Publication: Kosovo Country Economic Memorandum, November 2021: Enhancing Human Capital by Improving Education
Loading...
Date
2021-11
ISSN
Published
2021-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This note assesses pre-university education in Kosovo and identifies policies that can improve education quality and equity. There is a substantial need for improvement to the foundations of the education system, especially in terms of coverage and quality. If Kosovo is to reap the benefits of its demographic dividend for faster growth and poverty reduction, making it a policy to invest in human capital through education must be a priority. The low levels of foundational literacy skills limit the ability of Kosovars to develop the skills the labor market requires, especially for those living in rural areas and minority communities and those of low socioeconomic status. Kosovo has made considerable progress in increasing access to preprimary and primary education, but more needs to be done to equitably increase coverage of preschool and secondary education. Narrowing the wide geographic, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in education outcomes and ensuring that all children have access to quality education is paramount. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is expected to further erode Kosovo’s modest improvements made in education. Employers in Kosovo note the poor quality of the education system and the limited practical and professional skills students acquire.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2021. Kosovo Country Economic Memorandum, November 2021: Enhancing Human Capital by Improving Education. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36898 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Kosovo Country Economic Memorandum, November 2021(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11)Kosovo, one of the youngest countries in an aging Europe, took its first steps on the road to greater prosperity a quarter of a century ago. Kosovo’s economy has experienced significant growth in recent years. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered Kosovo’s first ever recession in 2020. While spending on education has more than doubled, the quality of human capital needs to improve. And barriers to women’s economic empowerment need to be lifted. Proximity to major markets in Europe and a youthful population provide an opportunity for growth. Kosovo is one of the youngest countries in an aging Europe. Trade facilitation and logistics connectivity are getting better. Proximity to a large and affluent market, low taxes and labor costs, a resilient and liquid financial sector, and strong ties with its diaspora will help support growth.Publication Kosovo Country Economic Memorandum, November 2021(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11)Igniting farm productivity can support growth and job creation in Kosovo. Agricultural production, in real terms, has been decreasing in Kosovo since 2009 but employment has not changed much. This note examines drivers of agricultural productivity and its growth in Kosovo, and implied constraints on growth of agriculture, using farm-level data. The results of the productivity analysis suggest that in Kosovo there is a considerable misallocation of resources that if remedied can boost growth and job creation. In Kosovo, which suffers from low technical efficiency (TE), an average farm can produce the same amount of output using 72.8 percent less inputs. For micro and small farms, the current design of farm support does not facilitate income smoothing. On the other hand, agribusiness, mainly food processing, has been growing steadily in terms of number of firms, annual turnover, and employment. Finally, the impacts of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Kosovo agriculture have been multiple and so have been policy responses.Publication Kosovo Country Economic Memorandum, November 2021(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11)To boost economic growth and foster sustained formal job creation in Kosovo, igniting firm productivity is crucial. Based on detailed micro-data, this note examines the characteristics and recent evolution of firms in Kosovo, with particular attention to firm productivity. For the last decade, the landscape of firms in Kosovo has been dominated by microenterprises with low productivity, employment, and survival rates. Firm creation and growth,small firm density, average size, and the likelihood of survival are all low, which implies that there are severe constraints on private sector development. Kosovo’s firms are only tenuously linked to global markets and the country is lagging in the share of female-run companies. Positive and rising net job creation in 2015-18 was driven by higher formalization of jobs and the increasing size of incumbent firms, especially young small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Kosovo needs a multidimensional policy strategy to foster growth in firm productivity. Based on the study findings and the results of other notes prepared for Kosovo’s country economic memorandum (CEM), this note presents a policy strategy that targets the three main sources of firm productivity growth: (1) firm productivity (the within component); (2) market reallocation (the between component); and (3) firm dynamics (entry and exit). Section one examines the characteristics and recent dynamics of Kosovar firms. Section two analyzes the drivers and evolution of productivity, with emphasis on the links between productivity and access to credit. It also assesses the main barriers to productivity growth. Section three sheds light on how Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected Kosovar firms. Section four concludes by discussing tentative policy implications of the analysis.Publication Kosovo Country Economic Memorandum, November 2021(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11)Foreign direct investment (FDI) can bring many benefits to Kosovo’s economy, creating more and better jobs and spurring greater and more resilient economic growth. Many transition economies have used FDI as a pillar of their structural transformation and modernization efforts. The small number of firms in Kosovo that include FDI are more productive than other firms, and they were more resilient in the wake of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) economic recession. In Kosovo, FDI inflows have been concentrated in sectors that provide limited potential for productivity spillovers and benefits to the domestic economy. Kosovo needs to adopt proactive policies to strengthen its investment competitiveness and investor outreach in order to unlock more and higher-quality FDI. This note presents an ambitious reform agenda that can help improve Kosovo’s investment competitiveness and investor outreach. It presents a step-by-step reform program for unlocking the full potential of FDI for economic growth and job creation in Kosovo that the government can implement in the short to medium term. The note is structured in three sections. The first section looks at Kosovo’s FDI performance and assesses the quantity and quality of the FDI attracted so far. The second section benchmarks Kosovo’s locational FDI determinants, considering a set of macroeconomic and microeconomic indicators for its overall FDI competitiveness. The third section combines the findings from the first two sections with an in-depth assessment of Kosovo’s policy, legal, and institutional framework for investment to present a targeted reform agenda and policy action plan to help attract more and higher-quality investments to Kosovo.Publication Tanzania - Sustaining and Sharing Economic Growth : Country Economic Memorandum and Poverty Assessment, Volume 1. Main Report(Washington, DC, 2007-03-01)Tanzania's National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) sets an ambitious target of 6 to 8 percent annual economic growth to achieve rapid reduction in poverty. This report focuses on three issues that are central to the success of Tanzania's poverty reduction efforts: 0 what factors explain Tanzania's recent acceleration in economic growth; has the accelerated economic growth translated into reduced poverty; and what must be done to sustain economic growth that is pro-poor. The report presents evidence from the macroeconomic, sectoral, and firm and household levels that shed light on these questions. The report is presented in two volumes. Volume I summarizes the main findings and recommendations. Volume II contains the main report.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication South Asia Development Update, April 2025: Taxing Times(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23)Growth prospects for South Asia have dimmed. The global economic environment has become more challenging and is a source of heightened downside risks. After a decade of repeated disruptions, South Asia’s buffers to cushion new shocks are slim. Tackling some of its greatest inefficiencies and vulnerabilities could help South Asia navigate this unusually uncertain outlook: unproductive agricultural sectors, dependence on energy imports, pressures from rising global temperatures, and fragile fiscal positions. For most South Asian countries, increased revenue mobilization is a prerequisite for strengthening fiscal positions. Even taking into account the particular challenges of collecting taxes in South Asian economies—such as widespread informal economic activity and large agriculture sectors—South Asian economies face larger tax gaps than the average emerging market and developing economy (EMDE). This suggests the need for improved tax policy and administration. Until fiscal positions have strengthened, the burden of climate adaptation will disproportionately fall on the private sector. If allowed sufficient flexibility, private sector adaptation could offset about one-third of the likely climate damage by 2050. This may, however, require governments to remove obstacles that prevent workers and firms from moving across locations and activities. As growth prospects dim, the challenge grows to create jobs for South Asia’s rapidly expanding working-age population. South Asia’s large diasporas could become a source of strength if their knowledge, networks, and other resources can be better tapped for investment and trade.Publication Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12)World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2025: Accelerating Growth through Entrepreneurship, Technology Adoption, and Innovation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-23)Business dynamism and economic growth in Europe and Central Asia have weakened since the late 2000s, with productivity growth driven largely by resource reallocation between firms and sectors rather than innovation. To move up the value chain, countries need to facilitate technology adoption, stronger domestic competition, and firm-level innovation to build a more dynamic private sector. Governments should move beyond broad support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and focus on enabling the most productive firms to expand and compete globally. Strengthening competition policies, reducing the presence of state-owned enterprises, and ensuring fair market access are crucial. Limited availability of long-term financing and risk capital hinders firm growth and innovation. Economic disruptions are a shock in the short term, but they provide an opportunity for implementing enterprise and structural reforms, all of which are essential for creating better-paying jobs and helping countries in the region to achieve high-income status.Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.