03. Journals

3,134 items available

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

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 18
  • Publication
    Using Satellite Imagery to Create Tax Maps and Enhance Local Revenue Collection
    (Taylor and Francis, 2020) Ali, Daniel Ayalew; Deininger, Klaus
    Although taxes on land and property have many desirable attributes, the challenge of ensuring completeness of tax rolls and currency of valuations preclude their effective use to support urbanization and service provision in many developing countries. The example of Kigali shows how building footprints and heights generated from high-resolution satellite imagery, together with sales prices and routine statistical data, allow to assess and improve coverage and design of property tax systems. We show that only 40% of potential land lease fee revenue (of US$ 4.9 million) was collected and that moving to 1% value-based tax would increase revenue almost 10 times while being less regressive than the current system. While this could allow reducing the tax burden for low-income groups, exemptions should be applied with caution based on careful empirical analysis.
  • Publication
    Drivers of Structural Transformation: The Case of the Manufacturing Sector in Africa
    (Elsevier, 2017-11) Mijiyawa, Abdoul' Ganiou
    This paper analyzes the driving factors of manufacturing development in Africa. Using the system-GMM technique with four-year average panel data over the period 1995–2014, including 53 African countries, the paper finds four main results. (1) There is a U-shaped relationship between the manufacturing share of GDP and per capita GDP. (2) Exchange rate depreciation stimulates Africa’s manufacturing sector. (3) Good governance, especially a low level of corruption and better government effectiveness contribute to Africa’s manufacturing development. (4) The size of domestic market positively affects the manufacturing share of GDP. On the other hand, the paper finds no significant effects of FDI and urbanization on manufacturing development. The implication of these findings is that improving the level of competitiveness, expanding the size of domestic market, combating corruption as well as improving government effectiveness are key for Africa’s manufacturing sector development. Moreover, the U-shaped relationship between the manufacturing share of GDP and per capita GDP, implies that African countries should not expect industrialization to automatically happen with income increase, but rather, they should proactively tackle key obstacles to the development of the manufacturing sector.
  • Publication
    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.
  • Publication
    Interview with Steven Livingston on Information Systems and Development
    (2011-09) World Bank
    An Interview with Steven Livingston, Professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs. His research and teaching focus on media, information technology, national security and global politics. Dr. Livingston’s most recent publications include, When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina (2007), co-authored with W. Lance Bennett and Regina Lawrence) and Africa’s Evolving Infosystems: A Pathway to Security and Stability (2010), assessing the effects of the rapid growth of ICT on governance in Africa.
  • Publication
    Industrialization and the Land Acquisition Conundrum
    (2011-04) Bardhan, Pranab
    When government officials are involved in land transactions the scope for arbitrary decision making and corruption is large, and the land issue can turn into a political football among rival political parties.
  • Publication
    Managing Knowledge in Organizations : Summary of an Interview with Marshall Van Alstyne and Hind Benbya
    (2010-10) Leonard, Aaron
    Knowledge exchange among practitioners in low- and middle-income countries is now at the forefront of global development policy formulation. But the question of how to connect the right people with the right knowledge at the right time isn�t new. Knowledge Management (KM) has been an established discipline since the 1990s. We talked with MIT�s Marshall Van Alstyne and Montpellier�s Hind Benbya about the state of knowledge management and information exchange in organizations today, and how new practices like knowledge markets can help us find better solutions to some of today�s trickiest development challenges.
  • Publication
    Developing the Capacity of Post-Conflict Countries through South-South Partnerships
    (2010-10) Muthayan, Saloshini
    Following years of war and devastation, the citizens of post-conflict countries look to the government with high expectations for a better quality of life. These countries, however, face severe institutional and human capacity constraints and normally have no other option than turning to donors for help in reconstructing their societies.
  • Publication
    South-South Cooperation and Knowledge Exchange : A Perspective from Civil Society
    (2010-10) Cruz, Anabel
    South-South cooperation is not new. It has been around for several decades in the form of economic integration, cultural exchanges, and technical cooperation. Traditional North-South cooperation, however, with resources coming from the rich northern countries to the poor southern ones has been supplemented by other models. Indeed, middle income countries have been taking on various roles, not only as recipients of development aid, but also as providers of development cooperation. New actors and approaches have entered the development cooperation landscape.
  • Publication
    The Power of Parliamentary South-South Learning : Fighting Small Arms in the Great Lakes Region and Horn of Africa
    (2010-10) Balch, Jeff
    Few other regions in the world have been hit so hard by so many wars and domestic conflicts as the countries in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa over the past fifteen years. Traders and brokers of small arms cool-headedly spotted the opportunities in these regions. Local demand was huge as many militia and rebel groups needed weapons and didn't particularly care about international trading regulations or conventions.
  • Publication
    Aid Effectiveness : Why Does It Matter to Partners in South-South Cooperation?
    (2010-10) Gurría, Angel
    Why should partners in South-South cooperation care about aid effectiveness? What is the relevance of the commitments embodied in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008) to development actors? These are questions I frequently hear.