World Bank Technical Papers

45 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13860

Informal documents that present knowledge acquired through that Bank's operational experience. They contain material that is practical rather than theoretical and include state-of-the-art reports and how-to-do-it monographs. They can also concern matters that cut across sectoral lines, such as the environment and science and technology. This series was superseded by the World Bank Working Papers series in 2003 and the World Bank Studies series in 2010.

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Poverty and Ethnicity : A Cross-Country Study of ROMA Poverty in Central Europe

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-11) Revenga, Ana ; Ringold, Dena ; Tracy, William Martin

ROMA are the main poverty risk groups in many of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. However, information on their living conditions, and the characteristics of their poverty is scarce, fragmented, and often anecdotal. This paper analyzes data from a new cross-country household survey, conducted by the Center for Comparative Research, at Yale University. The survey is the first of its kind which addresses the ethnic dimension of poverty across countries, covering Roma in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. The paper finds that welfare among Roma households is significantly lower than that of non-Roma, in terms of both material deprivation (consumption and income), and other measures of deprivation, including housing status, education levels, and employment opportunities. Multivariate analysis confirm that, controlling for other household characteristics, there is a strong negative association between Roma ethnicity, and welfare. A large part of this association appears to be due to differences in endowments, and opportunities, but there is also an important component that is "structural". This component may reflect the influence of past, and present discrimination, exclusion, and cultural factors which may affect access to public services, e.g., through language barriers.
Food and Agricultural Policy in Russia : Progress to Date and the Road Forward

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-07) Csaki, Csaba ; Nash, John ; Matusevich, Vera ; Kray, Holger

The overall finding of this report is that much agricultural policy is made at the regional level, and here the explicit price, and trade policy distortions are significantly worse than at the federal level. The result is patchwork of inconsistent policies, that has fragmented the Russian national market. The most serious policy issues at the federal level, are in the legal framework, the continued state domination of some markets, and, the administration of limited subsidies, in ways that undermine market development. A major problem is that large farms face soft budget constraints, with tolerance of non-payment of debt, resulting in an increasing debt burden, little incentive for true restructuring, and an uneven playing field with respect to the private sector. The government recently addressed the issue of farm insolvency, through the Resolution on Agricultural Debt Restructuring, and, a fundamental approach to this problem is being elaborated in the draft Law on Financial Rehabilitation of Agricultural Enterprises. But the key to giving enterprises an incentive to participate in real restructuring, will be to enforce sanctions - including bankruptcy procedures, and foreclosure - if enterprises fail to comply with the terms, and measures developed by creditors, and investors, as part of the restructuring procedures. A supportive environment of private individual farming, and private market development should be created, by revamping agricultural support policies, that halt public procurement at federal, and regional levels; that administer all subsidies to producers, by some incentive-neutral mechanism, not dependent on input usage, or output; and, where input, or credit subsidies continue, if administered by private channels on a competitive basis, not through state-owned, or monopoly suppliers.
Structural Reforms in Southeastern Europe since the Kosovo Conflict

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Gressani, Daniela ; Mitra, Saumya

This paper attempts to describe and assess the achievements of the countries of South Eastern Europe - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Romania, and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - in pursuing structural economic reforms in the period since the end of the Kosovo conflict. The paper concentrates on four key areas of structural reforms: a) public management and anti-corruption; b) creating a liberal environment for trade in goods and services; c) attracting foreign investments; and d) encouraging the growth of a private market based economy. Since the Kosovo conflict, the countries of Southeastern Europe have made encouraging progress in advancing structural reforms and preparing their economies for greater integration with Europe and the rest of the world with the aim of raising the rate of sustainable economic growth. But progress has been uneven across sectors and across countries. The gap in economic performance with respect to central Europe remains large and can be bridged only with determined reforms in creating the conditions for the formation and growth of private enterprises. Attention must also shift towards strengthening governance and fighting corruption.
Poverty in Albania : A Qualitative Assessment

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) De Soto, Hermine ; Gordon, Peter ; Gedeshi, Ilir ; Sinoimeri, Zamira

This qualitative assessment of poverty in Albania seeks to deepen the understanding of poverty in the country, first, by involving poor Albanians in a process of exploring the causes, nature, extent of poverty, and how it affects their livelihoods. Second, it is intended to support the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Third, it supports preparation of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), and the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) process. Fourth, it supports ongoing research on formal and informal institutions in the country that are relevant to poverty, and it identifies as well, emerging areas of concern. Findings suggest that poverty in the study sites, developed as a result of a weak economic base at the beginning of reform (as of 1990), worsened as the reforms continued and accelerated during the 1997 financial crisis. From household interviews, it is perceived that the causes of poverty are a result of unemployment, insufficient and low quality of land, absence of formal institutions, and marketing mechanisms to support industrial and agricultural development, and the government's inability to respond to infrastructure and basic needs. The study further examines the factors depressing and/or precluding (sector wide) the potential to compete, sustain livelihoods, attain employment, and receive economic and social assistance.
Brazil : Managing Water Quality - Mainstreaming the Environment in the Water Sector

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Margulis, Sergio ; Hughes, Gordon ; Gambrill, Martin ; Azevedo, Luiz Gabriel T.

This study examines how environmental issues have been addressed in the water sector in Brazil, within the context of activities of the Federal Government, generally, and those implemented under Bank sector operations, in particular. The core focus of the study lies in the management of water quality, as it affects both the users of raw water, and those who are primarily concerned with the disposal of wastewater. The report considers the following three sectoral areas concomitantly - water resources management, water supply and sanitation, and, the environment - thus limiting its review, and focus to those themes which are key to the over-arching issue of water quality. Water resources management in the country relied upon heavy investments in medium, and large scale projects that provided basic infrastructure for water uses. However, these have produced questionable impacts in terms of reducing poverty, and inequality. One of the reasons for this, has been the poor infrastructure management, which despite its importance, has been largely underestimated. While improvements in the utilization of existing infrastructure in the water sector remain critical, it needs to be complemented by incentives to both service providers, and water users. Moreover, low economic, environmental, and social returns from investments in the water sector, reflect the tendency to distract attention from the objectives in the design, and implementation of projects. Thus, an assessment of water quality goals is required, which should be based on systematic evaluations of the costs, and benefits of reaching alternative standards, and explicit social objectives.
Generating Public Sector Resources to Finance Sustainable Development : Revenue and Incentive Effects

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Pagiola, Stefano ; Martin-Hurtado, Roberto ; Shyamsundar, Priya ; Mani, Muthukumara ; Silva, Patricia

The paper discusses how developing countries can generate some of the resources they need for sustainable development. Developing country government already spend significant amounts of resources on a variety of activities, but the evidence suggests that sometimes, there is substantial scope for them to generate additional resources, and most importantly perhaps, to free substantial amounts of resources which are currently being used inefficiently. The paper attempts at setting the scope on the magnitude of resources that might be generated, or freed by a variety of public sector actions. It begins by examining the potential to reform existing policies which are not only costly, but often unsustainable, and environmentally damaging. Then, it reviews means for generating new financial flows, capturing greater share of rents from natural resources, and instituting "green" levies. Lessons suggest as a potential source of additional revenues, the reform of subsidies, making sub-sectors financially sustainable, reforms which in turn reduce environmental damage, but considering reform policies that would not inadvertently harm the poor. This requires political will, good governance, capacity building, and investment.
Services Trade in the Balkans

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Michalopoulos, Constantine ; Panousopoulos, Vasileios

This study aims at providing an overview of policies affecting services trade in seven countries of the Balkan region, and stresses the growing importance of services trade. The service sectors, particularly tourism and transport, play an important role in the economies of the Balkan countries. The paper finds that, on average, the countries involved, are committed to a liberal trade regime for services, and that they have made more commitments to liberalize services in the World Trade Organization (WTO) than developing countries at comparable levels of development. For the future, the paper encourages further liberalization at the regional level, on a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) basis, as well as policy harmonization with the European Union.
Forest Concession Policies and Revenue Systems : Country Experience and Policy Changes for Sustainable Tropical Forestry

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Gray, John A.

Forest concessions have been an important element of forestry, and forest management in many countries, including many developing countries. More often than not, the concessions experience of these countries has not been successful, and, improving their performance is not likely to be popular. Therefore, if sustainable management if tropical forests is to be achieved, and deforestation brought under control, it may be necessary to strengthen the on-the-ground performance of existing forest concessions, and to control the allocation of new concessions. The forest concessions discussed in this study involve both forest utilization contracts, and forest management services contracts. Part one of the study examines the forest concessions experience on public lands, with a focus on natural forests in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Experiences provide the basis for proposals to strengthen the allocation of forest concessions, and improve their forest, and environmental management. Economic, and procedural incentives for improved forest management performance are introduced, as are proposals to strengthen monitoring, supervision, and compliance with contract terms. Part two evaluates forest revenue systems, and presents proposals for revised forest fees, designed to reflect the values of both the timber, and the concessions. Additional concessions suggest ways to ease the collection of fees, and to structure forest fees to provide economic incentives for concession management, and performance.
Forestry in the Middle East and North Africa : An Implementation Review

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Pswarayi-Riddihough, Idah

In the Middle East and North Africa Region, forest resources are generally limited, as is their contribution to GDP, and it is for this reason their importance is often overlooked. However, forestry's contribution to natural resource and environmental management, is significant, which should not be underestimated. The report, implemented as an input to the development of a Bank Forestry Strategy in guiding its work in the sector, reviews the Bank-assisted forestry projects in the region over the last ten years, defines the regional forests, and describes its current status, and related policy and economic issues, including the need of civil society, and private sector involvement in forestry related issues. It is highlighted that ultimately, the decisions taken on the directions to be followed by the Bank, would be based on sound knowledge of the overall regional aspects, proposing Economic and Sector Work for the future. The report outlines appropriate policy formulation and technical solutions, but emphasizes that local communities must be directly involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of forestry development activities. This approach implies that public administrations, responsible for forestry development, become fully decentralized, and capable of strengthening local capacity.
Sustainable Amazon : Limitations and Opportunities for Rural Development

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) Schneider, Robert R. ; Arima, Eugenio ; Verissimo, Adalberto ; Souza, Carlos, Jr. ; Barreto, Paulo

The report contributes to the debate surrounding land use in the Brazilian Amazon. It sets the context by reviewing the evidence concerning the deleterious effect of increasing levels of rainfall on agricultural settlement, and productivity. Next, it compares the economic future of an Amazonian community, under the traditional "predatory logging followed by ranching" model, and under sustainable logging. Last, the authors investigate the potential to create a system of national forests. The authors make four conclusions: 1) they demonstrate that increasing levels of rainfall, seriously undermine agricultural productivity, and sustainability. At the highest extreme, in the 45 percent of the Amazon with annual rainfall of over 2,200 mm, only forestry, and possibly some palm crops, are likely to be economically viable; 2) the authors assert that in this area of the Amazon, and much of the transition area (rainfall between 1,800 mm and 2,200 mm), sustainable forestry would provide more stable communities, and a higher standard of living than agriculture; 3) the authors conclude that regulatory competition, and a short local political time horizon, prevent sustainable forestry from being adapted, despite its better long-run performance; and, 4) some 10 percent of the Amazon could be put into national forests, in a way that would both meet current demand for Brazilian Amazonian timber, and reinforce the Amazon park system, which is expected to fully conserve 10 percent of the Brazilian Amazon.