03. Journals

2,963 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2210

These are journal articles published in World Bank journals as well as externally by World Bank authors.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 27

Privatization in Developing Countries: What Are the Lessons of Recent Experience?

(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2018-02-01) Estrin, Saul ; Pelletier, Adeline

This paper reviews the recent empirical evidence on privatization in developing countries, with particular emphasis on new areas of research such as the distributional impacts of privatization. Overall, the literature now reflects a more cautious and nuanced evaluation of privatization. Thus, private ownership alone is no longer argued to automatically generate economic gains in developing economies; pre-conditions (especially the regulatory infrastructure) and an appropriate process of privatization are important for attaining a positive impact. These comprise a list which is often challenging in developing countries: well-designed and sequenced reforms; the implementation of complementary policies; the creation of regulatory capacity; attention to poverty and social impacts; and strong public communication. Even so, the studies do identify the scope for efficiency-enhancing privatization that also promotes equity in developing countries.
Designing for Sustainable Outcomes: Espousing Behavioural Change into Co-production Programs

(Taylor and Francis, 2017-10-12) Mukherjee, Ishani ; Mukherjee, Nilanjana

This paper uses a policy design perspective with which to examine the formulation of programs that are based on the concept of co-production. In doing so, the paper reviews essential literature on policy design and co-production to identify that a limited focus on outcomes and specifically how behavioral change can make these outcomes sustainable represents a major gap in the current discussion of co-production. We firstly argue that in designing programs involving co-production, outcomes need to be considered at the initial design stages where broad policy objectives are being defined. Secondly, we argue that for these outcomes to be sustainable, behavioral change on the part of policy targets needs to be an important objective of a co-production program. To illustrate our point, we use the example of rural sanitation programs from three developing countries to specifically demonstrate how the absence or inclusion of behavioral change considerations in the early phases of policy design can elicit different levels of success in achieving desired policy outcomes.
Remittances and Vulnerability in Developing Countries

(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2017-02) Bettin, Giulia ; Presbitero, Andrea F. ; Spatafora, Nikola L.

This paper examines how international remittances are affected by structural characteristics, macroeconomic conditions, and adverse shocks in recipient economies. We exploit a novel, rich panel data set, covering bilateral remittances from 103 Italian provinces to seventy-nine developing countries over the period 2005–2011. We find that remittances are negatively correlated with the business cycle in recipient countries and in particular increase in response to adverse exogenous shocks, such as large terms-of-trade declines. This effect is stronger where the migrant communities have a larger share of newly arrived migrants. Finally, we show that recipient-country financial development is negatively associated with remittances, suggesting that remittances help alleviate credit constraints.
Decentralization of Health and Education in Developing Countries: A Quality-Adjusted Review of the Empirical Literature

(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2016-08) Channa, Anila ; Faguet, Jean-Paul

We review empirical evidence on the ability of decentralization to enhance preference matching and technical efficiency in the provision of health and education in developing countries. Many influential surveys have found that the empirical evidence of decentralization's effects on service delivery is weak, incomplete, and often contradictory. Our own unweighted reading of the literature concurs. However, when we organize quantitative evidence first by substantive theme, and then—crucially—by empirical quality and the credibility of its identification strategy, clear patterns emerge. Higher-quality evidence indicates that decentralization increases technical efficiency across a variety of public services, from student test scores to infant mortality rates. Decentralization also improves preference matching in education, and can do so in health under certain conditions, although there is less evidence for both. We discuss individual studies in some detail. Weighting by quality is especially important when quantitative evidence informs policy-making. Firmer conclusions will require an increased focus on research design, and a deeper examination into the prerequisites and mechanisms of successful reforms.
Is Long-Term Food Insecurity Inevitable in Asia

(Taylor and Francis, 2014-10-29) Cuesta, Jose

This article questions two widely accepted claims on long-term food insecurity in Asia, the world's (heterogeneous) region with the largest number of undernourished individuals. The first claim is that food production may not grow as fast as the pace of population growth in Asia, which will reach 5 billion by 2050. The second claim is that an unstoppable emergence of a middle class in Asia will dramatically change the composition of food demand. On the first claim, the region's contribution to high and volatile international food prices is well known, but Asia's potentially positive contributions toward future price uncertainty and productivity growth are much less cited. On the second claim, the changing composition of future food demand in the region will depend on the extent that poverty reduction effectively leads to middle class expansion, which it is not an automatic process, and its extent still remains to be seen. Past evidence teaches us that poverty reduction on its own will not do the job of eradicating hunger, nor will only increasing food production. The jury is still out, but doomsday predictions are not necessarily justified.
A Timeline of Development Economics at the World Bank

( 2011-09) Zoellick, Robert

A Timeline of Development Economics at the World Bank, adapted from "Democratizing Development Economics," a speech by World Bank President Robert Zoellick at Georgetown University, September 29, 2010.
Producing Home Grown Solutions : Think Tanks and Knowledge Networks in International Development

( 2011-09) Datta, Ajoy ; Young, John

Mainstream international development discourse has long heralded the importance of home grown solutions and national ownership of development policies. Ownership has been seen as the missing link between the significant development aid inflows from the North and poverty reduction outcomes in the South. You only have to look to international agreements such the 2002 Monterrey Consensus or the2005 Paris Declaration for evidence of this.
Demographics and Development Policy

( 2011-04) Bloom, David E. ; Canning, David

By late 2011 there will be more than 7 billion people in the world, with 8 billion in 2025 and 9 billion before 2050. New technologies and institutions, and a lot of hard work have enabled us to avoid widespread Malthusian misery. Global income per capita has increased 150 percent since 1960, outpacing the growth of population. But we cannot be sure that incomes will continue to grow.
Demystifying Success : The New Structural Economics Approach

( 2011-04) Lin, Justin Yifu

It took a Scottish moral philosopher with no training in economics to set the course of modern economics and challenge researchers to answer what is arguably the most fundamental question in public policy, namely: what is the recipe for growth, job creation, and poverty reduction?
Zombie Economics : How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us

( 2011-04) Quiggin, John

John Quiggin is an Australian economist and professor at the University of Queensland. He has also held academic positions at the Australian National University and James Cook University. Best known for his work on utility theory, Quiggin is among the top 500 economists in the world according to IDEA S/RePEc. Quiggin authors an Australian blog, and is a regular contributor to Crooked Timber. He also writes a fortnightly column in The Australian Financial Review.