PREM Notes

176 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9424

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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Now showing 1 - 10 of 15

An Anticorruption Strategy for Revenue Administration

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-10) Das-Gupta, Arindam ; Engelschalk, Michael ; Mayville, William

The World Bank defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain. Corrupt actions include the unilateral theft of public property by its steward and multi-party transactions in which beneficiaries bribe officials. Corruption can exist at all levels of public administration--from the highest officeholder to the lowest functionary. Because tax and customs administration often figure among the corrupt government agencies in developing countries, Bank projects that reform these administrations should include anti-corruption efforts. Any strategy to combat corruption must limit the motives and opportunities for public officeholders to abuse their positions. This should be done directly for unilateral corruption, while for multi-party corruption it can also be done indirectly by focusing on the supply side of bribes. Although we do not know enough to identify optimal anti-corruption strategies for different country situations, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. Various elements from the menu of possibilities must be integrated into a coherent package. The Bank's approach in this area, outlined in this report, is in broad agreement with that of the International Monetary Fund. This report examines the motives and opportunities for corruption, and discusses incorporating strategies in reform projects, current country approaches, and lessons learned from experience.
Understanding Poverty Reduction Impacts with Innovative Monitoring and Evaluation

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-10) Garcia, Marito ; Alderman, Harold ; Rudqvist, Anders

Monitoring and evaluation systems are often the least addressed component of project design, and implementation. Yet, such systems have considerable potential for enhancing the impact of projects, and the understanding of poverty reduction impacts. This note addresses what makes effective monitoring and evaluation, where both quantitative, and participatory methods are needed to assess a project's impact on poverty. It examines the case of the Uganda Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Project, a process-driven, locally prioritized program, being implemented by a network of nongovernmental organizations, that motivates communities, and provide information to project participants. The project relies on systematic monitoring of inputs and outputs, and, community participation in planning, and monitoring facilitates bottom-up feedback. The note further highlights a randomized experimental design, i.e., a baseline and follow-up surveys, that assess the impact of project activities, of communication and information, and of grassroots management training, and income generation activities for community welfare. The benefits of proactive monitoring and evaluation are that it enables timely inputs into management decision making, and that the quantitative methods used, are important determinants for assessing, and verifying a project's impact.
Assessing Political Commitment to Fighting Corruption

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-09) Heilbrunn, John ; Keefer, Philip

Rarely discussed 15 years ago, the commitment of political leaders to reform--that is, their willingness to implement and sustain reform--is now widely accepted as crucial for aid effectiveness. Nowhere is political commitment more important--and more difficult to sustain--than in implementing reforms to fight corruption. Governments increasingly seek external assistance to meet this challenge. More than any other public sector reform, reducing corruption may threaten poltical coalitions and a government's survival--and threats to political survival weaken the resolve of even the most committed leaders. This Note describes methods that might be used to objectively evaluate a government's political commitment to reducing corruption, whether petty, grand or systemic.
Saving - What Do We Know, and Why Do We Care?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-08) Servén, Luis ; Loayza, Norman ; Schmidt-Hebbel, Klaus

In principle, there is little reason people, and countries facing different shocks, and income streams should strive for optimal saving rates. But in practice, the inter-temporal choices that underlie saving, are subject to externalities, market failures, and policy distortions, that can cause saving rates to differ from welfare-maximizing levels. The social value of saving could also exceed its private value, because of imperfections in global financial markets. Still, a national saving rate broadly in line with an economy's investment rate, reduces vulnerability to sudden shifts in international capital flows, driven by uncontrollable behavior, or self-fulfilling investor expectations. Yet, as shown by the recent East Asia crisis, high saving alone does not provide complete insurance against the consequences of weak financial systems, or unsustainable exchange rate policies. This is the subject analyzed in this note, through a recent Bank research project, that shows savings has important interactions with income and growth, with resulting implications for policy. Such policies that spur development are an indirect, but effective way to raise private saving. The note further examines this private saving, and public policy, outlining fiscal issues, financial liberalization, and the impact of pension reform. The note reflects on situations where reforms both invite aid, and induce higher investment and growth - so that aid and saving rise together - concluding that aid need not invariably crowd out national saving.
Global Development Finance Projects Slow Growth for 1999

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-05) Aiyar, Swaminathan S. ; Brahmbhatt, Milan

The growth prospects of developing countries have worsened over the past six months, world trade growth has slowed, capital flows are unlikely to recover to pre-crisis levels in the near term, and, commodity prices are weak. This note reviews the reduced access to international capital flows by most emerging countries, as a result of the financial crises, while dollar export prices for developing countries fell eleven percent in 1998, with both primary commodities, and manufactures suffering. As a result, world trade fell one percent in current dollars in 1998, the first decline since 1993, while global trade volume in goods, grew only four to five percent in 1998, the slowest advance since 1992, barely half the performance in 1997. The note provides an outlook for developing regions, with expected differences in performance between regions, noting significant downside risks to even this somber outlook, and, predicts potential revival of protectionist sentiments in the United States, and Europe, should economic activity contract.
Using Markets to Deal with Commodity Price Volatility : What Can Governments and Donors Do to Develop Markets that Ameliorate Commodity Price Volatility?

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-01) Larson, Donald ; Varangis, Panos

Commodities are often at the heart of local and sometimes national economies. Commodity prices are notoriously volatile, creating instability and uncertainty for commodity-dependent developing countries. Commodity price instability undermines economic growth and skews the distribution of income. As a result, nearly every government has tried to manage commodity price risks. This Note discusses different sets of commodity pricing policies and the barriers to their risk management.
Gender and Transport : A Rationale for Action

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-01) Bamberger, Michael ; Lebo, Jerry ; Gwilliam, Kenneth ; Gannon, Colin

Transport can make a big difference in increasing women's productivity and promoting social equity. Yet, little attention appears to have been paid to women's needs in transport projects. How best can transport policies and projects identify and respond to the needs of women? Making transport policy more responsive to the needs of women requires developing a structured approach to understand their needs, identifying instruments to address those needs, analyzing the costs and benefits of those instruments, and establishing an appropriate policy framework. Moreover, cross-sectoral impacts of transport improvements can serve as a basis for raising gender issues. A first step will be to ensure that at each stage of the planning process, attention is paid to involving women in the planning and implementation of projects that affect them.
Protecting the Poor in a Crisis - and Beyond

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-01) Ravallion, Martin

A well-designed public safety net can provide aid to the poor in times of need. Two basic principles should guide safety net policies: 1) Safety nets should efficiently insure the poor; to do so they must respond flexibly to the needs of the poor. 2) Safety nets should be an intrinsic part of longer-term development goals. This Note offers basic guidelines for designing an effective safety net, taking into account its potential role during normal times as well as crises.
Export Processing Zones

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1998-12) Madani, Dorsati

This note focuses on export processing zones as potential, useful tools in export promotion, and, outlines the general features, and objectives of these zones, highlighting country experiences, and offering policy recommendations for establishing them. It identifies three main goals of export processing zones: provision of foreign exchange earnings; job creation, and income generation; and, attracts foreign direct investments, which enhances knowledge, and technology transfer. While common features are generally shared, export zones are differentiated by public, or private ownership, or management, and, by dependent qualities of management, facilities, and services they provide, namely, defined as "high-end" or "low-end". Recommendations suggest that export processing zones is one of a number of tools, used to off-set anti-export bias, in distorted economies. But just like other export promotion tools, export zones are a second-best policy choice. Zones can play a dynamic role in the development of a country, provided they are adequately managed, and integrated within national reform, and liberalization programs. However, zones should not be established in liberal, low-protection economies, due to the potential of lower than expected foreign direct investments, as a result of unattractive laws, and regulations, and because they may distort trade instruments, introducing discretionary elements in policy framework.
Using Microcredit to Advance Women

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1998-11) Khandker, Shahidur R.

Traditional financial institutions in many countries, have often failed to provide the needy with financial services to increase their income and reduce poverty. Hence, microcredit programs have been developed to fill in this gap. This note analyzes the outreach on the poor, with particular attention on women. Specifically, it examines three microcredit programs in Bangladesh, where women participation is significant. Interestingly, these microcredit programs mobilize the needy into groups, provides training, and uses a group based lending approach, with the following attractive incentives: 1) easier credit accessibility due to personal selection of group; 2) lower loan defaults due to group pressure and monitoring upon loan enforcement; 3) availability of resources and risk diversification because of close ties across groups and communities; and, 4) savings mobilization, as an integral part of group-based lending. The note finally suggests, that even though an increase in assets may empower the needy and women, to higher consumption, thus contributing to welfare, only those with entrepreneurial ability have access to borrowing, unevenly apportioned among women and poor people, as seen in any other population group. The sustainability of these programs remains to be seen.