The previous chapters have suggested that many policy-induced distortions constrain productivity and development in Brazil. As a result, a significant number of potential policy reforms could increase competition and thereby stimulate innovation and productivity growth.
... See More + These policies could also promote economic and social inclusion. Therefore, it is somewhat of a paradox that after many decades of debate on policies to promote development and a large volume of public resources spent, it appears so difficult to develop and implement successful policies. This chapter suggests that many of the currently-implemented policies failed because they have an intellectual justification rooted in distorted versions of development theory, or a misplaced vision of national security and self-sufficiency. The combination of interests with misleading intellectual justifications means that for reasons of history and political economy, adopting improved policies for productivity is very difficult. Even though the overall objective of growth is a nationally-shared aspiration, individual policy interventions have rarely had clear objectives.
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The development objective of the Urban Institutional and Infrastructure Development Program Project for Ethiopia is to enhance the institutional performance of participating urban local governments to develop and sustain urban infrastructure, services, and local economic development.
... See More + The proposed Urban Institutional and Infrastructure Development Program (UIIDP or Operation) will support the objectives of the WB’s Ethiopia Country Partnership Framework (CPF) (2018–22). The CPF for Ethiopia, discussed by the Board on June 27, 2017, has three strategic focus areas: (a) promoting structural and economic transformation through increased productivity, (b) building resilience and inclusiveness, and (c) supporting institutional accountability and confronting corruption. The proposed UIIDP supports all three focus areas. The UIIDP’s fundamental objectives and funding directly target the strengthening of urban governance and management systems, participatory strategic and spatial planning, improved transparency and accountability enhanced citizen engagement in decision-making of urban governments (including of women), public private dialogue, and directly financing urban infrastructure and services. By assisting to create well-functioning and productive urban centers, the UIIDP contributes to the WB’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.The proposed Operation will be financed through a hybrid of Investment Project Financing (IPF) and Program-for-Results (PforR) instruments. Most of the Operation is financed through the PforR instrument, which has proven to be the optimal and effective mechanism for providing conditional grants to regional states and ULGs, as demonstrated in the ULGDP II. There are four primary reasons for this. First, the UIIDP directly supports the government program and forms a core part of the existing intergovernmental fiscal architecture. Second, the basic goal of the UIIDP is to leverage the improved institutional performance of the local governments it supports to more effectively deliver infrastructure and service delivery, and ensure meeting of broader objectives and maximizing of development impact. Due to the direct relationship between the institutional results and the Program disbursements, the PforR instrument allows for a directly incentive-driven approach to achieve the Program Development Objective (PDO). Through the use of disbursement linked indicators (DLIs), the UIIDP will ensure that incentives of the regional and local levels of government are effectively aligned around the goals of the Program. Third, the Program will use, improve, and integrate GoE and local government systems, including public FM, social and environmental systems management and procurement systems. Fourth, the PforR instrument has proven as an effective and efficient tool in the implementation of the ULGDP II and this modality is critical to the success of the program. The government’s new UIIDP (2018–23) envisions that all cities will gradually generate increasing levels of municipal own-source revenues, with which to finance investments in infrastructure and deliver services. However, this will be a long-term process.
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The Public Expenditure and Public Utilities Development Policy Loan (PEPU DPL) series supports the Serbia government’s multi-year fiscal consolidation agenda under the following three development objectives: Pillar A: Improve public expenditure management through strengthened public financial management and public administration reform; Pillar B: Improve the financial sustainability and efficiency of energy sector public enterprises; and Pillar C: Improve the financial sustainability and efficiency of transport sector public enterprises and state-owned companies.
... See More + This DPL series contributes to the World Bank Country Partnership Framework (CPF) FY16-20 Focus Area 1: Economic Governance and the Role of the State and its related objectives. More specifically the CPF sets two focus areas for support: 1. Economic Governance and the Role of the State; and 2. Private Sector Growth and Economic Inclusion. The design of the DPL series reflects lessons learned from previous DPL operations in Serbia and energy, transport sector and public sector reform programs. Strong complementarity is built into this DPL series with the State-owned Enterprise (SOE) Reform DPLs, the PforR on Modernization and Optimization of Public Administration, and the Competitiveness and Jobs project. The series complements the Program-for-Results (PforR) operation on Modernization and Optimization of Public Administration which supports implementation of the key legislative and policy reforms under the Pillar A of the PEPU DPL.
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Ratings for the Mali: Project to support grassroots initiatives to fight hunger and poverty are as follows: Outcome was moderately unsatisfactory, Risk to development outcome was high, Institutional development impact was N/A, World Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and Borrower performance was satisfactory.
... See More + Lessons from the project include: (i) Projects that seek to “improve living conditions” need to define, benchmark, and measure a project’s attributable contribution to changes in human welfare. Measuring access to assets is an insufficient metric. (ii) Private productive investments should not be relied on to finance the operations and maintenance of core public services provided by World Bank–financed projects when local revenue recovery is not feasible. (iii) A pilot project should be designed to generate lessons: its M&E system should therefore double as a learning lab to test and adapt interventions within the country and sector context.
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Project Performance Assessment Report 123411 FEB 14, 2018
As emphasized in Toward Gender Equality in East Asia and the Pacific: A Companion Report to the World Development Report (World Bank 2012), gender inequality in access to economic opportunities, earnings, and productivity persists across East Asia and the Pacific.
... See More + These disparities include wage gaps and the concentration of women and woman-led enterprises in less-remunerative jobs and sectors. This is problematic for at least three reasons. First, utilizing the full potential ofwomen in the labor market would likely result in greater macroeconomic efficiency, all other factors being equal. Second, jobs can serve as direct instruments for the development and empowerment of women. Third, expanding opportunities for women in the labor market has the potential to produce tremendous positive spillovers on women's overall agency, control, and power.
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After a two-year recession, something last experienced over three decades ago, the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is growing again.
... See More + The challenge now is to accelerate and sustain growth to continue making progress on the social front as in the first decade and a half of the new century: between 2000 and 2014 the region managed to reduce poverty (US$4 a day poverty line) from 42.9 percent to 23.3 percent, cutting the number of poor people by 80 million at a time when the Latin American population increased by 100 million. A renewed emphasis on productivity comes up during any discussion of LAC’s growth agenda. After all, labor productivity in the region has stalled at around 30 percent of that of the U.S. Moreover, improvements on the productivity front would result not only in faster growth but also, as basic economic theory suggests, in better salaries for the workforce, therefore further contributing to poverty reduction and shared prosperity. But why is there such a gap in LAC’s productivity with respect to the developed countries? One factor is the large infrastructure investment and service gaps. Infrastructure investments can be a powerful engine for reviving and sustaining growth. A recent regional study on the determinants of growth in LAC indicates that infrastructure has been the main structural driver of growth in the region. Yet, LAC governments are well aware that public resources are not enough to satisfy infrastructure needs, especially in the context of ongoing fiscal adjustments across the region and the enormous need for infrastructure investment: an estimated $180 billion per year investment gap. And LAC governments are also aware that the private sector can play a central role to finance the existing gap. Not surprisingly then, LAC has made considerable strides in attracting private sector investments in infrastructure: the region has the largest stock of active Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) investments and the largest pipeline of infrastructure projects by volume globally, reflecting the central role of the private sector in the regional development agenda. Going forward, LAC countries will benefit from an improved environment for private investments, as well as for further developing a robust pipeline of bankable projects. This report showcases the different ways the World Bank Group has been part of these efforts to support the mobilization of private financing for infrastructure in the region, following what authors call the Cascade approach. These encompass everything from policy and regulatory advice to structuring support, guarantees schemes and financing. Country-specific examples presented in this report illustrate how private financing mobilization in LAC has been supported by the WBG. While not exhaustive, these examples are representative of the different strategies and instruments used by governments at the central and subnational levels to help leverage private sector participation in infrastructure. The WBG stands ready to continue to assist the region in that endeavor with financial support, as well as knowledge and convening services.
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Working Paper 123738 FEB 01, 2018
Abousleiman,Issam A.; Araujo,Jorge A. De Thompson R.Disclosed
New available data suggests that the business environment in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is not improving, and may be deteriorating.
... See More + The main constraints to doing business named by firms surveyed in the 2016 enterprise survey are the practices of the informal sector, with 40 percent of respondents identifying this as a major issue, followed by tax rates at 33 percent and transportation at 23 percent. Lao PDR has demonstrated impressive economic growth for the past decade, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 7 percent, largely concentrated in the natural resource sector. However, this has been accompanied by a less than proportionate decline in poverty and rising inequality. The main identified constraint to investment was the practice of firms in the informal sector, with 40 percent of respondents citing this issue as a serious problem. Coming in second was tax rates, cited as a constraint by 33 percent of firms. Large percentages of firms also mentioned that transportation, electricity, and inadequately educated workers were major problems. Large firms were more likely to consider workers’ education a problem, while transportation was proportionally a bigger issue for medium firms, as was tax rates for smaller firms. Regionally, firms in the north and south of the country were more likely to identify key issues as major problems than firms located in the central region or Vientiane.
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This paper describes the operational framework for implementing the IDA18 IFC-MIGA Private Sector Window pilot. As part of the IDA18 replenishment, IDA Deputies endorsed and IDA Executive Directors approved the creation of a 2.5 billion US dollars IDA18 Private Sector Window to mobilize private sector investment and scale up the growth of a sustainable and responsible private sector in the poorest IDA and fragile and conflict-affected IDA countries.
... See More + Building on key stakeholder feedback, this paper presents the operational framework for the PSW, which will begin implementation with the start of IDA18.
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Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes Accounting and Auditing (‘ROSC A&A’) assess financial reporting and auditing standards, institutions and practices in participating countries.
... See More + These reports form part of a joint initiative implemented by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to review the quality of implementation of internationally recognized standards and principles in 12 key areas (‘the ROSC program’) with a view to promoting financial and economic stability. This report provides an assessment of financial reporting and auditing requirements and practices within the corporate sector2 in the Philippines and sets forth areas for consideration for improving the institutional environment for A&A. The ROSC A&A used international benchmarks of good practice governing financial reporting and auditing in the assessment, including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA). This report updates an earlier assessment which was published in 2006 and was undertaken following a formal request from the Government of the Philippines.
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Accounting and Auditing Assessment (ROSC) 120118 SEP 28, 2017
De Guzman,Aisha Lanette N.; Sirois,Bonnie AnnDisclosed
This report examines the lives of poor men, women, and children and explores the constraints and opportunities they face today in rising out of poverty.
... See More + It builds on a rich body of poverty analysis and an excellent base of knowledge from previous reports and aims to do three things. First, it proposes revisions to Vietnam's poverty monitoring system - via better data, updated welfare aggregates, and new poverty lines - to bring these more in line with economic and social conditions in present-day Vietnam. Second, it revisits the stylized facts about deprivation and poverty in Vietnam, and develops an updated profile of poverty using data from the 2010 Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) and new qualitative field studies. Third, it analyzes some of the key challenges for poverty reduction in the next decade, including changing regional patterns of poverty and wealth, high and persistent poverty among ethnic minorities, and rising inequality in outcomes and opportunities.
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The objective of the Second Transport Sector Project for Mali is to provide better access and transport services to rural and urban communities by improving transport infrastructure in Mali.
... See More + This resettlement plan (RP) evaluated resettlement risks associated with the project and recommends measures to mitigation them. In this regard mitigation measures include: all project affected peoples (PAPs) are equally eligible for compensation and rehabilitation assistance, irrespective of land ownership status; ensure that those affected by the project will be at least as well off, if not better off than they would have been without the project; avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse resettlement impacts throughout and after implementation of the project; promote consultations and participatory seminars involving PAPs before any resettlement is initiated; conduct a socio-economic survey to assess PAPs belongings and property rights; ensure the restoration of public health and social services; establish programs for the re-establishment and reposition of : housing, loss of family income earning capacity; compensation for economic impacts, social services, organization of community activities; and finally, PAPs will be systematically informed and consulted about design and implementation stages of the project, and the RP will be disclosed and made available to the affected persons and communities.
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The objective of the Second Transport Sector Project for Mali is to provide better access and transport services to rural and urban communities by improving transport infrastructure in Mali.
... See More + This resettlement plan (RP) evaluated resettlement risks associated with the project and recommends measures to mitigation them. In this regard mitigation measures include : all project affected peoples (PAPs) are equally eligible for compensation and rehabilitation assistance, irrespective of land ownership status; ensure that those affected by the project will be at least as well off, if not better off than they would have been without the project; avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse resettlement impacts throughout and after implementation of the project; promote consultations and participatory seminars involving PAPs before any resettlement is initiated; conduct a socio-economic survey to assess PAPs belongings and property rights; ensure the restoration of public health and social services; establish programs for the re-establishment and reposition of : housing, loss of family income earning capacity; compensation for economic impacts, social services, organization of community activities; and finally, PAPs will be systematically informed and consulted about design and implementation stages of the project, and the RP will be disclosed and made available to the affected persons and communities.
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This Results Profile briefly mentions about helping women combat poverty in Kyrgyzstan. Supported by the IFC (International Finance Corporation), FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance) is helping ensure that even the smallest businesses can flourish by giving them access to additional funds.
... See More + FINCA has set out to help low-income urban and rural women in particular and now 90 percent of FINCA's clients in Kyrgyzstan are women who borrow an average of 120 dollars. FINCA uses a lending technique that relies on group guarantees - such as that provided by village banking group - instead of traditional collateral like property. Experience with such programs has shown that women in low-income areas are more apt to translate these kinds of earning opportunities into better health and education for their families, multiplying the benefits of such a small initial loan.
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