Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes

557 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9388

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Customs Reform in Developing Countries – Time for a Rethink?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-06-07) Arvanitis, Yannis ; Raballand, Gael

Customs have been at the core of development concerns, especially in developing countries. In this context, customs are developmentally important to the extent that they sit at the intersection between fiscal imperatives—due to their revenue collection potential and trade-related prerogatives—and security implications. Security imperatives usually trump other considerations in conflict-affected countries and introduce an additional layer of complexity to the reforms supported by the World Bank. This note proposes some possible approaches to customs reforms in developing countries, low-income countries (LICs) in particular. It is intended to help practitioners within the World Bank and other development partners to better understand the key aspects and peculiarities of customs reforms, with the ultimate goal of supporting them in framing their design. However, it is not intended to be comprehensive. Rather, it serves as a “how-to” guide for those not particularly familiar with the topic. It also complements a growing stock of academic pieces linked to customs, as well as findings from other operational evaluations (World Bank 2019). It also brings together practical experiences and feedback from practitioner
Options to Support Workers through a Transition away from Coal in Eastern Wielkopolska (March 2022)

(World Bank, WAshington DC, 2023-05-30) Honorati, Maddalena ; Banaszczyk, Anna

The objective of this policy note is to provide an overview of the three draft project proposals and to recommend key design principles and implementation arrangement options for a coordinated outplacement program in the Eastern Wielkopolska region that would provide a package of services to motivate and help affected workers find suitable jobs in alignment with the TJTP. The focus of the note is on interventions supporting the social and labor transition in Eastern Wielkopolska, rather than the economic, spatial, and energy transformations which are also part of the JTM Pillar. Efforts to promote local economic development and environmental rehabilitation of affected subregions as well as to develop stakeholder engagement and public communication strategies are beyond the scope of this note.
How Did Countries Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis? Emerging Patterns on Jobs-Relates Policies

(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-04-24) Contreras , Ivette ; Khamis, Melanie ; Newhouse, David ; Weber, Michael

This brief investigates the differences in countries’ jobs-related policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four main patterns emerge. First, the type of labor policies adopted by countries varied greatly according to their income level. Low-income countries were more likely to implement public works programs but not other policies, such as unemployment benefits, labor regulations, wage subsidies, training and placements policies, firm liquidity support, and cash transfers to workers. Meanwhile, countries with more formal workforce and existing unemployment benefits systems were more likely to implement policies such as unemployment benefits and labor regulations. Second, low- and lower-middle-income countries devoted a lower share of their gross domestic product (GDP) to expenditure on new job-related policies. Third, conditional on countries’ income group, the magnitude of the GDP shock did not have a statistically significant correlation with the adoption of different policies. This may reflect uncertainty in the the extent of the GDP shock when the policy response was determined or noise in the measure of GDP. Finally, countries that adopted more stringent COVID-19 restrictions were more likely to adopt changes to labor regulations, specifically changes in working conditions to try to soften the blow on workers. These results suggest that the policy response to the crisis in low- and lower-middle-income countries was constrained by the lack of resources, resulting in lower-cost policies with generally limited impacts on workers.
Increasing Supply Chain Links in Cabo Verde’s Tourism Sector: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for Improving Food Supply Quantity, Quality, and Reliability

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-19) World Bank

Brief assessment of the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for Improving Food Supply Quantity, Quality, and Reliability in Cabo Verde.
Financing Our Future: How to Improve the Efficiency of Education Spending in North Macedonia

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-17) World Bank

This policy brief aims to discuss North Macedonia’s key constraints and needed policy responses in the field of education financing, contributing to the debate on how to improve the efficiency of education system as a key investment for our future. It draws on the findings presented in the “North Macedonia Education Public Finance Review” prepared by the World Bank.
Typology of Economic Women’s Groups Programs in South Asia

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-13) de Hoop, Thomas ; Holla, Chinmaya ; Das, Aikantika ; Desai, Sapna

Women’s groups models vary widely across contexts but context-specific documentation is limited. This wide variation coupled with inconsistent terms used to describe these groups creates challenges in using the evidence collected on group-based interventions to inform policy. The typology presented in this brief focuses on economic women’s group models implemented in South Asia. Using program documents and evidence from evaluations, it identifies implementation models, key characteristics, and the implications of investing in women’s groups to improve economic outcomes in South Asia.
Enabling Scaled-Up Risk Reduction Investments in the Philippines: Establishing a Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Program to Better Safeguard Against Hazards

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-10) World Bank

The Philippines is one of the most natural hazard-prone countries in the world. Disasters in the country can quickly roll back hard-won economic and social development gains. To better safeguard the country against these disasters, it is critical to ramp up the institutional capacity and policies for a comprehensive disaster risk management program and to improve coordination between oversight and implementing agencies through upgraded legislation with disaster risk reduction measures while also building the capacity of government agencies by introducing resilience-building tools and resources. The program demonstrated that a whole-of-government approach is critical for meaningful results in a multi-sectoral engagement on disaster risk management. An engaged, committed core team of counterparts across all relevant sectors within government, including central oversight agencies, were crucial in the achievement of the program’s desired outputs and outcomes.
Ukraine - Human Development Update, February 2023

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-10) World Bank

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties, internal displacement of millions of people, widespread destruction of infrastructure, and disruption of services that are essential to human capital formation and protection. This Ukraine Human Development Update summarizes the cumulative effects of the war, highlights recent government responses, and provides an overview of World Bank support.
What do We Know About Interventions to Increase Women’s Economic Participation and Empowerment in South Asia?: Financial Products

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-07) Javed, Amna ; Zahra, Najaf ; Boudet, Ana Maria Munoz

The World Bank’s South Asia Region Gender Innovation Lab (SARGIL) is conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions with direct or indirect effects on measures of women’s economic empowerment. The review focuses on changes in labor market outcomes, income, and other empowerment indicators. The goal is to document what has and has not worked for women in the region (covering all countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), understand the types of interventions implemented, and identify gaps in knowledge and action. Interventions are organized into five categories: Skills, Assets, Financial Products, Care, and Empowerment. This brief summarizes the main findings from the financial products category.
Thailand Monthly Economic Monitor: 21 March 2023

(Washington, DC, 2023-03-21) World Bank

The economy resumed moderate expansion as private consumption and tourism improved at the beginning of 2023, after a disappointing Q4 outturn. However, lingering soft global demand continued to weigh on goods exports, manufacturing, and private investment. Inflation slowed amid easing global energy prices but remained above the Bank of Thailand’s target range of 1-3 percent. As a result, authorities extended energy-related subsidies while maintaining monetary policy normalization. The Thai baht depreciated the most among major ASEAN currencies in February as the current account turned deficit due to slowing export of goods while substantial portfolio flows exited the equity and bond markets.