Other ESW Reports

298 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.

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

India - Jharkhand : Addressing the Challenges of Inclusive Development
(Washington, DC, 2007-03) World Bank
This study on Jharkhand in India addresses the challenges faced by that new state of India (founded in November 2000) to surmount adverse initial conditions of low average income, very high incidence of poverty, and little social development. In addition, initial health and education indicators in Jharkhand were also markedly unfavorable in comparison to both the all-India average and the major Indian states. The paper points out that in order to put its fiscal house in order, the state needs to introduce reforms for improving resource mobilization, increasing cost effectiveness of expenditure and rationalizing the budgetary processes. Improvement of infrastructure is critically important, and once this has occurred, this will lead to favorable pro-poor changes in the labor market as well. Two opposite views of the development debate are represented by the different degrees of importance given to mining and agriculture. One view contends that the development of the mining sector can usher in a new decade of development in Jharkhand. The second view is that the potential risks associated with the mining sector are high and that agriculture has shown great potential through impressive growth in recent years contributing significantly to poverty reduction and human resource development. Given the strengths and weaknesses of the two options, the present study suggests a middle path, aiming at an inter-temporal balance between the two strategies. The paper stresses that social inclusion and effective citizenship for all are desirable outcomes everywhere, especially in Jharkhand with its sharp social and regional divide. It concludes that political commitment is needed to "make development happen" in the shortest possible time.
Madagascar - Poverty and Socioeconomic Developments : 1993 - 1999
(Washington, DC, 2002-09-20) World Bank
The report provides a synthesis of the main results obtained on the evolution of poverty, and other indicators of well being over the 1990s, and is intended to facilitate debate on strategy options for poverty reduction in Madagascar. Section I provides the setting for study, and presents a synthesis of macroeconomic trends in the country during the last decade. Section II looks at the evolution of poverty, inequality, and other indicators over the 1993-1999 period. The analysis is developed both at the national, and regional level, and, when possible, international comparisons are presented. Section III further investigates which groups have been more vulnerable to economic changes during the 1990s, and which factors can help explain this evolution over time. Section IV examines developments in provision of health, and education services by reviewing the degree of program coverage, and progressiveness of services in the two sectors. Section V presents community perceptions of socioeconomic development priorities, namely physical infrastructure development, while Section VI examines the prospects for poverty reduction of different growth rates of the economy as a whole for the next twenty years, and by further investigating the potential impact of different sectoral patterns of growth. Further work should be focused on understanding the causes for geographic variations in poverty, and on the functioning of agricultural labor and land markets, to include a labor market analysis focused on off-farm employment, as a route out of poverty. Most importantly, a thorough understanding of the poverty impact of recent reforms is recommended, to build successful anti-poverty policies.
Brazil : Growth and Poverty Reduction in Pernambuco
(Washington, DC, 2002-01-28) World Bank
Despite its origin as one of the pioneering and richest states of Brazil, Pernambuco today has a history of slower economic growth than Brazil as a whole. Pernambuco began as a sugar producing state and the expansion of sugar production led its economic development until the mid 1600s. Then Pernambuco declined, as sugar production became more profitable elsewhere in the world. It is estimated that, since 1939, the first year for which we have regionalized GDP data, Pernambuco's growth rate has been slower than Brazil's average. Although poverty data is much more recent, the story provided by the available data is that since the early 1980s, Pernambuco has made little or no headway in reducing absolute poverty. These facts motivate the present report, which focuses on 1) analyzing, in collaboration with the Government of Pernambuco, economic growth and poverty in the State; and 2) identifying policies that can enhance economic growth and reduce poverty while improving fiscal performance. These two themes govern the structure of the report, with the first chapter focusing on growth and poverty reduction performance and the second chapter focusing on policies to improve those performances. The remainder of this introductory section provides some historical and geographical background of the state.
Slovak Republic : Living Standards, Employment, and Labor Market Study
(Washington, DC, 2001-08-09) World Bank
By most indicators the Slovak Republic has achieved a high level of human and social development. Despite the country's generally high living standards and overall level of development, there are families in Slovakia whose living conditions are below what is considered to be socially acceptable. By societal standards, these families and individuals are poor. The objective of this study is to analyze this poverty, so as to help design measures and policies to reduce it. The study also seeks to understand the phenomenon of unemployment--the main cause of poverty--and propose actions to alleviate it. The report is organized as follows: After Chapter 1, which explains the background of poverty and inequality in the Slovak Republic, Chapter 2 addresses the challenge of generating employment, including rising unemployment and inactivity, job reallocation during transition, the importance of the regional and skills mismatch, and conclusions and policy recommendations that enhance employment creation. Chapter 3 explores the role of the safety net system, particularly unemployment insurance and other forms of social assistance; presents a brief simulation analysis of the disincentives provided by unemployment insurance, social assistance, and social support; provides an empirical analysis of disincentive effects; and ends with a discussion of the policy implications. Chapter 4 focuses on the poverty and welfare of the Roma population. Finally Chapter 5 telescopes regional disparities.
Philippines : Filipino Report Card on Pro-Poor Services
(Washington, DC, 2001-05-30) World Bank
The Report Card is a means by which citizens can provide credible and collective feedback to public agencies about their performance. It brings forth information on users' awareness, access, use, and satisfaction with public services. It is an important follow-up to the World Bank's Poverty Assessment for the Philippines. It complements the expert analyses and findings in the Poverty Assessment with a "bottom-up" assessment of pro-poor services in five key areas: health care, elementary education, water supply, housing, and subsidized rice distribution.The Report Card identifies the key constraints that Filipinos face in assessing public services, their appraisals of the quality and adequacy of public services, and the treatment they reeive in their interactions with service providers, especially government officials. It offers several recommendations on sector and sub-sector policies, strategies and programs to address constraints and improve service delivery, especially to the poor and under-served areas and groups. the Report Card is based on a national client satisfaction survey undertaken by the World Bank in collaboration with the Social Weather Stations (SWS), a survey research organization in the Philippines that is independent, non-partisan, and credible.
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela : Investing in Human Capital for Growth, Prosperity, and Poverty Reduction
(Washington, DC, 2001-03-30) World Bank
This report draws on limited, available data to analyze selected economic, and social issues, which include better understanding of poverty, and inequality in relation to real income, and, improving the allocation of social expenditures, while increasing the effectiveness of social programs. The deterioration of social, and human capital should be prevented, by simultaneously promoting its accumulation. The report reviews the dismal economic performance of the country over the last decade, where the inability of policymakers to cope with the oil cycles, and prices decline prevails. Moreover, the country's dependence on the oil sector has deepened, while the share of agriculture, and manufacturing decreased, aggravated by the lack of export diversification, and the negative impact of the overvalued domestic currency on external competitiveness. Not surprisingly, labor productivity also decreased, reflecting a low real economic growth, which results in higher unemployment, poverty and inequality increases. The needed acceleration of human, and social capital development focuses on education, health, and the decline of crime and violence, suggesting continued implementation of primary education reforms, through the development of new curriculum, improved quality of basic education, and educational financing. Health recommendations include efficient resource allocation, prioritization of high-impact programs, and expanded private participation, and institutional development.
Vietnam 2010 : Entering the 21st Century
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-11-29) World Bank; Asian Development Bank; United Nations Development Program
The study outlines the socioeconomic development strategy for Vietnam, during the first decade of the twenty first century, envisaging sustainable economic development, to rapidly adjust to social stability, while maintaining cultural, and traditional ties. The aim is to become a socialist market economy, fully integrated into the global economy, internationally competitive, with characteristics of an industrialized, and knowledge-based society within twenty years. This vision articulates the eradication of hunger, and hard-core poverty, emphasizing universal lower secondary education. Likewise, it intends to reduce child malnutrition, increase life expectancy, and raise access to clean water in urban areas. However, the vision requires a doubling of the GDP by 2010, through increased investments and growing exports, declining agricultural inputs, but increasing the industrial, and services share. Part I of the report, still undergoing extensive consultations within the Government, and civil society, provides the strategic directions for the country, examining enterprise development, rural development, human and social development, infrastructure, environmental quality, and governance. Part II addresses stronger partnerships to help the Government implement this strategy, through a series of thematic notes, which describe donor participation, and international development assistance.