Download or read book Contractual savings for housing how suitable are they for transitional economies written by Michael J. Lea and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1995 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book poverty inequality and social policy in transition economies written by Branko Milanovic and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: November 1995 What happens to poverty and income inequality during the early period of transition to a market economy? Poverty is on the rise, and income inequality widens. Better targeting of social assistance and pension reform are the necessary policy reforms. In examining what happens to poverty and income inequality during the early period of transition to a market economy, Milanovic covers the period up to 1993. His analysis includes almost all transition economies that were not affected by wars, blockades, or embargoes. (In economies so affected, the intrinsic issues of transition are overshadowed by more basic issues of war or quasi-war economy and survival.) The two key issues of social policy in transition economies are pension reform and better targeting of social assistance. Pensions represent 70 to 80 percent of cash social expenditures. No reduction of current levels of social spending (which is unsustainable) can be envisaged without pension reform. Better targeting of social assistance is needed because many universally or enterprise-provided benefits have been terminated, poverty has increased, and social programs lack funding. If poverty is on the rise and money is scarce, better targeting is the only option. This paper -- a product of the Transition Economics Division, Policy Research Department -- is part of a larger effort in the department to study social effects of transition.

Download or read book Taxation of Financial Intermediation written by Patrick Honohan and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the options for, and obstacles to, successful financial sector tax reform, both in terms of theoretical and practical aspects. Issues discussed include: the design of optimal tax schemes, the role of imperfect information and the links between taxation and saving, inflation, the income tax treatment of intermediary loan-loss reserves, deposit insurance, VAT and financial transactions taxes; as well as current practice in the industrial world and case studies of distorted national systems. This is a co-publication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press.

Download or read book Thirty Years of World Bank Shelter Lending written by Robert M. Buckley and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As England's Industrial Revolution started the process of urbanization that has since characterized development throughout the world, a poet worried about the ""dark satanic mills"" that were such a fundamental part of this revolution. However, despite his misgivings, he also suggested that it was necessary for societies to arm themselves with ""chariots of fire"" and other weapons so that they could master this process. In a somewhat more prosaic poetic vein World Bank President Robert McNamara launched the bank's shelter assistance programs saying that 'If cities do not begin to deal more constructively with poverty, poverty may begin to deal more destructively with cities.' These concerns would appear to have even more resonance today as the population of cities in developing countries increasing by unprecedented levels of more than 1 billion people per year for the next 15 years. This magnitude suggests the scale of the increase in the investment in shelter needed to meet the needs of this growing population."

Download or read book Economic Evaluation of Housing Subsidy Systems written by David Le Blanc and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author applies the methodology to the system prevailing in Morocco in 1995 and 2004. The analysis shows that the most visible subsidies might not have been the most inefficient, nor the most resource consuming for the state. Examination of policy changes since 1995 shows that while the most visible subsidies received nearly all the government's attention, large invisible subsidies remain at the heart of Morocco's housing policy. The framework used here is very general and can be used to compare the Moroccan system with those of similar countries"--Abstract.

Download or read book Housing for All written by Xing Quan Zhang and published by UN-HABITAT. This book was released on 2008 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report provides a comprehensive review of the challenges for low and moderate income housing. It focuses on the issues of affordability, accessibility and sustainability in resolving the housing problem. It looks at both formal and informal instruments and how experiences in developed countries and instruments in addressing middle income households can help inspire solutions for low and moderate income housing. The report examines a whole range of major instruments and experiences across the developing and developed worlds.

Download or read book Housing and the New Welfare State written by Richard Groves and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The changing nature and significance of housing provision within welfare states is considered in this timely book. With housing playing an increasingly important role in welfare provision, the new welfare state emerging in different parts of the world is being developed in the context of individual asset accumulation and the private ownership of housing. Housing and the New Welfare State shows that housing is becoming critical to asset-based welfare not only in Western Europe but also in the six East Asian housing systems that are a major focus of the book. Chapters by leading East Asian scholars provide analysis of housing policies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Also examined are the 'four worlds' of welfare and housing; the causes and consequences of the shift from tenants to home owners in the old welfare states of Britain and other parts of Western Europe; and the growth of the property-owning welfare state as a theme running through contemporary policy in both East Asia and Europe.

Download or read book Interest Rates Credit and Economic Adjustment in Nicaragua written by Ulrich Lächler and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sustainability of Private Capital Flows to Developing Countries written by Leonardo Hernández and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1995 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Companion to Urban Economics written by Richard J. Arnott and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to Urban Economics provides a state-of-the-artoverview of this field, communicating its intellectual richnessthrough a diverse portfolio of authors and topics. Unique in both its rigor and international treatment An ideal supplementary textbook in upper-level undergraduateurban economics courses, or in master's level and professionalcourses, providing students with the necessary foundation to tacklemore advanced topics in urban economics Contains contributions from the world’s leading urbaneconomists

Download or read book Housing Finance Policy in Emerging Markets written by Loic Chiquier and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Housing finance markets have been changing dramatically in both emerging and developed economies. On the one hand, housing finance markets are expanding and represent a powerful engine for economic growth in many emerging economies. However, the unfolding sub-prime mortgage crisis highlights the risks and potential turbulence that this sector can introduce into the financial system when expanding without proper infrastructure and regulation. As housing finance keeps growing in emerging economies to match a rising demand for housing, new risk management approaches, business models, funding tools, and policy instruments can help. Yet many questions remain about the right balance between innovation and regulation, the extent of risks to the financial system, the appropriate role of the state to promote affordable housing, and the effects of the sub-prime crisis. This book provides a guide for policymakers dealing with housing finance in emerging markets. It highlights the prerequisites for an effective housing finance system; it lays out several policy alternatives and models of housing finance; and it explores the role of governments in expanding access to housing finance for lower-income households. There is no "best" model set out in this book. The aim is to provide a developmental roadmap that can be tailored and sequenced to each country's situation and timing.

Download or read book Contractual Savings for Housing written by Michael Lea and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Problems of developing sp ...

Download or read book Does More for the Poor Mean Less for the Poor written by Jonah B. Gelbach and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1995 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Do We Face a Global capital Shortage written by Zia Qureshi and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: October 1995 A severe global capital squeeze and a big increase in global real interest rates (which some fear) are unlikely if industrial countries continue fiscal consolidation -- especially the reform of social security systems. Without such consolidation, global real interest rates could rise well above already high recent levels (about 4 percent), with adverse consequences for all countries. Qureshi assesses the medium- to long-term outlook for global demand and supply of capital. He reaches the following conclusions: * The demand for investment funds in developing countries will remain strong, but most increased demand will likely be met by domestic savings. Investment's share in GDP will probably rise in these countries, but so will savings' share, so their net claim on industrial countries' savings is likely to remain small. Of course, savings will not rise automatically. It is essential that policies, institutions, and the economic environment be conducive to saving. * Financial liberalization and integration of international capital markets will continue to give developing countries as a group improved access to private foreign capital. But whether specific countries attract and sustain such inflows will depend on their economic prospects and policies, including conditions that promote domestic saving and investment (to both attract foreign capital and help limit it to sustainable levels). Investment needs in developing countries are great, but effective demand for foreign capital will remain limited by the countries' perceived creditworthiness and viability. Despite the sharp rise in aggregate private capital flows to developing countries in the 1990s, only a dozen or so of them receive significant amounts of private capital. * Most low-income countries will continue to depend mainly on official capital for some time. But official capital will likely be increasingly scarce, so these countries must intensify their domestic resource mobilization and accelerate the policy reform needed to attract private investment. * The critical factor in alleviating pressure on global interest rates will be progress on fiscal consolidation in industrial countries, especially the reform of social security systems. Net capital flows from industrial to developing countries are much smaller than the budget deficits in industrial countries. In 1994, for example, lowering the industrial countries' budget deficit by about 20 percent would have freed up enough money to finance the entire net capital flow to developing countries. * International capital markets will tend to remain tight in the coming decade, but a severe global capital squeeze and a big increase in global real interest rates (which some fear) are unlikely if industrial countries continue fiscal consolidation. Without such consolidation, global real interest rates could rise well above already high recent levels of about 4 percent, with adverse consequences for all countries. This paper -- a product of the International Economic Analysis and Prospects Division, International Economics Department -- is part of a larger effort in the department to analyze major trends and issues in the global economic outlook and their implications for developing countries.

Download or read book Employment and Wage Effects of Trade Liberalization written by Ana Revenga and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: October 1995 Cuts in Mexico's tariff levels were associated with a slight decline in employment in Mexico and with increases in average wages (perhaps reflecting improved productivity in the reformed industries and a shift toward the use of more skilled workers). The wages and employment of skilled production workers were significantly more responsive to changes in protection levels than those of nonproduction workers. In 1985, after decades of an import-substitution industrial strategy, Mexico initiated a radical liberalization of its external sector. Between 1985 and 1988, import licensing requirements were scaled back to a quarter of earlier levels, reference prices were removed, and tariff rates on most products were substantially reduced. By 1989, Mexico was one of the most open economies in the developing world. Adjusting to trade liberalization required the reallocation of resources between sectors and entailed substantial dislocation of workers. Revenga analyzes how Mexico's trade liberalization (1985 - 87) affected employment and wages in industry, focusing on how it affected average employment and earnings rather than on the link between trade and relative wages. She examines the tradeoff between wage and employment adjustment, identifies which labor groups benefited more from liberalization, and tries to associate changes in employment and wages directly with measures of change in trade protection, rather than link them to changes in imports and exports (which is more common). She finds that reductions in quota coverage and tariff levels are associated with moderate reductions in firm-level employment. A 10-point reduction in tariff levels (between 1985 and 1990) is associated with a 2- to 3-percent decline in employment in Mexico. Changes in quota coverage appear to have no discernible effect on wages, but reductions in tariff levels are associated with increases in average wages. This seems to reflect improved productivity in the reformed industries, which may be related to a shift toward the use of more skilled workers. There seems to have been a slight shift in the skill mix in favor of nonproduction workers. This was paralleled by a sharper increase in the wage differential between skilled and unskilled workers. The wages and employment of skilled production workers were significantly more responsive to changes in protection levels than those of nonproduction workers -- perhaps partly because production workers were more heavily concentrated in the industries in which protection levels were greatly reduced. This paper -- a product of the Country Operations Division 1, Latin America and the Caribbean, Country Department II -- was prepared for the World Bank labor markets workshop held in July 1994.

Download or read book Foreign direct investment other capital flows and current account deficits written by Maxwell J. Fry and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1995 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Building Prosperity written by Anna Tibaijuka and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a much-needed account, with numerous detailed examples, of the role of housing in economic growth and development by an author in a unique position to understand its importance and the practical measures for delivering that growth. While the linkages between housing and the macroeconomic environment in developed countries has been studied, the case of developing and transitional countries has been mostly overlooked. The author establishes these linkages with great clarity, supported by detailed case studies chosen to reflect regional diversity as well as differences in socio-economic development and political systems. On the basis of this analysis, the author goes on to develop specific policies and practices to enable governments to enhance the contribution of housing in economic growth.