Other ESW Reports

297 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2209

This includes miscellaneous ESW types and pre-2003 ESW type reports that are subsequently completed and released.

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Municipal Mergers and Associations: International Experience and Reform Options for Croatia
(Washington, DC, 2022-05) World Bank
Croatia’s high degree of municipal fragmentation has been consistently recognized as a weakness and one of the main problems of its intergovernmental fiscal system. The report argues that the problem of fragmentation is in essence a problem of capacity. The objective of this report is to review international experiences and lessons in the promotion of local government mergers and municipal associations to inform efforts to advance institutional reform in Croatia and address the problem of low local government capacity. The report is organized into six sections. The first section is introduction, the second section reviews the fragmented territorial administrative structure in Croatia, and the third is devoted to unpacking the concept of local government units (LGU) capacity. The fourth section focuses on relevant international experience related to municipal fragmentation and capacity deficiencies, and the fifth examines incentive measures for Intermunicipal Cooperation (IMC) and the creation of associations or commonwealths. The sixth section lays out policy options and recommendations for Croatia, prioritized along a sequence for implementation.
Why the World Trade Organization is Critical for Vaccine Supply Chain Resilience During a Pandemic
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-05) Bown, Chad P.
Cross-border supply chains and international trade played a critical role in vaccinating much of the world to address the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Considering that experience, this note describes the changes needed to make the World Trade Organization (WTO) a more useful institution during such a public health emergency. It begins by describing the market failures confronting vaccines especially on the supply side, to introduce the domestic subsidies and contracting arrangements needed to accelerate vaccine research and development, and to increase the scale and speed of vaccine production during a pandemic. As an application, it relies on illustrative examples of US subsidies that emerged during COVID-19. However, the challenge confronting policymakers is exacerbated in an environment characterized by cross-border supply chains, making input shortage problems impacting production even worse. Thus, the note highlights the need for new forms of international policy coordination, including initiatives on supply chain transparency, as well as agreements to increase subsidies across countries to jointly scale up vaccine output and input production capacity along the entire supply chain. It concludes that while the WTO was mostly absent this time around, it remains the best-positioned international organization to facilitate these novel forms of international economic policy cooperation.
Mali Public Expenditure Review
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-03) World Bank
Mali is a low-income, fragile country that has suffered extraordinary setbacks in recent years. It is a landlocked economy which is highly dependent on agriculture, and thus vulnerable to external shocks and adverse weather condition. With a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of US 875 dollars (current USD) in 2019, Mali is in the lower 15th percentile of the world’s income distribution. Around 42 percent of the population live in extreme poverty. It is also a fragile state that has witnessed persistent conflict with political coups, social tensions, insecurity, and violence. The coup in 2012 has led to continued violence and displacement, leaving 8.7 million people, more than 45 percent of the population, living in crisis affected areas. It was followed by the military coup in August 2020 which has brought in a transitional civil government. The increasingly fragile security situation has also led to spikes in security expenditure, crowding out spending on public services and investment. This Public Expenditure Review (PER) proposes options to address this challenge, including improving spending efficiency and identifying ways to equitably increase domestic revenue. The policy actions and reforms it proposes will create the fiscal space to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Starting with an overview of macro-fiscal developments, it examines Mali’s expenditure patterns and fiscal sustainability and benchmarks its performance against peer countries. It reviews the domestic revenue needed to meet the Government’s significant financing requirements and how the public finances are managed. It then investigates public spending efficiency in three sectors: education, health, and agriculture. These were chosen for their economic and social importance as well as their considerable share of public expenditure (over 30 percent). The PER provides some context for each sector, then analyzes financing and efficiency using a set of methodologies based on granular spending data and surveys, and concludes with suggested policy actions.
Citywide Inclusive Water Supply: Role of Supplementary Urban Water Service Providers
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Misra, Smita; Kingdom, Bill
This report outlines a proactive vision of how development of the supplementary service provider in the water sector can promote citywide inclusive water supply, ensure rapid progress is made in achieving SDG 6.1, and deliver on the green, resilient, and inclusive development and jobs development agenda. Using case studies from around the world, it analyzes the potential of off-utility provision of water and develops a framework focused on what is needed to formalize, professionalize, and scale up these services. It also presents potential models for high-quality supplementary service provider water delivery and outlines how these can be implemented.
Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers ML/ TF Risk Assessment Tool: Guidance Manual
(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank
The World Bank’s VA and VASP ML/TF Risk Assessment Tool (VA-RA) and this Guidance, aims to assist countries in assessing the ML/TF risks of VA activities and the service providers in the financial and non-financial sectors involved in these activities. It outlines the steps and explanations to assist countries to understand the ML/TF risks associated with VA activities. It examines VA activities and VASPs that fall within the scope of the FATF Recommendations, as these VASPs have the same full set of obligations as financial institutions or Designated Non-Financial Businesses or Professions (DNFBPs). It also considers other actors within the technology providers sector that may fall within the definition of FATF VASPs if they provide any of the functions defined in the FATF Recommendation 15.
Business Environment Reforms in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations: What Works and Why?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Ghossein, Tania; Rana, Ahmed Nauraiz
Economies that are suffering from fragility, conflict and violence (three distinct yet interconnected elements of FCS) confront intractable poverty, and faltering growth – missing out on development objectives by significant margins. As the poverty rate in FCS has increased, the number of poor people in those economies has increased from 180 million to nearly 300 million – almost at par with the number of poor in non-FCS economies (which constitute 90 percent of global population). It is estimated that by 2030, two-thirds of the global poor will be concentrated in fragile states. This means that ending extreme poverty requires accelerating gains where poverty has been most intractable: in FCS. By definition, the economies concerned are often characterized by weak institutions and political instability, and lower level of private sector development to promote business-led growth. FCS economies require significant reforms to policy and delivery mechanisms along multiple dimensions to achieve growth and poverty reduction.
Non-Profit Organizations TF Risk Assessment Tool: Identifying the FATF NPOs at Risk of Terrorist Financing Abuse - Guidance Manual
(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank
The National Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment (NRA) Toolkit has been developed by World Bank Group (WBG) staff members to support WBG client countries and jurisdictions in self-assessing their money laundering and terrorist financing risks.The nonprofit organization (NPO) tool of the NRA Tool serves as an instrument that jurisdictions can use to support their analyses of the terrorist financing abuse of NPOs. Through it, the Working Group will identify NPOs that meet the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) definition, assess the evidence of NPO abuse for terrorist financing, determine the inherent risk (exposure to active terrorist threat), and review the quality of existing mitigation measures. This analysis should seek to complement and draw on national terrorism and terrorist financing risk assessments.