Other ESW Reports
242 items available
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This includes miscellaneous ESW types and pre-2003 ESW type reports that are subsequently completed and released.
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Publication
Philippine Jobs Report: Shaping a Better Future for the Filipino Workforce
(Washington, DC, 2023-03-27)Shaping a Better Future for the Filipino Workforce aims to inform jobs policy by examining key determinants and outcomes of jobs. Jobs are created when the macroeconomic environment is conducive and policies are predictable to businesses with sustained growth, trades, and investments. At the same time, a large body of literature also shows that economic growth alone is not sufficient for generating jobs. Jobs are created when firms pursue expansion through innovation and competitiveness and demand for more labor input, while workers’ skills and human capital are able to meet the needs of firms. Intrahousehold resource allocation and decisions for labor supply also affect the jobs outcomes. It is not uncommon that workers as self-employed create jobs by initiating their own business. The market clearing process of labor is then affected by labor market institutions, most notably labor market regulations and labor policies and programs. These are key determinants of how easy it is to start a business or to hire a worker, how high labor costs are, and how efficiently firms and workers are matched. Part I looks into the country’s labor market in chronological order, while Part II discusses three major areas of Philippine jobs - labor regulation, international migration, and emerging demands for green and digital jobs. -
Publication
Digitalizing SMEs to Boost Competitiveness
(Washington, DC, 2022-10)While Malaysia’s digital economy had already been growing rapidly over the past decade, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has further accelerated this trend. In particular, increased access to digital platforms has enabled businesses of all sizes to mitigate the crisis’ adverse impacts. At the same time, the depth and breadth of small and medium enterprise (SME) digitalization has remained limited, suggesting a growing risk of digital divide in the country. This report analyzes opportunities and challenges for Malaysian SMEs to better leverage digital tools and platforms to increase their productivity and competitiveness. It is structured around three complementary analytical pillars: (i) a digital business landscape diagnostic presenting the extent of digitalization and use of digital platforms among SMEs in traditional sectors, and the constraints that SMEs still face to digitalize; (ii) an institutional and policy mapping reviewing the government of Malaysia’s efforts to foster SME digitalization; and (iii) a digital market regulations assessment evaluating the adequacy of Malaysia’s digital regulatory environment, to identify shortcomings that may undermine SMEs’ capacity to access and benefit from the use of digital platforms. The analysis has been undertaken with a view to inform the implementation of the Malaysia Digital Blueprint (MyDIGITAL). -
Publication
Drivers of Productivity Growth in Poland: A Firm-Level Perspective on Technology Adoption and Firm Capabilities
(Washington, DC, 2022)This report provides detailed knowledge on firm-level technology sophistication in Poland, and, by identifying the main barriers and drivers to adoption, it delivers evidence-based policy recommendations to foster technology adoption across different firms and sectors. The analysis based on the TAS is divided into two parts. The main report first describes the new approach to measuring technology sophistication, the structure of the Technology Adoption Survey, and its implementation in Poland. Second, chapter 2 provides key insights from the results by linking technology adoption with productivity, managerial skills, and firms’ capabilities. It also investigates heterogeneity in technology sophistication across firms with different characteristics and the main drivers and barriers to adoption. The analysis is enriched by providing an in-depth comparison of technology sophistication between Poland and Korea. Chapter 3 briefly explains the heterogeneity of technology sophistication across sectors in Poland. This report concludes with a policy recommendation chapter that is based on the results of the TAS and the assessment of current policies supporting technology adoption (chapter 4). The second separate report entitled Sectoral approach to the drivers of productivity growth in Polish sectors. A firm-level perspective on technology adoption and firm capabilities complements this report and focuses on the sectoral differences in technology adoption. Each sector, agriculture, food processing, wearing apparel, automotive, pharmaceuticals, trade, financial services, and land transport, is analyzed in detail, not only through the lens of the TAS but also from the perspective of the general economic situation in the sector. Moreover, the series also includes a policy note Do usług (At your service) The promise of services-led development in Poland that describes the role that the service sector can play in spurring productivity growth. -
Publication
Defueling Conflict: Environment and Natural Resource Management as a Pathway to Peace
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)Fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS), environmental degradation, and natural disasters are on the rise and threaten to reverse development gains. In the past decade, violent civil conflicts have tripled and the number of people living in proximity to conflict has nearly doubled, with forced displacement at a record high. The World Bank Group (WBG) Strategy for Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) 2020–2025 marks a shift in the World Bank’s work in fragile and conflict situations, as it adopts a more holistic approach to prevention. The Strategy seeks to enhance the World Bank Group’s effectiveness in supporting countries’ efforts to address the drivers and impacts of FCV and strengthen their resilience, especially for their most vulnerable and marginalized populations. The FCV Strategy explicitly recognizes the importance of climate change as a driver of FCV and as a threat multiplier, as well as the need to address the environmental impacts and drivers of FCV. Delivering on this shift toward preventing conflict underscores the importance of understanding the role the environment and natural resources can have. This report seeks to build a strong narrative on the need for the World Bank Group to engage and invest in environment, natural resource management, and climate change resilience in FCV-affected situations. It further aims at facilitating the integration of a conflict-sensitive lens into World Bank operations and programs addressing natural resource degradation and climate change. The report is divided in six sections: Section 1 sets the Background, Context, and Approach; Section 2 describes the risks associated with the interplay between natural resources, climate change, fragility, and conflict across the conflict cycle; Section 3 connects those causal chains to the delivery of the FCV Strategy across its four pillars; Section 4 showcases a suite of options to improve conflict-sensitive project design and implementation; and Section 5 presents an annotated questionnaire that serves as a complementary tool to the report. -
Publication
Sectoral Approach to the Drivers of Productivity Growth in Poland: A Firm-Level Perspective on Technology Adoption and Firm Capabilities
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)The report presents the main structural characteristics of the sectors included in the Technology Adoption Survey (TAS) implemented in Poland and provides sectoral TAS results for general and sector-specific business functions, comparing Poland to a peer country, Korea. Nine sectors analyzed within TAS include agriculture, food processing, wearing apparel, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, basic metals, wholesale and retail trade, financial services, and land transport. These form a selection of the most important economic industries in agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The same sectors were chosen in all countries where TAS was implemented because of their important contributions to the national economies as well as their diversity, which allowed us to identify the different natures of their technological needs and the barriers to technology adoption. Sectors in Poland differ in technology sophistication in both general business and sector-specific functions but, to a large extent, those differences are driven by the sectors’ structural differences, such as the number of large firms, the share of exporters, and the number foreign-owned enterprises. Firms in different sectors face different economic conditions and are exposed to a different balance of regulatory, environmental, and geopolitical risks and challenges. Understanding those sectoral differences, especially as they affect the use of sector-specific technologies, is of utmost importance, because productivity improvements historically have been driven primarily by capital-intensive investment, which often involves sector-specific technologies. In the context of sector-specific technologies, it is worth noting that the level of sophistication differs between sectors. Comparing technology trends across sectors is beyond the scope of this report, however; rather, here we closely follow the methodology described in Bridging the Technological Divide: Technology Adoption by Firms in Developing Countries. -
Publication
An Assessment of Customary Tenure Systems in the Lao PDR
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)The history of land rights in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), hereafter referred to as Laos, is a history of customary land tenure systems which remain the most prevalent form of land tenure. As social systems, land tenure systems in Laos have been affected by and have adapted to external forces such as neighboring kingdoms, colonialization, geopolitics and war, migration, and global economic trends. Ongoing rapid changes in national socioeconomic conditions and domestic political goals continue to alter the customary tenure landscape. Customary tenure systems have responded differently to changes, but the predominant direction is a transition towards formalization that provide varying levels of recognition and protection of land rights. As this transition occurs, a mixed customary-statutory tenure mosaic has emerged across the mountains and plains of Laos. Within this mosaic, the level of tenure security differs. Due to a lack of formal recognition, the most insecure tenure is land held fully under customary tenure. This desk-based assessment considers the culture and ethnicity of customary tenure systems, their prevalence in the country, general typologies found in Laos, customary tenure systems in transition, and past efforts to formalize customary land rights. -
Publication
Subnational Competitiveness Grants Guidebook: A Tool to Promote Jobs and Economic Transformation in Cities and Regions through Performance-Based Financing
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)This report is a guidebook for practitioners to promote policy actions that strengthen competitiveness at the subnational level. It introduces Subnational Competitiveness Grants (SCGs) as an innovative approach in which well-tested tools for competitiveness policy and subnational government performance can be leveraged to advance the jobs and economic transformation agenda at the subnational level. SCGs are a type of intergovernmental fiscal instrument where fiscal transfers are provided to subnational governments to achieve improvements in competitiveness and local economic development. SCGs can enhance competitiveness by increasing the capacity, mandate, and incentives of subnational governments to affect relevant policy levers. This instrument builds on The World Bank’s 2015 report on Competitive Cities for Jobs and Growth which provided a conceptual framework on how cities and subnational regions can become more competitive and create economic growth and quality jobs. This guidebook first discusses the relevance of subnational governments in enhancing competitiveness and shows that performance-based fiscal transfers can be a useful tool in incentivizing and capacitating subnational governments to support local competitiveness in particular contexts. The second part of the guidebook provides detailed guidance on the appropriate design and implementation of this instrument. This guidebook will be relevant for a wide variety of policymakers and practitioners, including national and subnational governments, program designers, and others interested in subnational and city competitiveness.