Erhan Artuç, Gladys C. Lopez-Acevedo, Raymond Robertson, Daniel K. Samaan
{"title":"Exports to Jobs: Boosting the Gains from Trade in South Asia","authors":"Erhan Artuç, Gladys C. Lopez-Acevedo, Raymond Robertson, Daniel K. Samaan","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1248-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1248-4","url":null,"abstract":"South Asia’s economy has grown rapidly, and the region has made a significant reduction in poverty. However, the available jobs for the growing working population remain limited. Policy makers are contending with lingering concerns about jobless growth and poor job quality. Exports to Jobs: Boosting the Gains from Trade in South Asia posits that exports, could bring higher wages and better jobs to South Asia. We use a new methodology to estimate the potential impact from higher South Asian exports per worker on wages and employment. We find that increasing exports per worker would result in higher wages, mostly for the better-off groups—like the better-educated workers, men, and the more-experienced workers—although the less-skilled and rural workers would benefit from new job opportunities outside of the informal sector. Our report shows that to spread the benefits from higher exports widely, policies are needed to raise skills and get certain groups, such as women and youth, into more and better jobs. Complementary measures include removing trade barriers and investing in infrastructure, and increasing the ability of workers to find higher-paying jobs. Together, these actions would help South Asian countries spread the gains from being closely integrated into the global economy through exporting. This book, which is the product of a partnership between the International Labour Organization and the World Bank, contributes to our understanding of the impact that growing exports can have on increasing well-being, and it bridges the gap between academic research and policy making.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128086579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond the Gap: How Countries Can Afford the Infrastructure They Need while Protecting the Planet","authors":"J. Rozenberg, M. Fay","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1363-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1363-4","url":null,"abstract":"Beyond the Gap: How Countries Can Afford the Infrastructure They Need while Protecting the Planet aims to shift the debate regarding investment needs away from a simple focus on spending more and toward a focus on spending better on the right objectives, using relevant metrics. It does so by offering a careful and systematic approach to estimating the funding needs to close the service gaps in water and sanitation, transportation, electricity, irrigation, and flood protection. Exploring thousands of scenarios, this report finds that funding needs depend on the service goals and policy choices of low- and middle-income countries and could range anywhere from 2 percent to 8 percent of GDP per year by 2030. Beyond the Gap also identifies a policy mix that will enable countries to achieve key international goals—universal access to water, sanitation, and electricity; greater mobility; improved food security; better protection from floods; and eventual full decarbonization—while limiting spending on new infrastructure to 4.5 percent of GDP per year. Importantly, the exploration of thousands of scenarios shows that infrastructure investment paths compatible with full decarbonization in the second half of the century need not cost more than more-polluting alternatives. Investment needs remain at 2 percent to 8 percent of GDP even when only the decarbonized scenarios are examined. The actual amount depends on the quality and quantity of services targeted, the timing of investments, construction costs, and complementary policies. Finally, investing in infrastructure is not enough; maintaining it also matters. Improving services requires much more than capital expenditure. Ensuring a steady flow of resources for operations and maintenance is a necessary condition for success. Good maintenance also generates substantial savings by reducing the total life-cycle cost of transport and water and sanitation infrastructure by more than 50 percent.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"637 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123076193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fiscal Policies for Development and Climate Action","authors":"M. Pigato","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1358-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1358-0","url":null,"abstract":"Fiscal policies can lay the foundation for low-carbon and climate-resilient development. Building on more than two decades of research in development and environmental economics, this book argues that fiscal instruments are crucial for mitigating and adapting to climate change while raising human welfare. By implementing environmental tax reforms, developing countries can reap a “triple dividend”: cutting pollution, raising economic activity, and generating development co-benefits, such as cleaner water, safer roads, and improvements in human health. These reforms need not harm competitiveness. Empirical evidence, including from Indonesia and Mexico, suggests that raising fuel prices can increase firm productivity. In addition, risk management strategies are needed to bolster economic resilience to climate-induced natural disasters. Modelling suggests that preventive public investments and measures to build fiscal buffers can help safeguard stability and growth in the face of rising climate risks. In this way, environmental tax reforms and climate risk-management strategies can lay the much-needed fiscal foundation for development and climate action.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134497577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Residential Piped Water in Uganda","authors":"Clarence Tsimpo, Q. Wodon","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-0708-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0708-4","url":null,"abstract":"This World Bank Study provides a basic diagnostic of residential piped water coverage and affordability in Uganda and its relationship with poverty using a series of nationally representative household surveys for the period 2002–13. The study fi rst analyzes trends in piped water coverage using both administrative and survey data. Demand-side and supply-side factors reducing the take-up of piped water service by households in areas where the service is available are estimated. The study also documents the extent to which piped water coverage enables households to shift time use away from domestic tasks toward market work, and the benefi cial effect that this may have on poverty. The targeting performance to the poor of water subsidies is estimated and results obtained for Uganda are compared with estimates for other countries. Finally, the study analyzes issues related to affordability—including the impact of the tariff increase of 2012 on household consumption, poverty, and piped water affordability—as well as the cost for households to connect to the piped water network.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"107 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122698357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Water and Sanitation in Uganda","authors":"Clarence Tsimpo, Q. Wodon","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-0711-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0711-4","url":null,"abstract":"This World Bank Study provides a basic diagnostic of access to safe water and sanitation in Uganda and their relationship with poverty. The analysis relies on a series of nationally representative household surveys for the period 2002–13, as well as on qualitative data collection. The study first relies on household surveys to analyze trends in access to safe water and some of the constraints faced by households for access. The issue of the cost of water for households without a connection to the piped water network is discussed. This includes a discussion of public stand pipes. Next, qualitative data are presented on the obstacles faced by households in accessing safe water. The next two chapters are devoted to sanitation. The focus is again first on analyzing household survey data about sanitation, including with respect to toilets, bathrooms, waste disposal, and hand washing, and next on an analysis of qualitative data from focus groups and key informants. Finally, the study reviews some of the policies and programs that have been implemented in order to improve access to safe water and sanitation for the poor as well as options going forward.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"114 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133464133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Paths between Peace and Public Service: A Comparative Analysis of Public Service Reform Trajectories in Postconflict Countries","authors":"J. Blum, Marcos Ferreiro-Rodriguez, V. Srivastava","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1082-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1082-4","url":null,"abstract":"Building a capable public service is fundamental to postconflict state building. Yet in postconflict settings, short-term pressures often conflict with this longer-term objective. To ensure peace and stabilize fragile coalitions, the imperative for political elites to hand out public jobs and better pay to constituents dominates merit. Donor-financed projects that rely on technical assistants and parallel structures, rather than on government systems, are often the primary vehicle for meeting pressing service delivery needs. What, then, is a workable approach to rebuilding public services postconflict? Paths between Peace and Public Service seeks to answer this question by comparing public service reform trajectories in five countries—Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Timor-Leste—in the aftermath of conflict. The study seeks to explain these countries’ different trajectories through process tracing and structured, focused methods of comparative analysis. To reconstruct reform trajectories, the report draws on more than 200 interviews conducted with government officials and other stakeholders, as well as administrative data. The study analyzes how reform trajectories are influenced by elite bargains and highlights their path dependency, shaped by preconflict legacies and the specifics of the conflict period. As the first systematic study on postconflict public service reforms, it identifies lessons for the future engagement of development partners in building public services.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"88 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116479675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Inflation in Emerging and Developing Economies: Evolution, Drivers, and Policies","authors":"Jongrim Ha, Ayhan Kose, F. Ohnsorge","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1375-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1375-7","url":null,"abstract":"Emerging market and developing economies, like advanced economies, have experienced a remarkable decline in inflation over the past half-century. Yet, research into this development has focused almost exclusively on advanced economies. This book fills that gap, providing the first comprehensive and systematic analysis of inflation in emerging market and developing economies. It examines how inflation has evolved and become synchronized among economies; what drives inflation globally and domestically; where inflation expectations have become better-anchored; and how exchange rate fluctuations can pass through to inflation. To reach its conclusions, the book employs cutting edge empirical approaches. It also offers a rich data set of multiple measures of inflation for a virtually global sample of countries over a half-century to spur further research into this important topic.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123594447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Financing Climate Futures","authors":"U. environment","doi":"10.1787/9789264308114-en","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264308114-en","url":null,"abstract":"Infrastructure worldwide has suffered from chronic under-investment for decades and currently makes up more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. A deep transformation of existing infrastructure systems is needed for both climate and development, one that includes systemic conceptual and behavioral changes in the ways in which we manage and govern our societies and economies. This report is a joint effort by the OECD, UN Environment and the World Bank Group, supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It focuses on how governments can move beyond the current incremental approach to climate action and more effectively align financial flows with climate and development priorities. The report explores six key transformative areas that will be critical to align financial flows with low-emission and resilient societies (planning, innovation, public budgeting, financial systems, development finance, and cities) and looks at how rapid socio-economic and technological developments, such as digitalization, can open new pathways to low-emission, resilient futures.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121615959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Bussolo, M. Dávalos, Vito Peragine, Ramya Sundaram
{"title":"Toward a New Social Contract: Taking on Distributional Tensions in Europe and Central Asia","authors":"M. Bussolo, M. Dávalos, Vito Peragine, Ramya Sundaram","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1353-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1353-5","url":null,"abstract":"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.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129389730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Pulido, G. Darido, Ramon C Munoz-Raskin, JoAnn Moody
{"title":"The Urban Rail Development Handbook","authors":"Daniel Pulido, G. Darido, Ramon C Munoz-Raskin, JoAnn Moody","doi":"10.1596/978-1-4648-1272-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1272-9","url":null,"abstract":"This handbook walks project decision makers through each step of the project development process, highlighting the key risk-reward decisions at each step and the techniques available (and resources required) to answer them. Other chapters highlight key themes and present tools that are applicable throughout the project development process. How individual readers might use this handbook depends on where they are in the decision-making and project development process. To guide different types of readers to the chapters that are most useful for their current circumstances, this section provides a road map of the handbook, introducing the content of each chapter. Along with the index and table of contents, this road map is a key tool for navigating the contents of this handbook. This introduction provides readers with the objectives and value of the handbook and lays out key considerations that are essential for maximizing the benefits of any urban rail project. The rest of the chapters discuss specific steps in the project development process or key topics and analyses that apply across many steps of the project. Each chapter distills good practice and provides examples from real-world projects. Each chapter concludes with a section that synthesizes key recommendations, providing a quick-reference guide for the fundamental issues that decision makers should consider in each step of project development and for each key theme. The handbook is designed around the critical, high-level questions that decision makers should be asking throughout the project development process. While the chapters introduce important processes, approaches, techniques, and analyses that can support these questions, the handbook does not include significant technical detail on any one topic. Chapter references provide resources that can be consulted for additional technical details. This handbook summarizes essential information that decision makers and project managers should consider in developing an urban rail project. It is not intended to be an exhaustive review of all topics. Instead, it introduces each of the important steps and themes of project development and points readers to the most relevant detailed resources in each of these areas. The handbook does not cover various technical aspects—such as rail yards and rolling stock—in detail. Readers who wish to go deeper into a particular topic are encouraged to explore the references cited in each chapter and to seek technical advice from World Bank Group staff and other international experts. This handbook empowers decision makers and project managers to ask the right questions and to put in place the appropriate analytical and management tools for implementing an urban rail project.","PeriodicalId":300390,"journal":{"name":"World Bank Publications","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124327147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}