Stand alone books

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    Dancing with the Giants: China, India, and the Global Economy
    (Washington, DC : World Bank, 2007) Winters, L. Alan ; Yusuf, Shahid
    This report takes a dispassionate and critical look at the rise of China and India, and asks questions about this growth: Where is it occurring? Who is benefiting most? Is it sustainable? And what are the implications for the rest of the world? The book considers whether the giants' growth will be seriously constrained by weaknesses in governance, growing inequality, and environmental stresses, and it concludes that this need not occur. However, it does suggest that the Chinese and Indian authorities face important challenges in keeping their investment climates favorable, their inequalities at levels that do not undermine growth, and their air and water quality at acceptable levels. The authors also consider China's and India's interactions with the global trading and financial systems and their impact on the global commons, particularly with regard to climate. The book finds that the giants' growth and trade offer most countries opportunities to gain economically. However, many countries will face strong adjustment pressure in manufacturing, particularly those with competing exports and especially if the giants' technical progress is strongly export- enhancing. For a few countries, mainly in Asia, these pressures could outweigh the economic benefits of larger markets in, and cheaper imports from, the giants; and the growth of those countries over the next fifteen years will be slightly lower as a result. The giants will contribute to the increase in world commodity and energy prices but they are not the principal cause of higher oil prices. The giants' emissions of CO2 will grow strongly, especially if economic growth is not accompanied by steps to enhance energy efficiency. At present, a one-time window of opportunity exists for achieving substantial efficiency improvements if ambitious current and future investment plans embody appropriate standards. Moreover, doing so will not be too costly or curtail growth significantly. From their relatively small positions at present, the giants will emerge as significant players in the world financial system as they grow and liberalize. Rates of reserve asset accumulation likely will slow, and emerging pressures will encourage China to reduce its current account surplus.
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    Delivering on the Promise of Pro-Poor Growth : Insights and Lessons from Country Experiences
    (Washington, DC: World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) Besley, Timothy ; Cord, Louise J. ; Besley, Timothy ; Cord, Louise J.
    Delivering on the Promise of Pro-Poor Growth contributes to the debate on how to accelerate poverty reduction by providing insights from eight countries that have been relatively successful in delivering pro-poor growth: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Tunisia, Uganda, and Vietnam. It integrates growth analytics with the microanalysis of household data to determine how country policies and conditions interact to reduce poverty and to spread the benefits of growth across different income groups. This title is a useful resource for policy makers, donor agencies, academics, think tanks, and government officials seeking a practical framework to improve country level diagnostics of growth-poverty linkages.
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    Explaining South Asia's Development Success : The Role of Good Policies
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Ahmed, Sadiq
    South Asia has performed well over the past 25 years in reducing poverty, improving human development and increasing growth, but faster progress with poverty reduction will require a higher rate of growth. This book shows that the development performance is not a puzzle but largely explained by good policies. Countries in the region have maintained good macroeconomic environments, opened up their economies to greater domestic and international competition, and reduced the role of corrupt and inefficient public enterprises.