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.
See Less -
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).
See Less -
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).
See Less -
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.
See Less -
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).
See Less -
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.
See Less -
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.
See Less -
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.
See Less -
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.
See Less -
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.
See Less -
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).
See Less -
This tenth edition of 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 eleven 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 185 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. 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. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2012 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January - December 2011).
See Less -
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 10 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 and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. 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. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January- December 2010). The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the source of those obstacles, supporting policy makers in designing regulatory reform.
See Less -
This paper develops an empirical measure of growth poles and uses it to examine the phenomenon of multipolarity. The authors formally define several alternative measures, provide theoretical justifications for these measures, and compute polarity values for nation states in the global economy.
... See More + The calculations suggest that China, Western Europe, and the United States have been important growth poles over the broad course of world history, and in modern economic history the United States, Japan, Germany, and China have had prominent periods of growth polarity. The paper goes on to analyze the economic and institutional determinants, both at the proximate and fundamental level, that underlie this measure of polarity, as well as compute measures of dispersion in growth polarity shares for the major growth poles.
See Less -
Policy Research Working Paper WPS5712 JUN 01, 2011
The re-education of the German people overseen by the victorious allied powers, the inclusion of the causes and consequences of totalitarianism in school curricula and a comprehensive policy of ensuring that the Nazi period remained firmly in the German collective memory were the elements that formed the basis of a viable liberal-democratic post-war consensus in West Germany.
... See More + Democratic opinions and values progressively took the place of the racist, chauvinistic ideology of the National Socialists, which had proclaimed the superiority of the 'master race' and ultimately led to the outbreak of the Second World War. The most extensive re-education measures were implemented under the American occupation. The Office of Military Government for Germany US (OMGUS) under the US zone's Military Governor General Lucius D. Clay allocated $1.03 million to the education program in the period to 1948, while the amount increased to $48 million between 1949 and 1952 under the Office of the High Commissioner US, Germany (HICOG). In addition, by 1949 rehabilitation programs were already being undertaken in West Germany by more than 50 private American organizations, including the American Council on Education, the labor unions AFL and CIO, the League of Women Voters, and the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations (Rupieper 1996: 200).
See Less -
Doing business 2011: making a difference for entrepreneurs is the eighth in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + Doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. A set of regulations affecting nine stages of a business's life are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Data in doing business 2011 are current as of June 1, 2010. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The paper includes the following headings: overview, five-year measure of cumulative change, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
See Less -
This country level trade brief summarizes insights from the world trade indicators database as well as analyzes national impacts and responses to the food crisis and global recession.
... See More + The trade at a glance tables for Germany provide a snapshot of key aspects of trade policy and performance.
See Less -
Doing Business 2010 is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This paper presents the summary Doing Business indicators for Germany. The paper includes the following headings: introduction and aggregate rankings, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, closing a business, and Doing Business 2010 reform.
See Less -
This country level trade brief summarizes insights from the world trade indicators database as well as analyzes national impacts and responses to the food crisis and global recession.
... See More + The trade at a glance tables for Germany provide a snapshot of key aspects of trade policy and performance.
See Less -
Doing Business 2009 is the sixth in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 181 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This paper presents the summary Doing Business indicators for Germany. The paper includes the following headings: introduction, starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
See Less -