Other ESW Reports

303 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 - 10 of 29

The Effects of Regulating Platfom-based Work on Employment Outcomes: A Review of the Empirical Evidence
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31) Alzate, David
This brief is developed as part of a series and provides an overview of the empirical evidence on the impacts of regulatory and worker protection interventions related to digital work platforms. The theoretical and economic rationales for protecting workers against the market failures that surround digital platform work are discussed in Stoterau (2024). Another brief describes the experiences in various countries in adopting labor regulations or legal classifications from the legal standpoint (Hatayama and Swistak 2024). We bring complementary evidence and guidance to policy makers by reviewing the empirical evidence on the effects of introducing regulations.
Gender Assessment of the Gambian Tourism Sector
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-30) World Bank
Tourism offers significant opportunities for women’s participation, entrepreneurship, and leadership compared to other sectors, but there are challenges to address. The gender assessment of the tourism sector in the Gambia documents gender disparities and key issues hindering women’s participation and earnings in tourism through the lens of employment, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The assessment also examines cross-cutting factors such as policy and institutional environment, education, and social norms, which impact women’s economic opportunities in the sector and influence their decision to enter and remain in the sector. Despite women showing strong interest in hospitality, reflected in higher enrollment rates than men in tourism and hospitality institutes, this is not translating into higher employment shares due to a combination of key supply- and demand-side barriers. In tourism entrepreneurial activities, most women-owned businesses face challenges in skills development, securing finance, accessing tourism segments and markets, and are further limited by a lack of infrastructure and testing labs. In terms of tourism education, while women are the majority of students in formal tourism programs, they largely lack the high-level and soft skills training needed for career progression, and the school primarily serves the workforce level in hospitality, pointing to an opportunity for new curriculum development in The Gambia. Key to supporting Gambian women in tourism will be to the creation of a safer work environment, better policies and strong enforcement.
Bioeconomy Paraguay: Innovation and Economic Diversification
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-12) World Bank
This report aims to inform the Government of Paraguay about the economic potential of an innovative bioeconomy to diversify exports and create better jobs. There are a number of innovative, biobased sectors with significant growth potential globally and in Paraguay, that could contribute to Paraguay’s economic diversification. However, to build on this potential, Paraguay would need to expand its innovation capabilities to enter sectors such as bioplastics, biopharmaceuticals, forestry and wood, ecotourism and other ecosystem services, such as carbon markets for export. A wide range of products can be produced from wood, and wood pulp can serve as an alternative input material for textiles. Besides wood itself, the forests or plantations in which it grows can also provide non-wood forestry products such as cosmetics, biopharmaceuticals, or food additives. Paraguay can also expand its bioplastics production to take advantage of a global market that is expected to grow between 35–45% through 2027. In part, this is because large buyers, such as car manufacturers, have committed to purchase bioplastics. Further market opportunities are also evident in ecotourism and carbon financing, both fast-growing service industries with potential to contribute to conservation of natural capital assets.
Playbook for Enabling Civilian Drone Operations
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-09) Anderson, Edward; Ochoa, Catalina; Engelmann, Gregor; Guerin, David; Soesilo, Denise; Juskauskas, Tautvydas; Slater, Jonathan; Osman Ali, Aymen
Emerging economies worldwide are on the rise in terms of both rapidly growing economies and younger populations. The labor force across many countries is also doubling, with millions of young people seeking opportunities. Much of this growth focuses on Metropolitan areas in Africa, with most Africans expected to live in urban areas by 2035. Ensuring this growth is shared broadly will be a crucial challenge, as rural areas, home to most of the world’s poor, cannot be left behind. In Africa, only 34 percent of citizens live within 2km of an all-weather road compared to over 90 percent in East Asia. The visible results are higher costs for goods and services, long wait times for deliveries, reduced productivity of rural facilities, and fewer opportunities for rural citizens. Bridging the gap between urban and rural in a way that brings greater reach and resilience to hard-to-reach communities requires us to rethink how to deliver mobility and set up supply chains better. Drones provide an opportunity to overcome persistent infrastructure deficiencies and address the needs and demand for more specialized transport and logistics, digitalization, and other services. They can support delivery operations to smaller airfields and hard-to-reach communities and operations in more hazardous conditions. Enabling safe, efficient and scalable drone operations will require new infrastructure and policy and regulatory reforms, greater engagement with specialized private operators, cross-sectoral and cross-governmental collaboration, and the leveraging of different investment streams to deliver and ensure efficient use of opportunities afforded by drones. This guidebook brings together experiences and lessons learned from a range of initiatives and operations within the context of the African experience of drone operations. In doing so, it provides detailed guidance and recommendations regarding the needed infrastructure, regulations, and management approaches that underpin the establishment of enabling ecosystems conducive to drone operations anywhere internationally. The World Bank looks forward to working closely with governments, the private sector, and other Development Partners to unlock the lower skies and bring the region’s development visions to life.
Planning for Flood Resilience in Romania: Results and Lessons Learned from the RO - FLOODS Project
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-17) World Bank
This document relates to the work carried out within the RAS on Technical Support for the Preparation of Flood Risk Management Plans for Romania Project, also known as the RO - FLOODS Project, and is directed at professionals working in flood risk management and in water resources management in the European Union (EU) and in other regions. It contains chapters dedicated to each key activity of the RAS (e.g., data acquisition and processing, data management, flood hazard modeling and mapping, flood risk assessment and mapping, development of the programs of measures, promotion and inclusion of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions, stakeholder engagement and communication, capacity building etc.) the main challenges faced, the approach chosen to address them, the implementation results, and lessons learned.
Global Labor Database User Manual: A Guide to Understanding, Using, and Interacting with the Global Labor Database
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-29) World Bank
The Global Labor Database (GLD) is part of the World Bank initiatives to harmonize labor force surveys and household surveys with a relevant labor module. Its mission is to create an open and transparent harmonization with sufficient background information to allow data analysts to use, alter, and expand the harmonization. In this sense, background information goes beyond code, questionnaires, and reports, and includes documenting survey details learned during harmonization which are not recorded elsewhere. An example of this documenting changes to the currency or the administrative divisions. The GLD aims to be an open-source database, meaning that as much information should be accessible to as many people as possible. It also strives to be transparent, making all steps that create the harmonization traceable, from raw data acquisition to harmonized variable coding. Hence, all steps of the harmonization process are documented and made available, including the survey documentation, code and notes that allow users to fully comprehend the survey design and the choices made in the harmonization. The availability of the codes and documentation enables users to customize and add variables not in the GLD harmonization. Most harmonization efforts provide users with a take it or leave it option, but the GLD's open and transparent approach allows users to trace and deviate from the standard harmonization at any point, giving them a head start regardless of where they wish to jump in. Finally, the GLD follows up and expands on the previous initiative to harmonized household surveys, the International Income Distribution Database (I2D2). The I2D2 was superseded by the Global Monitoring Database (GMD), which however focused on household budget surveys and did not harmonize labor force surveys. The GLD was created to remedy this gap in the survey type coverage and complement it, with a stronger focus on labor market information through an expanded dictionary and more rigorous validation of labor indicators.
The Knowledge Compact for Action: Transforming Ideas Into Development Impact - For a World Free of Poverty on a Livable Planet
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-07) World Bank
Today’s global challenges are bigger, more complex, and more intertwined than ever before, from the relentless grip of poverty and stubborn persistence of inequality to the devastations caused by climate disasters, fragility, pandemics, and conflicts. Financing and investments alone cannot solve these problems in a global context of higher debt and scarce resources. Now more than ever, clients are demanding innovative ideas and successful experiences from other countries to tackle the ongoing and emerging global crises, regain the development progress of past decades and move faster towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, recent breakthroughs in technology, including the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, offer enormous potential to revolutionize development work. Policymakers and practitioners across the globe are poised to benefit from new tools to innovate, act based on evidence and accelerate the transformation of new ideas into development outcomes that improve lives of the poor. This paper articulates the strategic direction of the Knowledge Compact for Action, which seeks to empower all WBG clients, public and private, by systematically making the latest development knowledge available to respond more effectively to increasingly complex development challenges. The Compact seizes the opportunity of the digital revolution, bringing together the wealth of data analytics, research and best practices accumulated by the WBG over decades and combining this knowledge with the WBG’s proven mix of public-private finance to power learning and innovative solutions. This includes capturing the tacit knowledge embedded in operations for policymakers and development practitioners to easily access lessons of development successes and failures in other countries. Ultimately, the Compact aims to take knowledge to a new level, placing it front and center of the WBG’s work to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet.
Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in the MENA Region: Synthesis and Cross-cutting Findings of SOE Governance Reviews of Six Countries
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-22) World Bank
This report is part of a World Bank review of state-owned enterprise (SOE) governance practices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The focus on governance is motivated by research pointing to good governance as an important precondition for successful and sustainable SOE reform. This report summarizes findings of six SOE governance reviews of Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, and Tunisia, while also drawing on other regional studies. The six country reports, as well as this cross-cutting report, concentrate on the core dimensions of corporate governance of SOEs as identified in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Corporate Governance of SOEs, and the World Bank’s Integrated SOE Framework (iSOEF). These include: (i) the legal and regulatory framework for corporate governance; (ii) state ownership arrangements; (iii) performance management frameworks; (iv) Board structures and functioning; (v) financial reporting, accountability, control, and transparency; (vi) procurement policies and practices; and (vii) climate change reporting practices. The report also provides an overview of the SOE landscape in terms of the size, composition, employment, subsidies, and financial risks of the SOE sectors.
Digital Conglomerates in East Asia: Navigating Competition Policy Challenges
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-04-02) World Bank
Competition increases productivity boosting innovation and economic growth. Competition fosters cost reductions, innovation and promotes productivity growth. This paper reviews global and regional trends on conglomeration in digital markets, especially through mergers and acquisitions. In recent years, the landscape of business consolidation has undergone a transformative shift, driven by the convergence of digital innovation and traditional commerce. This paper delves into the intriguing trends surrounding conglomeration in both digital and brick-and-mortar spheres, exploring their implications on a regional and global scale. With diverse models intertwining digital and traditional conglomerates, the strategies employed for consolidation have showcased remarkable diversity. However, at the forefront emerges the prominent strategy of conglomerate mergers, which amalgamate distinct business dimensions under a single corporate umbrella. Thus, this study investigates the readiness of competition authorities and sector-specific regulators to effectively address the intricate challenges posed by such mergers. In this context, policy reforms emerge as a focal point, aimed at bolstering regulatory frameworks to foster fair competition, innovation, and consumer protection in an era of rapid conglomerate digitalization.
Diversification through the Application of the Co-evolutionary Framework: Korea and Viet Nam
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-28) World Bank
This research examines the diversification process by conceptualizing a co-evolutionary framework linking production and technology. The study applies the framework to retrospectively explain Korea’s successful diversification path and to Viet Nam to identify how the country could further diversify into complex and value-added products. The authors apply relatedness analysis leveraging patent and trade data and present four different types of diversification patterns, namely unrelated diversification, production-based diversification, technology-based diversification, and complex diversification. Developed countries including Korea shifted toward technology-based or complex diversification strategies as their economies developed. Using a simulated scenario approach, the report outlines potential future trajectories wherein Viet Nam attains technological capabilities. The result shows that Viet Nam can diversify into 233 products if it accumulates capabilities in the 12 identified technologies. The report concludes with policy lessons that could inform policy makers in Viet Nam as well as other developing economies. Namely, that the country would need to invest more intensively in technology and capabilities upgrading to diversify into new complex products and evolve its diversification strategy alongside its economic growth and capability building process.