (with increased renewable shares) illustrate the potential economic benefits resulting from efforts to disconnect the macroeconomy from volatile commodity markets. It is concluded that expanding renewable energy can in principle reduce an economy's vulnerability to oil price volatility, but a country-specific analysis would be necessary to identify concrete policy measures. Overall, the paper provides an additional rationale for reducing exposure and vulnerability to oil price volatility for the sake of economic growth.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6603 SEP 01, 2013
This paper analyzes annual accounting data for a sample of 5,000 publicly traded manufacturing firms from Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
... See More + The analysis uses data from 1997 to 2011 and finds an increasing trend of excess savings (defined as the difference between gross saving and capital formation) and a gradual decline of gross capital formation. This trend is accompanied by a steady deleveraging process and a decrease in the share of operating assets in total assets. This process is more acute among the more credit constrained, the more volatile, and the less dynamic firms.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6571 AUG 01, 2013
This report gives 14 indicators that describe a country's macro fiscal environment to identify constraints or opportunities for health systems financing.
... See More + A country with a 10 percent unemployment rate that has fallen from 15 percent may be in better shape than one with an 8 percent unemployment rate that has risen from 4 percent. It is also important to benchmark to group averages of countries in the same World Bank (WB) region and income group- high income country (HIC), upper middle income country (MIC), lower MIC, or low income country (LIC).
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