Institutional and Governance Review

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2181

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CPIA Africa, August 2020: Safeguarding Human Capital during and beyond COVID-19

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-08-12) World Bank

The 2020 Africa Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) report covers the period from January to December 2019. The addition of Somalia brought the number of the region’s International Development Association (IDA)–eligible countries to 39. The overall CPIA score for the region’s 39 IDA-eligible countries came in at 3.1, the same as in the previous three years, in a context of moderating per capita growth. The average scores for most of the CPIA clusters trended down in 2019. While the average score for the economic management cluster was unchanged from last year’s assessment, the average scores for the other three clusters—structural policies, social inclusion, and public management and institutions—declined, indicating that the quality of policies and institutions in the region’s IDA countries weakened in 2019. The weakening of structural policies was reflected in the decline in the quality of trade policy, uneven improvements in the regulations affecting factor and product markets, and further deterioration of the financial sector performance. In the area of social inclusion, many countries experienced a decrease in the quality of service delivery that affects access to and quality of health and education services. In the broader area of governance, limited progress was made in strengthening property rights, and transparency and accountability. In addition, the quality of public administration declined, and financial management systems and revenue mobilization capacity weakened in many countries.
CPIA Africa: Strengthening Debt Management Capacity

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-07-31) World Bank

The 2019 Africa Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) report covers the period January to December 2018. Over this period, the average quality of policies and institutions in International Development Association (IDA)-eligible countries remained unchanged, amid decelerating growth across the region. The overall CPIA score for IDA countries in Sub-Saharan Africa was 3.1 in 2018, the same as 2017, reflecting the slow progress in improving the quality of policy and institutional frameworks in the region.
Actionable Regulatory Governance Indicators for UE Regions

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-06-13) World Bank

The European Union’s Cohesion Policy is its biggest investment instrument. It supports the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. With a budget of €351.8 billion for 2014–2020, the Cohesion Policy accounts for around one-third of the EU budget. The Cohesion Policy is primarily implemented through investments in EU regions and cities. Local and regional governments in the EU are responsible for more than half of all public investment. There is a growing focus on the importance of good governance to ensure effective implementation. The European Commission’s 6th Cohesion Policy report notes that governance problems not only delay the implementation of Cohesion Policy programs but also reduce the impact of these investments. The report states: ‘a lower standard of governance can affect the impact of Cohesion Policy both directly and indirectly. In the first place, it can reduce expenditure if programs fail to invest all the funding available. Secondly, it can lead to a less coherent or appropriate strategy for a country or region. Thirdly, it may lead to lower quality projects being selected for funding or to the best projects not applying for support at all. Fourthly, it may result in a lower leverage effect because the private sector is less willing to co-finance investment.’ The purpose of this report is to develop and test a set of actionable indicators for the regulatory frameworks of EU regions. Deregulatory measures focusing on ‘fixing broken regulations’ are a necessary and important element of investment climate reforms. However, gains from one-off initiatives aimed at cutting costs and procedures are often reversed if the responsible institutions, tools, and incentives are not changed.
Jamaica : Parliamentary Oversight of Public Finances--An Institutional Review

(Washington, DC, 2013-06-10) World Bank

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.
CPIA Africa, June 2013: Assessing Africa's Policies and Institutions

(Washington, DC, 2013-06) World Bank

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.
“Governance in the Protection of Immovable Property Rights in Albania: A Continuing Challenge” : A World Bank Issue Brief - Second Edition

(Washington, DC, 2012-04) World Bank

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.
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.
Nicaragua : Institutional and Governance Review

(Washington, DC, 2008-04) World Bank

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.
Republic of Belarus : Corruption Vulnerability Scan

(Washington, DC, 2007-05-23) World Bank

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.
Ethiopia : Decentralization, Delivery and Accountability

(Washington, DC, 2006-06-30) World Bank

One of the fruits of this partnership was the preparation of an unusually rich set of background papers, under the umbrella of a process-driven Institutional and Governance Review (IGR); this Analytical and Advisory work was skillfully designed to support the design and implementation of PSCAP. Some of the papers focused on policy; others provided qualitative assessments of the realities on the ground; yet others benchmarked different facets of the governance environment, as a basis for monitoring going forward. A comprehensive synthesis of these IGR papers (referenced in Part A of the bibliography) is neither necessary not desirable; they stand on their own terms. (Also: see the powerpoint overview in Appendix 1 of Ethiopia's decentralization experience prepared by the World Bank team which led the process.). The objectives of this IGR summary are more modest, namely to; Provide (following staff turnover in the World Bank team) an entry point of access to some of the rich materials which have been prepared under the IGR umbrella; draw on the materials (plus other background material on Ethiopia) to provide a qualitative, on-the-ground sense of the extent to which the 2002 reforms have transformed the local governance realities; highlight some of the important base-line benchmarking exercises which were completed under the IGR umbrella, and which provide a key basis for monitoring progress going forward ; and point to some ways in which benchmarking can support the broader objective of strengthening the accountability for performance of Ethiopia's government, in the context of the political realities prevailing in 2006.