Stand alone books

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Innovation for Development and the Role of Government : A Perspective from the East Asia and Pacific Region

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2009) Fan, Qimiao ; Li, Kouqing ; Zeng, Douglas Zhihua ; Dong, Yang ; Peng, Runzhong

This book is the result of a joint forum on 'innovation for development' held by the World Bank and the China-based Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center (AFDC) in Shanghai in September 2006. The book examines the relationship between innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth; the role of innovation in financial sector development; and specific government policies for innovation in China. Development is one of the major themes of today's world. In the context of global economic development practices, the development patterns of various countries fall primarily into three categories. The first is the resources-based pattern, which is supported by natural resource endowments. The second category is the dependency pattern, which is determined by a country's adjacency to economically developed countries with which it has close economic ties. The third is the innovation-based pattern, which is driven by innovation. Measured by levels of economic development, the current top 20 most developed countries in the world have opted primarily for an innovation-driven pattern. In addition, from three perspectives, namely, the creation of an innovation regime, innovation-oriented fiscal and financial policies, and regional cooperation on innovation, and in two dimensions, namely, theory and practice, the book discusses and explores problems facing us all now and challenges in the future. The viewpoints in this book both reflect the research on the issues of innovation by its authors and, to a certain extent, mirror the views expressed by nonspeaker experts in the course of discussions at the 2006 forum. Economic globalization is an inevitable trend. It is extremely necessary and valuable to conduct research on, and exchange views about, innovation and development against the backdrop of constantly deepening economic globalization. First and foremost, this helps us to see through the vast and complex economic surface to examine and discover the laws that drive sustainable economic development. Second, through sharing experiences of innovation among different countries, it can help us to establish a cooperative mechanism for innovation that can transcend social systems and cultural differences and promote the harmonious economic development for the region.
Reshaping Economic Geography in East Asia

(World Bank, 2009) Huang, Yukon ; Magnoli Bocchi, Alessandro

Reshaping economic geography in East Asia illustrates how extensively spatial factors have influenced and informed by growth and development in the region. This study was conceived as a companion volume to and informed by the World Development Report (WDR) 2009: reshaping economic geography. By providing case studies and illustrative examples and by deepening the understanding of the forces of economic geography in the East Asia region, this work helped to substantiate some of the key concepts in the WDR 2009. There is full consistency in terms of the analytical framework used and broad agreement on how economic geography has influenced growth trends across a diverse range of countries. Reshaping economic geography in East Asia also highlights the dramatic urbanization process under way in the region, evidenced by the number of globally recognized 'mega cities'. Seven of the world's 21 mega cities are in East Asia. Cities in East Asia generate about three-quarters of annual output and between a half and two-thirds of exports. Often, much of this is concentrated in one major city: Bangkok. Bangkok accounts for 40 percent of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) and Manila for 30 percent. Other major centers such as Guangzhou, Jakarta, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo are seen as driving their economies. East Asian cities have been able to deliver the agglomeration benefits required for growth and are now exceptionally well connected to the global economy. The region, excluding Japan, is home to 16 of the largest 25 seaports in the world and 14 of the largest 25 container ports. Without this improved connectivity, the region's rapid expansion in trade volumes will not have been possible. This collection of studies is organized in four sections. The first section comprises chapters dealing with the 'context and concepts' for this volume. The second deals with Southeast Asia, specifically, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. The third deals with Northeast Asia: China and the Republic of Korea, and the fourth section provide an overview of lessons learned. The time perspective for most of the studies spans several decades; in many cases, outcomes and policies can be traced back half a century or more.
Addressing China's Water Scarcity : Recommendations for Selected Water Resource Management Issues

(World Bank, 2009) Xie, Jian ; Liebenthal, Andres ; Warford, Jeremy J. ; Dixon, John A. ; Wang, Manchuan ; Gao, Shiji ; Wang, Shuilin ; Jiang, Yong ; Ma, Zhong

This report reviews China's water scarcity situation, assesses the policy and institutional requirements for addressing it, and recommends key areas for strengthening and reform. It is a synthesis of the main findings and recommendations from analytical work and case studies prepared under the World Bank Analytical and Advisory Assistance (AAA) program entitled 'Addressing China's Water Scarcity: from Analysis to Action.' These studies focus on several strategically important thematic areas for China where additional research was needed, as identified by the research team and advisory group based on a review of pressing issues. These areas are governance, water rights, pricing, ecological compensation, pollution control, and emergency response. The approach has been to evaluate Chinese and international experience to identify policy and institutional factors that have proven effective in promoting the adoption of water conservation and pollution reduction technologies. The research was based on literature reviews, qualitative and quantitative policy analyses, household surveys, field trips, and case studies to develop feasible recommendations for a plan of action based on realities on the ground.
Tiger Economies Under Threat : A Comparative Analysis of Malaysia's Industrial Prospects and Policy Options

(World Bank, 2009) Yusuf, Shahid ; Nabeshima, Kaoru

The Southeast Asian Tigers feel threatened. Even though their growth rates have remained above the average for the world and also above the average for developing countries, their economic performance falls short of that in the first half of the 1990s. The underlying worry is that it presages the beginning of a downward trend, the harbingers of which are lower rates of investment, persistently low rates of total factor productivity, and low levels of innovativeness. The Southeast Asian Tigers' worries motivate three questions, which this book attempts to answer. First, are the Tigers rightly threatened by a creeping economic sclerosis or what some observers are calling the middle-income trap? Second, if the threat is real, what are the underlying causes? Third, are there ways of neutralizing the problems and at least maintaining if not raising the growth rates of the recent past? This book will respond to these questions by means of a comparative analysis of the Tiger economies that is centered on Malaysia. This analysis draws on a comprehensive set of techniques and indicators to assess competitive pressures, to gauge industrial and technological capabilities, and to indicate some of the directions industrial change in Southeast Asia could take. Thus, the book seeks not only to view industrial evolution in the region from a comparative perspective taking account also of what is happening and has happened in other parts of East Asia but also to illuminate this ongoing and uncertain process using some of the latest empirical techniques devised for this purpose. The balance of this chapter provides the developmental and international contexts with reference to which these questions will be addressed. It explains the book's preferred angles to tackling them. The chapter also outlines the contents of the volume and foreshadows the principal findings and conclusions.
Public Finance in China : Reform and Growth for a Harmonious Society

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008) Lou, Jiwei ; Wang, Shuilin

This publication focuses on public finance, development economics, and the Chinese economy. The government will focus on the public good aspects of education and training-compulsory education and some aspects of higher education and training. The publication encourages seven reforms including raising government expenditure on education to four percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and ensuring that all children actually receive nine years of basic education. Improving and widening access to medical care, especially for the rural population. The target is to extend the cooperative medical scheme to 80 percent of the rural population from the current coverage rate of just over 20 percent. China has sufficient fiscal resources to afford the level and type of spending commensurate with a harmonious society. This reallocation of resources can be done only gradually. It must go hand in hand with a better specification of roles and functions of the various levels of China and stronger mechanisms for accountability, to ensure that poorer local governments use the resources given to them.
Financing Energy Efficiency : Lessons from Brazil, China, India, and Beyond

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008) Taylor, Robert P. ; Govindarajalu, Chandrasekar ; Levin, Jeremy ; Meyer, Anke S. ; Ward, William A.

Energy for heating, cooling, lighting, mechanical power, and various chemical processes is a fundamental requirement for both daily life and economic development. The negative impact on the environment of current energy systems is increasingly alarming, especially the global warming consequences of burning fossil fuels. The future requires change through the development and adoption of new supply technologies, through a successful search for new, less resource-intensive paths of economic development, and through adoption of energy. Greater energy efficiency is key for shifting country development paths toward lower-carbon economic growth. Especially in developing countries and transition economies, vast potential for energy savings opportunities remain unrealized even though current financial returns are strong. Activities included specialized technical assistance, training, and applied research covering the four primary areas of country interest: (a) development of commercial banking windows for energy efficiency; (b) support for developing energy service companies (ESCOs); (c) guarantee funds for energy efficiency investment financing; and (d) equity funding for ESCOs or energy efficiency projects. One clear message from the experience of the three country Energy Efficiency Project is the importance of establishing and maintaining practical, operationally focused dialogue between the banking community and the energy efficiency practitioner community.
Spending for Development : Making the Most of Indonesia's New Opportunities

(Washington, DC, 2008) World Bank

This Public Expenditure Review (PER) examines and explains some of the constraints facing the government in public resource management and allocation, and offers recommendations for improvements in six critical areas: fiscal space, education, health, infrastructure, public financial management, and decentralization. Although Indonesia has made important progress in reforming its public finances and increasing transparency, Indonesia's reform agenda, as highlighted by the PER, is far from complete. Equity and efficiency of spending remain major issues, for instance finding an optimal allocation of resources that reflects development priorities, and achieving an annual spending pattern that is no longer strongly skewed towards the end of the financial year. This report tries to establish the facts about Indonesia's public expenditures, presenting trends over time and analyzing the composition across sectors and levels of government. It presents comprehensive information on key sectors, including sub-national governments and state-owned enterprises in key infrastructure sectors. Based on these facts, the report asks: Who benefits from these substantial amounts of public resources? Where are the gaps? Which regions are well-endowed? Which regions are lagging behind? In addition to these questions, this report also tries to respond to key concerns that are in the minds of many ordinary Indonesians and friends of Indonesia, such as: Can Indonesia afford to spend more? Is the current level of education and health spending sufficient? How to revitalize infrastructure investment, and which sectors are the priorities? Why is it so difficult to disburse funds through the government budget system? How unequal is Indonesia and how should fiscal transfers be structured to equalize disparities? This report addresses seven critical expenditure areas. The first two chapters (Chapter 1 on fiscal space and Chapter 2 on cross-sectoral allocations) discuss how much money is available to the government and how it is allocated across sectors and levels of government. The following three chapters on education, health, and infrastructure analyze how resources are currently allocated within these critical sectors and how effectively they are used. The final two chapters (Chapter 6 on public financial management and Chapter 7 on decentralization) highlight institutional and crosscutting issues in effective public expenditure management
Toward a Better Future : Education and Training for Economic Development in Singapore since 1965

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008) Lee, Sing-Kong ; Goh, Chor Boon ; Fredriksen, Birger ; Tan, Jee Peng

The Singapore economy has undergone significant stages of development since the 1960s. It has grown from its traditional role as a regional port and distribution center in the 1960s to an international manufacturing and service center in the 1970s and 1980s, and now into a center of science-based manufacturing and knowledge-intensive technical services. Much has been written to explain this success. Emphasis has been placed on the early adoption of an export-oriented strategy for industrialization, high savings and investment rates, a stable macroeconomic environment, and even socio cultural traits that support successful industrialization. This volume documents a less-explored aspect of Singapore's economic development: it examines the transformation of the education and training system since the country's independence in 1965 and how the process contributed to skills formation and, hence, economic change.
China's Information Revolution : Managing the Economic and Social Transformation

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2007) Qiang, Christine Zhen-Wei

This report presents a comprehensive overview of the information, communication and technological sector in China, and the role it has played during economic and social transformation in the past decade. It provides guidance on the kind of reforms policy makers in China may wish to consider in pursuing the country's quest for continued ICT development. It also combines local perspectives with international experiences on how issues in areas such as legal and regulatory environment, telecommunications infrastructures, and IT industry have been addressed by other countries.
Financing Cities : Fiscal Responsibility and Urban Infrastructure in Brazil, China, India, Poland and South Africa

(New Dehli : Sage Publications and World Bank, 2007) Clarke Annez, Patricia ; Peterson, George E.

This book, Financing cities, emphasized case studies on different topics to look at the interactions of a range of variables and factors and to see how they fit together. Rather than require each case to follow the same format, the authors have structured their papers around the issues that matter most from their perspective in addressing the topic in hand. The first part of this book presents case studies describing the framework established at the national level to promote urban infrastructure finance while ensuring fiscal discipline and reviewing recent experience as well as future challenges. The subjects covered include the impact of political and fiscal decentralization, limitations on borrowing, managing moral hazard, the role of the financial sector, the achieving of the right balance between stringent controls and encouragement of local governments taking responsibility for fiscal discipline coupled with market discipline. The cases featured include three of the world's largest decentralized nations; together the five countries featured in the conference account for nearly a third of the world's urban population. Part I includes case studies for each of the five countries featured in the conference: Brazil (Chapter 1), China (Chapter 2), India (Chapter 3), Poland (Chapter 4) and South Africa (Chapter 5). Part II then shifts from the frameworks for fiscal discipline to urban infrastructure investments and the strategies used to mobilize investment funding. Chapters 6 and 7 examine the financing strategies for urban infrastructure in Shanghai and Brazil respectively. The next two chapters focus on specialized intermediaries offering urban infrastructure finance in cities. One is a fully private venture in South Africa (Chapter 9) while the other, in Tamil Nadu, India (Chapter 8), is a spin-off of a government fund with minority private ownership. The final two chapters examine experiences with two other mechanisms for mobilizing funding for infrastructure investments from the private sector, land leasing and sales (Chapter 10) and private participation in infrastructure operations (Chapter 11).