Institutional and Governance Review
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Publication
CPIA Africa, June 2015: Assessing Africa's Policies and Institutions
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06)The Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) Africa report describes the progress African countries are making on strengthening the quality of their policies and institutions. Some of the results from this report include: The overall quality of policies and institutions in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa was unchanged in 2014, but there was much variation in performance across countries. More than half the countries in the region saw a change in their policy environment: 10 countries experienced an improvement in their overall CPIA score, and an equal number saw a deterioration. There were divergent trends across policy clusters. Economic management weekend on the back of continuing fiscal policy slippage, as the sharp drop in commodity prices underscored weaknesses in the fiscal framework of several of the regions countries. By contrast, there was some strengthening in the governance cluster, with nine countries showing improvements in scores, more than twice the number of countries with declines. The greatest progress in this cluster was in the quality of budgetary and financial management. -
Publication
Jamaica : Parliamentary Oversight of Public Finances--An Institutional Review
(Washington, DC, 2013-06-10)Sound legislative oversight of public finances is crucial to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. All national governments, and particularly those that are accountable to their citizens through free elections and the voice of civil society, are concerned with the efficiency and efficacy of public finances. More broadly, well-functioning parliaments promote good governance; enhance transparency and accountability, including for public expenditures and their results; widen public discourse on national priorities and options; and build better partnerships between officials and representatives and their electorate. In all this, those among the citizenry with the least have the most to gain. This report responds to a request from the Government of Jamaica to review the structure and capacity of the Parliament of Jamaica to undertake its constitutional role with respect to oversight of the nation's public finances. Jamaica's Parliament is the country's supreme legislative body, consisting of an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Senate (Upper House), as well as the Queen or her representative, as the ceremonial head, and the Governor General. The Government of Jamaica has amended various legislations to adopt a Fiscal Responsibility Framework (FRF). The FRF includes specific fiscal targets as well as provisions to include the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and public service control over expenditures and lending. -
Publication
“Governance in the Protection of Immovable Property Rights in Albania: A Continuing Challenge” : A World Bank Issue Brief - Second Edition
(Washington, DC, 2012-04)Despite several attempts at reform, immovable property rights in Albania are not adequately secure and represent an important governance challenge. Problems have resulted from incomplete first title registration, the lack of accurate cadastral records, and, in many cases, the absence of reliable evidence of ownership. Although Albania has adopted legislation calling for restitution or compensation for owners whose property was expropriated under communism, implementation is incomplete. In Albania, rapid internal migration has resulted in informal occupation of land and unauthorized construction on a mass scale, thus compounding the problems associated with the incomplete transfer of property. During the 1990s, as much as one-third of the population of some northern and mountainous regions migrated to urban, peri-urban, and coastal areas in search of income generation opportunities, despite the lack of adequate housing infrastructure or public service provision. Internal migration continues, albeit at a slower pace. Gaps in territorial planning legislation and administrative failures in the issuance of construction permits have made it difficult to obtain an appropriate construction permit, even when occupiers have legal title to the land. State authorities have largely failed to prevent new illegal occupation of land and illegal construction, and it is estimated that up to one-third of all buildings in Albania are illegal due to the occupier's lack of clear title and/or appropriate construction permit. This review of immovable property rights in Albania draws primarily upon this definition, which takes into account the popular legitimacy of state institutions and respect for the law among citizens and government institutions the softer aspects of governance that are essential to understanding how policies are made and implemented in practice and how public resources are used. -
Publication
Governance in Albania : A Way Forward for Competitiveness, Growth, and European Integration
(Washington, DC, 2011-06)Since its emergence from a turbulent post-communist transition, Albania has achieved remarkable progress in economic and social development. Governance improvements, especially in the effectiveness of public administration, have been instrumental to the country's impressive economic performance and improved human development outcomes. The Government has taken steps to improve public order and personal safety, particularly through efforts to crack down on violent and organized crime. Despite these positive developments, Albania continues to face significant governance challenges that will need to be overcome if the country is to achieve critical development objectives. Enduring politicization of the public administration and incomplete separation of powers, exemplified by instances of political interference in judicial processes, remain serious obstacles. The Government recognizes the need to accelerate progress on several dimensions of governance reform, particularly in light of its aspirations to European Union (EU) accession. This issue brief seeks to analyze the nature and recent evolution of Albania's governance environment, to identify the principal governance constraints to the achievement of development priorities-overall and in key sectors, and to outline recommendations for the way forward. -
Publication
Regulatory Capacity Review of Kenya
(Washington, DC, 2010)Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in developing countries. For reforms to be beneficial, regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive. They must establish appropriate institutional frameworks and liberalized business regulations; enforce competition policy and law; and open external and internal markets to trade and investment. This report examines the institutional set-up for and use of regulatory policy instruments in Kenya. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania). The report is based on a review of public documents prepared by the government, donors, and the private sector, and on a limited number of interviews with key institutions and individuals. -
Publication
Better Regulation for Growth: Governance Frameworks and Tools for Effective Regulatory Reform
(Washington, DC, 2010)Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in developing countries. For reforms to be beneficial, regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive. They must establish appropriate institutional frameworks and liberalized business regulations; enforce competition policy and law; and open external and internal markets to trade and investment. This report examines the institutional set-up for and use of regulatory policy instruments in Zambia. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania). The report is based on a review of public documents prepared by the government, donors, and the private sector, and on a limited number of interviews with key institutions and individuals. -
Publication
Nicaragua : Institutional and Governance Review
(Washington, DC, 2008-04)This document presents the main governance indicators for the country, as compiled by the World Bank Institute (WBI), and how are they used by international institutions in making decisions about assistance to Nicaragua. Although these indicators have weaknesses, they can provide a general indication of what are the priority areas for investigation. Accordingly, the present review concentrates on a few key areas where the Bank's expertise can add value and complement the efforts of other donors, including: (a) the regulatory system; (b) the system of property registries; and (c) two of the mechanisms for oversight and accountability of public sector performance (the Comptroller's Office and social accountability). The overall objective of the Institutional and Governance Review (IGR) is to examine the institutional and governance bottlenecks that stand in the way of more effective impact of key public policies, particularly poverty reduction policies. Since the report is limited in scope, the criteria to decide priority areas for review included: (a) issues that are of particular significance for better governance and institutionality; (b) issues that are particularly important in relation to poverty reduction; (c) issues where the Bank has a comparative advantage; and (d) issues where there would not be a duplication of effort with other donors or other studies undertaken by the Bank and where the IGR can add value. -
Publication
Republic of Belarus : Corruption Vulnerability Scan
(Washington, DC, 2007-05-23)The Corruption Vulnerability Scan (CVS) is an internal Bank document aimed at providing a better understanding on the Bank's vulnerability in extending assistance to Belarus, and making suggestions as to how to reduce risks in the use of Bank funds, while improving results on the ground. The CVS team visited Belarus in March 2007. Its main conclusion is that the vulnerability to corruption of Bank funds and activities funded from loan proceeds in Belarus is low, as long as Bank fiduciary procedures are used and implementation is closely supervised. The report is in three parts: Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Belarus, Public Finance Management and the Bank Portfolio. -
Publication
Republic of Paraguay Institutional and Governance Review Breaking with Tradition : Overcoming Institutional Impediments to Improve Public Sector Performance
(Washington, DC, 2005-06)The present study uses examples from all three branches of Government - the Ministry of Finance, the ordinary courts, and the Congress in its budgetary role - to examine the institutional obstacles to their improved performance and the opportunities for targeted changes. It builds on recent analytic work done by Paraguayan academics and others, highlighting the historical and persisting impact of the traditional political practices. The arguments emphasize that the particularistic use of public resources has been and remains key to obtaining and holding political power in Paraguay. The study's goals were eminently practical to provide Paraguay's reformers with insights as to how they can escape a series of vicious circles. As they understand the basics quite well, the emphasis here was on their more detailed application at the organizational and sub-organizational levels. -
Publication
Devolution in Pakistan : Annex 1. Recent History
(Washington, DC, 2004-09-01)The Devolved Service Delivery Study (DSD) is the product of an agreement between the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Department for International Development (the United Kingdom), in response to a request from the Government of Pakistan that the agencies review progress toward improving service delivery through decentralization. Pakistan's far-reaching devolution initiative has been designed with three broad and inter-related objectives in mind: To inject new blood into a political system considered to be the domain of historically entrenched interests; to provide positive measures enabling marginalized citizens--women, workers, peasants-to access formal politics; and to introduce a measure of stability into a turbulent political scene by creating a stronger line of accountability between new politicians and local electorates. Underpinning the political strategy were other technical objectives: improved delivery of social services; better determination and enforcement of property and labor rights and regulation of economic activities; and access to justice in the form of improved performance by local administrations, courts and police, with greater awareness of basic human rights protected under devolution. Based on an empirical study of 6 districts and 12 municipalities (Tehsil Municipal Administrations) (TMAs), this paper evaluates the extent to which the new structure has succeeded in creating the incentives necessary for local governments to achieve at least some of the service delivery objectives. This report notes that remarkable progress has been achieved. New local institutions with new structures for local government, new arrangements for intergovernmental sharing of resources, new electoral arrangements, new rules for government formation and dismissal and new opportunities for citizens to participate in the affairs of government have all been created. At the same time as the devolution initiative was being implemented, the government also implemented significant reforms in tax, trade, deregulation and privatization, the banking sector, anticorruption, restructuring federal and provincial legislatures and responding to gender concerns.