Sector/Thematic Studies

6,525 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

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Equitable Growth, Finance & Institutions Insight

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Plastic Waste in Road Construction - A Path Worth Paving?: Application of Dry Process in South Asia

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-24) Patil, Pawan ; Stankevich, Natalya ; Tsydenova, Nina ; Diana, Zoie

As global plastic waste continues to grow, the global community is coalescing to reduce plastic waste. Some stakeholders are also exploring new options to use plastic waste as partial substitute for raw material. The use of plastic waste as a bitumen modifier in road construction, referred to here as ‘plastic roads’, is one option being explored. We reviewed the scientific literature, news articles, and patents; conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis; and interviewed representatives from private companies and independent, scientific researchers to determine the existing knowledge gaps regarding the (1) technology feasibility, including engineering performance; (2) environmental issues; (3) occupational health; (4) economic viability; and (5) industry standards surrounding plastic roads. We found that many companies are starting to implement or pilot this technology worldwide though key gaps in engineering performance, such as cracking resistance, remain. The environmental issues reviewed also have research gaps, including the generation of hazardous air pollutants during production; microplastics and nanoplastics generation during use; and leaching of additives from plastic waste during use. Industry standards for the use of plastic waste in road construction are lacking. In addition, there is prevailing uncertainty in the economic viability of the technology. As a result of these key research gaps, the Ways Forward section presents a roadmap for short- and longterm research priorities.
Afghanistan Gender Monitoring Survey: Baseline Report

(Washington DC, 2023-04-18) World Bank

Through various decrees from the Interim Taliban Administration (ITA), women and girls have been systematically excluded from public and political domains, and restricted in their freedom of expression, access to education, and some forms of employment. As the restrictions continue to mount, it is increasingly important to safely consult with women and girls on their needs and priorities. The Afghanistan gender monitoring survey (AGMS) is intended to provide a snapshot of women’s own perceptions of their situation and to bring the voices of Afghan women into data collection efforts to inform the humanitarian-development response. The AGMS interviews were conducted in September and October 2022. This first round of data collection will provide an important baseline from which to assess the additional impacts of the December bans. This report presents the main results of the AGMS, conducted by the World Bank.
GovTech Maturity Index, 2022 Update — South Asia Regional Brief

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-11) World Bank

According to the GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) 2022 update for the South Asia (SAR) region, five countries are in group A or B, exhibiting substantial focus on GovTech initiatives, and the remaining three countries are in group C. These initiatives were largely linked with enhancing the delivery of public services and strengthening core government systems. The regional average GTMI score of 0.608 is higher than the global average of 0.552, which demonstrates the progress made in the last two years. However, there are some country-specific gaps in all GovTech dimensions that represent significant opportunities for improvements in public sector digital transformation, as indicated in the report.
Maldives Development Update, April 2023: Navigating a Tight Line

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-04) World Bank

The economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and, with rising tourist arrivals, is expected to maintain a strong growth and poverty reduction trajectory over the medium term. Commodity price volatility is driving inflation and exerting pressure on fiscal and external balances, through costlier imports and higher subsidies. Despite recent improvements, public debt is expected to remain high, warranting continued efforts to reduce fiscal deficits, including comprehensive subsidy reforms while mitigating impacts on the vulnerable.
Pakistan – Human Capital Review: Building Capabilities Throughout Life

(Washington, DC, 2023-04-04) Ersado, Lire, ; Hasan, Amer ; Geven, Koen Martijn ; Kathuria, Ashi Kohli ; Baron, Juan ; Bend, May ; Ahmed, S. Amer

Pakistan can realize major economic growth and development by investing in its people and their human capital. But the reality is that Pakistan’s human capital is low and has improved only marginally over the past three decades. Inequalities in human capital outcomes have persisted or widened over time between the rich and poor, men and women, and rural and urban areas and among the provinces. Human capital outcomes are low across the board, with even the most economically advantaged groups in Pakistan having lower human capital outcomes than less economically advantaged groups in peer countries. Pakistan’s Human Capital Index (HCI) value of 0.41 is low in both absolute and relative terms. It is lower than the South Asia average of 0.48, with Bangladesh at 0.46 and Nepal at 0.49. Pakistan’s human capital outcomes are more comparable to those in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an average HCI value of 0.40. To enhance its human capital, Pakistan should adopt a life cycle approach to building, protecting, and deploying human capital, starting before birth, continuing through early childhood development, and schooling, culminating in increasingly productive employment. This calls for a long-term commitment, recognition of the multidimensional and cumulative nature of human capital investments, deliberate efforts from multiple stakeholders and sectors to build on intersectoral linkages, and a continuity of policies across political parties and governments. Many countries previously at Pakistan’s level of development have managed to precisely do this, even with regional variations and gaps just as large. Pakistan has the tools to implement the recommendations in this report, provide stewardship for human capital investments, and enhance economic growth over the long term. Pakistan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the country can manage complex challenges, despite its institutional constraints.
From Good to Great in Indian Tertiary Education: Realizing the Promise of the National Education Policy

(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-03-23) Arnhold,Nina ; Dey,Sangeeta ; Goyal,Sangeeta ; Larsen,Kurt ; Tognatta,Namrata Raman ; Tognatta,Namrata ; Salmi,Jamil

India has one of the largest and fastest-growing tertiary education systems in the world. The system enrolls 37 million students across nearly 50,000 institutions. The recently endorsed National Education Policy (NEP) aims at a further doubling of the gross enrollment ratio in higher education from 26.3 percent to 50 percent by 2035. Despite its size and growth rate, and the emphasis placed on tertiary education by Indian policymakers in recent times, the system has faced continuous challenges of equitable access, quality, governance, and financing, with the quality of inputs and outputs not keeping pace with the expansion of the sector. The World Bank has supported tertiary education in India through a series of engagements in technical education at the national level, and general tertiary education in specific states. The NEP’s proposal for broad-based tertiary education reforms as a key step toward transforming the tertiary education sector in India aligns with the Bank’s global tertiary education strategy and presents an opportunity for the Bank’s engagement in this area through analytic work, dialogue with key stakeholders, and strategic engagement with states and tertiary education institutions. Based on this analysis, the World Bank in 2020-2021 expanded its engagement in Indian tertiary education through dedicated analytical and advisory work in the NEP context. Focusing on the areas of access and equity, employability, digitalization, internationalization, academic careers, governance, funding, as well as quality assurance, the World Bank conducted a series of virtual events and prepared technical reports discussing the status quo in Indian tertiary education in the context of the proposed NEP reforms and international trends. The report at hand provides a summary of the outcomes of this work.
South Asia Second Regional Gender Action Plan (RGAP) II, 2023–2028

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-03-16) World Bank Group

The focus and approach of South Asia Second Regional Gender Action Plan (SAR RGAP) are based on an analysis of regional trends in key gender outcomes in South Asia, an assessment of SAR RGAP, and an extensive set of consultations, including country-level consultations conducted across the WBG. Implementation of SAR RGAP will take place in the context of the WBG’s broader strategy for gender and the latest International Development Association (IDA) commitments. The World Bank Group Gender Strategy prioritizes four domains of gender equality: (a) improving human endowments, (b) more and better jobs for men and women, (c) women’s access to productive assets, and (d) improving women’s voice and agency and engaging men and boys (WBG 2015). An update of the Gender Strategy is currently under preparation, with completion expected in 2024. SAR RGAP aligns with this broader strategy but is also selective and therefore focuses on the most pressing gender gaps in the region. SAR RGAP also follows the December 2021 IDA replenishment, aligning with all eight of its policy commitments for gender: (i) investing in women’s empowerment, (ii) scaling up productive economic inclusion, (iii) expanding childcare, (iv) supporting medium, and high-skilled employment opportunities for women, (v) closing the gap in digital technology, (vi) strengthening women’s land rights, (vii) increasing support for prevention of and response to GBV, and (viii) implementing fiscal policy and budget systems to close gender gaps.
Innovation to Strengthen Social Protection and Nutritional Support within a Tuberculosis Control Program: Evidence and Emerging Lessons from India

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-10) World Bank

Eliminating tuberculosis (TB) as a public health concern is not only about saving lives, but also equally an important economic investment. In line with this, the Government of India (GOI) has a target of elimination of TB by 2025, through innovative measures, including providing multiple direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes for patients and providers and using technology to strengthen service delivery. The GOI has implemented DBT for more than 300 social protection schemes, including eleven in the health sector. This policy brief explicitly focuses on the DBT scheme for TB patients. The four supporting DBT schemes for TB include: (i) under the Ni-Kshay Poshan Yojana (NPY), monetary incentives are provided for each notified TB patient until the completion of the treatment; (ii) Ni-Kshay monetary incentives are provided for the private providers and informants for the notification and until completion of the treatment of patients treated by private providers; (iii) transport monetary incentive for TB patients in notified tribal areas; and (iv) honorarium to treatment supporters who may be individual volunteers or non-profit organizations providing support to TB patients. This policy brief documents and distills lessons from NPY’s early implementation of DBT in three states and six districts in India.
Taking Stock, August 2022 : Educate to Grow

(Washington, DC, 2022-08) World Bank

As the two-year Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis appears to wane, new economic shocks have cast shadows over the global economy heightening uncertainty about the short-to-medium path to recovery. The supply shock associated with the war in Ukraine is expected to blunt the promising economic recovery around the world and has raised the specter of stagflation in advanced countries, leading to tightening conditions in global financial markets. Measures undertaken by China to control the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 are also impacting its growth and the performance of global value chains. Additional risks threaten the recovery prospects of the global economy. New COVID-19 variants continue to be a severe risk, and as people around the world grow weary of pandemic-measures, this ‘fatigue’ could hamper attempts at controlling the spread. Vietnam’s economy is rebounding after two bruising years but faces domestic challenges and an unfavorable external environment in the short-to-medium-term. High vaccination rates facilitated the re-opening of the Vietnamese economy after the lockdowns of Q3-2021. Chapter 1 of this Taking Stock report reviews the recent developments in Vietnam’s economy and assesses its short-to-medium term prospects. It examines the country’s growth performance, its external balance, and monetary and fiscal policy responses during the first half of 2022. Chapter 2 reviews the performance in tertiary education access and outcomes.
Bangladesh Land Acquisition Diagnostic Review: Legal and Institutional Framework, Procedures and Practices - Analysis of the Challenges of and Proposals for Strengthening the Country’s Land Acquisition System

(Washington, DC, 2022-08) World Bank

Bangladesh has experienced a rapid pace of economic growth in the last two decades, with notable achievements across several social development parameters. To ensure sustained higher economic growth, the government of Bangladesh (GoB) aims to expand infrastructure related investment in the areas of strategic connectivity, industrialization, tourism development, and trade promotion, all of which require a significant amount of land. Age-old legal and institutional legacies and practices, issues pertaining to institutional capacity, and the lack of interoperability between departments involved in land administration make the overall land acquisition (LA) process extremely complicated and lengthy, with the scarcity of land making it even more challenging. The overall objective of the study was to assess the challenges and identify a mechanism for system strengthening and the scope of needed legal and institutional reform to improve the speed, accuracy, and accountability of the LA process. This report is presented in five chapters that discuss the study method, the analysis of the existing system and its challenges, measures to address the challenges, and the scope of possible legal and institutional reform. After introducing the study in this chapter, Chapter 2 discusses the country’s LA system and the process in practice. Chapter 3 describes the overall land administration in Bangladesh, including the method for transferring property rights, the creation and updating of khatians, and the complexity involved in the ownership decision process, one of the primary causes of delays in the payment of compensation. Chapter 4 presents the key challenges in the LA process, from the frustrations faced by IAs, who watch the timelines for their projects extended years longer than planned, to the worries and concerns of affected landowners waiting for compensation. Chapter 5 presents the proposals for improving and strengthening aspects of the LA process, including pertinent issues identified for possible land administration reform.