PREM Notes
176 items available
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This note series is intended to summarize good practices and key policy findings on poverty reduction and economic management (PREM) topics.
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Publication
Measuring National Income and Growth in Resource-Rich, Income-Poor Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-08)In the decade leading to the recent commodity boom, which peaked in 2007-08, several resource-rich, low-income countries displayed high rates of gross domestic product (GDP) growth while social indicators did not improve significantly. It is well known that, in itself, the widely tracked GDP may not be the most relevant summary of aggregate economic performance in all places at all times. This note suggests that for countries with significant exhaustible natural resources and important foreign-investor presence, adjusted net national income (aNNI), can usefully complement GDP to assess economic progress. -
Publication
What is the Role of Carbon Taxes in Climate Change Mitigation? (revised)
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-04)This note argues that a carbon tax system is more practical to implement, monitor, and enforce than tradable permit-based approaches to global climate-change action. It suggests that a sensible design will be an upstream carbon tax on the fossil fuel supply chain, which can also include other major non-carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gases (GHGs). While risks such as fiscal cushioning exist, a tax-based system will be more transparent and offer the appropriate incentives for participation and compliance. -
Publication
Fiscal Policy for Growth
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-04)While the term 'fiscal space' is new, the issue is quite old. Fiscal space refers to availability of budgetary resources for a specific purpose, typically growth-enhancing investment uses, without jeopardizing the sustainability of the government's financial position, or the stability of the economy. The recent interest in fiscal space originated as a reaction to International Monetary Fund (IMF), supported fiscal-adjustment programs that by focusing too narrowly on fiscal-deficit targets often ignored the quality of the underlying adjustment. Affected countries meanwhile advocated for fiscal space for investments in physical and human infrastructure crucial for economic growth. The IMF independent evaluation office, in their study on fiscal Adjustment in IMF supported programs acknowledged this problem, observing that 'much of the fiscal adjustment achieved is through measures that do not assure long-term sustainability and flexibility of fiscal systems to future shocks'. In effect, the improvement of the fiscal balance in the context of IMF-supported programs too often relied heavily in cuts in public investment that improve today's government cash flow at the expense of future economic growth. -
Publication
What is the Role of Carbon Taxes in Climate Change Mitigation?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-07)This note argues that a carbon tax system is more practical to implement, monitor and enforce than tradable permit-based approaches to global climate-change action. It suggests that a sensible design will be an upstream carbon tax on the fossil fuel supply chain, which can also include other major non-(carbon monoxide) CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs). While risks such as fiscal cushioning exist, a tax-based system will be more transparent and offer the appropriate incentives for participation and compliance.