Publication: Afghanistan - Managing Public Finance for Development : Volume 3, Key Cross-cutting Issues
Loading...
Published
2005-12
ISSN
Date
2012-06-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Afghanistan's reconstruction has made considerable progress during the past four years. Led by the Government with international support but relying mostly on the energy and initiative of the Afghan people, reconstruction has resulted in solid achievements -- rapid economic growth, unprecedented primary school enrollments including enrollments for girls, great expansion of immunization, rehabilitation of major highways, a new and stable currency, promulgation of a new Constitution, Presidential and Parliamentary elections, return of refugees, and demobilization of militias. Public finance management has made a major contribution to these successes. Yet the challenges remain enormous. The main objective of this Afghanistan Public Finance Management Review is to consolidate, deepen, and present in an accessible, action-oriented form the knowledge base on Afghanistan's public finance system, review recent progress, analyze key challenges, and put forward options and recommendations for moving forward. This main report is supplemented by four additional volumes, covering public finance management performance and procurement (Volume 2); key cross-cutting issues (Volume 3); selected sector studies (Volume 4); and security sector expenditures (Volume 5).
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2005. Afghanistan - Managing Public Finance for Development : Volume 3, Key Cross-cutting Issues. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8391 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 Avoiding the Fiscal Pitfalls of Subnational Regulation(Washington, DC, 2011-12)Since investment climate reforms in developing countries started gaining traction in the 1990s, most efforts have focused on issues at the national level, achieving varying degrees of success for reasons that are relatively well understood. This handbook provides an overview of efforts and achievements in subnational investment climate reforms. It is organized as follows. Chapter 2 reviews a number of countries experiences with subnational reforms, noting both success stories and disappointments and pointing toward lessons learned. Chapter 3 sets out the basic principles of subnational revenue, including business taxation. Chapter 4 describes sound licensing practices for subnational governments, including establishing licensing fees. Chapter 5 provides recommendations for subnational reform projects where both the regulatory authority and taxation require attention, which is the most common situation. Finally, the Appendix offers nine case studies covering subnational reform efforts in the following countries: Canada (British Columbia), The Russian Federation, China, Kenya, Tanzania, Peru (Lima), The Balkans (Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Tajikistan, and Zambia.Publication Service Delivery and Decentralization in Sri Lanka : Assessment and Options(Washington, DC, 2006-05-15)This report assesses Sri Lanka's experience with decentralization to date and discusses options for decentralization and implications for service delivery in three sectors: roads, solid waste and health. The selected sectors illustrate the considerations relevant to the decentralization decision and its future direction. The services selected cover a range of central, provincial and local responsibilities in delivery and illustrate how the cause of success or failure of service delivery is rooted in the institutional framework, division of responsibility, funding mechanisms i.e. incentives and accountability. The effective provision of these services requires a clear understanding of the service delivery goals, technical capacity, adequate assets and recurrent inputs to deliver services. Each sector has its particular needs and to some extent can be considered independently, but the political realities effectively require that any constitutionally mandated and elected level of government have some corresponding responsibilities.Publication Grant Financing of Metropolitan Areas : A Review of Principles and Worldwide Practices(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-03)In the new information age in the globalized and interconnected world, metropolitan areas hold the key to the future prosperity and growth of nations. This paper takes a closer look at grant-financing regimes faced by metropolitan areas and their role in facilitating or hindering improvements in economic and social outcomes of residents of metropolitan areas. A review of 42 large metropolitan areas worldwide shows that, with a few notable exceptions, metropolitan areas in general are hamstrung from playing their potential role in economic advancement. Metro areas have large economic bases and therefore little a priori needs for grant financing, yet they have strong dependence on central transfers. This is because of the highly constrained fiscal autonomy given to these areas, especially in developing countries, with the singular exception of metro areas in China. Such a strong reliance on transfers undermines local autonomy and local accountability. General purpose transfers are formula based , transparent and predictable yet they discriminate against metropolitan areas as they utilize a one size fit all (common formula) for all local governments -- large or small. Such formula typically incorporate equal per jurisdiction component that discriminates against large metropolitan areas. Compactness is rarely rewarded and the greater needs of metro areas for transportation, education, health, culture and welfare go unrecognized. Overall the emphasis in grant financing of metro areas deals with vertical fiscal gaps or project based specific purpose grants. To ensure that metropolitan areas can play their dual roles in improving economic and social outcomes for residents, it is important to strengthen their fiscal autonomy while at the same time enhancing their accountability to local residents. The paper argues that results based grant financing of social and transportation services and tournament based approaches to encourage inter-jurisdictional competition need to be given serious consideration to ensure metropolitan autonomy while strengthening citizen based accountability.Publication Afghanistan - Managing Public Finance for Development : Volume 1, Main Report(Washington, DC, 2005-12)Afghanistan's reconstruction has made considerable progress during the past four years. Led by the Government with international support but relying mostly on the energy and initiative of the Afghan people, reconstruction has resulted in solid achievements -- rapid economic growth, unprecedented primary school enrollments including enrollments for girls, great expansion of immunization, rehabilitation of major highways, a new and stable currency, promulgation of a new Constitution, Presidential and Parliamentary elections, return of refugees, and demobilization of militias. Public finance management has made a major contribution to these successes. Yet the challenges remain enormous. The main objective of this Afghanistan Public Finance Management Review is to consolidate, deepen, and present in an accessible, action-oriented form the knowledge base on Afghanistan's public finance system, review recent progress, analyze key challenges, and put forward options and recommendations for moving forward. This main report is supplemented by four additional volumes, covering public finance management performance and procurement (Volume 2); key cross-cutting issues (Volume 3); selected sector studies (Volume 4); and security sector expenditures (Volume 5).Publication Intergovernmental Fiscal Management in Natural Resource-Rich Settings(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014)In resource-dependent countries, natural resources constitute one of the main assets available for financing local governments because the economy is not greatly diversified. The goal of this note is to highlight different critical dimensions of intergovernmental fiscal relations in these settings, present a survey of the range of arrangements used for managing resource rents across multiple levels of government, and synthesize basic principles or considerations in the implementation of revenue-sharing systems across different contexts. The design and implementation of measures to improve intergovernmental management of the oil, gas, and mining sector must consider the core policy objectives, fiscal context, and overall political structure. Paying attention to the constraints and political economy drivers that shape intergovernmental relations is critical to identify the feasible reforms and alternatives to improve performance that are available in a given country.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Working Without Borders(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-24)Online gig work poses both opportunities and challenges for governments and workers. On the upside, it offers prospects for income generation, especially in developing countries, where most people work in low-productivity, low-quality, often informal jobs. The virtual and often temporary nature of gig work also provides flexibility for often neglected groups such as women, youth, migrants, and people with disabilities. These jobs could be a stepping-stone to bet¬ter-quality jobs for low-skilled workers by helping them learn critical digital skills and close the digital divide. But most gig jobs offer little to no protection for workers, with uncertain income streams and no clear career pathways. Depending on local labor regulations, many gig workers are not protected against unfair practices, abuse or injuries while working. Gig work also raises challenges for managing data security and privacy. The report examines how countries can navigate the promise and perils of online gig work. It reveals that the online gig workforce is much larger than previously assumed with an estimated 154 million to 435 million Online gig workers around the globe. For the first time ever, the report mapped and tracked regional platforms and gig workers who work in languages other than English. Key messages are: • Online gig work is expanding, accounting for up to 12% of the global labor force and is a growing source of income for millions. • Demand for online gig workers is rising faster in developing countries than in industrialized countries. • Local gig platforms play a vital role in the local labor market, but they face challenges in establishing a viable business model, and opportunities for long-term growth. • Online gig work can support inclusion by providing work opportunities for youth, women, and low-skilled workers. • Gig workers, like most other informal sector workers in developing countries, are often outside the purview of labor regulations. • The gig economy can offer opportunities locally to build digital skills, increase income-earning opportunities, and facilitate social protection coverage of informal workers.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 Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-01)“Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet” explores how the foundational natural endowments of land, air, and water—long taken for granted—are under growing threat, putting at risk the very progress they helped create. For generations, natural resources have powered development, supporting health, food, energy, and economic opportunity. Today, strains on these resources are intensifying. This report argues that failing to maintain a livable planet is not merely a distant environmental concern, but a present economic threat. Drawing on new data, the report shows that over 90 percent of the world is exposed to poor air quality, degraded land, or water stress. Loss of forests cuts rainfall, dries soils, and worsens droughts, costing billions of dollars. The nitrogen paradox emerges—fertilizers boost yields but overuse in some regions harms crops and ecosystems. Meanwhile, air and water pollution silently damage health, productivity, and cognition, sapping human potential. The report warns that these hidden costs are too large to ignore. Yet the message is not one of constraint but of possibility. Nature, when wisely stewarded, can drive growth, create jobs, and build resilience. The report shows that more efficient resource use—like better nitrogen management and forest restoration—yields benefits that far exceed the costs. It also urges a shift to cleaner sectors and producing “better things,” noting that these provide new sources of growth, creating more jobs per dollar invested. The findings are clear: Investing in nature is not only good for the planet, it is smart development.Publication The Government Analytics Handbook(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-28)The Government Analytics Handbook presents frontier evidence and practitioner insights on how to leverage data to strengthen public administration. Covering a range of microdata sources—such as administrative data and public servant surveys—as well as tools and resources for undertaking the analytics, it transforms the ability of governments to take a data-informed approach to diagnose and improve how public organizations work. The "Handbook" is a must-have for practitioners, policy makers, academics, and government agencies. It is available as a single volume in print or digital formats, and as chapters for modular use. Additional tools, data and background information are available at worldbank.org/governmentanalytics. “Governments have long been assessed using aggregate governance indicators, giving us little insight into their diversity and how they can practically be improved. This pioneering handbook shows how microdata can be used to give scholars and practitioners granular and real insights into how states work, and practical guidance on the process of state-building.” —Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University, author of State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century - "The Government Analytics Handbook is the most comprehensive work on practically building government administration I have ever seen, helping practitioners to change public administration for the better.” —Francisco Gaetani, Special Secretary for State Transformation, Government of Brazil - “The machinery of the state is central to a country’s prosperity. This handbook provides insights and methodological tools for creating a better shared understanding of the realities of a state, to support the redesign of institutions, and improve the quality of public administration.” —James Robinson, University of Chicago, coauthor of Why Nations FailPublication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.