Other Poverty Study
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Publication
East Asia and Pacific Macro Poverty Outlook: Country-by-Country Analysis and Projections for the Developing World
(Washington, DC, 2022-04)This edition of the Macro Poverty Outlooks periodical contains country-by-country forecasts and overviews for GDP, fiscal, debt and poverty indicators for the developing countries of the East Asia and Pacific region. Macroeconomic indicators such as population, gross domestic product and gross domestic product per capita - and where available – other indicators such as primary school enrollment, life expectancy at birth, total greenhouse gas emissions and inflation, among others, are included for each country. In addition to the World Bank’s most recent forecasts, key conditions and challenges, recent developments and outlook are briefly described for each country in the region. -
Publication
East Asia and Pacific Macro Poverty Outlook, Annual Meetings 2022: Country-by-country Analysis and Projections for the Developing World
(Washington, DC, 2022)East Asia and Pacific Macro Poverty Outlook, Annual Meetings 2022 contains country-by-country forecasts and overviews for GDP, fiscal, debt and poverty indicators for the developing countries of the East Asia and Pacific region. Macroeconomic indicators such as population, gross domestic product and gross domestic product per capita - and where available – other indicators such as primary school enrollment, life expectancy at birth, total greenhouse gas emissions and inflation, among others, are included for each country. In addition to the World Bank’s most recent forecasts, key conditions and challenges, recent developments and outlook are briefly described for each country in the region. -
Publication
Archipelagic Economies: Spatial Economic Development in the Pacific
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12-07)Archipelagic Economies examines the geographic dispersion of Pacific islands’ populations and its socio-economic consequences. The study presents new measures of geographic dispersion that show the uniqueness of the Pacific island countries’ human geography. It offers a closer look at the socio-economic situation of dispersed island populations, the internal movement of people that connects communities across islands, and the political economy landscape that underpins spatial economic policy decisions. A particular focus of this book is on policy options for dealing with the challenges faced by many outer islands – limited economic opportunities, costly service delivery, obstacles to connectivity by sea, air, and ICT, and urbanization in an era of climate change. -
Publication
Using Remittance Transaction Data for Timely Estimation of the Foreign Worker Population in Malaysia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06-06)Malaysia has been grappling with understanding how many foreign workers reside in the country and thus faces challenges in formulating evidence-based foreign worker policies. This paper investigates how to use micro-level remittance transaction data collected from money transfer service providers to estimate the number of foreign workers. Most foreign workers remit a large portion of their earnings to support family members back home. They are low-income earners, are sensitive to remittance costs, and thus opt for money transfer service providers to remit money rather than regular banks, where transfer services are more expensive. Therefore, the remittance data provide a useful source to conduct the investigation. Existing estimates range from two to five million foreign workers; our results narrow that range considerably, estimating a total of 2.99 million to 3.16 million foreign workers in Malaysia as of 2017–18. State and nationality distributions of foreign workers in our estimates are consistent with the Ministry of Home Affairs data, lending support to the validity of our estimates. Nevertheless, authors note that the Bank Negara Malaysia remittance data could potentially underestimate the number of workers in states with low access to money service providers, as well as nationalities that have access to alternative money transfer mechanisms such as commercial banking and informal transfer channels. -
Publication
Aspirations Unfulfilled: Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges
(World Bank, Malaysia, 2020-06)Despite Malaysia’s low and stable inflation rate, there has been an ongoing debate regarding perceived increases in the cost of living in the country. The concerns are frequently expressed in public policy discussions, the mass media, and private conversation. The issue has featured prominently in public and private discourse for years, dating back at least to the rationalization of the fuel subsidy in December 2014 and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in April 2015. More recently, there has been a robust public debate about whether Malaysia should raise the nationally defined poverty line. These concerns have emerged during a period of low inflation; the average annual headline inflation rate stood at less than 2 percent beginning in January 2015 and has declined to less than 1 percent since January 2018, well below the growth rates of the economy and average nominal incomes. In this context, the “cost of living” is frequently used as a catchall term that may reflect wider developments in the economy and the associated impacts on household budgets and well-being. While the discussion is usually framed as an issue of the rising costs of goods and services, the core issues for most Malaysians extend beyond prices. These include lagging income growth and greater indebtedness that results in less disposable income and inadequate financial savings. In addition, rising home prices also feed into the concerns of many Malaysians about housing affordability and the cost of living. -
Publication
Indonesia’s Global Workers: Juggling Opportunities and Risks
(World Bank, Jakarta, 2017-11)International labor migration is an important sector of the Indonesian economy in its own right, requiring commensurate efforts to improve its professionalism as a sector and instill modernization across its various components to maximize its potential for the benefit of all stakeholders.This report aims to point towards the best policy mix for Indonesia’s various international migrant worker groups who face widely differing risks and gain diverse economic benefits from migration. Following introduction, Section 2 of the report looks at the major profiles of Indonesian migrant workers and their reasons for migrating. Section 3 focuses on the discussion about female domestic workers. Section 4 delves into the issue of undocumented migration, including the government’s efforts to encourage documented migration. Section 5 then looks as how best to sustain the benefits of migration, with particular reference to a third profile of migrant workers, namely those who work in the more developed countries of East Asia and who generally earn the highest wages. Finally, Section 6 rounds off the report with broad policy recommendations -
Publication
Drivers of Poverty Reduction in Lao PDR
(World Bank, Vientiane, 2015-10-01)Poverty in Lao PDR declined from 33.5 percent to 23.2 percent over the 10 year period between 2002/3 and 2012/13. The number of poor people declined by about half a million to 1.35 million in 2013 and Lao PDR has met its MDG target of reducing poverty to below 24 percent by 2015. Improvements in welfare are evident in the changes in other socio-economic indicators such as the ownership of televisions and access to electricity, which doubled, and the number of households living in houses built with bricks or concrete, which nearly tripled, while the proportion of those without a toilet halved. Net secondary enrollment increased from 27 percent in 2002/3 to 50 percent in 2012/13 showing significant improvements in education. -
Publication
Trade Facilitation, Value Creation, and Competiveness : Policy Implications for Vietnam's Economic Growth, Summary Report
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-07-15)This report explores the role of trade facilitation and logistics in driving export and ultimately national competitiveness. It posits that this area of trade consists of three interrelated pillars: (i) transport infrastructure and logistics services; (ii) regulatory procedures for exports and imports; and (iii) supply chain organization. Transport infrastructure and logistics services relate to the physical aspects of trade flows. Logistics services include a variety of services, the most important of which are transportation, storage and consolidation. This summary is organized into nine sections. After the introduction, section two presents the conceptual framework for this study. The economic context under which trade facilitation is discussed is outlined in section three. It describes Vietnam's evolving structure of trade and competitiveness. The country's trade logistics is part of this structure and this is germane to understanding the key issues and solutions proposed. This is followed by discussion of the three pillars of trade facilitation in sections four to six and then section seven presents the institutional framework underpinning these pillars. Section eight then pulls together the diverse roles of government, such as setting policies, acting as regulator, and being the facilitator working in collaboration with key stakeholders. The conclusion, section nine, suggests a set of recommendations. -
Publication
Trade Facilitation, Value Creation, and Competiveness : Policy Implications for Vietnam's Economic Growth, Volume 1
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-07-15)This report explores the role of trade facilitation and logistics in driving export and ultimately national competitiveness. It posits that this area of trade consists of three interrelated pillars: (i) transport infrastructure and logistics services; (ii) regulatory procedures for exports and imports; and (iii) supply chain organization. Transport infrastructure and logistics services relate to the physical aspects of trade flows. Logistics services include a variety of services, the most important of which are transportation, storage and consolidation. This summary is organized into nine sections. After the introduction, section two presents the conceptual framework for this study. The economic context under which trade facilitation is discussed is outlined in section three. It describes Vietnam's evolving structure of trade and competitiveness. The country's trade logistics is part of this structure and this is germane to understanding the key issues and solutions proposed. This is followed by discussion of the three pillars of trade facilitation in sections four to six and then section seven presents the institutional framework underpinning these pillars. Section eight then pulls together the diverse roles of government, such as setting policies, acting as regulator, and being the facilitator working in collaboration with key stakeholders. The conclusion, section nine, suggests a set of recommendations. -
Publication
Trade Facilitation, Value Creation, and Competiveness : Policy Implications for Vietnam's Economic Growth, Volume 2
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-07-15)This report explores the role of trade facilitation and logistics in driving export and ultimately national competitiveness. It posits that this area of trade consists of three interrelated pillars: (i) transport infrastructure and logistics services; (ii) regulatory procedures for exports and imports; and (iii) supply chain organization. Transport infrastructure and logistics services relate to the physical aspects of trade flows. Logistics services include a variety of services, the most important of which are transportation, storage and consolidation. This summary is organized into nine sections. After the introduction, section two presents the conceptual framework for this study. The economic context under which trade facilitation is discussed is outlined in section three. It describes Vietnam's evolving structure of trade and competitiveness. The country's trade logistics is part of this structure and this is germane to understanding the key issues and solutions proposed. This is followed by discussion of the three pillars of trade facilitation in sections four to six and then section seven presents the institutional framework underpinning these pillars. Section eight then pulls together the diverse roles of government, such as setting policies, acting as regulator, and being the facilitator working in collaboration with key stakeholders. The conclusion, section nine, suggests a set of recommendations.