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Book Rural  Environment  and Social Development Strategies for the Europe and Central Asia Region

Download or read book Rural Environment and Social Development Strategies for the Europe and Central Asia Region written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report proposes a World Bank strategy for assisting the rural, environmental, and social development of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has been produced for a general audience partly for consultation purposes, and is therefore a work in progress. Each of the three areas of development is examined in separate chapters, and each summarises the World Bank assistance strategy in that area. The conclusion is that the challenge posed by the objectives of this report are far beyond the World Bank's abilities to achieve on its own.

Book Income Support for the Poorest

Download or read book Income Support for the Poorest written by Emil Tesliuc and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-07 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study reviews the role and workings and the strengths and weaknesses of last-resort income support programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It suggests how they can be made more effective, what other countries can learn from them, and why they should have a bigger role in social protection in the region.

Book Rural Development Strategy

Download or read book Rural Development Strategy written by Csaba Csáki and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the larger role that the agricultural sector plays in the Eastern Europe and Central Asian (ECA) region, emphasis must be placed on the sector's sustained growth and prosperity. The Bank strategy for rural development in the ECA region during the early phase of transition emphasized the reform of agricultural policies and assistance in privatizing, restructuring, and rebuilding agriculture and agro-industrial complexes. In retrospect, it can be seen that the ECA countries concerned made the right choice when they set their objective to transform their socialized agriculture into a private-ownership and market-based system. Given the developments of the past decade, it is clear, however, that the initial expectations for the outcomes of such reforms were overly optimistic. The transition process in agriculture is far more complex than originally envisaged by both the countries themselves and the international community, including the Bank. Increased social problems and alarming growth of poverty have added a new, unexpected, dimension to the transition process. As the analysis indicates, the region's rural economy is still struggling to adjust to new economic realities, and this will require further refinement and adjustment of the Bank's approach as well. This volume, based on an overview of recent regional developments, summarizes the revised World Bank assistance strategy for rural development in the ECA region.

Book Rural Development  Natural Resources  and the Environment

Download or read book Rural Development Natural Resources and the Environment written by L. Alexander Norsworthy and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Many of the irrigation systems in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have been shut down because of problems related to organizational requirements, the supply of energy, land ownership, profitability, cost, agricultural marketing problems, and external and internal strife." Improving the relative inefficiency of agriculture and protection of the natural environment are two of the most important challenges facing the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central and Eastern Europe. This volume documents the development experience in rural, natural resources and environment projects, and research and technical assistance activities in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Region. This experience has varied widely between sectors and between countries. However, certain lessons learned should inform future activities in the same sectors. Some of the most important findings for these economies include the importance of institutional capacity to sustain reforms, the value of facilitating local participation to increase the sustainability of development programs, and the requirements for fostering a dialog between stakeholders, including the private sector.

Book Toward a New Social Contract

Download or read book Toward a New Social Contract written by Maurizio Bussolo and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-10-24 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing economic fissures in the societies of Europe and Central Asia between generations, between insiders and outsiders in the labor market, between rural and urban communities, and between the super-rich and everyone else, are threatening the sustainability of the social contract. The institutions that helped achieving a remarkable degree of equity and prosperity over the course of several decades now face considerable difficulties in coping with the challenges presented by these emerging forms of inequality. Public surveys reveal rising concerns over inequality of opportunity, while electoral results show a marked shift to populist parties that offer radical solutions to voters dissatisfied with the status quo. There is no single solution to relieve these tensions, and attempts to address them will vary considerably across the region. However, this publication proposes three broad policy principles: (1) promote labor market flexibility while maintaining protection for all types of labor contracts; (2) seek universality in the provision of social assistance, social insurance, and basic quality services; and (3) expand the tax base by complementing progressive labor-income taxation with taxation of capital. These principles could guide the rethinking of the social contract and fulfil European citizens’ aspirations for growth and equity.

Book Looking Beyond the Horizon

Download or read book Looking Beyond the Horizon written by William R. Sutton and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The risks and opportunities of climate change for agriculture can be effectively dealt only by aligning policies, developing institutional capabilities, and investing in infrastructure and farms, as per the experiences of Albania, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan.

Book World Development Report 1978

Download or read book World Development Report 1978 written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1978 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.

Book World Development Report 2019

Download or read book World Development Report 2019 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-10-31 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. New ways of production are adopted, markets expand, and societies evolve. But some changes provoke more attention than others, in part due to the vast uncertainty involved in making predictions about the future. The 2019 World Development Report will study how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today. Technological progress disrupts existing systems. A new social contract is needed to smooth the transition and guard against rising inequality. Significant investments in human capital throughout a person’s lifecycle are vital to this effort. If workers are to stay competitive against machines they need to train or retool existing skills. A social protection system that includes a minimum basic level of protection for workers and citizens can complement new forms of employment. Improved private sector policies to encourage startup activity and competition can help countries compete in the digital age. Governments also need to ensure that firms pay their fair share of taxes, in part to fund this new social contract. The 2019 World Development Report presents an analysis of these issues based upon the available evidence.

Book Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020

Download or read book Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2020-12-23 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edition of the biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity report brings sobering news. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and its associated economic crisis, compounded by the effects of armed conflict and climate change, are reversing hard-won gains in poverty reduction and shared prosperity. The fight to end poverty has suffered its worst setback in decades after more than 20 years of progress. The goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, already at risk before the pandemic, is now beyond reach in the absence of swift, significant, and sustained action, and the objective of advancing shared prosperity—raising the incomes of the poorest 40 percent in each country—will be much more difficult. Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune presents new estimates of COVID-19's impacts on global poverty and shared prosperity. Harnessing fresh data from frontline surveys and economic simulations, it shows that pandemic-related job losses and deprivation worldwide are hitting already poor and vulnerable people hard, while also shifting the profile of global poverty to include millions of 'new poor.' Original analysis included in the report shows that the new poor are more urban, better educated, and less likely to work in agriculture than those living in extreme poverty before COVID-19. It also gives new estimates of the impact of conflict and climate change, and how they overlap. These results are important for targeting policies to safeguard lives and livelihoods. It shows how some countries are acting to reverse the crisis, protect those most vulnerable, and promote a resilient recovery. These findings call for urgent action. If the global response fails the world's poorest and most vulnerable people now, the losses they have experienced to date will be minimal compared with what lies ahead. Success over the long term will require much more than stopping COVID-19. As efforts to curb the disease and its economic fallout intensify, the interrupted development agenda in low- and middle-income countries must be put back on track. Recovering from today's reversals of fortune requires tackling the economic crisis unleashed by COVID-19 with a commitment proportional to the crisis itself. In doing so, countries can also plant the seeds for dealing with the long-term development challenges of promoting inclusive growth, capital accumulation, and risk prevention—particularly the risks of conflict and climate change.

Book Doing Business 2020

Download or read book Doing Business 2020 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-11-21 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

Book Rural Development  Natural Resources  and the Environment

Download or read book Rural Development Natural Resources and the Environment written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Poverty and Regional Development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Download or read book Poverty and Regional Development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia written by William R. Dillinger and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Regional economic development is an interest of policymakers throughout the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. One of its principal aims is to reduce poverty in lagging regions by stimulating local economic growth. However, problems exist with this approach. First, it may miss the target. Although geographical concentrations of poverty exist, poor people also live in regions that are - on average - rich. Second, the sources of the problem may be misdiagnosed. Poverty is not only related to where people are, but to who people are. In ECA, poverty is associated with low levels of education and people who are too young or too old to participate in the labor force. Under these circumstances, efforts to bring higher wage employment opportunities to poor regions may have little immediate benefit for the people who live there. Third, relying on regional economic development to address poverty in lagging regions ignores the potential role of migration. The emigration of labor, rather than the immigration of capital, may be a more effective means of reducing the poverty of individuals in lagging regions, though this is unlikely to eliminate pockets of poverty quickly. Development opportunities may exist in poor regions that markets have overlooked. Interventions must be assessed carefully. Some of the traditional instruments used to stimulate regional economic growth have mixed track records. Comprehensive, custom-tailored approaches appear to be a promising alternative. However, governments should be modest in using regional development as a tool of poverty reduction. Policies aimed at stimulating growth in poor regions should be complemented by more direct anti-poverty measures, including targeted transfers and investments in education, and efforts to remove barriers to emigration."--World Bank website.

Book The Global Findex Database 2017

Download or read book The Global Findex Database 2017 written by Asli Demirguc-Kunt and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Book Social Assessments for Better Development

Download or read book Social Assessments for Better Development written by Michael M. Cernea and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This annual report lists and describes the World Bank Group's portfolio of projects designed to improve or protect the environment, all of which were under implementation during fiscal year 1996 (July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1996). The first part of the report discusses significant environmental issues for each sector and region and describes the environmental activities of various parts of the World Bank Group. Boxes, tables, and figures supplement the narrative. A useful bibliography of World Bank publications on environmental topics closes the section. The second part consists of reports on environmentally targeted projects; World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) projects that required a full environmental assessment because of their potential impacts; investment operations supporting projects launched by the Global Environment Facility; and projects designed to help developing countries comply with the Montreal Protocol--a multilateral treaty that controls the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substance.

Book Rural Development

Download or read book Rural Development written by Alex F. McCalla and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Context; If Rural Development Is So Important, Why Is Not Happening; Formulating Country Strategies and Building Consensus; Improving the Existing Portfolio; Using the International Arena to Generate Greater Commitment; Areas of Concentration and Future Directions.