Document Type: Procurement Plan Report No.: STEP29571 Document Date: FEB 05, 2020

Author: Elena Malysheva Disclosure Status: Disclosed

This paper studies periods of prolonged contractions in output per capita in a sample of 145 countries from 1950 to 2014. Economic slumps are defined as abrupt interruptions of a period of growth by several regime switches. ... See More + Slumps start with a sharp contraction along with a trend break, which is followed by another switch when growth stabilizes again. The paper then analyzes the correlates of these slumps, focusing on the length and depth of the contraction, from the beginning of the slump to its trough. The results establish three new stylized facts: (i) weak political institutions predate crises whereas political reforms tend to follow them, (ii) the length and depth of economic declines are robustly correlated with executive constraints and ethnic heterogeneity, and (iii) there is a robust interaction between these two variables, suggesting that institutions constraining leaders are important for stabilizing growth. This is particularly relevant for Sub-Saharan Africa, where politics are often ethnic and decision makers are comparatively unconstrained.  See Less -

Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS9127 Document Date: JAN 29, 2020

Author: Bluhm,Richard; de Crombrugghe,Denis; Szirmai,Adam Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Financing Agreement Report No.: Document Date: JAN 23, 2020

Author: LEGKL Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Uzbekistan has one of the lowest rates of internal migration in the world, leading to persistent economic imbalances. Drawing from a unique monthly panel survey called Listening to the Citizens of Uzbekistan and a survey experiment, this paper focuses on two factors that prevent domestic mobility: (i) restrictive propiska registration policies, and (ii) the exceptionally high cost of urban housing. ... See More + Registration rules prohibit migration to urban centers, and urban housing costs push up the cost of living to as much as 550 percent of the national average, levels severely unaffordable for almost all rural residents. But the proposed government reforms in 2019 to address these challenges are very popular. The results show that about 90 percent of people support lifting all registration restrictions and over 80 percent favor increasing urban housing construction. The results of the experiment show that reform popularity increases when propiska rules and housing costs are referenced in randomly assigned vignettes. However, views may also be sensitive to perceptions of fairness. Recent high-profile involuntary demolitions coincided with a doubling of the share responding that policies are unfair. The increase was further associated with declining optimism and lower support for the wider government national development program, beyond urbanization issues.  See Less -

Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper Report No.: WPS9107 Document Date: JAN 08, 2020

Author: Seitz,William Hutchins Document also available in: Russian Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Financing Agreement Report No.: Document Date: JAN 06, 2020

Author: LEGKL Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Auditing Document Report No.: AUD0026982 Document Date: DEC 22, 2019

Author: Ahmadzai,Ahmed Shah Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Financing Agreement Report No.: Document Date: DEC 19, 2019

Author: LEGKL Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Financing Agreement Report No.: Document Date: DEC 18, 2019

Author: LEGKL Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Financing Agreement Report No.: Document Date: DEC 16, 2019

Author: LEGKL Disclosure Status: Disclosed

Document Type: Procurement Plan Report No.: STEP27620 Document Date: DEC 09, 2019

Author: Saad Saad Abdallah Disclosure Status: Disclosed