Stand alone books
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Publication
Financing Energy Efficiency : Lessons from Brazil, China, India, and Beyond
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)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. -
Publication
Risk Analysis for Islamic Banks
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008)This publication provides a comprehensive overview of topics related to the assessment, analysis, and management of various types of risks in the field of Islamic banking. It is an attempt to provide a high-level framework (aimed at non-specialist executives) attuned to the current realities of changing economies and Islamic financial markets. The Islamic financial system is not limited to banking; it also covers capital formation, capital markets, and all types of financial intermediation and risk transfer. Islamic finance was practiced predominantly in the Muslim world throughout the middle ages, fostering trade and business activities with the development of credit. The growth of Islamic finance coincided with the current account surpluses of oil-exporting Islamic countries. The Middle East saw a mushrooming of small commercial banks competing for surplus funds. The Islamic Republics of Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan announced their intention to make their financial systems compliant with Shariah. -
Publication
Unleashing India's Innovation : Toward Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)India's recent growth has been impressive, with real GDP rising by over eight percent a year since 2004 -- accompanied by a jump in innovative activities. Growth has been driven by rapid expansion in export-oriented, skill-intensive manufacturing and, especially, skill-intensive services. The book is structured as follows: Chapter 1 reviews the Indian context and enabling environment. Chapter 2 analyzes knowledge creation and commercialization. Chapter 3 discusses knowledge diffusion and absorption. Chapter 4 encourages inclusive, pro-poor innovation. Chapter 5 addresses the need for stronger skills and education for innovation. Chapter 6 examines ways of improving information infrastructure. Chapter 7 suggests approaches to enhance innovation finance. -
Publication
Rolling Back Malaria : The World Bank Global Strategy and Booster Program
(Washington, DC, 2005)This report translates the Bank's corporate commitment into increased efforts to control malaria. It lays the basis for a Booster Program for Malaria Control, through which the Bank will make an important contribution to malaria control in the years ahead. This effort will be undertaken in support of country-led programs, and in partnership with community service organizations, specialized agencies, and financiers of malaria control at all levels. Consistent with the new Global Strategic Plan of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Bank's work will combine measures to increase coverage of malaria-specific interventions with effective service delivery, broader health-system development, and capacity building across multiple sectors. The new business model combines an emphasis on outcomes with flexibility in approaches. Products and services related to malaria control will be tailored to client segments, in order to meet the needs of countries, and deploy the Bank's comparative advantages, while strengthening collaboration with partner agencies, co-financiers, and civil society. In the short to medium term, the new Booster Program for Malaria Control will provide increased financing, and technical support to accelerate program design and implementation, increase coverage, and improve outcomes rapidly. Henceforth, malaria control will be mainstreamed into the Poverty Reduction Strategies, and large sector-development programs that emphasize outcomes. -
Publication
Environment Matters at the World Bank : Annual Review 2004
(Washington, DC, 2004)This Annual Review of Environment Matters, dedicated to Economic Growth and the Environment, brings together a wide variety of external and internal viewpoints on the challenges ahead, and the progress that is taking place. In this issue, three major partner countries-China, India and Mexico-present their perspectives. Among other topics, this edition features the Bank's recent research on what happens to environment during growth, and the different tools available to promote environmentally, and socially sustainable economic growth. It also includes reviews of the Bank's environmental programs in developing countries and its global engagement. The review includes viewpoints on the environment and competitiveness; on harmonizing environmental concerns and economic growth from the Indian perspective; integrating rapid growth and environmental protection as a challenge for China; mainstreaming and infrastructure; and, health-driven environmental issues. Moreover, the review features articles such as the environment during growth - accounting for governance and vulnerability, on sustainable development and policy reform, on energy, climate change, and development, and, on the elements of sustainable infrastructure. Other subjects include regional articles, and institutional perspectives by the International Development Association (IFC) and the World Bank Institute (WBI). -
Publication
Sri Lanka - Reshaping Economic Geography : Connecting People to Prosperity
(Colombo, 2004)Economic progress is accompanied by a fundamental spatial transformation where the economic landscapes of countries become increasingly uneven. The journey from low incomes to high incomes involves rising concentration of prosperity in a few places. Connecting people to prosperity - is the principle behind economic integration policies that can help countries reap the benefits of both uneven growth and inclusive development. These principles are important for Sri Lanka, which has laid the foundations for long term progress. Sri Lankas rise into middle income has been accompanied by a rapid transformation in how global markets view the country. This reshaped the countrys economic geography - firms not farms now lead Sri Lankas connectivity with the rest of the world. And these firms benefit from concentrating production close to Colombo, whose port moved 3.7 million containers in 2008. As a consequence Colombo and its neighboring areas have prospered. -
Publication
World Bank Economists' Forum : Volume 1
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-03-31)The first World Bank Economists' Forum was held on May 3-4, 1999. The forum attempts to answer these questions: How do you recognize a hidden fiscal crisis? When capital flows are volatile, what types of policy announcements can help fend off currency crises? Do government training programs for unemployed workers have an effect? What infrastructure investments reduce infant mortality? This book collects nine outstanding papers presented at the forum. The main theme surveyed in this book include fiscal policy, capital flows, trade, decentralization, labor markets, infrastructure, health, and worker training. The second volume collects eight more papers, concerned with household behavior and health, communities and welfare, local governments and basic services, and firms and governments under uncertainty. -
Publication
Using Tax Incentives to Compete for Foreign Investment : Are They Worth the Costs?
(Washington, DC: World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, 2001)The book contains complementary essays on the use of tax incentives, to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). The first essay presents results of the authors' original research, and explores FDI, and issues of tax incentives, in the context of Indonesia. Their results mostly support the arguments made against incentives, particularly they find little evidence that when Indonesia eliminated tax incentives, there was any decline in the rate of FDI into the country. Similarly, the second essay surveys the research of others on the same topic, and pertaining to the same issues discussed in the first essay. They show that results of other researchers, are generally consistent with the findings of the research in Indonesia, notably that tax incentives, neither affect significantly the amount of direct investment that takes place, nor usually determine the location to which investment is drawn. Nevertheless, recent evidence has shown that when factors such as political, and economic stability, infrastructure, and transport costs are more, or less equal between potential locations, taxes may exert a significant impact. This is evidenced by the growing tax competition in regional groupings (i.e., the European Union) or, at the sub-regional level within one country (i.e., the United States). Both essays provide a basis for much more sophisticated analysis by policymakers than previously, and, both are important because they question governments' institutional arrangements that create agency problems with respect to tax incentive policies.