Institutional and Governance Review
54 items available
Permanent URI for this collection
Items in this collection
1 - 10 of 11
-
Publication
Building Sustainable Public Sector Capacity in a Challenging Context
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-01)In a conflict-affected and newly independent country like South Sudan, rebuilding public sector capacity is an important aspect of state building, both in the short and in the medium to long term. If capacity strengthening is not pursued or is ineffective, government functionality remains patchy and dependency on technical assistants (TA) remains high. Capacity strengthening has been considered amorphous and a difficult topic in academic literature. This paper looks at the experience of efforts to strengthen capacity in South Sudan over the decade from 2005 to 2016. The context has proved challenging for capacity-building efforts. On the one hand, some improvements have been seen and some skilled civil servants are in place. On the other hand, wider progress has been difficult and punctuated by crises and setbacks. Renewed conflicts from December 2013 to August 2015, and again since July 2016, have disrupted progress and planning for development support. The report’s recommendations are based on the assumption that minimum stability will eventually return for capacity strengthening to restart; but it cannot be predicted when this will be the case. -
Publication
Governance Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises: Lessons from Four Case Studies (Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Tunisia)
(Washington, DC, 2015-08)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. -
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
CPIA Africa, June 2013: Assessing Africa's Policies and Institutions
(Washington, DC, 2013-06)This report is the second in a series of annual reports describing the progress African countries are making on strengthening the quality of policies and institutions that underpin development. It presents Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) scores for the 39 African countries that are eligible for support from the International Development Association (IDA). The development literature identifies the components of the CPIA as being broadly relevant for sustaining growth and reducing poverty. The data provide some support for this association. All country groups exhibit similar patterns across the four CPIA clusters. The gap in scores between the macroeconomic management cluster and the governance cluster is just as pronounced for fragile as for non-fragile states. In contrast, the gap between the economic management cluster and the social policies and structural policies clusters is small. Overall, the macroeconomic policy stance in Sub-Saharan Africa was supportive of growth, with monetary policy focused on managing inflation and fiscal policy focused on pro-poor spending and infrastructure development. Inflation declined in 2012, thanks to a moderation in food and fuel prices and prudent monetary policy. However, an expansive fiscal policy translated into a weakening of fiscal balances. Debt levels also edged up, although they remained moderate. As the policy areas in this cluster are closely related, there tends to be co-movement in the scores for monetary and fiscal policy. -
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
Regulatory Capacity Review of Rwanda
(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 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. -
Publication
Regulatory Capacity Review of Tanzania
(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 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. -
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
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.