Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy
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Publication
Bringing HOPE to Haiti's Apparel Industry : Improving Competitiveness through Factory-level
(World Bank, 2009-11-01)In October 2008 the United States Congress enacted legislation that gave the Republic of Haiti expanded, flexible access to the U.S. market for its apparel exports. The Second Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement act of 2008 (HOPE II, updated from the original legislation passed in 2006) was welcomed for its potential to revitalize a decaying industry, attract new foreign investment, expand formal sector employment, and jumpstart growth and opportunity for Haiti's people. The purpose of the analysis of Haiti's apparel value-chain in this report is to provide a comprehensive view of the advantages and challenges of manufacturing in Haiti relative to manufacturing in the Caribbean and Central America and elsewhere. It situates Haiti's attributes and suggests priorities for improving its competitiveness relative to that of other suppliers. An apparel buyer in the United States today juggles an impressive list of potential suppliers from China and elsewhere in Asia and from Latin America and beyond. Each country offers a unique combination of workforce skills, business environment, costs, 'full-package' services, proximity to raw material or to end markets, preferential access to the U.S. market, and thus competitiveness. This report helps readers to see how Haiti fits into this ever-changing global apparel market kaleidoscope. -
Publication
Romania : Diagnostic Review of Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, Volume 1. Key Finding and Recommendations
(Washington, DC, 2009-07)The diagnostic review on consumer protection and financial literacy in Romania is the fourth in a World Bank-sponsored pilot program to assess consumer protection and financial literacy in developing and middle-income countries. The objective of this review are three-fold to: (1) refine a set of good practices for assessing consumer protection and financial literacy, including financial literacy; (2) conduct a review of the existing rules and practices in Romania compared to the good practices; and (3) provide recommendations on ways to improve consumer protection and financial literacy in Romania. The diagnostic review was prepared at the request of National Authority for Consumers Protection (ANPC), whose request was endorsed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Support was provided by the National Bank of Romania (BNR), which supervises banks and non-bank credit institutions. Further assistance was given by supervisory commissions for securities (CNVM), insurance (CSA) and private pensions (CSSPP). Volume one notes the importance of consumer protection and finical literacy, provides statistics on the size and growth of the retail financial sector in Romania, describes the EU and Romanian strategies on consumer protection and financial literacy, and sets out the key finding and recommendations of the review. Annex one lists all recommendation in the diagnostic review from both volumes and notes which recommendations relate to European Union (EU) Directives or European Commission (EC) recommendations and which are taken from the good practices annex two provides two sample consumer protection code: one for the banking securities, insurance and pensions sectors; and another for non-bank credit institutions. Annex three lists the key lawn and institutions related to financial consumer protection in Romania and annex four indicates which Romanian laws have incorporated the EU Directives on financial consumer protection. Volume two provides: (1) a detailed analysis of the key consumer protection issues in five segments of financial sector - banking, securities, insurance, private pensions, and non-bank credit intuitions; (2) an assessment of the Romanian consumer protection framework and practices compared to the template of good practices; and (4) a brief survey of financial literacy programs worldwide. -
Publication
Pakistan Labor Market Study : Regulation, Job Creation, and Skills Formation in the Manufacturing Sector
(Washington, DC, 2006-09)In an effort to improve employment outcomes and industrial productivity, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) has launched a dual-track reform process involving broad-based overhaul of labor laws and institutions, and expansion and reform of the Vocational and Technical Training (VTT) system. Labor market regulation and laws are useful economic and social institutions designed to protect workers from undesirable consequences of market failure such as arbitrary or discriminatory actions by employers. They also help stabilize employment and household incomes against aggregate business cycles and shocks. Labor regulation is also an important element of society's instruments for the provision of social security and the maintenance of health, safety, and environmental standards in economic activities. Labor regulation in Pakistan is excessive by international standards, as can be seen from data on a number of indicators of labor market flexibility. All things considered, Pakistani industry and workers will seem to be better off with a more flexible labor market. The report analyzes the existing labor laws and institutions, along with the new draft laws, from this point of view. It also provides a review of the current VTT system and changes for it. -
Publication
Infrastructure in Latin America : Recent Developments and Key Challenges, Volume 1
(Washington, DC, 2005-08)In the last decade, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have not spent enough on infrastructure. Total investment has fallen as a percentage of GDP, as public infrastructure expenditure has borne the brunt of fiscal adjustment, and private investment has failed to take up the slack. Most infrastructure services have therefore lagged behind East Asian comparators, middle income countries in general and China, in terms of both coverage and quality, despite the generally positive impacts of private sector involvement. This lackluster performance has slowed the LAC region's economic growth and progress in poverty reduction. Countries of the region therefore need to focus on upgrading their infrastructure, as this can yield great dividends in terms of growth, competitiveness and poverty reduction, as well as improving the quality of life of their citizens. Catching up requires significant new investment. But first, measures need to be taken to ensure that infrastructure spending produces higher returns, both economic and social. Both these tasks involve multiple challenges. The first section of the main report reviews progress made in infrastructure coverage and quality and discusses the impacts this has had on growth, competitiveness and the fight against poverty. The second section argues that the main issue has been that there has not been enough improvement in the management of resources, which have been insufficient anyway, and also reviews the region's experiences with private participation in infrastructure. The third section builds on the lessons of the last decade to tackle the key challenges: improving social and economic returns from infrastructure, managing private participation in infrastructure better and raising new finance for infrastructure. -
Publication
Kenya : Growth and Competitiveness
(Washington, DC, 2005-01)The conclusions of the recently-conducted Kenya Investment Climate Assessment (ICA), based on a survey of 368 firms, have a bearing on the country's growth agenda. The results have a bearing on the key issue of labor productivity and its implications on firm performance, revealing that capital-intensity in Kenya was relatively high, compared to the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and also to firms in China and India, but also relatively less productive. Labor productivity in Kenya had not improved materially over the past decade or so, so that unit labor costs compared very unfavorably with those prevailing in Asian countries like India, China, Indonesia or Thailand. Major constraints to doing business cited by firms in the survey related to infrastructure, tax administration and corruption. On infrastructure, power supply was seen as the most problematic, on account of the high number of outages, compounded by high losses in transmission and distribution. 64 percent of firms reported damage to equipment on account of power outages or fluctuations valued at nearly $15,000 per firm per year. To cope with these outages 70 percent of firms had acquired generators, further adding to the cost of doing business. Road and rail services were reported by most firms as being of very poor quality, and nearly a quarter of firms reported having to spend their own resources to improve the quality of roads in surrounding areas. On corruption, three quarters of firms surveyed reported this as a problem, though only about half reported having to spend resources in terms of unofficial payments. -
Publication
Peru - Microeconomic Constraints to Growth: The Evidence from the Manufacturing Sector
(Washington, DC, 2004-06-15)This study looks at the investment climate in Peru using a unique database of manufacturing firms. Through detailed analysis, it establishes four key areas that pose constraints to investment and growth in Peru and proposes solutions. The four main areas are: 1) an uncertain legal and regulatory framework, 2) low level of market integration and high logistics costs; 3) low levels of investment and activity in innovation and technology absorption and, 4) difficulties in accessing finance. The main findings and the full set of policy recommendations center on reducing uncertainty by more clearly articulating the Government legislative agenda; continuing and intensifying efforts to improve court processes; facilitating the registration and operational regulation of firms by further reducing red tape; reducing corruption awarding public goods and services contracts through a revision of public procurement at the central, regional and municipal levels; increasing the focus on quality and exports; and reforming moveable asset registries. -
Publication
Zambia : The Challenge of Competitiveness and Diversification
(Washington, DC, 2003-01-10)This study was designed to go below the radar of Zambia's macroeconomic developments to examine trends, constraints, and opportunities in specific economic subsectors. It sought to build upon existing and planned analyses within the country in order to better understand: 1) the underlying bases for competitive advantage and disadvantage in the evolving Zambian economy; 2) the likely sustainability of those patterns of economic diversification which have already taken place; 3) what linkages have and have not been formed within the agricultural and mining sectors which might still be a basis for future growth; 4) the specific effects of certain macroeconomic developments and "external" events on different stakeholders and the types of responses they have made to these; and 5) what measures could be taken to improve competitiveness within the Zambian economy and accelerate future growth. The work was designed to complement on-going analytical work, especially by the Export Board of Zambia and the Zambia National Farmers Union, ans also complement on-going work to assess the constraints and opportunities facing Zambia's tourism sector. The present study draws upon available data, an updated analysis of agricultural production costs and profitability, and surveys of private agribusiness, non-traditional export, and mining (and mining-related companies. A parallel analysis was undertaken on the food and agricultural import demand into South Africa, a potential trade destination. -
Publication
Argentina - Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Argentina : A Potential Engine for Economic Growth and Employment
(Washington, DC, 2002-08)The convertibility law, and economic liberalization in the early 1990s in Argentina, brought about dramatic changes in economic performance. To adjust to increasing globalization, and a series of external shocks, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) were confronted with the task of developing business strategies to secure their niches in the new arena. However, such strategies were obstructed by constraints in the legal, and economic framework, weak information and technology aspects, and insufficient access to finance. The report builds on the following issues: 1) the critical aspect of the SME sector to the Argentine economy, both from a growth/efficiency, and equity standpoint; yet on average, SMEs have failed to attain their potential; 2) the highly heterogeneous configuration, particular organizational, and technological characteristics of SMEs; 3) the high degree of institutional rigidity of the country's business environment; 4) the need to develop policy actions to deepen financial markets for SMEs; 5) the significant knowledge constraints - by and large, no training nor technical assistance services are available, mainly because of high costs; 6) the striking multiplicity of SME programs, yet with uncertain impact; and, 7) the need to overhaul SME policies, and programs to prod more incentive- and demand-driven approaches. Elements for effective SMEs assistance programs include the development of a standard set of metrics to measure performance of SMEs, and, entrepreneurial management, deemed of critical importance. As well, cost recovery growth should be targeted, extensively using follow-up techniques, and leveraging their effectiveness through the use of information, and communications technology. Most importantly, the policy challenge lies in taking initiatives to develop institutions at the national, and local levels, to encourage transition from inward-looking firms, narrow search routines, and information-poor markets, to learning-oriented firms, and mature, information-rich markets. -
Publication
Indonesia : Private Sector Development Strategy
(Washington, DC, 2001-01-04)The report reviews the Bank's private sector development strategy in Indonesia, stipulating that the country's potential will not be realized without a pattern of private sector activity, - different from the past - but, taking the opportunity offered by the crisis to make fundamental changes in the business environment, and in how business is conducted. The first priority calls for the banking, and corporate sectors to speed up the resolution of corporate debt, and ease financial flows for investment, and working capital to resume. Second, the structural inefficiencies, partly conducive to the crisis, and to its long lasting effect, need to be overcome; therefore, reforms should enable Indonesia to become a modern market economy, able to avoid future crises. This encompasses fighting corruption in the public administration, ensuring the rule of law through the court system, reinforcing property rights, and dispute resolution mechanisms, and, ensuring transparency and corporate governance. Third, broad-based, and sustainable economic growth need to be ensured by measures such as removal of obstacles to small, and medium enterprise (SME) activity, as well as SME development promotion, including physical, and social infrastructure building. Finally, the creation of an infrastructure, and regulatory framework to take full advantage of new information/communications technologies, is paramount. -
Publication
Republic of Tunisia - Private Sector Assessment Update : Meeting the Challenge of Globalization, Volume 1. Executive Summary and Proposed Reform Agenda
(Washington, DC, 2000-12-14)This private sector assessment (PSA) aims at evaluating conditions for private sector development in Tunisia, how they evolved since 1994, and what are the remaining constraints to private investment. It lays out an elaborate framework, placing private sector development in Tunisia, within the context of global economic integration, while facing increased competition from international competitors (particularly those accessing the European market). The analysis of characteristics, and performance of the private sector reveals that although traditionally, Tunisian exports to Europe have been strong, they are now challenged by competition from Asian, and Central/Eastern European countries, a factor exacerbated by the continued anti-export bias of the domestic economy, in light of other countries' rapid investment incentives, which enable private activity to access the opening European market. Thus, improved competitiveness in the country is a major issue. The report proposes reforms in incentives for private sector growth, and in governance; discusses the need, and measures to expand financial access for small/medium enterprises; and proposes options to lay the foundation of a long-term private sector growth strategy. The report contains three volumes, the Executive Summary, and Proposed Reform Agenda; the Main Report; and, Annexes.