WBI Learning Resources
22 items available
Permanent URI for this collection
This series, sponsored by the World Bank Institute (WBI), offers tools and data to support the work of practitioners in developing countries in the main economic and social areas.
22 results
Items in this collection
Publication Approaches to Urban Slums : A Multimedia Sourcebook on Adaptive and Proactive Strategies(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008) Mehta, Barjor; Dastur, ArishApproaches to urban slums are a multimedia sourcebook that comprises 14 self-running audiovisual presentations and 18 video interviews. It is organized into four broad sections: adaptive approaches, proactive approaches, case profiles, and thematic interviews. The sourcebook itself, which contains more than nine viewing hours of content on CD-ROM, does not exist in printed format. This guide provides an overview of the structure and content of the CD as well as approximate running times for the various sections. Approaches to urban slums builds on an extensive body of knowledge accumulated over 35 years from a wide range of sources. The 14 self-running audiovisual presentations include photographs, illustrations, maps, graphic animations, and aerial imagery, along with voice-over narration. The sourcebook's multimedia format facilitates the presentation of a highly complex subject by adding an audiovisual and spatial dimension to the descriptive and analytical discussion. The 18 video interviews provide access to the knowledge and opinions of urban stakeholders and experts on specific issues, and from various development perspectives, including development organizations, governments, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), community organizations, academia, and professional urban consulting.Publication Parliaments as Peacebuilders in Conflict-Affected Countries(2008) O'Brien, Mitchell; Stapenhurst, Rick; Johnston, NiallThe role of parliament in conflict-affected countries becomes even more evident when the correlation between poverty and conflict is considered. This book is pioneering in that it considers what parliaments in conflict-affected countries can do, while performing their normal everyday functions, to not only contribute directly to conflict prevention but also aid peace building by combating poverty. By addressing issues of poverty, equitable distribution of resources, and economic development, parliamentarians can attempt to guard against the creation of an enabling environment that is prone to the escalation of conflict. In line with their respective missions, the World Bank Institute and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association have examined issues facing parliamentary development in the hope of strengthening parliaments' capacity to tackle the diverse challenges they face. Among those challenges is meeting growing community expectations of the contribution parliaments make to resolving important issues and addressing community demands. In recognition of the rising number of parliaments that are operating in conflict-affected societies, the World Bank Institute has sought to better understand the challenges faced by parliaments in conflict-affected countries and the role parliaments can play in conflict management and poverty alleviation.Publication The Investment Climate in Brazil, India, and South Africa : A Comparison of Approaches for Sustaining Economic Growth in Emerging Economies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008) Fan, Qimiao; Reis, José Guilherme; Jarvis, Michael; Beath, Andrew; Frauscher, KathrinThis book seeks to contribute to the sharing of knowledge between Brazil, India, and South Africa, three of the largest emerging economies today. By assessing and comparing the investment climate in each, the authors seek to profile concrete steps that countries can take to improve the business environment. The authors focus particularly on identifying the commonalities and differences both within and among the three countries and attempt to highlight examples where policy makers will be able to drawn on the lessons from their own reform experiences and those of their counterparts in other core emerging markets. The book is organized as follows: (1) Provides a brief overview of the investment climate in each of the three countries, highlighting the key constraints identified by the national business communities, and explains the underlying concepts of the investment climate assessments and doing business indicators. (2) Examines the macroeconomic performance of Brazil, India, and South Africa and shows how the three countries perform with regard to taxation and foreign trade and exchange. (3) Reviews key microeconomic regulations, such as rules regarding the entry and exit of firms and labor regulations, and assesses the enforcement of contracts and regulations. (4) Studies the set of services, factors, and conditions that firms require when establishing operations and engaging in production and exchange, including access to finance, physical infrastructure, cost and availability of labor, and security. (5) Offers guidance on how to manage investment climate reforms by showcasing best-practice examples from recent reforms in Brazil, India, and South Africa.Publication Analyzing Health Equity Using Household Survey Data : A Guide to Techniques and Their Implementation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008) O'Donnell, Owen; van Doorslaer, Eddy; Wagstaff, Adam; Lindelow, MagnusThis book shows how to implement a variety of analytic tools that allow health equity - along different dimensions and in different spheres - to be quantified. Questions that the techniques can help provide answers for include the following: Have gaps in health outcomes between the poor and the better-off grown in specific countries or in the developing world as a whole? Are they larger in one country than in another? Are health sector subsidies more equally distributed in some countries than in others? Is health care utilization equitably distributed in the sense that people in equal need receive similar amounts of health care irrespective of their income? Are health care payments more progressive in one health care financing system than in another? What are catastrophic payments? How can they be measured? How far do health care payments impoverish households? This volume has a simple aim: to provide researchers and analysts with a step-by-step practical guide to the measurement of a variety of aspects of health equity. Each chapter includes worked examples and computer code. The authors hope that these guides, and the easy-to-implement computer routines contained in them, will stimulate yet more analysis in the field of health equity, especially in developing countries. They hope this, in turn, will lead to more comprehensive monitoring of trends in health equity, a better understanding of the causes of these inequities, more extensive evaluation of the impacts of development programs on health equity, and more effective policies and programs to reduce inequities in the health sector.Publication Expanding Access to Finance : Good Practices and Policies for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2007) Malhotra, Mohini; Chen, Yanni; Criscuolo, Alberto; Fan, Qimiao; Hamel, Iva lIieva; Savchenko, YevgeniyaThis book on micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) finance is intended primarily for government policy makers. It presents a policy framework whereby governments can support increased access by MSME to financial services based on empirical evidence and practices. MSME complain that lack of access to finance constrains their growth and competitiveness. Indeed, financial sector policies often work against the ability of commercial financial institutions to serve MSME, albeit often unintentionally. In many countries, lack of competition in the banking sector limits pressure on banks to reach out to MSME client segments. High risk and high transaction costs-real or perceived-associated with bank lending to MSME likewise constrain access. Often, supervisory and capital adequacy requirements penalize banks for lending to enterprises that lack traditional collateral. Attempts by governments to address these constraints and offset the inequalities in financial sector policy generally have not achieved the desired results. This book lays out a market-based policy framework for governments that focuses on delivery of financial services to MSME on commercial terms. The framework guides governments in focusing scarce resources on developing an inclusive financial sector policy; building sound financial institutions; and investing in a supportive information infrastructure, such as credit bureaus and accounting standards. Examples from around the world illustrate how such a strategy has helped build more inclusive financial systems for all.Publication Managing the Implementation of Development Projects : A Resource Kit on CD-ROM for Instructors and Practitioners - Course Syllabus and CD-ROM(Washington, DC, 2006) World BankThis 12-module CD-ROM library of print-based learning materials is designed for classroom training of developing country project managers responsible for overseeing the implementation of development and other projects. Each module includes performance-based instructional objectives; module and session outlines with a timetable of activities; scripted lectures with corresponding visuals; case studies, exercises, and solution sets with teaching notes; self-assessment questions and answers; and selected readings. The resource kit provides enough information and practice to instill a solid understanding of the principles of project implementation and an awareness of good practices.Publication Promoting Social Cohesion through Education : Case Studies and Tools for Using Textbooks and Curricula(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Roberts-Schweitzer, Eluned; Greaney, Vincent; Duer, KreszentiaSince 2003, the Civic Engagement, Empowerment, and Respect for Diversity (CEERD) program of the World Bank Institute has included a program on Education and Respect for Diversity. The program consists of a series of initiatives to promote tolerance and respect for diversity through curriculum and textbook reform and pre- and in-service teacher training. To date it has focused on ways in which Bank-financed programs can help education systems to address the needs of all students and to promote social cohesion. Activities have included information dissemination, through workshops and papers, as well as financing for pilot programs in Colombia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nigeria, Romania, and Sri Lanka. These pilots are designed to put in place strategies that can be scaled up either in the pilot country or in other programs.Publication Cities in a Globalizing World : Governance, Performance, and Sustainability(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Léautier, FrannieThis book contributes to the empirical and theoretical analysis of the performance of cities in a globalizing world, bringing together a range of perspectives on the policy implications for urban management. It provides guidance for policymakers on ways of capitalizing on the global economy that will make the most of the cities resources and managerial infrastructure as well as guiding investment and policy for the future. The book provides examples of how conflicts can be managed between individual and collective interests, such as the extensive environmental and social consultation undertaken in the planning and implementation of the Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh, which now joins cities that had never seen daily connection between people in markets. The authors present empirical evidence that suggests that good governance and globalization tend to improve city-level performance in both the access to services as well as the quality of delivery of services which allows cities to translate global opportunity into local value for their citizens. This research also raises difficult questions of causality: does more globalization cause better governance, or vice versa? The authors look particularly at African cities to examine similarities with and differences from cities elsewhere. Their research suggests that Africa faces the challenge of improving both the quality of the management of its cities and their governance, so that they can offer services that will attract foreign investment while continuing to serve the needs of their residents and their regional economies.Publication Reforming Regional-Local Finance in Russia(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge; Timofeev, Andrey; Boex, JamesonThe book assesses the current state of Russia's regional and local fiscal relations, and self-government, and analyzes the related reforms undertaken over the past decade. The analysis is based on the kind of first-hand experience and in-depth knowledge of Russian intergovernmental reforms that only a handful of Western scholars possess. This book complements the earlier World Bank Institute (WBI) title Russia's Transition to a New Federalism (2001), reflecting the shift in Russia's policy reform agenda, from an emphasis on federal and regional relations, to the regional and local levels. The study uses a framework that integrates all the building blocks of federalism: size and structure of jurisdictions, expenditures, revenues, transfers, and borrowing. It offers reform options based on international practices and normative principles, while also identifying some dangers that may arise in implementing the next round of proposed intergovernmental reforms in Russia. The book was prepared as part of the WBI's program to train central and local government officials to carry out intergovernmental reforms, and to build a core group of local trainers who can deliver future programs independently. The current approach of the federal government toward regional-local relations presents a mix of rigid norms and loose guidelines. The Constitution gives the federal and regional government joint responsibility for the implementation of the citizens' right to local self-government. This has enabled the federal government to pass a number of constitutional laws that develop the framework for local governance. Regional governments were supposed to establish the system of local self-government on their territory in accordance with federal legislation, by passing regional legislation that would further elaborate the regional-local government arrangements. However, in areas where regional governments had some degree of policy freedom, often many did not have the required technical expertise to make their own informed policy choices. The easiest solution for defining regional-local relations seems to have been to copy the federal approach to federal-regional relations, and apply it at the regional-local level.Publication Perspectives on Fiscal Federalism(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Bird, Richard M.; Vaillancourt, FrançoisThis book addresses a variety of issues relating to intergovernmental finance and the provision and financing of local services including budgeting and financial management, the institutional framework for the conduct of intergovernmental relations, appropriate methods of service delivery in metropolitan agglomerations and remote rural areas, local government enterprises, user charges, property taxes, income and value-added taxes, natural resource taxes, and local business taxes. Throughout, the authors draw on experience both in Canada and in other decentralized countries and consider to varying extents the special problems facing Russia and other large transitional economies.