Handbooks and Training Manuals
128 items available
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This collection displays handbooks, sourcebooks, and training manuals. It includes formal books displayed in other series collections, as well as many stand alone publications both formal and informal, including eLearning products.
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Publication
A Guiding Framework for Nutrition Public Expenditure Reviews
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-05-04)Nutrition investments affect human capital formation, which in turn affects economic growth. Malnutrition is intrinsically connected to human capital—undernutrition contributes to nearly half of child mortality, and stunting reduces productivity and earnings in adulthood. Improving nutrition requires a multisectoral effort, but it is difficult to identify and quantify the basic financing parameters as used in traditional sectors. What is being spent and by whom and on what? To address these questions, nutrition public expenditure reviews (NPERs) determine the level of a country’s overall nutrition public spending and assess whether its expenditure profile will enable the country to realize its nutrition goals and objectives. When done well, NPERs go beyond simply quantifying how much is spent on nutrition; they measure how well money is being spent to achieve nutrition outcomes and identify specific recommendations for improvement. A Guiding Framework for Nutrition Public Expenditure Reviews presents the key elements of an NPER and offers guidance, practical steps, and examples for carrying out an NPER. The book draws upon good practices from past NPERs as well as common practices and expertise from public expenditure reviews in other sectors. This handbook is intended for practitioners who are tasked with carrying out NPERs. Other target audiences include country nutrition policy makers, development partner officials, government technical staff, and nutrition advocates. The book presents data and analytical challenges faced by previous NPER teams and lays out the kinds of analyses that past NPERs have been able to carry out and those that they were unable to perform because of data or capacity constraints. It concludes with further work needed at the global and country levels to create the conditions necessary to conduct more comprehensive NPERs. -
Publication
Impact Evaluation in International Development: Theory, Methods and Practice
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-03-17)Impact evaluations are studies that attempt to measure the causal impact of a project, program, or policy on one or more outcomes. This book provides a comprehensive exposition of how to conduct impact evaluations. Part I provides an overview of impact evaluations and comprises five chapters which are accessible to readers who have few or none of the technical (statistical and econometric) skills that are needed to conduct impact evaluations. Parts II and III make use of statistical and econometric methods and are at a level similar to a graduate-student course but written to make them accessible to the ambitious reader whose skills are not at that level. Part II presents, in Chapters 6-10, a comprehensive discussion of the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to conduct impact evaluations, including a general discussion of the ethical issues involved in conducting impact evaluations. Part III presents the main nonexperimental methods that are used to implement impact evaluations when RCTs are not feasible or not recommended for other reasons. Chapters 11 and 12 present regression methods, including difference-in-differences estimation. Matching methods are described in Chapter 13, after which regression discontinuity methods are covered in Chapter 14. Instrumental variable methods, including the estimation of local average treatment effects (LATE), are discussed in detail in Chapter 15. Chapters 16 and 17 cover more advanced topics: quantile treatment effects and control function methods, respectively. Part IV then considers more practical issues when conducting impact evaluations, including designing questionnaires (Chapter 18), data collection methods and survey management (Chapters 19 and 20), and disseminating results to policymakers (Chapter 21). Finally, Part V addresses two topics in impact evaluation: qualitative methods for conducting impact evaluations (Chapter 22), and cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis (Chapter 23). -
Publication
Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: A Practical Guide for Bank Supervisors
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022)The COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis was a reminder, if any were needed, that criminal creativity thrives in times of chaos, exploiting people’s fears. Unsafe face masks, counterfeit drugs, and suspect medical equipment flooded the market, touted as miracle cures against the coronavirus by unscrupulous actors wanting to turn a quick profit. Companies with no record in health won big government contracts and, as people’s situation deteriorated, organized crime stepped in to lend a “helping hand” to those suffering financial distress. Where most people saw a global public health and economic crisis, criminals saw an opportunity. What this criminal behavior, indeed almost all financial economic crime, has in common is that the funds involved move through the formal financial system. The service providers that execute those transactions are in a good position to gather firsthand intelligence on what is happening. For this reason, banks and other financial institutions have anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations to find out who is paying whom and why and, if necessary, to alert the authorities. Financial institutions are the first line of defense against this criminal behavior; they are the gatekeepers to the international financial system. -
Publication
Development Research in Practice: The DIME Analytics Data Handbook
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021-06-16)Development Research in Practice leads the reader through a complete empirical research project, providing links to continuously updated resources on the DIME Wiki as well as illustrative examples from the Demand for Safe Spaces study. The handbook is intended to train users of development data how to handle data effectively, efficiently, and ethically. -
Publication
Guidance Note for Developing Government Local Currency Bond Markets
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2021)This guidance note was prepared by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group staff under a project undertaken with the support of grants from the Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening Initiative, (FIRST). The aim of the project was to deliver a report that provides emerging market and developing economies with guidance and a roadmap in developing their local currency bond markets (LCBMs). This note will also inform technical assistance missions in advising authorities on the formulation of policies to deepen LCBMs. The guidance note discusses commonly faced challenges and bottlenecks in the journey to efficient and deep LCBMs. In particular, the guidance note explores how to overcome difficulties in implementing some existing best practices. Experience points to the interdependent nature of the required development actions and the need for supportive actions outside the narrow field of LCBM agents. The challenges discussed and accompanying policy guidance draw from the IMF and World Bank’s extensive technical assistance (TA) provision in this area, cross-country experience in LCBM development, and results from a recent survey of country authorities. The guidance note intends to be a resource for a wide range of stakeholders interested in government bond market development. Country authorities and TA providers can use the diagnostic on the level of LCBM development to design a proper sequence of policy actions to further improve the functioning of the domestic government debt market. Country authorities and IMF and World Bank country teams can use the guidance note to identify key macroeconomic and financial issues linked to LCBM development and integrate it into their policy analysis and advice. The diagnostic findings regarding weaknesses in LCBMs also can be used to help identify financial vulnerabilities and their remedies, in the authorities’ ongoing financial sector surveillance and in the context of Financial Sector Assessment Programs and Financial Sector Stability Reviews. -
Publication
Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-07-08)Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as the international flows of investment and labor, and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade, or deep integration. DTA rules influence how countries transact, invest, work, and, ultimately, develop. The rules and commitments in DTAs should be informed by evidence and shaped by development priorities rather than international power or domestic politics. An impediment to this goal is that data and analysis on trade agreements have not captured the new dimensions of integration. Little effort has been made to identify the content and consequences of DTAs. This Handbook takes a step towards filling this gap in our understanding of international economic law and policy. It presents detailed data and analysis on the content of the policy areas most frequently covered in DTAs, focusing on the stated objectives, substantive commitments, and other aspects such as transparency, procedures, and enforcement. Each chapter, authored by lead experts in their respective fields, explains in detail the methodology used to collect the information and provides a first look at the evidence by policy area. -
Publication
Food Safety Handbook: A Practical Guide for Building a Robust Food Safety Management System
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-04-08)The Food Safety Handbook: A Practical Guide for Building a Robust Food Safety Management System, contains detailed information on food safety systems and what large and small food industry companies can do to establish, maintain, and enhance food safety in their operations. This new edition updates the guidelines and regulations since the previous 2016 edition, drawing on best practices and the knowledge IFC has gained in supporting food business operators around the world. The Food Safety Handbook is indispensable for all food business operators -- anywhere along the food production and processing value chain -- who want to develop a new food safety system or strengthen an existing one. -
Publication
World Bank Group Publications Editorial Style Guide 2020
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-03-04)The World Bank Group Publications Editorial Style Guide is an essential reference for manuscript editors (substantive and mechanical editors), proofreaders, and production editors. It is a supplement to other editorial references, in particular, The Chicago Manual of Style (annual subscription available online), 17th edition, and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. It focuses on issues specific to the World Bank/International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or for which Chicago provides multiple options. The professional recommendations made in the guide are designed to meet the following objectives: • To ensure that every publication achieves a standard of professionalism appropriate for the World Bank and on par with the publications of similar organizations, • To ensure stylistic consistency, primarily within individual publications and secondarily across all World Bank publications, • To increase efficiency by eliminating the need to repeatedly address the same stylistic details for every publication. -
Publication
Public Investment Management Reference Guide
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-02-26)The Public Investment Management (PIM) Reference Guide aims to convey country experiences and good international practices as a basis for decisions on how to address country-specific PIM reform agendas. The country references are drawn largely from previous diagnostics and technical assistance reports of the World Bank. The application of country diagnostics and assessments has revealed a need to address the following issues when undertaking a country reform in PIM: • Clarification of the definition and scope of public investment and public investment management • Establishment of a sound legal, regulatory and institutional setting for PIM, making sure it is linked to the budget process • Allocation of roles and responsibilities for key players in PIM across government • Strengthening project pre-appraisal, appraisal, and selection/prioritization procedural guidance, and deepening project appraisal methodologies • Integration of strategic planning, project appraisal/selection, and capital budgeting • Management of multiyear capital budget allocations and commitments • Ensuring effective implementation, procurement, and monitoring of projects • Strengthening of asset management and ex post evaluation • Integration of PIM and public-private partnership (PPP) in a unified framework • Rationalization and prioritization of the existing PIM project portfolio • Development of a PIM database and IT in the form of a PIMIS (PIM Information System). The PIM Reference Guide does not seek to provide definitive answers or standard guidance for the common PIM issues facing countries. Nor does it seek to provide a detailed template for replication across countries: this would be impossible given the diversity of country situations. Instead, each chapter of the guide begins with an overview of a specific reform issue, lists approaches and experiences from various countries, and summarizes the references and good practices to be considered in designing country-specific reform actions. -
Publication
Better Cities, Better World: A Handbook on Local Governments Self-Assessments
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-07-30)The planet is becoming increasingly urban. In many ways, the urbanization wave and the unprecedented urban growth of the past 20 years have created a sense of urgency and an impetus for change. Some 54 percent of the world population—3.9 billion people—lives in urban areas today; thus, it has become clear that “business as usual” is no longer possible. This new configuration places great expectations on local governments. While central governments are subject to instability and political changes, local governments are seen as more inclined to stay the course. Because they are closer to the people, the voice of the people is more clearly heard for a truly democratic debate over the choice of neighborhood investments and city-wide policies and programs, as well as the decision process on the use of public funds and taxpayers’ money. In a context of skewed financial resources and complex urban challenges—which range from the provision of basic traditional municipal services to the “newer” agenda of social inclusion, economic development, city branding, emergency response, smart technologies, and green investment—more cities are searching for more effective and innovative ways to deal with new and old problems. Better Cities, Better World: A Handbook on Local Governments Self-Assessments is at the heart of this debate. It recognizes the complex past, current, and future challenges that cities face and outlines a bottom-line, no-nonsense framework for data-based policy dialogue and action; a common language that, for the first time, helps connect the dots between public investments programming (Urban Audit/Self-Assessment) and financing (Municipal Finances Self-Assessment). It helps address two key questions, too often bypassed when it comes to municipal infrastructure and services financing: Are we doing the right things? Are we doing things right? Better Cities, Better World: A Handbook on Local Governments Self-Assessments offers a bit of everything for everyone. • Central governments will be attracted by the purposefulness and clarity of these tools, their impact on local government capacity and performance building, and how they improve the implementation of transformative actions for policy change. • City leaders and policy makers will find the sections on objectives and content instructive and informative, with each issue placed in its context, and strong connections between data and municipal action. • Municipal staff in charge of day-to-day management will find that the sections on tasks and the detailed step-by-step walk through the process give them the pragmatic knowhow that they need. • Cities’ partners—such as bilateral and multilateral agencies, banks and funds, utility companies, civil society, and private operators—will find the foundations for more effective collaborative partnerships.