Institutional and Governance Review

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    Governance Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises: Lessons from Four Case Studies (Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Tunisia)
    (Washington, DC, 2015-08) World Bank
    The state-owned enterprise (SOE) landscape has become increasingly diverse. There used to be some relatively well-defined criteria, but with the growing complexity of state participation in the economy, there is no longer a uniform definition, and especially because the definition of a SOE has always been country-specific. SOE reforms can have major positive impacts not only by reducing fiscal risks by decreasing hidden subsidies, direct transfers, and overstaffing, but also by strengthening competition and developing capital markets. SOE reforms in developing countries began in the 1960s because of the poor performance of many of the SOEs. The reform movement sought to strengthen the internal capacity of SOEs. To enrich the discussion about possible avenues for performance-enhancing SOE reforms, this report presents the main principles of good governance of SOEs with references to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines on corporate governance of SOEs (OECD 2005). This document is divided into six parts: (1) an effective legal and regulatory framework for SOEs; (2) the state as an owner; (3) equitable treatment of shareholders; (4) relations with stakeholders; (5) transparency and disclosure; and (6) the responsibilities of the boards of SOEs.
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    Governance in Albania : A Way Forward for Competitiveness, Growth, and European Integration
    (Washington, DC, 2011-06) World Bank
    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.
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    Regulatory Capacity Review of Rwanda
    (Washington, DC, 2010) International Finance Corporation ; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ; World Bank
    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 analyses the institutional set-up and use of regulatory policy instruments in Rwanda. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia), and represents an attempt to apply assessment tools and the framework developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its work on regulatory capacity and performance to developing countries.
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    Regulatory Capacity Review of Uganda
    (Washington, DC, 2010) International Finance Corporation ; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ; World Bank
    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 analyses the institutional set-up and use of regulatory policy instruments in Uganda. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia), and represents an attempt to apply assessment tools and the framework developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its work on regulatory capacity and performance to developing countries.
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    Regulatory Capacity Review of Kenya
    (Washington, DC, 2010) International Finance Corporation ; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ; World Bank
    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.
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    Regulatory Capacity Review of Tanzania
    (Washington, DC, 2010) International Finance Corporation ; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ; World Bank
    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 analyses the institutional set-up and use of regulatory policy instruments in Tanzania. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia), and represents an attempt to apply assessment tools and the framework developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its work on regulatory capacity and performance to developing countries.
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    Better Regulation for Growth: Governance Frameworks and Tools for Effective Regulatory Reform
    (Washington, DC, 2010) International Finance Corporation ; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency ; World Bank
    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.
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    Mauritania : Anti-Corruption Study
    (Washington, DC, 2008-09) World Bank
    This report provides analytic support to the National Anti-corruption Strategy (NACS) formulation, offers lessons from international experience on governance and anti-corruption (GAC) policy, and generally supports the Government and its development partners to better understand the phenomenon of corruption in Mauritania. The report is structured as follows: Chapter 2 focuses on the definition and measurement of corruption and the Mauritanian political economy. Chapter 3 focuses on corruption in public procurement. Chapter 4 concentrates on corruption in the courts of law. Chapter 5 deals with the extractive industries. Chapter 6 focuses on corruption from the perspective of the private sector, based on the results of the recent Investment Climate Assessment (ICA). On the basis of the analysis conducted in this report, the single most important message concerns the need for maintaining momentum and pressing ahead with the finalization of ongoing anti-corruption strategic thinking and legislation, and the implementation of already approved GAC laws and measures. Looking forward, the emphasis should shift from passing laws and rules to concrete implementation of procedures on a broader agenda of greater political accountability. Priority areas include: (1) independence of the media, (2) monitoring procedures (such as a governance diagnostic survey) and (3) the establishment of an effective mechanism through which the voice of citizens and users of public services can be heard.