securing development in an unstable world the annual world bank conference on development economics...

Securing Development in an Unstable World

The Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) brings together the world's finest development thinkers to present their perspectives and ideas. In recent years, a parallel, second conference has been held in Europe with the same goal of expanding the flow of ideas between thinkers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of international development. This title presents selected papers from the seventh annual ABCDE - Europe meetings, held May 2005 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Now available at the World Bank Public Information Center/Poverty Reduction Strategy Resource Center

Heritage Plaza I, 1st floor, Kamaladi, KathmanduFor more information:

E-mail: [email protected]: 4238545, 4249731

Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

mailto:[email protected]

Earthquake Insurance in TurkeyTurkey is located in one of the most earthquake (EQ) and volcanic regions in the world. More than 95 percent of the country's land mass is prone to earthquakes. Large-scale earthquake can occur at any time in areas that encompass 70 percent of the population and 75 percent of industrial facilities, Since 1894, direct property and infrastructure losses arising from earthquakes have exceeded $5 bilion ( current US$) and, in the case of the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, have reached $23 bilion.With a majority of the population living in these earthquake-prone areas, the persistent potential for large-scale natural disasters has become a fiscal and social issue for the Turkish government. This issue led to the establishement of the Turkish Catastrophe insurance pool (TCIP) in 1999. This book presents a detailed account of the TCIP's history since its inception, covering the technical design, operating principles, and the main policy issues pertinent to the establishment of a large national catastrophe insurance pool. The lessons learned through the TCIP will benefit makers and insurers in low-and middle-income countries interested in catastrophe risk management at the country level.






Analyzing the Distributional Impact of ReformsThe analysis of the distributional impact of policy reforms on the well-being or welfare of different stakeholder groups, particularly on th e poor and vulnerable, has an important role in the elaboration and implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing countries. In recent years this type of work has been labeled as Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and is increasingly implemented to promote evidence-based policy choices and foster debate on policy reform options. While information is available on the general approach, techniques, and tools for distributional analysis, each sector displays a series of specific characteristics. These have implications for the analysis of distributional impacts, including the types of impacts and transmission channels that warrant particular attention, the tools and techniques most appropriate, the data source typically utilized, and the range of political economy factors most likely to affect the reform process. This volume provides an overview of the specific issues arising in the analysis of the distributional impacts of policy and institutional reforms in selected sectors. Each chapter offers guidance on the selection of tools and techniques most adapted to the reforms under scrutiny, and offers examples of applications of these approaches. This is a companion to the first volume, which offers guidance on trade, monetary and exchange rate policy, utility provision, agricultural markets, land policy, and education.






Conducting Quality Impact Evaluations Under Budget, Time and Data ConstraintsThe purpose of this booklet is to provide advice to those planning an impact evaluation, so that they can select the most rigorous methods available within the constraints they face. The booklet is also intended to clarify the nature of the trade-offs between evaluation rigor and the budget, time and data which are available for an evaluation. It is hoped that this booklet will encourage managers to conduct impact evaluations when they might otherwise have viewed them as too expensive or time-consuming to be conducted to a high standard. Thus the desired outcome is an increase in the quality and quantity of rigorous impact evaluations which are conducted.






Diaspora Networks and the International Migration of SkillsInternational migration is an increasingly important development issue. Transition to a knowledge-based economy creates a more integrated market for skills and puts a premium on talent. With talent and skills becoming the most precious assets of the world economy, the brain drain from the developing world is intensifying. The emergence of far-flung diasporas is a consequence of the global hunt for the best and brightest from the developing world. How to leverage the expertise and knowledge of diasporas for the benefit of sending countries is the main issue this book discusses. Actors in diaspora networks can be crucial bridges between global state-of-the-art in policy, technological, and managerial expertise and local conditions in their home countries. Public sector reform, innovations in education and social services, and promotion of a knowledge-based private sector are just a few areas where diaspora members could team up with developing countries' governments and external funding agencies to promote a shared agenda of poverty reduction. This book describes emerging best practice of how this could be done.






Strengthening the World Bank’s Role in Global Programs and PartnershipsThis volume reports on a conference held by the World Bank's independent Operations Evaluation Department (OED) to discuss the Bank's rote in global program partnerships. The starting point for the discussions was a comprehensive review by OED of the effectiveness of 26 of the largest programs, including the Consultative Group on International AgricuRural Research and programs in health, environment, and trade. Participants at the conference provided crosscutting lessons about program design, implementation, and evaluation, and shared views about how the Bank can best help build commitment and assure financing for high priority global public goods that benefit the poor.






Regulatory Frameworks for Water Resources ManagementThis title examines how regulatory frameworks have addressed the various basic issues related to water resources management, and provides a comparative analysis of those issues. It elicits and discusses what it considers are the essential elements for a regulatory framework for water resources management, and identifies some emerging trends.






Expanding Bank Outreach through Retail Partnerships: Correspondent Banking BrazilThis paper explores the extent to which formal, regulated financial institutions such as banks have been able to partner with "correspondents" - commercial entities whose primary objective and business is other than the provision of financial services. The paper illustrates the case of Brazil, where banks recently have developed extensive networks of such correspondents. Such arrangements result in lower costs and shared risks for participating financial institutions, making these arrangements an attractive vehicle for outreach to the underserved. Correspondent banking requires an enabling environment to emerge, and poses some regulatory challenges and some increase in risk. While there are reasons why this model was particularly successful in Brazil, it may be replicable elsewhere if appropriate regulatory adjustments are undertaken.






Participatory Approaches to Attacking Extreme PovertyRelying on contributions from the International Movement ATD Fourth World, this book deals with questions such as: What does it mean to live in poverty, and especially in extreme poverty? How can very poor people be reached through development projects? How can we assess whether projects succeed in changing the lives of the poorest individuals? In answering these questions, the emphasis is on exploring what type of knowledge is needed to fight extreme poverty. A key argument is that apart from academic knowledge, a concerted effort is needed to listen to the knowledge of poor people themselves, as well as to the knowledge of practitioners who are engaged with them on a daily basis to fight poverty.






The Germany-Serbia Remittance Corridor: challenges of Establishing a Formal Money Transfer SystemSerbia has become one of the largest remittance-recipient countries in the world. It is estimated that in 2004 Serbia received US$2.4 billion dollars in remittances from Serbian workers in Germany, the United States, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and other countries. This amount represented 12 percent of Serbia's GDP. The Germany-Serbia Remittance Corridor provides an overview of remittance flows from Germany to Serbia and analyzes why a large part of remittance transfers take place outside financial institutions. The study presents a series of recommendations on needed policy changes to facilitate the transfer of remittance flows from the informal channels to licensed or registered financial institutions, thereby maximizing the developmental impact of remittances, reducing remittances fees, improving data collection practices, and strengthening the regulation and supervision of the money transfer industry. Now available at

the World Bank Public Information Center/Poverty Reduction Strategy Resource CenterHeritage Plaza I, 1st floor, Kamaladi, Kathmandu

For more information:E-mail: [email protected]

Call: 4238545, 4249731Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm


World Bank Assistance to the Financial Sector : A Synthesis of IEG EvaluationsThis report is a synthesis of three evaluations carried out by the Independent Evaluation Group and completed between July 2005 and February 2006, on different aspects of Bank assistance to financial sector development in client countries. The three evaluation reports are World Bank Lending for Lines of Credit: An IEG Evaluation; IEG Review of World Bank Assistance for Financial Sector Reform; and Financial Sector Assessment Program: IEG Review of the Joint World Bank and IMF Initiative. This paper seeks to draw out common themes and issues that have arisen from the three evaluations, which reviewed major components of the Bank's assistance during more than a decade to the financial sectors of client countries.






World Bank Lending for Lines of Credit – An IEG EvaluationThis evaluation provides an independent assessment of lines of credit (LOC) financed by the World Bank during the period FY93-FY03. It is the first of a two-part evaluation looking at Bank support to the financial sector. The second part focuses on Bank support for financial sector reform. This volume presents data on trends in lending for LOC and examines whether the design, supervision, and reporting on LOC followed the Bank's policies. The evaluation examines outcomes, analyzes factors associated with satisfactory outcomes, and draws conclusions based on the analysis; the evaluation also presents recommendations for the future. During the FY93-FY03 period, $13.4 billion were approved for lines of credit (LOC), representing 8.4 percent of total Bank commitments for investment lending. The trend in commitments has been sharply downward, however, continuing the trend that started in the mid-1980s. Lending for LOC has decreased from about 10 percent of total Bank commitments in the early 1990s to well under 2 percent in FY02?FY03. Although LOC are embedded in projects in most sectors, the bulk of the LOC are in the rural and financial sectors and in municipal lending, and involve a wide range of designs, objectives, and arrangements.






Financial Sector Assessment Program – IEG Review of the Joint World Bank and IMG InitiativeThe Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) is a major initiative, undertaken jointly by the World Bank and the IMF, in response to the financial crises of the late 1990s. The ultimate objectives of the program are (i) to identify and resolve financial sector vulnerabilities and their macroeconomic stability implications; and (ii) to foster financial sector development and its contributions to economic growth. In addition, the FSAP is expected to help the Bank, IMF, and other institutions in the design of appropriate assistance to address issues identified by the FSAP. This evaluation focuses on reviewing aspects of the FSAP that affect the attainment of the above objectives, specifically, the relevance of the program, quality, and effectiveness of inputs and outputs, and the impact of the assessments on different audiences. An evaluation of the ultimate impact of the program would be premature, given the limited time since the program was expanded. The evaluation found that the FSAP is a good-quality diagnostic tool. Joint Bank and IMF cooperation has allowed an integrated approach toward identifying financial sector vulnerabilities and development needs, and has expanded the depth and quality of the skills base. The assessments, however, fall short in prioritizing recommendations and integrating the findings and recommendations of the assessments into overall country programs.






Debt Relief for the Poorest : An Evaluation Update of the HIPC InitiativeIn the past decade, debt relief has become an increasingly significant vehicle for delivering development aid. This update builds on the findings of the 2003 independent evaluation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. It finds that many of the original conclusions remain relevant for the HIPC initiative and are potentially instructive for future debt relief initiatives. The Enhanced HIPC initiative cut debt ratios in half for 18 countries. But in eight of these countries, the ratios have come to once again exceed HIPC thresholds. Debt reduction alone is not a sufficient instrument to affect the multiple drivers of debt sustainability. Sustained improvements in export diversification, fiscal management, the terms of new financing, and public debt management are also needed, measures that fall outside the ambit of the HIPC initiative. Debt relief under HIPC has channeled additional development resources to qualifying countries ? these countries have received an increased share of overall aid transfers. HIPC countries that are not yet at completion point face serious challenges in managing their economies. Maintaining policy performance is essential for these countries to reap the benefits of debt reduction.






The World Bank in Turkey: 1993-2004 – An IEG Country Assistance EvaluationThis Country Assistance Evaluation (CAE) assesses the outcomes of the World Bank's assistance to Turkey during the period July 1, 1993, to June 30, 2004. It focuses on the objectives of that assistance and the extent to which outcomes were consistent with those objectives. It looks at the Bank's contribution to the achievement of those outcomes and the lessons for the Bank's future activities both in Turkey and more broadly. The evaluation finds that the Bank's strategy during the period under review was broadly appropriate. The constraint which macro-instability represented for sustainable growth and poverty reduction required a focus on fiscal restructuring and increasing the efficiency of the public sector. While it remains essential that the Bank program covers these areas, including particularly capacities in line ministries to deliver services more effectively, a move to a more balanced approach is now appropriate. Looking forward the Bank needs to strengthen its analysis and support for (a) improvements in the investment climate, including governance and labor markets, and (b) improved environmental management.






IEG Review of World Bank Assistance for Financial Sector ReformThis Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) review of World Bank assistance for financial sector reforms finds that the objectives of Bank assistance generally followed good practices in terms of reducing government ownership of financial intermediaries; improving prudential regulation to be consistent with international norms; and strengthening banking supervision to adhere more closely to international principles. This review also finds, however, that consistency within a country has been weak at times e.g., advocating the privatization of banks while simultaneously supporting the expansion of government ownership of banks and should be improved. The coherence of the Bank's approach to financial sector reforms across countries has also been weak at times e.g., advocating rapid privatization in one transition country while recommending a slow, gradual approach to privatization in another transition country.






Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan AfricaThis book marks the first step in a new review of health policy - a review that focuses specifically on sub - Saharan Africa. Several factors make this exercise particularly timely: 1) the concern that the economic downturn of the early 1980s may have adversely affected the health sector in Africa; 2) the need to evaluate the impact of primary health care strategies, especially the key elements of immunization and oral re-hydration; 3) the completion of a substantial body of epidemiological and demographic analyses, which provides a much improved empirical basis for assessing health conditions and recent health trends; 4) the concern that the global emergence of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and its sharp impact in selected African foci have undermined development prospects in some countries; and 5) the potential value of explicitly seeking lessons from the Bank's experience with health sector operations in Africa.





Global Development Finance : The Development Potential of Surging Capital FlowsInternational private capital flows to developing countries reached a record net level of $491 billion in 2005. This surge in private capital flows offers national and international policy makers a major opportunity to bolster development efforts if they can successfully meet three challenges. The first is to ensure that more countries, especially poorer ones, enhance their access to developmentally beneficial international capital through improvements in their macroeconomic performance, investment climate, and use of aid. The second is to avoid sudden capital flow reversals by redressing global imbalances through policies that recognize the growing interdependencies between developed and developing countries' financial and exchange rate relations in the determination of global financial liquidity and asset price movements. And the third is to ensure that development finance, both official and private, is managed judiciously to meet the development goals of recipient countries while promoting greater engagement with global financial markets. These are the themes and concerns of this year's edition of Global Development Finance.





Reducing Administrative Barriers to InvestmentThis book describes the recent activities of the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (a joint facility of the IFC and the World Bank) to help governments in developing and transition economies to identify and remove administrative barriers to investment. Lessons learned include the critical need for political will to implement reforms, leadership from center of government, and capacity to ensure sound implementation of legislative and regulatory reform over an extended period of time, including regular monitoring and evaluation.





China’s Development PrioritiesOver the past two decades China’s growth has been rapid, social indicators have improved, and poverty levels have inched downward. However, widening inequality, increasing resource and financial imbalances, and growing environmental concerns provide China with daunting challenges in improving the quality of growth.The rapid growth that will remain China’s principal vehicle for raising standards of living and reducing poverty will derive from urbanization, increased market efficiency, and improvement in the technological capability of Chinese firms. But although growth will be critically important, balance among income groups and sectors is likely to be vital for social stability. The needed measures to enhance the quantity and quality of social services and a more effective safety net for the poor will require a number of institutional changes, including a reform of intergovernmental fiscal relations.Directed at readers working in economic policy, poverty reduction, social development, and urban and municipal finance, China’s Development Priorities highlights the significance of the challenges facing China and suggests policies for achieving rapid, balanced, and sustainable growth.





The Other Half of GenderThis book is an attempt to bring the gender and development debate full circle-from a much-needed focus on empowering women to a more comprehensive gender framework that considers gender as a system that affects both women and men. The chapters in this book explore definitions of masculinity and male identities in a variety of social contexts, drawing from experiences in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. It draws on a slowly emerging realization that attaining the vision of gender equality will be difficult, if not impossible, without changing the ways in which masculinities are defined and acted upon. Although changing male gender norms will be a difficult and slow process, we must begin by understanding how versions of masculinities are defined and acted upon.





Consulting Services Manual 2006The second edition of the Consulting Services Manual provides detailed guidance to borrowers, World Bank staff, and consultants on the application of mandatory provisions of the Consultant Guidelines, the Standard Request for Proposal (SRFP), and other policies, and provides advice on the application of professional best practices on non-mandatory aspects of working with the World Bank.





Evaluating Infrastructure Regulatory SystemsMore than 200 new infrastructure regulators have been created around the world in the last 15 years. They were established to encourage clear and sustainable long-term economic and legal commitments by governments and investors to encourage new investment to benefit existing and new customers. There is now considerable evidence that both investors and consumers the two groups that were supposed to have benefited from these new regulatory systems have often been disappointed with their performance. The fundamental premise of this book is that regulatory systems can be successfully reformed only if there are independent, objective and public evaluations of their performance. Just as one goes to a medical doctor for a regular health checkup, it is clear that infrastructure regulation would also benefit from periodic checkups. This book provides a general framework as well as detailed practical guidance on how to perform such ‘regulatory checkups.’





securing development in an unstable world the annual world bank conference on development economics...

Documents