Other Public Sector Study

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    Myanmar Pay, Compensation, and Human Resource Management Review
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018) World Bank
    The Myanmar Pay, Compensation and Human Resource Management Review was undertaken in 2015-2017 in response to the Government of Myanmar’s request for advice to inform compensation and human resource policies that reflect country-specific challenges. The analysis, generously supported by Denmark, Australia and UK-DFID, was jointly conducted by the Government of Myanmar and the World Bank.In addition to the analysis, the review aimed to develop capacity of government agencies responsible for wage-bill and human resource management. Capacity development happens within institutions, and can only be effective, if government assumes strong ownership. In this context, the Union Cabinet established the “Pay, Compensation, and Human Resource Review Implementation Inter-Ministerial Committee” comprising key ministries to oversee the review. The World Bank team worked closely with a task team in the Ministry of Planning and Finance.The main methods used to review the government’s pay and compensation system included: i) review of government regulations; ii) analysis of administrative data; iii) focus group discussions and a small survey to assess civil servants’ perception about pay and human resource functions; and iv) a model that simulates the impact of potential changes to pay and employment, customized to Myanmar’s circumstances. This model can be applied by the Ministry of Planning and Finance for future wage-bill planning. Specifically, the model helped highlight that size of the wage bill is not an immediate concern. Its rapid growth in recent years, as well as growing fiscal vulnerabilities from potential external shocks, demand closer attention to overall growth in the public-sector wage bill. Future salary increases may need careful targeting given the growing attractiveness of the private sector as a career option for young talent and professionals.The review also drills down on the education sector. Constituting nearly 40 percent of the total workforce employed by the Union Government, the education sector makes up nearly one-half of the union budget’s wage bill. The review also provides important context for teacher policy on employment and pay, and suggests reform options for managing teacher workforce for better education outcomes.The findings suggest a series of policy priorities for improving the performance of the civil service. The report includes a wealth of findings and practical, realistic recommendations. However, it is only the first step on the long journey of evidence-based reforms to manage wage bill and performance of the Myanmar civil service. The Government of Myanmar and the Bank will continue to work together during implementation of the recommendations, and for future research and analysis.
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    India Land Governance Assessment: National Synthesis Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015) World Bank
    As India continues to urbanize and move towards a less agricultural- and more industry-based economy, land demands will continue to grow. Its urban population is expected to increase by more than 200 million by 2030, requiring 4 to 8 million hectares of land for residential use alone. Demands for infrastructure and industry could add a similar amount, summing to total land demand of 5 to10 percent of the land area currently used for agriculture. If not handled well, such massive land use change may increase vulnerability and food insecurity, rent-seeking, environmental problems, social dislocation, inequality, and conflict. But it also provides an opportunity to address the underlying structural issues, propelling India into the league of middle-income countries and laying the ground for significantly advancing shared prosperity and reduced poverty. This synthesis report presents results from land governance self-assessments by six states: The fact that land is a state subject implies that actions to improve land governance need to be initiated at state level. To identify opportunities, six states implemented the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF), a tool that allow comparing the status of their land governance against international good practice along a set of dimensions in a very participatory process. Results are summarized in state reports that were validated publicly and discussed with policy makers in each state. This national report complements these and draws out common areas.
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    Republic of Serbia Municipal Public Finance Review : Options for Efficiency Gains
    (Washington, DC, 2014-06-05) World Bank
    Since the global financial crisis, Serbia's public debt has more than doubled. Local Governments (LGs) need to find ways to perform more efficiently, not only to contribute to national fiscal consolidation efforts, but also because they may have fewer resources available in the future. This report represents a continuation of the World Bank effort to explore LGs finances. The first phase of this report focused on options for increases in local revenues; impact of further decentralization; options for reduction of subsidies in selected sectors; and how to control the public debt. The report is organized as follows. Chapter 2 examines LG hiring and pay policies. In addition to offering recommendations on how to achieve efficiency and savings, it sheds light on employment wage policies within LG enterprises. Chapter 3 deepens the analysis of local public utility companies (PUCs), which not only have significant responsibilities for delivering local services, but also often pose a significant pressure on LG budgets. On average, financial support to PUCs accounts for a quarter of local budgets. This chapter looks at the main issues and makes recommendations for efficiency gains. Chapter 4 discusses the most important public financial management issues for LGs, asking where better management and accountability could increase value-for-money and help extract additional benefits from current and capital expenditures. It examines budget preparation, execution, and reporting issues as a basis for recommending policies to increase transparency and accountability as well as more efficient use of resources. Chapter 5 summarizes the main conclusions and policy recommendations of the report.
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    Local Service Delivery in Nepal
    (Washington, DC, 2014-06) World Bank
    The effectiveness of public service delivery depends in large part on the capability, resources and inputs, and the motivation of frontline service providers at the local level. In Nepal a combination of de-concentrated line agencies and local bodies at the district, municipal, and village level provides inputs which are translated into delivery of service outputs and outcomes. Yet the relationships between line agencies and local bodies in service delivery are not well understood. The purpose of this report is to examine in detail the current dynamics of frontline service delivery to identify institutional limitations and present approaches to addressing them. This study seeks to map out the dynamics of service delivery at the local level through analysis of the institutional framework and actual practices in service delivery in 14 jurisdictions in the two districts of Dhankuta and Dhanusa. The study includes a detailed review of the provision of local roads networks and primary and lower secondary education. In this context, the report is divided into four parts: part one gives introduction; part two presents institutional framework for local service delivery; part three focuses on sub-national service delivery: local roads and primary education; and part four presents conclusions and recommendations to improve frontline service delivery.
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    Critical Administrative Constraints to Service Delivery : Improving Public Services in Afghanistan's Transformational Decade
    (Washington, DC, 2014-05) World Bank
    Since 2001, the Afghan population's access to basic services has greatly improved in nearly all sectors. School enrolment has increased sharply, with over eight million children currently enrolled in school, of which 39 percent are girls. Current strategies for improving sub-national service delivery focus on delegating greater authority to provincial and district administrations. This report aims to identify administrative constraints in three key sectors of public service delivery, education, health and agricultural extension services. The analysis follows the service delivery chain, from central to provincial, through district to community level, and is particularly concerned to examine service delivery in these three sectors through the window of sub-national governance and its relations to the service delivery mandates of line ministries. The study provides the Government of Afghanistan with recommendations on how to alleviate critical constraints to service delivery at sub-national levels on a sustainable basis, in the context of an expected restrained fiscal future. The report's main findings are based on qualitative research. The key findings are based on existing literature and reports as well as field visits to 5 provinces and 10 districts and qualitative analyses of over 171 key-informant interviews on different levels of service delivery administration, 68 in-depth interviews with community leaders, and a community household survey in 20 communities spread over 5 provinces and 55 service facilities (for example, schools and clinics) were assessed. The report is split into six sections: section one gives executive summary; section two provides a brief introduction to the study objectives and clarifies some key definitions; section three outlines the methods used to perform the analysis; sections four, five, and six provide in-depth discussions of education, health, and agriculture extension respectively; and section seven provides recommendations and concludes. The over-arching governance structures and further methodological details are given in appendix one. All references and research tools are presented in annexes.
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    Punjab Public Management Reform Program : Program for Results Operation, Detailed Technical Assessment
    (Washington, DC, 2013-10-01) World Bank
    This document includes the full Technical Assessment of the Punjab Public Management Reform Program. The Assessment is based on the technical analysis of the Program. It covers: the strategic relevance and technical soundness of the proposed Program; the Program's results framework and monitoring and evaluation; the Program s governance structure and institutional arrangements; and the economic justification of the Program. It also presents an evaluation of the technical risks, and defines the improvements proposed as part of the Program Action Plan.
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    South East Europe Municipal Finance Review : Local Government Finance in the Western Balkans
    (Washington, DC, 2013-09) World Bank
    This report addresses the limited access to local governments of data and knowledge of municipal finance issues in South East Europe (SEE). The objective of the analytical work under the SEE Municipal Finance Review (MFR) aims to (i) contribute to improved understanding of local government management and finance in the SEE Region; and (ii) contribute to improving the quality and consistency of key municipal finance data for improved evidence based policy making. The analysis presented in this report comprises the first attempt to review and analyze a regional set of disaggregated sub-national finance data in the SEE Region. Main findings of the MFR are presented in this report. Following an introductory chapter, chapter 2 provides an overview of the decentralization framework in the SEE Region, including on the administrative and political structure of sub-national governments, their population size and distribution, and the service functions assigned to local governments. Chapter 3 explains in more detail the local government finance framework. This includes an overview of the structure and composition of sub-national finances, in particular (i) revenue and expenditure assignments; (ii) transfers and intergovernmental fiscal relations; and (iii) the evolving framework and realities of sub-national borrowing and debt. Chapter 4 provides a summary of the key trends and findings from the cross-country, regional analysis, complemented by detailed analysis of the disaggregated datasets, where available. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes conclusions and provides some recommendations for a possible way forward. In the medium to long term, access to municipal finance information would contribute to increasing transparency and accountability of local governments, improving revenue collection and expenditure performance, optimizing budget allocation procedures, and strengthen local authorities' role and position in intergovernmental fiscal considerations and negotiations in the SEE countries.
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    PFM Design under Capacity Constraints : Planning Public Financial Management Reforms in Pacific Island Countries
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-07) World Bank ; International Monetary Fund
    This note is intended to inform Public Financial Management (PFM) reform in small Pacific Island Countries (PICs). PFM systems in PIC contexts are often very different from the sophisticated and comprehensive systems operating in larger, wealthier countries. The authors give two key messages. Firstly, PFM capacity should be prioritized to areas that matter most in achieving development outcomes, and reforms should be intended to address specific, identified, problems, rather than to achieve blueprint good practice standards. Secondly, with small numbers of staff and high staff turnover limiting potential for sustainable gains from standard capacity building solutions (such as training programs and workshops), broader options for meeting capacity gaps should be considered, including accessing ongoing support for specialized tasks or even the wholesale outsourcing of certain functions. The three main sections of this note are as follows: (i) how to plan PFM reforms, including through the development of PFM roadmaps; (ii) how to prioritize limited PFM reform capacity to address the most pressing constraints to development; and (iii) how to access additional capacity to implement and sustain required PFM reforms.
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    Sierra Leone: Strengthening Entry-Level Leadership Development in the Civil Service
    (Washington, DC, 2012-09) World Bank
    This report is the final product of a project financed by a grant from the World Bank's Youth Innovation Fund developed in conjunction with representatives of the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) spanning the period December 2011-June 2012. The report is an advisory document to assist the GoSL in advancement of its Public Sector Reform Program, particularly the initiative improving productivity through management and pay reforms. It provides the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) with options for the design and implementation of an entry-level leadership development program (ELDP) for the civil service, currently slated for implementation in 2014 as per government timelines. This program is herein referred to as the Sierra Leone Public Service Fellowship (SLPSF). The purpose of this document is address the identified organizational gap by offering technical guidance on the creation of a civil service fellowship that cultivates promising young professionals as future leaders. The proposed program targets university students in their final year of study and entices them to apply for graduate entry-level positions through a dedicated outreach effort and series of incentives. It selects candidates through a rigorous multi-stage assessment and matches successful candidate's interests with the needs of the Ministry, Department, or Agency (MDAs). It trains selected fellows in core civil service knowledge as well as a range of generalist functions and technical skills. It also offers fellows the opportunity to rotate in three different MDAs throughout the two-year period to develop a whole of government perspective. Throughout this initiative, the program offers fellows access to senior Government leaders and opportunities to grow professionally building a strong foundation for a successful career as a civil servant. Additionally, the program is bolstered by a number of public relations opportunities to raise its profile and showcase its achievements to Sierra Leoneans within and outside of Government.
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    Republic of Armenia - Fiscal Consolidation and Recovery : Synthesis Report
    (World Bank, 2011-11-01) World Bank
    Armenia's structural reforms since 1999 have led to a strong economic record, including low fiscal deficits and declining public debt over the pre-crisis decade. Between 2001 and 2008 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 12 percent and poverty fell from over 50 percent to about 28 percent of the population. Over this period of rapid growth, prudent fiscal management contained fiscal deficits between 0 and 2.5 percent of GDP and helped to reduce public debt from 49 percent to 16 percent of GDP. This fiscal headroom allowed the Government to respond to the crisis with an appropriately large fiscal stimulus. When GDP contracted by more than 14 percent in 2009 and total revenues fell sharply, nominal public spending was increased by 13 percent to shore up the domestic economy and protect the poor and vulnerable. Despite the severity of the crisis, the Government maintained a sound macroeconomic framework while continuing to undertake social protection expenditures to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the most vulnerable people. This was done by securing sizable external financing. The fiscal deficit rose to 7.8 percent of GDP in 2009 and the public debt to GDP ratio rose from 16 percent in 2008 to 40.2 percent. Efforts at fiscal consolidation reduced the fiscal deficit to 5.6 percent of GDP in 2010, but public debt is projected to reach 42 percent of GDP in 2011.The report is in two volumes: a synthesis volume and a background volume. The synthesis volume summarizes the macroeconomic context of Armenia (chapter one), analyzes the recent debt dynamics and its implication for fiscal consolidation (chapter two, then assess the revenue potential the Government can tap (chapter three) while ensuring key growth-sustaining and poverty-reducing expenditures are maintained (chapter four). The background volume provides more details on the assessment of the tax potential of the mining sector (chapter one), and thoroughly analyzes the efficiency of spending on the public sector wage bill (chapter two), health (chapter three) and education (chapter four).