World Bank Country Studies

68 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4392

Country Studies are published with approval of the subject government to communicate the results of the Bank's work on the economic and related conditions of member countries to governments and to the development community. This series as been superseded by the World Bank Studies series.

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Afghanistan : State Building, Sustaining Growth, and Reducing Poverty

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005) World Bank

Afghanistan has come a long way since emerging from major conflict in late 2001. Important political milestones mandated by the Bonn Agreement (two Loya Jirgas, a new Constitution, recently the Presidential election) have been achieved. The economy has recovered strongly, growing by nearly 50 percent cumulatively in the last two years (not including drugs). Some three million internally- and externally-displaced Afghans have returned to their country/home.More than four million children, a third of them girls, are in school, and immunization campaigns have achieved considerable success. The Government has supported good economic performance by following prudent macroeconomic policies; it has begun to build capacity and has developed the nationally-led budget process and made the budget into its central instrument of reform; and it has made extraordinary efforts to develop key national programs (for example public-works employment programs and community development programs) and to revive social services like education and health.
The Road to Sustained Growth in Jamaica

(Washington, DC, 2004-04) World Bank

Jamaica's economic history is one of paradoxes, and potential - it has an English-speaking, and reasonably well-educated labor force, is close to the world's largest market, the United States, and, has an abundance of natural beauty, which has spurred tourism - and, many of its social, and governance indicators are strong, including near universal school enrollment. Poverty rates are below that of comparable countries. Yet, the Jamaican story is marked by the paradoxes of low growth in GDP and high employment, despite high investment, and important achievements in poverty reduction. This paper attempts to explain these paradoxes, and concludes that one possible explanation is that GDP has been understated. Amid these challenges, this report proposes that a "bandwagon" approach to reforms may be needed to improve prospects for sustained growth, with policy actions on several fronts, including measures to avert crisis, while continuing to strengthen social safety nets, as well as short- and long-term policies, such as reducing the growth of public expenditure, and tackling crime. Given that policy choices are likely to be difficult, it argues that an approach based on social dialogue, and consensus building is essential to create ownership for future reforms among all stakeholders.
Inequality and Economic Development in Brazil

(Washington, DC, 2004) World Bank

This study addresses three questions : why do inequalities matter for Brazil's development? Why does Brazil occupy a position of very high inequality in the international community? And, What should public policy do about it? Excessive income inequality is unfair, and undesirable on ethical grounds, and can bring adverse effects on economic growth, health outcomes, social cohesion, and crime. Brazil's excessive income inequality is associated to regressive public transfers, less equitable distribution of education, and higher wage differentials. It is thus suggested that Brazil's strategy to fight inequality should focus on four areas that are good for reducing inequality, good for reducing poverty, and good for increasing efficiency, competitiveness, and growth: raising the level, and reducing the inequities of educational attainment, reducing the wage skill premium of post-secondary education, reallocating public expenditure away from excessive, and regressive transfers, and taking advantage of the opportunity to implement an indirect tax reform, that can reduce the inequity of indirect taxation. Despite the absence of explicit tradeoffs between equity, and efficiency, these policies do not benefit everyone, and they do involve inevitable political choices.
Public Expenditure Review for Armenia

(Washington, DC, 2003-08) World Bank

This is the first full-scale World Bank Public Expenditure Review for Armenia, which reviews the main fiscal trends in the country for the period 1997-2001, and develops recommendations with respect to further fiscal adjustment, expenditure prioritization, and budget consolidation. The analysis focuses on core issues, i.e., sustainability of fiscal adjustment, fiscal transparency, expenditure priorities, and short-term expenditure management, given the existing economy-wide institutional constraints. The study covers extra-budgetary funds, in-kind external grants, subsidies provided by the state-owned companies in the energy, and utility sectors, and operations of the Social Insurance Fund, as well as regular spending. It suggests a medium-term action plan to address identified weaknesses. Sectoral chapters review health, education, and social protection and insurance. The study also analyzes budget support for core public infrastructure, and the country's public investment program.
Bulgaria Public Expenditure Issues and Directions for Reform

(Washington, DC, 2003-08) World Bank

The study is the first-ever Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (PEIR) on Bulgaria by the World Bank. It outlines public expenditure issues, and policy directions to improve the efficiency, and effectiveness of public expenditures in the country. To this end, it assesses fiscal sustainability, and analyzes the public expenditures, and their institutional framework. Bulgaria has made substantial progress toward long-term macroeconomic stability, but important challenges remain in the five sectors analyzed - education, health, social protection, the state railways, and energy sectors. It also analyses the institutional challenges in public expenditure management.
Restoring Fiscal Discipline for Poverty Reduction in Peru : A Public Expenditure Review

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-06) World Bank ; Inter-American Development Bank

This public expenditure review is produced jointly by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, and focuses on social sectors spending and leaves aside infrastructure and other sectors. This report, finalized in June 2002 and discussed with Authorities in mid-August 2002, does not take into account policy developments occurring after this time. The report is organized as follows: Chapter 1 presents a synthesis of Peru's public expenditure reform agenda from the Bank's perspective. It is based on, and distills, the thematic chapters that make up this report. Chapters 2-4 examine the core functions of public expenditure management: macro fiscal aggregates, resource allocations to strategic sectors, and microeconomic efficiency of public spending. Chapters 5-8 explore selected themes, such as the decentralization of public administration and the social sectors; civil service reform; governance and corruption; and mining fiscal and environmental issues. These chapters are, in turn, supported by fifteen topic-specific background papers, including an innovative public expenditure tracking survey on municipal transfers. Other topics focus on public sector employment; decentralization of health and education; an empirical diagnostic study on governance, rule of law, and corruption; and a comparison of the Peruvian tax system with mining tax systems in other nations.
Slovak Republic--Joining the EU : A Development Policy Review

(Washington, DC, 2003-06) World Bank

The Slovak Republic's external current account and fiscal deficits (net of privatization receipts) are unsustainably high (at about 8 percent of GDP in 2002), despite some recent declines. With a capital account surplus of perhaps 20 percent of GDP this year, the Slovak Republic may not find it particularly difficult to finance these deficits, but this favorable situation will not last. Furthermore, through its impact on the real exchange rate, this policy mix is undermining the employability of large segments of the population (particularly those with low skill levels) and will ultimately choke growth (projected at 4 percent for 2002). While much policy attention has gone to stimulating investment, future growth will also depend on raising the employment rate, currently one of the lowest among the Central and East European Countries (CEECs). This report lays out the broad thrust of a policy strategy to bolster the recovery and bring the economy towards convergence with the EU. This strategy consists of three key elements: (a) Continued trade, finance, and enterprise reform to complete the structural transformation of the economy and align it with the EU framework (b) Fiscal consolidation, focusing on cutting back expenditure and stabilizing revenues, while redirecting revenue and expenditure policies to become more fully supportive of growth and employment objectives (c) Labor market reform, directed at enhancing labor market flexibility by relaxing legal provisions on working arrangements (such as part-time work, self-employment, and fixed term contracts), by decentralizing collective bargaining, and discarding the minimum wage as an instrument of incomes policy, and by reforming the social assistance system. The ultimate success of the policy reforms outlined in this report will depend to a great extent on the government's capacity to strengthen the institutional framework in which those policies are conceived, decided upon, and executed. Three priorities have been highlighted: (i) the reform of public expenditure management systems and practices needed to support a growth-oriented fiscal strategy; (ii) the consolidation of the recent decentralization moves as a prerequisite for further devolution, and (iii) a much overdue overhaul of the judiciary system.
Caribbean Youth Development : Issues and Policy Directions

(Washington, DC, 2003-05) World Bank

This report examines youth development in the Caribbean today. The objectives of the report are threefold, it aims to 1) identify the risk and protective factor and determinats of youth behaviors and development, 2) demonstrate that the negative behaviors of youth are costly, not only to the youth themselves but to society as a whole, and 3) identifies key intervention points for youth development, taking into account identified risk and protective factors for the Caribbean. For the purpose of the study, youth is defined as spanning the adolescent period from 10 to 24 years of age. Youth or adolescent development thus refers to the physical, social, and emotional processes of maturation from childhood to adulthood, with biological processes riving the initiation of adolescence and social factors largely determining the initiation of adulthood. The study uses an "ecological" framework to demonstrate the linkages between a) the under-lying risk and protective factors of youth behaviors, b) youth outcomes, and c) subsequent adult outcomes. It is termed "ecological" because the framework shows the relationship between the individual adolescent and his or her environment. Risk factors are those factors that increase the likelihood of experiencing negative outcomes. Protective factors counterbalance the risk factors.
Regaining Fiscal Sustainability and Enhancing Effectiveness in Croatia : A Public Expenditure and Institutional Review

(Washington, DC, 2002-03) World Bank

The report presents the macroeconomic setting, and fiscal developments in the 1990s in Croatia, a country facing an unparalleled opportunity towards sustainable growth, and integration into the European Union. Nonetheless, the country needs to sustain macroeconomic stabilization, and improve the investment climate. To this effect, public sector reform needs to be oriented to diminish the size of the state, and reduce the fiscal deficit to sustain macroeconomic stability in the medium term. Yet, the scope for reducing the deficit through revenue increases is limited, even though a decrease in the tax burden would be highly desirable. This means that most of the adjustment will need to be made in public expenditures, particularly by identifying, and implementing policies that will reduce the level of expenditures, while improving their effectiveness; thus, budgetary management improvement will be critical to this effort. The report analysis indicates that the current budget in Croatia is not a comprehensive measure of all fiscal activity, namely that five extra-budgetary funds are not included in the budget; that off-budget revenues, outside of the extra-budgetary funds, still exist; that the cash budgeting system leads to the accumulation of arrears that do not appear in budget presentations; and, that laws outside of the budget law, lead to mandatory spending that falls outside of the budget process.
Growth Challenges and Government Policies in Armenia

(Washington, DC, 2002-02) World Bank

This report reviews growth trends in Armenia for the period 1994-2000, outlines major weaknesses of existing development patterns, and suggests a package of policy recommendations designed to accelerate enterprise restructuring, attract investment, and encourage the creation of new businesses in the medium term (three to five years). Such steps are needed to sustain (and preferably to increase) the current growth rates, to stop emigration among the young and skilled, and to reduce poverty. The government needs to focus much more clearly on generating the environment for private sector led growth by removing bottlenecks in policies, infrastructure, and institutions that prevent new private businesses from flourishing. International aid donors can help by supporting the removal of administrative barriers for investments, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, and the creation of "restructuring agencies" that will enable firms in key sectors to overcome or avoid common constraints to business growth in Armenia. Successful restructuring by such firms should have a demonstration effect on the country's economy and help consolidate public support for moving forward the program of reform begun a decade ago.