Publication:
Adapting to the New Transformation of the Economy

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (2.36 MB)
892 downloads
English Text (75.77 KB)
179 downloads
Published
2016
ISSN
Date
2017-01-17
Editor(s)
Abstract
Increasing signs suggest that the economy is in the process of a significant restructuring process. Technology-led transformations are no longer limited to technology-related sectors and are beginning to impact structural sectors, including manufacturing, retailing, transportation, and construction. This change has potentially significant implications for the competitiveness of countries, business, and people. Some countries are starting to react to these economic changes in order to maintain their competitiveness. Most of these countries, however, are developed countries. If emerging economies want to remain competitive, they will also need to adapt to these economic trends. This paper presents policy areas for countries to prepare these economies to technology changes in order to maintain competitiveness and the creation of employment and growth.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Mulas, Victor. 2016. Adapting to the New Transformation of the Economy. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25871 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Transforming Arab Economies : Traveling Knowledge and Innovation Road, Full Report
    (Washington, DC, 2013-09-17) World Bank
    Over the past decade, some countries of the Middle East and North Africa region have spurred economic growth and improved their global competitiveness by taking the first steps in the direction of the knowledge economy. The World Bank Group focuses on Arab societies that deepen their commitment to reforms in four key policy areas: developing more open and entrepreneurial economies, preparing a better-educated and skilled population, improving capabilities for innovation and research, and expanding information and communication technologies. The success of a knowledge-economy strategy depends on coordinated progress on all four fronts, with bold approaches tailored to each country's challenges and opportunities. This report includes chapters organized into three main parts. Part 1 presents the rationale and approach for the transition to the knowledge- and innovation-driven economy. Part 2 describes the policies to be implemented in key areas of the knowledge economy: governance, education, innovation, and information and communication technology. Part 3 discusses economic diversification initiatives that can help countries make the most of their knowledge-economy investments. The three annexes to this report review the literature on the relationship between the knowledge economy and job creation in the Middle East and North Africa region, provide insights on a series of country experiences from across the world in developing knowledge-based development strategies, and survey knowledge-economy issues in several Arab countries and highlight policy initiatives that are adapted to their specific country circumstances.
  • Publication
    Korea : Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy
    (Washington, DC, 2000-06-29) World Bank
    The report reviews the economic transition in Korea, summarizing the challenge of the knowledge revolution, to the country's development strategy, and the analytical, and policy framework for a knowledge-based economy. It explores the needs to increase overall productivity, and areas of relative inefficiency, namely, inadequate conditions for generation of knowledge, and information; insufficient competition, and misallocation of investments. Furthermore, the increasingly global, and interdependent world, requires that Korea become inter-nationalized, and this involves: active participation, and leadership in international forums, particularly those setting rules for the new economy; developing alliances with world-class universities; and, active participation in global knowledge systems, and international telecommunications. Thus, the role of the Korean government will need to be redefined, unleashing the creative power of markets, providing legal and regulatory framework for more competitive markets, and fostering policies conducive to enterprise development, while addressing also, the risks of the "digital divide". The report identifies key areas for the government to move towards a comprehensive approach, where reforms are needed to prod: economic incentive, and institutional regime; education, training, and human resource management; information infrastructure; and, innovation systems.
  • Publication
    Fostering Entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-09-04) Kuriakose, Smita; Kuriakose, Smita
    A dynamic and vibrant private sector is crucial to economic growth, with firms making new investments, creating jobs, improving productivity, and promoting growth. Entrepreneurial activity is pivotal to the continued dynamism of the private sector, as the generation of new businesses fosters competition and economic growth. This is particularly relevant for Azerbaijan, whose government faces a central challenge to create conditions that will facilitate growth in nonoil tradable sectors. The core objectives of Azerbaijan's development strategy are to diversify the economy away from the oil sector and sustain high employment and growth. Encouraging high-growth entrepreneurship can help Azerbaijan achieve these goals as it moves toward new opportunities in value added and tradable sectors. This study shows that high-growth entrepreneurialism is low in Azerbaijan and that innovative activity among firms is very low. Several factors hinder business growth and entrepreneurship: lack of competition, especially among smaller firms; financial systems that are not conducive to business development. Companies cite high interest rates and risk-averse lending policies as substantial hindrances to expansion. In addition, risk capital is in short supply; and lack of industry-relevant skills. The government could play an important role by removing bottlenecks that impede entrepreneurialism in the general business environment as well as by designing new financial policy instruments that foster entrepreneurship and innovation. In doing so, the government needs to exercise care that the design and management of these instruments prevent capture or corruption and promote efficiency. Lack of competition is an issue in Azerbaijan, particularly for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which face uneven treatment within the enterprise sector.
  • Publication
    Fostering Entrepreneurship in Armenia
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-08-21) Kuriakose, Smita; Kuriakose, Smita
    A dynamic and vibrant private sector is crucial to economic growth, with firms making new investments, creating jobs, improving productivity, and promoting growth. Entrepreneurial activity is pivotal to the continued dynamism of the private sector, with the generation of new businesses fostering competition and economic growth. This study uses data from the new 2012 World Bank entrepreneurship survey conducted to gauge new firm growth in the formal sector in Armenia and data from World Bank enterprise surveys to analyze innovative activity in existing firms. Armenia has by far the highest level of entrepreneurial activity among the three South Caucuses countries that were studied. Armenia's entrepreneurial culture is built largely on the very strong math and science foundation established during the Soviet era. However, several factors hinder business growth and entrepreneurship. The government could remove bottlenecks from the general business environment that impede able entrepreneurs with good ideas from starting a new venture and creating jobs. This would include strengthening the business environment to allow failure and company exit as a necessary part of entrepreneurial learning, company incentives that favor entrepreneurs with good ideas, instruments that enable entrepreneurs to access capital for startups, and flexible labor market policies that enable firms to expand by attracting the best talent from outside the firm or the country. The ease of paying taxes index and other business surveys continue to cite weaknesses in the country's tax administration, and arbitrary, corrupt behavior by tax officials is a major impediment to the formation and success of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The Armenian law on bankruptcy prohibits a bankrupt natural person from starting or partnering in a new business for five years, thus hampering the fresh start that should be the goal of a personal insolvency regime. Further, it requires the bankrupt debtor and 'affiliated persons' to submit property and income statements for three years, according to a regulation to be issued, which can serve as a disincentive to follow through with an insolvency proceeding.
  • Publication
    Geography of Growth : Spatial Economics and Competitiveness
    (World Bank, 2012-04-20) Nallari, Raj; Griffith, Breda; Yusuf, Shahid
    This volume is organized as follows. Chapter one address two questions: how has spatial concentration evolved with growth and development, and what are the efficiency implications of too much or too little spatial concentration? This chapter summarizes the various models that analyze growth by geographic concentration and sets the foundation for concepts discussed in later chapters. Chapter two focuses on urbanization in geographies. Chapter three correlates urban presence with economic density in developed and developing countries. It initially focuses on how urban transition and growth are blurring the rural-urban divide and the unprecedented volume of people who are moving to urban areas. Chapter four discusses how different industries inhabit and impact various urban sectors. Chapter five contextualizes urban growth in the current technological landscape as innovation, particularly in information technology, has become critical to increasing productivity and consequently growth. Chapter six further analyzes urbanization in the current global context, specifically, the impact of globalization and industry clusters on urbanization. Chapter seven addresses a current fundamental global trend: why has urbanization been growing rapidly since the 1950s? Some theories suggest that it is industry that spurs urbanization and consequently growth in infrastructure; however this is not the case. Instead, the chapter concludes by looking at data across regions and cities, the municipalities are pivotal in influencing infrastructure development and growth in urban centers. Finally, chapter eight deciphers why some cities are more successful than others. Why do Karachi and Sao Paulo have the human capital that qualifies them as urban centers but not as thriving cities? By citing examples of successful cities, this chapter provides policy recommendations on how to make a city competitive in today's economy.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Economy Profile of Djibouti
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10-31) World Bank Group
    Sixteenth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2019 covers 11 areas of business regulation. Ten of these areas - starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency - are included in the ease of doing business score and ease of doing business ranking. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in these two measures. Doing Business provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. This economy profile presents indicators for Djibouti; for 2019 Djibouti ranks 99.
  • Publication
    MIGA Annual Report 2013 : Insuring Investments, Ensuring Opportunities
    (Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-11) Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
    In fiscal year 2013, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued 2.8 billion dollars in investment guarantees for projects in our developing member countries. At 1.5 billion dollars, representing more than half of new business, the bulk of MIGA's guarantees issued support investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-nine percent of new business volume this year was in complex projects in infrastructure and extractive industries, a strategic priority for the Agency. This year, 82 percent of MIGA's new volume fell into one or more of strategic priority areas: investments in the world's poorest countries, "South-South" investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects. MIGA also established the conflict-affected and fragile economies facility to further deepen support to this priority area.
  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    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
    Impact of Migration on Economic and Social Development : A Review of Evidence and Emerging Issues
    (2011-02-01) Mohapatra, Sanket; Ratha, Dilip; Scheja, Elina
    This paper provides a review of the literature on the development impact of migration and remittances on origin countries and on destination countries in the South. International migration is an ever-growing phenomenon that has important development implications for both sending and receiving countries. For a sending country, migration and the resulting remittances lead to increased incomes and poverty reduction, and improved health and educational outcomes, and promote economic development. Yet these gains might come at substantial social costs to the migrants and their families. Since many developing countries are also large recipients of international migrants, they face challenges of integration of immigrants, job competition between migrant and native workers, and fiscal costs associated with provision of social services to the migrants. This paper also summarizes incipient discussions on the impacts of migration on climate change, democratic values, demographics, national identity, and security. In conclusion, the paper highlights a few policy recommendations calling for better integration of migration in development policies in the South and the North, improving data collection on migration and remittance flows, leveraging remittances for improving access to finance of recipient households and countries, improving recruitment mechanisms, and facilitating international labor mobility through safe and legal channels.
  • Publication
    The Role of Social Ties in Factor Allocation
    (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2019-10) Beck, Ulrik; Bjerge, Benedikte; Fafchamps, Marcel
    We investigate whether social structure helps or hinders factor allocation using unusually rich data from the Gambia. Evidence indicates that land available for cultivation is allocated unequally across households; and that factor transfers are more common between neighbors, co-ethnics, and kinship-related households. Does this lead to the conclusion that land inequality is due to flows of land between households being impeded by social divisions? To answer this question, a novel methodology that approaches exhaustive data on dyadic flows from an aggregate point of view is introduced. Land transfers lead to a more equal distribution of land and to more comparable factor ratios across households in general. But equalizing transfers of land are not more likely within ethnic or kinship groups. In conclusion, ethnic and kinship divisions do not hinder land and labor transfers in a way that contributes to aggregate factor inequality. Labor transfers do not equilibrate factor ratios across households. But it cannot be ruled out that they serve a beneficial role, for example, to deal with unanticipated health shocks.