Other Public Sector Study
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Publication
The World Bank's Support for Subnational Governance in Large Federal Countries: Lessons Learned from Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)Limited local tax revenue and low public sector efficiency are two critical problems of public sector management and key constraints for the economic and social development of many subnational governments in large federal countries. To create fiscal space without compromising macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability, there is a need for reforms that lead to better use of public resources and improved expenditure efficiency through reforms in budgeting, procurement, and tax administration. This note presents lessons learned from the World Bank’s subnational governance projects in three large federal countries - Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria - between 2008-2017. These lessons learned can be useful in shaping the design of future subnational governance projects in other federal countries, particularly those projects seeking to improve service delivery, public expenditure systems and core governance institutions. -
Publication
The Evolving Role of the Planning Function: International Experience and Reform Options for India
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11-01)This note presents the main trends in strategic planning across public sector administrations in seven countries: Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, South Korea, and Colombia. It was prepared in response to the Indian Government's interest in understanding the emerging trends in the evolution of strategic planning in a range of countries and effectively adapting this function across public administration at the national and subnational levels. -
Publication
Delivering Together: Using Indonesia's Village Law to Optimize Frontline Service Delivery
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08-19)Over the past twenty years, Indonesia has pursued an ambitious policy agenda for decentralization. Indonesia's subnational governments play a key role in providing frontline services. In 2014, Indonesia's Village Law ushered in a new chapter in the country's decentralization agenda. The law establishes a legal and financial foundation for villages to contribute to Indonesia's rural development. In 2020, village transfers accounted for around ten percent of all subnational transfers, playing an important role in Indonesia's Coronavirus (COVID-19) response strategy. Despite these positive results, several frontier issues in the overall decentralization agenda hinder villages' contributing potential to improving frontline service delivery. This report categorizes these structural challenges into four broad categories of regulatory challenges, coordination gaps, limited capacity building systems, and fragmentation in accountability systems. The report aims to show how overcoming these structural challenges can enable the government to institutionalize systems of accountability and participation into its wider service delivery framework. -
Publication
Using New Data to Support Tax Treaty Negotiation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-07-12)This paper introduces the new Tax Treaties Explorer dataset, developed with support from the World Bank and the G-24, and illustrates its use for research by tax treaty negotiators, policy makers, and researchers. The new dataset provides a rich source of data to reexamine existing tax treaty policy, inform negotiation positions, and assess treaty networks. For the first time, it provides a tool to analyze trends in the content of tax treaties, across individual agreements, over time, and between countries. To illustrate the value of such an approach, we replicate a study by Barthel, Busse, and Neumayer (2009), which found a positive association between the presence of a tax treaty and the bilateral stock of FDI. We show that this effect is mainly driven by the withholding tax rates in the treaty rather than by other provisions affecting taxing rights such as permanent establishment. If the outcomes of this proof-of-concept replication are borne out in future research, this would suggest that negotiators can seek the maximum protection of source taxing rights in other parts of the treaty, knowing that this is unlikely to dilute investment-promoting impacts. -
Publication
GovTech for Azerbaijan: A Whole of Government Approach as a Key Foundation for the Digital Economy in Azerbaijan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-10)This note presents main findings of the GovTech Snapshot Assessment for Azerbaijan, forming part of a larger World Bank global engagement on GovTech and Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) in the South Caucasus focusing on transforming government services through digital innovations. The objective of the note is to conduct an initial GovTech stock-taking, using the GovTech conceptual framework within the broader Digital Economy context. Starting with a first analytical phase in 2021 and to be continued through a second phase of implementation support in 2022, the assessment focuses on key thematic areas in line with client interest to help identify entry-points and reform options. It applies a simplified and customized version of the Digital Government Readiness Assessment Methodology (DGRA), assessing key thematic dimensions and developing a menu of reform options in line with client priorities. The note is structured in four sections. The first section presents the GovTech and Digital Economy conceptual framework. Section two includes key findings of the snapshot assessment for all nine dimensions of the DGRA. Section three propose potential reform opportunities, based on entry-points identified in the assessment and customized to client priorities. Finally, Section 4 presents different engagement options to deepen collaboration between the government of Azerbaijan and the World Bank on GovTech. -
Publication
GovTech for Georgia: A Whole of Government Approach as a Key Foundation for the Digital Economy in Georgia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-10)This note presents main findings of the GovTech Snapshot Assessment for Georgia, forming part of a larger World Bank global engagement on GovTech and Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) in the South Caucasus on Transforming Government Services through Digital Innovations. The objective of the note is to conduct an initial GovTech stock-taking, using the GovTech conceptual framework within the broader Digital Economy context. Starting with a first analytical phase in 2021 and to be continued through a second phase of implementation support in 2022, the assessment focuses on key thematic areas in line with client interest to help identify entry-points and reform options. It applies a simplified and customized version of the Digital Government Readiness Assessment Methodology (DGRA), assessing key thematic dimensions and developing a menu of reform options in line with client priorities. -
Publication
GovTech for Armenia: A Whole of Government Approach as a Key Foundation for the Digital Economy in Armenia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-10)This note presents main findings of the GovTech snapshot assessment for Armenia forming part of a larger World Bank global engagement on GovTech and Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA) in the South Caucasus on transforming government services through digital innovations. The objective of the note is to conduct an initial GovTech stock-taking using the GovTech conceptual framework within the broader digital economy context. Starting with a first analytic phase in 2021 and to be continued through a second phase of implementation support in 2022, the assessment focuses on key thematic areas in line with client’s interest to help identify entry-points and reform options. It applies a simplified and customized version of the Digital Government Readiness Assessment Methodology (DGRA), assessing key thematic dimensions and developing a menu of reform options in line with client priorities. The note is structured in four sections. The first section presents the GovTech and Digital Economy conceptual framework. Section two includes key findings of the snapshot assessment for all nine dimensions of the DGRA. Section three propose potential reform opportunities based on entry-points identified in the assessment and customized to client priorities. These are presented below as a preliminary menu of reform options and as a basis for further discussion with Armenian counterparts. Finally, Section 4 presents different GovTech engagement options to deepen collaboration between the government of Armenia and the World Bank. -
Publication
Data Governance Practices in MENA: Case Study - Opportunities and Challenges in Morocco
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11)Through successive royal speeches and digital transformation strategies, Morocco has identified the digital transformation of government, the economy, and society as high priorities for the country’s new development model and for strengthening the social contract between the state and citizens. This case study examines the data governance ecosystem in Morocco by applying a regional assessment tool developed the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) tech initiative. The case provides an assessment of existing practices to optimize the management and generation of data for development outcomes. Morocco has the opportunity to achieve its strategic digital transformation aspirations by reinforcing and effectively implementing a robust technical infrastructure and policy, legal, and regulatory framework for data governance to enable trusted data collection, processing, and (re)use by government, civil society, and the private sector. Enabling effective implementation of this data governance framework and better use by civil servants and individual users will also require investment to build institutional capacity and digital skills of all actors in the data ecosystem. Finally, an inclusive communications and dissemination campaign to increase public awareness and acceptance, can foster trust in data use in a country and region with a fragile social contract. -
Publication
Freedom of Information Access: Key Challenges, Lessons Learned and Strategies for Effective Implementation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06-01)Implementation of the right to information as established in a Freedom of Information Access (FOIA) Law provides a foundation for institutionalization of transparency and support for anti-corruption efforts. Passage of a FOIA law is only a first step toward accessibility of data and documents held by public agencies, however. Effective implementation of a FOIA requires that public agencies take additional steps to put laws into practice and overcome common implementation challenges that can render FOIA laws ineffective. This note, which builds on previous World Bank research on factors determining effective implementation of FOIA laws, reviews cases of introduction of FOIA laws around the world and summarizes the main challenges, lessons learned and key strategies emerging from these experiences. Its primary aim is to inform Italian public agencies charged with implementation of the FOIA law about steps they can take toward effective implementation. As such, it focuses on areas of activity typically within the purview of public agencies, as opposed to those typically in scope of policymakers or central agencies charged with implementation and/or legislative oversight of FOIA. -
Publication
Chatbots for Third-Party Monitoring: CivicTech Pilot in Madagascar
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)Growing evidence confirms that citizen engagement is key to improving the delivery and quality of public services, management of public finances, and to promoting social inclusion, resulting in tangible improvements in people’s lives. The advent and availability of new technologies provide new opportunities to reach citizens, aggregate their ‘voice’ and demand, help governments respond, and partner with citizens to find and implement solutions collectively. With the right approach, CivicTech enables citizens to overcome income, social, and geographical barriers to interact with governments and participate at the local or national level. The CivicTech pilot in Madagascar supported the development of a Facebook ChatBot (bot) to enable third-party monitoring of service delivery operations for the Madagascar Public Sector Performance Project (PAPSP, P150116). A similar approach could be replicated for Community Driven Development (CDD) projects and local government and decentralized service delivery projects to achieve a multi-channel structure for third-party monitoring (offline, mobile, and web). The note documents the CivicTech pilot experience in Madagascar and lessons learned.