In absence of deposit insurance, underdeveloped financial systems can exhibit a coordination failure between banks, unable to commit on safe asset holding, and depositors, anticipating low deposit repayment in bad states.
... See More + This paper shows conditions under which a government can solve this failure by imposing safe asset purchases, which boosts deposits by increasing depositor repayment in bad states. In so doing, financial regulation stimulates bank profits if subsequent deposit growth exceeds the intermediation margin decline. As a result, it also promotes loans and branch installation with deposits. Two empirical tests are presented: 1) a regulation change by the National Bank of Ethiopia in 2011; 2) the introduction of bank taxes in Antebellum USA (1800-1861). Analyzing bank balance sheets and long-term branch installation, the regulation effects are isolated exploiting heterogeneity in bank size and policies introduction respectively, and find increases in branches, deposits, loans, and safe assets, with no decline in overall profits.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7734 JUN 28, 2016
Devolving property rights to local institutions has emerged as a compelling management strategy for natural resource management in developing countries.
... See More + The use of property rights among fishing cooperatives operating in Mexico's Gulf of California provides a compelling setting for theoretical and empirical analysis. A dynamic theoretical model demonstrates how fishing cooperatives' management choices are shaped by the presence of property rights, the mobility of resources, and predictable environmental fluctuations. More aggressive management comes in the form of the cooperative leadership paying lower prices to cooperative members for their catch, as lower prices disincentivize fishing effort. The model's implications are empirically tested using three years of daily logbook data on prices and catches for three cooperatives from the Gulf of California. One cooperative enjoys property rights while the other two do not. There is empirical evidence in support of the model: compared to the other cooperatives, the cooperative with strong property rights pays members a lower price, pays especially lower prices for less mobile species, and decreases prices when environmental fluctuations cause population growth rates to fall. The results from this case study demonstrate the viability of cooperative management of resources but also point toward quantitatively important limitations created by the mismatch between the scale of a property right and the scale of a resource.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7662 MAY 05, 2016
Aburto-Oropeza,Octavio; Leslie,Heather M.; Mack-Crane,Austen; Nagavarapu,Sriniketh Suryasesha; Reddy,Sheila M.W.; Sievanen,LeilaDisclosed
What is the impact of fiscal policy shocks on key macroeconomic variables in Canada? This question triggered renewed interest in the aftermath of the 2008-09 Great Recession.
... See More + Indeed, as in many advanced economies, fiscal policy in Canada following the recession started with an expansionary phase to boost domestic demand. It progressed to an adjustment phase to reduce public debt and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability and sustained growth. This paper analyzes the effects of fiscal policy shocks on the Canadian economy, building on the sign-restrictions-VAR approach. Unlike previous studies, this paper explicitly accounts for spillovers from the U.S., Canada's main trading partner, and for oil price fluctuations. The findings show that the size and sign of the spending and tax revenue multipliers depend on whether the analysis controls for the exogenous factors. The tax-cut multiplier varies between 0.2 and 0.5, while the spending multiplier ranges between 0.2 and 1.1; the spending multiplier tends to be larger than the tax-cut multiplier over the past two decades.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7654 APR 27, 2016
Did unemployment in the Great Recession hurt people's health? The broad answer is no: job losses have statistically insignificant impacts on mortality.
... See More + The exogenous sources of job losses in a U.S. county is the tradable job losses driven by external demand collapses during the Great Recession. The insignificant relationship holds for males and females, for all age groups, and for almost all categories of mortality. Three important exceptions are Alzheimer's, poisoning, and homicide.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7603 MAR 16, 2016
This paper explores the spillover effects of job losses via input linkages during the Great Recession. Exploiting exogenous variation in tradable employment shocks across U.S. counties, the paper finds that job losses in the tradable sectors cause further job losses in local supporting services.
... See More + The result is not due to reverse causation, construction job losses, or credit shortages. In addition, the paper finds that logistic supporting services are relatively more affected by local tradable job losses, while professional supporting services, such as information technology and management consulting, are more affected by the job losses in neighboring counties.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7543 JAN 22, 2016
With summer and baseball season in full swing, the Archives highlights an annual tradition that took place under Eugene Black, the third President of the World Bank Group.
... See More + In 1949, when Black became President, the Bank was a small organization and its mission only vaguely understood and its future path uncertain. This gave Black the opportunity to make an impact on its development, as well as become more involved in the Bank’s social events. Though relatively small in 1949, the Bank staff, and its Board of Executive Directors, was very diverse. The Board was composed of thirteen Executive Directors, each of a different nationality, and together represented more than fifty countries. In order to provide this group with a team building, and quintessentially American, experience Black invited the Board of Directors and their sons to celebrate summer at a Washington Senators' baseball game. This event occurred first in 1950, and once a summer the World Bank Fathers and Sons would be bused to RFK Stadium for an evening of basball, food and fun. By the end of the tradition in 1962, it had grown to include a pre-game buffet in the stadium and an attendance of more than hundred people of a dozen nationalities. This exhibit was originally published in April 2011.
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Ever since the World Bank opened for business on June 25, 1946 the address of its headquarters has been 1818 H Street N.W., Washington, District of Colombia (D.
... See More + C.) During the first Board of Governors meeting in Savannah, Georgia, in March 1946, the city of Washington was chosen as the future site of the World Bank. John Maynard Keynes of the British delegation had argued strenuously for New York, but the Americans insisted on Washington and carried the day. As it happened, a survey of downtown Washington was made to locate satisfactory quarters for the Bank and the fund prior to May 1, 1946. The results of this survey showed that the 1818 H Street building (what became the A building in the old main complex) contained the most satisfactory space that could be made available. The building had originally been constructed in 1941 for the United States (U.S.) Surgeon General, and in 1946 it was occupied by offices of the U.S. State Department. In seeking this office space, the public buildings administration of the U.S. Government was contacted, and in cooperation with the Executive Offices of the White House (including a direct appeal to President Truman from World Bank President Eugene Meyer) space was assigned in the building for the Bank and the fund. This exhibit was originally published in February 2003.
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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 paper uses a combination of survey questions to instructors and data collected from course syllabi and examinations to examine how the subject of development economics is taught at the undergraduate and masters levels in developing countries, and benchmark this against undergraduate classes in the United States.
... See More + The study finds that there is considerable heterogeneity in what is considered development economics: there is a narrow core of only a small set of topics such as growth theory, poverty and inequality, human capital, and institutions taught in at least half the classes, with substantial variation in other topics covered. In developing countries, development economics is taught largely as a theoretical subject coupled with case studies, with few courses emphasizing data or empirical methods and findings. This approach contrasts with the approach taken in leading U.S. economics departments and with the evolution of development economics research. The analysis finds that country income per capita, the role of the state in the economy, the education level in the country, and the involvement of the instructor in research are associated with how close a course is to the frontier. The results suggest there are important gaps in how development economics is taught.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7521 DEC 21, 2015
A review of the history of the United States from its colonial origins shows how America's successful development has always been guided by two basic principles: representative democracy, and a proper division of power between national and subnational governments.
... See More + The United States of America was established as an independent nation by a congress of delegates from 13 provincial assemblies, each of which consisted of representatives elected by their communities. Since colonial times, local democratic rights have attracted immigrants to help build new towns in the growing nation. Responsible local governments in America have had the power and the incentive to make local public investments for developing prosperous communities. Democratic competition in America has been strengthened by the ability of successful local leaders to become competitive candidates for higher offices. But in spite of America's example, many nations since the French Revolution have instead been drawn to centralized democracy, as national elites may prefer to centralize power around themselves. America's successful growth ultimately depended on its citizens' basic understanding that their welfare and security were enhanced by a balanced federal division of power between their elected local governments and the higher sovereign government of their nation.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7512 DEC 11, 2015
This paper provides empirical evidence for the Keynesian demand-driven propagation: initial rounds of job losses lead to additional rounds of job losses.
... See More + The paper shows that U.S. counties with higher pre-existing exposure to tradable industries experienced larger job losses in non-tradable sectors during the Great Recession. This was arguably because laid-off tradable workers cut their consumption, which hurts local non-tradable firms. The finding is not driven by exposure to the construction sector, by the collapse in house prices, or by credit supply problems. In addition, the spillover is stronger when the focus is on the job losses of more income-elastic non-tradable sectors.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7456 OCT 26, 2015
This economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Canada. 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 Canada 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 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 economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for San Marino. 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 San Marino ranks 76. 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 economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for United States. 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 United States ranks 7. 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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By letter dated April 17, 2014, the Government of the Republic of Nauru applied for membership in the Bank. The Republic of Nauru has also applied for membership in the International Monetary Fund.
... See More + The Executive Board of the fund has recommended to the Fund Board of Governors that the Republic of Nauru be admitted to membership with a quota of special drawing right (SDR) 2.0 million. On that basis, Nauru’s corresponding obligatory subscription in the Bank is 336 shares of capital stock (obligatory shares). This subscription includes shares that will have been allocated to Nauru under all earlier general capital increases. Nauru will receive votes for each share of capital stock subscribed, plus basic votes as described in article V, section 4 (b) of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) articles of agreement, as amended.
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for Jersey, Channel Islands. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for United States. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for Channel Islands. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for Nauru. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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This country data report summarizes the data from the worldwide governance indicators (WGI) project for San Marino. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: (i) voice and accountability, (ii) political stability and absence of violence and terrorism, (iii) government effectiveness, (iv) regulatory quality, (v) rule of law, and (vi) control of corruption.
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