Other ESW Reports

242 items available

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http://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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How Capital Projects are Allocated in Papua New Guinean Villages : The Influence of Local Collective Action, Local-level Institutions, and Electoral Politics

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-08) Hasnain, Zahid ; Keefer, Philip ; Menzies, Nicholas

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has implemented numerous institutional changes over the past fifteen years with the avowed aim of bringing government closer to the people, improving accountability and, by extension, local infrastructure development and service delivery. To date however, there has been little empirical evidence to establish whether these changes have impacted the provision of local infrastructure. Similarly, there is little empirical evidence revealing the main political economy factors that influence the way that resources are actually planned, spent, and impact communities at the sub-national level. This report investigates the determinants of local infrastructure projects at the ward level, the lowest level of government in PNG, to assess the impact of these institutional changes and to identify the importance of other factors, in particular local collective action. It does this through a survey covering more than 1000 households across 49 yards in nine PNG districts. It also presents descriptive statistics on the basic characteristics of the households that were surveyed, their knowledge of local level institutions, their participation in groups, and their voting behavior. The report explores especially the determinants of variation within districts in terms of the presence of new projects. Common wisdom in PNG suggests that the home wards of Members of Parliament (MPs) should be especially favored with projects. In six districts, the data includes this ward; these six home wards are no different from other wards in their district with respect to the presence of new projects. The survey asked questions about electoral behavior, the provision of cash and other gifts in exchange for votes and electoral violence. The survey found significant inter-district variation, with vote-buying dramatically higher in the three Highlands districts, where 42 percent of respondents report receiving cash, compared to 9 percent in the other districts. Within districts, vote-buying and the provision of local public works projects are inversely related. Vote-buying is also far more common in the three districts that exhibit the most electoral violence.
World Bank Youth Centre Mapping

(Washington, DC, 2008-08-21) World Bank

The purpose of this mapping is to identify and survey existing and defunct Youth Centers (YC) in both urban and rural Timor Leste in order to understand the needs of YC's, their perspective on community youth needs and their perception on youth development. A youth centre, or 'centre Juventude' and 'Uma Foin Sae sira', is a physical location where young men and women gather to discuss, coordinate and participate in youth related activities. An YC could be a designated house on church grounds; a room in a school, a Sub District office or a building allocated by the community for the purpose of youth related activities. An YC in Timor Leste may be a modestly resourced house, or a derelict building where young people meet to organize national events, sporting competitions, or computer and language training. Sometimes it is simply be a meeting point 'for empowerment' where elected youth leaders from sucos (villages) and aldeias (hamlets) meet to raise awareness on youth related concerns. The idea of an YC has existed in Timor Leste for many years and has evolved with time. From its beginnings when it was used mainly for cultural and traditional practices, to a place to conduct underground clandestine activities, to what they are today. The survival of the YC is determined by economic factors, but more importantly it is determined by the support of which the community provides. Nowadays, YC's seem to all hold one common objective and that is to strive to deliver a range of diverse activities that attempt to improve the social and economic conditions of youth.
Enabling East Asian Communities to Drive Local Development

(Washington, DC, 2007-12-01) Worl

Local development activities have profound impact on poor people's welfare. Communities and local governments interact closest to where people live and where essential public services are delivered, such as local transport, water supply, health and education. Vibrant local development requires productive, balanced interaction between empowered communities and capable and accountable local governments. For this interface to function best, well-organized, well-informed communities demand development results, holding local authorities to account and, through participation in decisions and oversight of public service delivery, ensure that those authorities remain effective and open to citizen input. In tandem, local governments supply the capacity to deliver services, reliable resources and a desire to meet local citizens' needs. As a vision for local development, the supply of and demand for effective and responsive government are well-matched. In section one, this report lays out the scope of CDD operations in East Asia and presents three frameworks for organizing them: according to local government context, sectoral scope, and primary development objectives. Organizing six results hypotheses according to a generic CDD results template; section two presents available evidence from East Asia's CDD experience. And section three summarizes lessons learned from this flagship effort.
Indonesia : Selected Fiscal Issues in a New Era

(Washington, DC, 2003-02-14) World Bank

Despite the substantial progress in managing its fiscal challenges post-1997 financial crisis, Indonesia's risks to the budget have not disappeared, though the Government continues to be committed to fiscal consolidation. While debt sustainability is improving, the budget remains vulnerable to shocks, and, large non-discretionary spending (interest payments, transfers to the regions, personnel spending) still constrain the use of fiscal policy for macroeconomic stabilization, and social risk protection, and, as the fiscal situation improves, and decentralization proceeds, a rethinking of resource allocation becomes necessary. This report assesses Indonesia's progress in dealing with challenges that have altered the fiscal system since the crisis, and reviews options for fiscal consolidation, as well as sectoral issues in the new decentralized environment, including public expenditure management reforms. Suggestions include an increased revenue mobilization to make the budget more risk proof, and an improved tax administration, rather than streamlining the tax structure alone, while the Government's decision to eliminate the fuel subsidy remains critical for fiscal consolidation (which has little social implications). Moreover, the large interest payments burden incurred during the crisis, is crowding out development spending, and similarly, increased transfers to local governments are limiting discretionary spending (which could be accompanied by a decrease in central development spending in areas of regional responsibilities). A refinement of the budget management system is necessary, where the Finance Law would be instrumental in establishing accountability between the Executive, and Parliament.
Indonesia : The Imperative for Reform

(Washington, DC, 2001-11) World Bank

In the one hundred days since assuming office, the new administration of Megawati Soekarnoputri has made little progress on structural and governance reforms. The events of September 11 and the slowdown in the global economy worsened the investment climate in Indonesia, adding to the government's already formidable array of challenges. Indonesia's recovery has lagged behind its neighbors and over half its population vulnerable to poverty, more than any other crisis country. Moreover, its fragile banking and corporate sectors, and the precarious state of its government finances, make the country highly vulnerable to risks--with immediate implications for fiscal sustainability. Donors need to be realistic about what is feasible, given strong vested interests, severe institutional weaknesses, the uncertainties arising from decentralization, and a turbulent transition to democracy. Progress is most needed in the key areas of structural reforms, good governance, and empowering and investing in the poor. Together with fiscal sustainability, they are consistent with the premise that stability, growth, and effective government are the key ingredients for long-lasting and sustainable poverty reduction.
Combating Corruption in the Philippines : An Update

(Washington, DC, 2001-09-30) World Bank

The war against corruption in the Philippines has taken a fresh turn with the inauguration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on January 20, 2001, and the subsequent installation of the new government. Addressing corruption was one of the new administration's announced priorities, but a detailed anticorruption strategy and detailed action plan have yet to emerge. As this report notes, the deterioration of the governance environment in 2000 seems to have taken a heavy toll on investor confidence . The report also notes that several new initiatives were born during 2000-01 as the need for combating corruption was felt more widely and urgently. This need for concrete and visible actions to combat corruption still exists, maybe to a greater degree now than in the past. Chapter 1 discusses the 9-point approach to fighting corruption in the Philippines as proposed by the World Bank in November 1999 which comprises policy reforms and deregulation, reforming campaign finance, increasing public oversight, reforming the budget process, improving meritocracy in civil services, targeting selected agencies, enhancing sanctions, developing private sector partnerships, and supporting judicial reform. Chapter 2 discusses the widening government deficit begun in late 1999 and the events shaping this change. Chapter 3 highlights the areas where progress was made during this time and focuses on the emergence of new initiatives. Finally, Chapter 4 addresses the new Government's commitment.
Thailand : Country Development Partnership for Competitiveness

(Washington, DC, 2001-06-13) World Bank

Competitiveness has emerged as a key issue confronting policymakers in Thailand. The Government's reform program will be extended by explicitly incorporating into the competitiveness framework measures that address the remaining constraints on competitiveness. The three critical areas that could constrain Thailand's medium term competitiveness include: 1) The need to strengthen the knowledge base--addressing the skills gap, and improving quality and coverage of education; mainstreaming information technology; and enhancing science and technological capability. 2) The need to modernize the infrastructure regulatory framework to improve the efficiency and delivery of public services. A modern and efficient physical infrastructure will help to reduce the cost associated with infrastructure bottlenecks faced by Thai firms. 3) The need to further improve the business environment and enhance competition--corporate governance, trade and investment regimes, competition policy--so that scarce labor and capital can be utilized in the most productive sectors. In addition, an appropriate macroeconomic environment, by signaling the right relative prices (domestic interest rates and exchange rates), will enable Thai firms to respond to emerging market trends.
Malaysia : Social and Structural Review Update

(Washington, DC, 2001-01-17) World Bank

A Structural Policy Review (SPR) for Malaysia, prepared in late 1998 and early 1999, was shared with the government of Malaysia in February 1999 and subsequently appeared in gray cover in June 1999 (report no. 18647). The report covered developments in the following six areas: 1) maintaining sound macroeconomic policies and resuming growth; 2) managing the social impact of the crisis; 3) financial sector restructuring; 4) corporate restructuring; 5) strengthening corporate governance and competitiveness; and 6) strengthening public sector management and performance. The SPR examined these short and medium term structural issues as they came to light during the first 14 months of the crisis. At the time the report was written the government had formulated responses to the crisis across a wide variety of policy instruments. Since then, however, events have evolved. The objective of this report is to review the progress made over the last year on structural issues in each of the six areas covered in the original SPR and place these in the context of what is happening a) in other countries in the region managing the same crisis and b) in the discussions of the new international financial architecture. This perspective is used to assess the quality of the current recovery and structural basis for sustained medium term growth and poverty reduction.
Indonesia - Accelerating Recovery in Uncertain Times : Brief for the Consultative Group in Indonesia

(Washington, DC, 2000-10-13) World Bank

The study reviews Indonesia's recovery so far, which in spite of only modest growth, is taking hold, and its base has expanded beyond consumption. With inflation under control, real wages are rising again, and poverty declined from a peak of over twenty three percent. The rapid export growth, and high oil prices were factors to offset capital outflows, thus, Indonesia's cushion of international reserves increased, lowering the deficit, and limiting financing needs, which resulted in bank, and corporate emergence. But financial markets were doubtful of the real economic developments, aggravated by political turmoil, and the developments in East Timor, which created market uncertainty. However, the study reflects optimism on the country's agenda, encouraged by the Government's program to accelerate recovery, with broad domestic and international support. The study examines policy options for fiscal sustainability, and the role of donors, and, assesses poverty within a constructive strategy for the future, exploring as well governance improvement through legal and judiciary reforms, suggesting the rule of law is still far from being assured. The study recommends changes within the political process, and to its legal system and civil service, as well as changes from the role of the military, to the way Government handles its finances.
Philippines - Growth with Equity : The Remaining Agenda - A World Bank Social and Structural Review

(Washington, DC, 2000-05-03) World Bank

The report highlights how much recent achievements, in terms of growth, and poverty reduction, owe to the progress the country has made on a broad front of policy issues, such as openness to trade, investment, and competition, as well as education, and financial regulation. Nonetheless, progress has been uneven in several fronts, such as the need to intensify trade liberalization, and domestic competition; to strengthen governance across financial, corporate, and public sectors; to broaden asset ownership, and access by the poor to both tangible assets - land - and intangible ones, such as education. Beyond the financial crises, the report addresses medium-term challenges to face poverty reduction, and economic performance, and, strengthen corporate governance, and financial development, through financial reforms. It calls for the provision of public goods, delivery of effective justice, and improvement of revenue performance, through improved fiscal consolidation to attract foreign assistance. Among the recommendations, the need for savings mobilization is suggested to sustain economic growth, through diversification of savings instruments, and increased trade liberalization.