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 11

The Changing Politics of Tax Policy Reform in Developing Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-02) Moore, Mick

Who shapes tax policy reform in developing countries? A wider range of political actors are beginning to exercise influence. A brief history in this report will explain who they are and how they operate.
Chile's Monitoring and Evaluation System, 1994-2010

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-08) Dussauge Laguna, Mauricio I.

The Chilean Management Control and Evaluation System (Sistema de Evaluacion y Control de Gestion) is internationally regarded as a successful example of how to put into place a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. Chilean M&E tools are the product of both cross-national lesson-drawing, and national policy learning experiences. The main M&E tools are centrally coordinated by the Ministry of Finance's Budget Office (Direccion de Presupuestos, or DIPRES) and promote the use of M&E information in government decision-making processes, particularly those related to the budget. These M&E tools have been, however, subject to a number of criticisms. As a result, the experience described in this note does not necessarily offer a model that can, or should, be easily transferred to other countries with different institutional contexts. Furthermore, this note does not reflect the latest changes, nor does it try to offer guidance for the future. However, the Chilean experience summarized here, covering the period of 1994-2010, provides interesting examples and highly relevant lessons about the benefits and limitations of M&E design and implementation.
Technology and Growth Series : Chilean Salmon Exports

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-10) Chandra, Vandana ; Kolavalli, Shashi

This Note is a part of a larger study of technological adaptation and catch-up in high-growth, nontraditional export sectors. Such study examined ten sectors in economies with a reasonably stable macro environment, its objective being to understand whether, and how government policies focused on the adaptation of superior technologies of production in nascent sectors spurred scaling-up, and led to rapid and sustainable growth in a relatively short period of time. The note focuses on the Chilean salmon sector, which evolved from a quasi-artisan, family based industry, whose foundation for this nascent sector was laid with the successful inception of salmon into the Chilean environment, using imported genetic material and intermediate inputs. The government acted as a catalyst during this stage, starting the first commercial salmon farming operation in the country with the help of CORFO (Corporacion de Fomento), a public development agency of the Chilean Government, and Fundacion Chile, a private non governmetal organization (NGO). The latter resulted from a cooperative agreement between the Innovation and Technology Transfer (ITT) Institute and the Chilean Government created to facilitate innovation and technology transfer.
Institutionalizing M&E systems in Latin American and Caribbean Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-09) Burdescu, Ruxandra ; del Villar, Azul ; Mackay, Keith ; Rojas, Fernando ; Saavedra, Jaime

Countries are driving the efforts to institutionalize monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. Through the promotion of knowledge-sharing, and by taking stock of current M&E systems, fostering South-South collaboration, raising awareness through presentations, and, by launching an informal regional network, the note reviews the cases of Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. It became evident from country experiences, that there is no single "destination" for countries. Some stress a system of performance indicators, while others focus on conducting evaluations (program reviews or rigorous impact evaluation (IE). And while some countries have created a whole of government approach driven by finance, or planning ministries, others are more focused on sector M&E systems. One key characteristic of most of the systems that are now at different stages of implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is that they are country-led efforts to institutionalize M&E, rather than donor-driven.
Financing Development Through Future-Flow Securitization

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-06) Ratha, Dilip

Securitization of future hard currency receivables, that is, converting them into tradable securities, can allow developing country borrowers with good credit to overcome sovereign credit ceilings, and raise financing in international capital markets. The note examines the case of PEMEX, Mexico's state-owned oil and gas company, which in 1998 issued oil export-backed securities that received higher ratings from international credit rating agencies than Mexico's sovereign debt. Relative to unsecured debt, securitization lowered interest rates on PEMEX borrowing by 50-338 basis points (0.50-3.38 percentage points). Another example offered is the case of Banco de Credito in Peru, whose overseas Master Trust in the Bahamas (an offshore account) makes principal, and interest payments, forwarding excess collections to its headquarters in Peru. To increase investor confidence, the amount of future-flow receivables transferred to the trust was set at 2.5 times debt service requirements. In 1998 this transaction setup received an AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's - higher than Peru's sovereign credit rating.
Reforming the Courts : The Role of Empirical Research

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-03) Hammergren, Linn

Working with local researchers, World Bank staff recently analyzed a random sample of cases filed in the first instance courts of Argentina and Mexico. (First instance or trial courts make the initial rulings on cases based on both facts and law. Higher instance or appeals courts are often restricted to questions of law and so may not reconsider the facts of a case.) The Mexico study was conducted in the Federal District, the largest of Mexico's 32 local and state jurisdictions, and reviewed 464 debt collection cases brought under a special procedure that provides for rapid dispute resolution. In Argentina a stratified sample of criminal, civil, and labor cases was drawn from trial courts in the national capital, Buenos Aires (600 cases), and in the province of Santa Fe (450 cases). In both countries the identities of the parties, the nature of the cases, the amounts at issue, the times to disposition, and other data from the case files were coded and analyzed. Aggregate statistics kept by the judiciary and information from interviews and focus groups were used to help interpret the case file findings. Both studies revealed that when it comes to the operation of Latin American justice systems, much of what experts "know" is incorrect. Because this conventional wisdom often informs judicial reform projects, it can encourage changes aimed at solving nonexistent problems-while ignoring real ones.
Strengthening Peru's Tax Agency

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-11) Taliercio, Robert ; Engelschalk, Michael

The reforms were remarkably successful: by 1997 internal tax revenue had recovered to 13 percent of GDP-despite an extremely difficult political and economic environment-and 90 percent of large corporate taxpayers surveyed believed that taxpayer services had improved. The reforms had several key elements: granting the National Tax Administration Superintendency (SUNAT) meaningful administrative and financial autonomy, implementing radical personnel reform, investing in infrastructure and information technology, and generating public support. The reforms also forged a new relationship between taxpayers and the tax agency and committed to improving services. At the same time, the agency made clear its intention to enforce compliance with the tax code. SUNAT's experience offers several lessons for tax administration reform in other countries. First, the immediate efficacy of SUNAT as a semiautonomous revenue authority was due to a combination of several factors, perhaps the most important of which was a coupling of political leadership with managerial expertise. But Peru's experience also highlights pitfalls to avoid for other countries engaging in tax administration reform.
Hurricane Mitch - The gender Effects of Coping and Crises

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-09) Correia, Maria

Decentralization holds a lot of promise, but whether it improves public service delivery depends on the institutional arrangements governing its implementation. Several conditions must be met before the full benefits of decentralization can be reaped. First, for decentralization to increase allocative and productive efficiency, local governments need to have the authority to respond to local demand as well as adequate mechanisms for accountability. Because granting authority without accountability can lead to corruption and lower productive efficiency, decentralization needs to be accompanied by reforms that increase the transparency and accountability of local government. Second, functions need to be devolved to a low enough level of government for allocative efficiency to increase as a result of decentralization. Low-level governments are likely to be aware of local preferences and, if able to do so, are likely to adjust service delivery accordingly. Third, citizens should have channels to communicate their preferences and get their voices heard in local governments. But the existence of such channels is not enough. To effectively influence public policies and oversee local governments, citizens need to have information about government policies and activities. The media play a crucial role in this area.
Promoting Good Governance with Social Funds and Decentralization

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-01) Parker, Andrew

Bad governance undermines development. Two important types of World Bank support for local governance are social funds and broadly based support for governments committed to decentralizing responsibility and power to local governments and other local institutions. But there are concerns that these two approaches, which address different elements of governance, sometimes work at cross-purposes. A study was therefore commissioned to examine the interaction between social funds and decentralization in Bolivia and Honduras (advanced decentralization), Peru and Zimbabwe (some decentralization), and Cambodia, Malawi, and Zambia (little or no decentralization). This Note is based on the findings of the study.
Technological Innovation in Public Sector Reform : Chile's Public Procurement e-System

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-01) Orrego, Claudio ; Osorio, Carlos ; Mardones, Rodrigo

Chile's government has used information technology to achieve a customer-driven public sector that is more transparent, efficient, and accountable. Chile wanted to put the government at the service of the people, and so pursued technological innovations that enable the government to meet citizens' needs simply, quickly, and efficiently. To that end, the government developed an information technology strategic plan for 1998-2000. One area in which the success was particularly distinguished was the comprehensive reform of the public procurement system. In just a short period, reform has generated clear savings, created a better information market, and increased transparency and accountability in government procurement.