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 This series was superseded by the World Bank Working Papers series in 2003 and the World Bank Studies series in 2010.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 Environmental Implications of Privatization : Lessons for Developing Countries
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-04)Governments worldwide have increasingly recognized the economic potential and fiscal advantages of privatization. What is less well recognized is that, under the right conditions, privatization can also yield environmental benefits and contribute to sustainable development. This report reviews a number of case studies to draw lessons about the environmental implications of privatization. It emphasizes that privatization offers an opportunity for making strategic decisions with longer-term impacts; streses that integrating environmental and social considerations into the privatization process leads to better, more sustainable outcomes; and recommends approaches to building on the positive linkages between privatization and environmental protection. -
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
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
Facets of Globalization : International and Local Dimensions of Development
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-10)The chapters in this volume underscore the transformative role of globalization and urbanization, and show the interplay between these forces. Trade reform and liberalized foreign investment regimess have contributed to the spatial reallocation of economic activity toward cities, especially those cities that can attract and nurture human capital and strong connections to other markets. Global factors have, therefore, reinforced agglomeration economies in shifting economic clout toward cities, and in so doing they may be exacerbating regional disparities in incomes. The rise of cities is changing political dynamics in developing nations. It is forcing a reappraisal of existing constitutional structures and center-local relations, as well as the important--and perhaps more mundane-- arrangements for funding and organizing investment by subnational entities. At the same time, democratization is reinforcing the pressures for local autonomy. This perspective shifts the debate away from whether or not globalization is undermining the role of the central state and toward one about the appropriate allocation of responsibilities and resources to different layers of government. Strong arguments support the position that municipalities can, with the appropriate resources and political structures to ensure their responsiveness to local needs, make substantial improvements in the well-being of urban residents. Experience suggests that some state functions ought to remain with government. -
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.