WBI Development Studies
22 items available
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These studies, sponsored by the World Bank Institute (WBI), seek to improve the understanding and capacity for reform of policymakers and practitioners in developing countries in the main economic and social areas.
Items in this collection
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Publication
Mexico's Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy : Challenges and Opportunities
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)This book is about how Mexico can transform itself into a knowledge based economy by tapping into a number of existing socioeconomic advantages: macroeconomic stability, emerging regional enterprise clusters that combine local talent with a dynamic private sector, geographical proximity to the world's knowledge economy powerhouse-the United States, as well as a rich cultural base that generates a wealth of ideas. Mexico's transition to a knowledge-based economy provides a broad assessment of the country's readiness to join the global knowledge economy, highlighting the importance of education and institutional reform, and of creating an environment that is conducive to innovation. This transformation, however, is not only about shaping the reform agenda from the top down. It also means trial-and-error experimentation to test what works and what doesn't in the Mexican context, and then taking successful bottom-up initiatives to scale. The book takes a dual approach in its analysis and recommendations. It tackles both the strategic long-term agenda, which entails many difficult changes and choices, while also proposing a diversity of pragmatic, short-and medium-term entry points to initiate and promote the transition within the current institutional structure. -
Publication
Knowledge and Innovation for Competitiveness in Brazil
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)Brazil has made considerable progress toward macroeconomic stability since reform measures began to take hold in the early 1990s, and its economy has produced stronger growth as a result an average of 2.5 percent annually over the past decade. This study provides a broad, cross-sectoral analysis of Brazil's capacity for producing knowledge and innovation. As such, it moves beyond the traditional recommendation that is, builds a stable macroeconomic environment and business-friendly physical and policy infrastructure and instead seeks a more comprehensive approach. The fact is that Brazil has delivered some important successes with efforts to develop innovation in agriculture, aerospace and energy. But like other middle-income nations, it is discovering that it must re-evaluate its education system, its information technology infrastructure, and its policy framework for encouraging innovation to ensure that its economy as a whole is growing fast enough to keep up with the global competition while also guaranteeing progress in its fight against poverty. This study was developed in close consultation with Brazilian government and civil society leaders, who are deeply engaged with the question of how to foster innovation and greater economic competitiveness. Indeed, the breadth of the support for this study is a testament to Brazil's pragmatism and perseverance in pursuing more robust growth. It is also a welcome reflection of its continually evolving relationship with the World Bank. Today, Brazil has emerged as a leader of efforts to build South-South cooperation. In this role, it can set an important example for other middle-income nations and act as a bridge between the northern and southern hemispheres. -
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Knowledge, Technology, and Cluster-Based Growth in Africa
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008)Although Africa is falling behind in today's global economic race, it holds pockets of vital economic activity -- many in the form of enterprise clusters scattered across the continent's countries and industries. By clustering, enterprises are able to overcome constraints in capital, skills, technology, and markets. Enterprise clusters help their constituents grow and compete by encouraging more effective knowledge and technology diffusion and product specialization, leveraging local comparative advantage, fostering production value chains, and achieving collective efficiency. In so doing, they contribute significantly to Africa's economic growth. They provide jobs for the continent's growing population, thus enabling families not only to survive, but also to educate their children and perhaps move out of poverty. But in today's increasingly knowledge-intensive and globalized economy, these clusters also face serious challenges in the areas of technology, natural resources, infrastructure, skill acquisition, and quality control. This book aims to provide an understanding of how these dynamic enterprise clusters in Africa were formed and have evolved, and how knowledge, human capital, and technology have contributed to their success. -
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Korea as a Knowledge Economy : Evolutionary Process and Lessons Learned
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)This report on Korea is geared towards policy makers from developing countries that are in the midst of, or are intending to, embark on the transition towards the knowledge economy. It provides pragmatic policy lessons drawn from Korea's forty-five years of knowledge-based growth. This report not only looks at the current policies and challenges of today's high income Korea, but also reviews its historical economic development since the 1960s when Korea was still a low income country. It follows Korea through the decades as it undertook an array of knowledge strategies that propelled it through the various income levels. This report therefore provides compelling policy lessons that are relevant for developing countries at different stages of economic development. -
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Social Health Insurance for Developing Nations
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)Good health is necessary for well-being but also has another critical impact: it causes poverty, in that large health expenditures can bankrupt families. Many nations are now hoping that formally mandated social health insurance (SHI), involving payroll taxes, will provide a solution. This report examines the principles, design, and practices of SHI for low and middle-income nations and the necessary conditions for its viability and sustainability, with a focus on design and implementation issues. This volume presents five country case studies to provide evidence and greater detail on key issues that arise at different stages of implementation in low-income countries. They have been selected to reflect on a continuum and timeline of operational stages, beginning with the initial design and legislation of SHI, the first phase of implementation, the expansion to cover larger segments of the population, and on up to completion, whereby SHI becomes the predominant form of health care financing in a country. Accordingly, Kenya has been selected for illustration of the design stage, Ghana for initiation, the Philippines for extension of population coverage, Colombia for SHI and reform of health care delivery, and Thailand for universal coverage and reform of health care delivery. This sequencing and implied timeline of case studies allows this report to reflect on two questions. First, where can a country expect to be in relation to designing and implementing SHI in, say, 10 years? Second, as countries gain experience with SHI, what can they expect to offer or achieve in terms of variations in benefit design, who administers SHI, and how providers are contracted and paid? -
Publication
Building Knowledge Economies : Advanced Strategies for Development
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)Knowledge has always been an essential force in economic development. Chapter one, describes the knowledge revolution, which is leading us into a postindustrial age in which brains, not brawn, are the best means of coping with intensified competition and new challenges, including those related to human development and the global environment. In explaining the foundations and the model of knowledge economies, chapter two outlines the four knowledge economies (KE) pillars, provides elements of the benchmarking methodology, and relates KE achievements to recorded growth and competitiveness. To understand the KE process, chapter three starts with the examples of three KE champions, Finland, Ireland, and the Republic of Korea. The ensuing chapters examine and document in detail the four KE policy pillars. Chapter four on the economic and institutional regime discusses governance, regulation, finance, and trade as they bear on the KE development process. Chapter five on innovation addresses the question of support for innovators, the strengthening of research and technology infrastructure, the diffusion of basic technologies, and the promotion of specific industries. Chapter six deals with the national information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, addressing related applications, institutions, and regulations, as well as access to that infrastructure and the development of the skills needed to build, maintain, and use it. Chapter seven looks at primary and secondary education, higher education, and lifelong learning from a KE perspective, providing insights on the mobility of human resources and the role of diasporas. Chapter eight discusses policy agendas for selected sets of countries. -
Publication
Japan, Moving Toward a More Advanced Knowledge Economy : Volume 2. Advanced Knowledge-Creating Companies
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)These two volumes analyze Japan from the Knowledge Economy perspective, covering a wide range of sector issues in development including the macro economic framework, education and skills training, the national innovation system, science and technology, information and communication technology, and infrastructure. While Volume 1 explores the four pillars of the "Knowledge for Development" framework, the second volume presents up-to-date case studies of outstanding Japanese private companies that each characterize different aspects of the Knowledge Economy. -
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Japan, Moving Toward a More Advanced Knowledge Economy : Volume 1. Assessment and Lessons
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)These two volumes analyze Japan from the Knowledge Economy perspective, covering a wide range of sector issues in development including the macro economic framework, education and skills training, the national innovation system, science and technology, information and communication technology, and infrastructure. While Volume 1 explores the four pillars of the "Knowledge for Development" framework, the second volume presents up-to-date case studies of outstanding Japanese private companies that each characterize different aspects of the Knowledge Economy. -
Publication
Granting and Renegotiating Infrastructure Concessions : Doing it Right
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004-01)In most developing and industrial countries, infrastructure services have traditionally been provided by government enterprises, but in developing countries at least, these enterprises have often proven to be inefficient, unable to provide much-needed investments, and manipulated to achieve political objectives. By contrast, many studies have shown that over the past 30 years, private (or privatized) enterprises in developing countries have, on average, delivered superior performance and needed investments. Explanations differ on why this discrepancy exists. Private enterprises are driven by a desire for profits and may have more professional know-how in management, operating procedures, and use of appropriate technology. But perhaps the most important reason for their stronger performance is that privatization makes intervening in enterprise operations difficult for governments and politicians, so government manipulation is less likely. However, the issue, in general, has been how to ensure that the improved performance and efficiency gains are passed through to the users through lower tariffs and increased coverage, while allowing firms to earn a fair rate of return on their investments. -
Publication
A Primer on Efficiency Measurement for Utilities and Transport Regulators
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-01)This book is intended to help regulators learn about the tools needed to measure efficiency. It is based on lecture notes from courses the World Bank Institute offers in English, French and Spanish throughout the developing world and has benefited from feedback received during those courses. It provides an overview of the various dimensions of efficiency that regulators should be concerned with. It also summarizes the main quantification techniques available to facilitate decisions in the most common regulatory processes. The issues covered should be of particular interest to those policymakers and regulators interested in measuring relative efficiency and in implementing any incentive-based regulatory mechanism that requires the measurement of efficiency, such as price caps, revenue caps, or yardstick competition. The book focuses on methodology selection, data collection, and related issues. It provides readers with all the conceptual tools they need to make real-life decisions. It is also supported by a web site from which readers can download software they can use to implement the techniques described.