World Bank Discussion Papers
17 items available
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Informal documents that present unpolished results of research or country analysis. They are circulated to encourage discussion and comment. Papers for which rapid publication is particularly important were often issued in this series. This series was superseded by the World Bank Working Papers series in 2003 and the World Bank Studies series in 2010.
Items in this collection
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Publication
The Indian Pharmaceutical Sector : Issues and Options for Health Sector Reform
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-09)This report assesses the pharmaceutical sector in India, particularly focusing on four key issues related to the production, procurement, and distribution of drugs in India: a) availability, b) affordability; c) quality, and d) the rational use of drugs. The results of a survey of three states indicate considerable variation across states in the above four areas in both public and private sectors. The report concludes that problems with the availability, affordability, and rational use of good quality, cost-effective, essential drugs have persisted in most parts of India, and that these health-related issues need be addressed as a priority. An overarching recommendation is the need to focus on strengthening the implementation and regulation of the pharmaceutical sector at the state level, rather than on simply introducing new regulations. Adequate pharmaceutical quality assurance needs to be particularly emphasized as, in its absence, other reform measures could be rendered moot. Similarly, the rational use of drugs needs to be emphasized as it is likely to yield significant cost savings to the government and to consumers, in addition to its positive impact on health. -
Publication
Unleashing Russia's Business Potential : Lessons from the Regions for Building Market Institutions
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-03)This analyzes, based on more than seventy company case studies across 13 Russian regions during the spring, summer, and fall of 2000, and the summer of 2001, examines four key issues that Russian firms face in carrying out business transactions in Russia's regional markets: 1) the state of enterprise competition; 2) the regulatory regime governing the delivery of infrastructure services (with a focus on the telecom, and Internet sector); 3) the sources, and use of corporate finance; and, 4) the efficacy of the court system in fostering the settlement of commercial disputes. The study formulates policy recommendations for each of the areas analyzed. In so doing, it sheds light on salient inter-regional differences in existing policy frameworks, and in the structure, and nature of the country's enterprise sector, as well as on how regional governments, and firms both respond to, and shape these differences. The study also highlights the evolution of inter-regional policy, and economic changes over time, assessing the extent to which, two years after the 1998 crisis, enterprise restructuring at the local level, has been affected by the devaluation of the ruble. -
Publication
Closing the Gap in Access to Rural Communications : Chile 1995-2002
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-02)The study documents, and reviews the Chilean experience in rural telecommunications, by focusing on the principles, practical organization, basic design, and outstanding issues for extension of a more advanced form of approach to communication, and access to information. It examines in depth the results, and success factors of the Telecommunications Development Fund, established in 1994, a success largely due to the extensive reliance on market forces to determine, and allocate subsidies, to minimal regulatory intervention, and relatively simple processing. The design of the Fund proved robust, and remains the leading example of a cost-effective solution to reduce access gaps in basic communication in emerging economies. However, questions remain on the sustainability of services for the long run, on how to support the small, but still excluded rural population, and on potential, further needs in urban areas. -
Publication
Managing the Real and Fiscal Effects of Banking Crises
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-01)The study provides two recent analyses, spurred by the recent East Asian crisis, of government responses to financial distress, and, also presents a comprehensive database on systemic, and borderline banking crises. In the first chapter, the authors review the tradeoffs involved in public policies for systemic, financial, and corporate sector restructuring. They find that consistent policies are crucial for success, though such consistency is often missing. This consistency covers many dimensions, and entails among other things, ensuring that there are sufficient resources for absorbing losses, and, that private agents face appropriate incentives for restructuring. The authors also find that sustainable restructuring, requires deep structural reforms, facing upfront, political economy factors. In the second chapter, the authors use cross-country evidence to determine whether specific crisis containment, and resolution policies, systematically influence the fiscal costs of resolving a crisis. They find that accommodating policies - such as blanket deposit guarantees, debtor bailouts, and regulatory forbearance, etc. - significantly increase fiscal costs. The third chapter, is a comprehensive database on systemic banking crises that have occurred since the late 1970s. The database also includes information on borderline (non-systemic) banking crises during the same period. -
Publication
Telecommunications and Information Services for the Poor : Toward a Strategy for Universal Access
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002)Access to information, and communications technologies has become crucial to a sustainable agenda of economic development, and poverty reduction, and yet access remains concentrated in a few regions and population groups, with the contours of this new "digital divide" closely following, and supplementing existing income, and economic divides. However, technological innovations, economic pressures, and regulatory reforms, are making access to information, and communications technologies more affordable, and, providing opportunities to close the digital divide. This discussion paper outlines a number of policy, and regulatory measures, including incentives to attract investors to high cost, or challenging areas, that can be used under different scenarios, to close the digital divide. While Bank Group experience shows an increasing number of projects with specific universal access components, this paper proposes alternatives for Bank Group support for universal access policies, through an appropriate mix of technical assistance, and investments. -
Publication
Trade and Transport Facilitation : A Toolkit for Audit, Analysis, and Remedial Action
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-12)This document is an expanded version of the paper published in 2000 under the title "Trade and Transport Facilitation: An Audit Methodology." It seeks to improve the effectiveness of diagnosis and corrective activities in the field of trade and transport facilitation by providing beyond guidelines on how to carry out the preliminary audit, insights on how to go over analysis, and preparation of appropriate remedial action. -
Publication
Farm Debt in the CIS : A Multi-Country Study of the Major Causes and Proposed Solutions
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-05)The objective of this study is to support the farm privatization and restructuring process in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by presenting a wide range of strategic and tactical options that could be applied to eliminate, or at least reduce, the main factors responsible for the destructive accumulation of debt in large farm enterprises. This objective has accomplished by documenting and analyzing the indebtedness of large-scale farms in five countries of CIS (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine) developing appropriate proposals, and initiating a dialogue with the government on the subject of farm debt resolution. The study presents a region-wide analysis of the farm debt problem based on data collected from selected countries in CIS, and develops proposals for the respective countries as well as for the region as a whole. -
Publication
Free Trade Area Membership as a Stepping Stone to Development : The Case of ASEAN
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-02)This study investigates the economic impacts of accession to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by the new member countries of Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The trade policies of these countries are examined, and a series of quantitative analyses were undertaken to evaluate the impacts of accession. The results showed that the static impacts of reducing tariffs against ASEAN members are beneficial, although the magnitude of the net gains is diminished by the trade diversion resulting from the discriminatory nature of the reforms. The binding commitments on protection rates under the AFTA plan provide an important initial step to more broader and more beneficial trade reforms. The study focuses on some of the key country-specific policy challenges associated with trade liberalization--such as declining tariff revenues in Cambodia, and the negative impacts on sensitive domestic industries in Vietnam. The study recommends that accession to AFTA be viewed as an important transitional step in the broader process of trade reform and institutional development needed for successful development and poverty alleviation.