Publication: Croatia : Economic Vulnerability and Welfare Study
Loading...
Published
2001-04-18
ISSN
Date
2013-09-05
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This is the first study of poverty, and income distribution in Croatia, which aims to provide an assessment of the country's poverty status, to explain the causes of poverty, and recommend actions to efficiently reduce poverty. In comparing international poverty standards across transition economies, the study finds that the incidence of absolute poverty in Croatia is low, however, these standards may not adequately reflect country-specific conditions. It is estimated that the level of total household expenditure - after paying for essential non-food expenditures - just attain minimal nutritional needs, and it is this level which therefore represent an absolute poverty line. Thus, less than ten percent of Croatia's population fall below this national specific poverty line, and the report shows it would be affordable for the country to eliminate absolute poverty. It presents the historical, and political context for understanding poverty, which examines Croatia's independence conditions, war consequences, and post-war economic policies, to determine the poverty scale, and profile, and economic causes of poverty, to form the basis for a social assessment. Macroeconomic, and structural policies were key determinants of weak employment growth, and, labor market policies have worsened the negative impact of macro-policies on income distribution. Policies to foster opportunities should include a sustained macroeconomic stability; creation of an enabling environment for private businesses; an increased flexibility of the labor market; and, increased investments in human capital.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2001. Croatia : Economic Vulnerability and Welfare Study. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15698 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Armenia : Poverty Update(Washington, DC, 2002-12-09)The report updates the poverty situation in Armenia, largely based on the Integrated Living Conditions Survey conducted during 1998-99, and provides as well, the foundation for the preparation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. The poverty profile identifies a widespread, and still deep poverty incidence, but while this poverty seems persistent, its depth and severity may be decreasing, and extreme poverty subsiding. Notwithstanding the fact that estimates point to a stabilization of the poverty profile, there are identified population groups facing particularly high poverty risk, i.e., very young children and the elderly, unemployed and adults not participating in the labor market, and people residing in high altitude and earthquake regions. Factors behind the persistence of poverty in Armenia are: low income and high inequality in its distribution; growth which did not generate sufficient employment opportunities; and, the impact of the Russian crisis during the period under review. Recommendations call for the implementation of regular integrated household surveys (quarterly), and, include the need to focus on generating more job opportunities, by creating an environment conducive to private sector development, i.e., small and medium scale enterprises; and, increase public spending on quality education, and health, while pursuing ongoing reforms, namely, in health management and finance.Publication Sri Lanka : Poverty Assessment(Washington, DC, 2002-06-26)This Poverty Assessment report reviews the evolution, and nature of poverty in Sri Lanka, by examining why its significant, recent economic downturn contrasts sharply with its considerable, economic advances during the 1960s; why poverty fell rapidly, and to a relatively, low level in some areas, though it remained high in other parts of the country; and, whether the large resources given to re-distributive programs, really helped reduce poverty. In response, Sri Lanka's hesitant attitude towards progressive economic, and social policies is seemingly the answer, for these policies would have removed the regulations that hinder effective markets, and the private sector, and, would have provided needed infrastructure, and social services, accommodating diversity within its social policies, through resources, and opportunities for the poorest. Notwithstanding gradual, economic liberalization, the economy is still more protected than in countries which started liberalization much later. The regulatory environment - particularly restrictions on labor, and land markets - and weak competitive financial markets, make the investment climate less friendly than that of competitors in the East. Regarding the role of the state in the economy, still large shares in the banking system, insurance industry, power, and water utilities, among others, are government owned. In terms of social policies, the country has a long tradition of protecting acquired rights, and encouraging patronage, rather than stimulating market-based creation of opportunities. The report stipulates the need for creating a policy environment that facilitates poverty reduction, through a strong fiscal policy, deregulation and privatization, agricultural growth policies, and labor market flexibility, based on public services that reach the poor, i.e., improved quality of education, effective social safety nets, and transparent public administration.Publication Uzbekistan - Living Standards Assessment : Policies to Improve Living Standards, Volume 2. Full Report(2003-05-01)Since independence, Uzbekistan has followed a distinct economic strategy, entailing gradual transformation of the economy, while emphasizing social stability. The "Uzbek Model" of development has focused on developing industrial and manufacturing capacity in a predominantly agricultural economy, using direct and substantial state guidance. An important objective of the strategy has been to raise living standards and expand employment opportunities, while protecting vulnerable groups against abject poverty. Has this approach alleviated the problems of poverty inherited by the country? This report provides the first national level picture of living standards in Uzbekistan since independence. It has three main goals: (i) to examine the current status of living standards in Uzbekistan (ii) to identify key challenges and constraints to improving living standards, and (iii) to suggest priority policy actions that are needed for broad based improvements in living standards in the country. The report was prepared in close collaboration with a working group from the Government of Uzbekistan, to ensure the relevance of the findings and to build capacity for analytical evaluation of living standards using household survey data. The report is based on the recently improved and nationally representative Family Budget Survey (FBS) (2000/01) carried out by the Uzbek statistical authorities. Since 2000/01 was the first year of implementation of the revised nationally representative survey, the new survey is considered by the Statistical Authorities to be a pilot. This is also the first time the data have been used for poverty analysis, and the exercise has yielded important feedback for further strengthening the survey. Despite these important caveats, the FBS does provide the first comprehensive information on living standards in the country, and represents the best available information at this time. Results that appear to contradict conventional wisdom cannot be rejected a priori, since they represent the responses of about 10,000 households. They must be verified with future rounds of the survey as well as special studies. In addition to the FBS, the report uses other sources of information, including surveys of firms, farms, institutions and individuals, as well as administrative data. The study also uses international evidence to compare and contrast Uzbekistan's living standards and policy outcomes relative to other countries, including CEE (Central and Eastern European) countries and other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. This report comprises two volumes. This first volume provides a summary of the findings and key policy recommendations of the report, preceded first by a brief overview of the key messages. The second volume contains the more detailed technical analysis on which this first volume is based.Publication Bulgaria : Poverty Assessment(Washington, DC, 2002-10-29)The sharp reduction in poverty in Bulgaria since the 1997 crisis highlights the role of effective economic stabilization policies and the social safety nets in improving the living conditions of the population. The nature of poverty in Bulgaria has changed since 1997, when poverty for many households was a transient phenomenon resulting from the immediate shock of hyperinflation and sharply increasing unemployment. Poverty in 2001 is more entrenched, concentrated among clearly defined groups. Most strikingly, poverty is highest among ethnic minorities, which comprise 60 percent of the poor. Roma are overrepresented among this group. this trend highlights the need for Bulgaria's poverty reduction strategy to focus on measures to address inclusion of ethnic minorities within society. Despite the improvements since 1997, there are indications of underlying fault lines which threaten the trend of rising living standards. In particular, if the high level of unemployment is maintained, or continued to increase, poverty will go up. While unemployed households have managed to stay out of poverty by relying on the safety net and private coping strategies, the close link between poverty and unemployment indicates that these trends are not sustainable. Similarly, the importance of the skills gap suggests that declining access to education will contribute to poverty over the long-term. The priority for the Government is to maintain its reform path and sustain the growth levels of the past five years. A combination of policies which address the underlying causes of unemployment, expand opportunities through building human capital, and protect the poor through well-targeted programs are the pillars of an effective anti-poverty strategy. Improvements in poverty monitoring and communication with the public are also key. Despite the improvements in living conditions since 1997, opinion surveys indicate that nearly three-quarters of the population think that they live in poverty. Addressing these perceptions and expectations is critical to maintain public trust in government institutions and the reform process.Publication Turkey Poverty Policy Recommendations, Volume 2(Washington, DC, 2005-08)This report sets out a new poverty line methodology for Turkey, as the basic measure of poverty in the country. However, several poverty lines are calculated for the purpose of international comparability, and comparability to the Bank's poverty measures, using the 1987 and 1994 data. The basic data used in Volume One are from the official 2002 Household Budget Survey (HBS). The analysis refers generally to the new poverty line methodology that results in 27 percent poor. This line is called "complete" poverty line, and is referred to as "Total poverty" in statistical tables. An in-depth analysis of the 2002 Household Budget Survey (HBS) compared to that from 1994, shows that living standards in Turkey remained almost unchanged. Poverty based on the previous methodology declined gradually from 1987 to 2002, from 38.5 percent to 34.5 percent. Poverty based on the updated methodology declined from 28.3 percent to 27 percent from 1994 to 2002. On the other hand, marginal inequality increased. Extreme poverty, already low, further declined from 1994 to 2002. Food poverty declined from 2.9 to 1.4 percent, while $1 per person per day poverty, depending on purchasing power parity (PPP) used, was 2-3 percent, or even negligible (0.2 percent). The poverty-growth decomposition demonstrated that while economic growth was a main driving force in poverty reduction, much of the gains from growth were offset by inequality, which slightly worsened from 1994 to 2002. The timing of the two major surveys in Turkey - 1994 and 2002 - dictates the frame for the comparisons. Unfortunately, due to the macroeconomic instability, living standards between these two years have not improved. The conclusion that stems from this analysis is therefore that growth between 1994 and 2002 was not sufficiently strong to produce any sizable reduction in poverty, and the impact of the little growth there was, was dampened by an increase in inequality.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28)Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.