This paper focuses on evaluations with
findings that challenge important assumptions of the
development field. Its objective is to pinpoint the areas to
watch for in operations or policies that are decisive for
results. By drawing the attention of development
practitioners, policy makers, and evaluators to these
seemingly obvious but often neglected areas, it aims to
improve development effectiveness by better connecting

The remote and sparsely populated
provinces of Papua and West Papua face a time of great
change. Monetary transfers from Jakarta have grown
extraordinarily in recent years, by more than 600 percent in
real terms and 1300 percent in nominal terms since 2000,
greatly increasing demand for goods and services. The high
price of imports in the interior is producing pressure to
improve roads in order to lower transport costs. Pressure is

This paper explores how the ongoing
crisis, the policy responses to it, and the post-crisis
global economy will impact China's medium-term
prospects for growth, poverty reduction, and development.
The paper reviews China's pre-crisis growth experience,
including its relationship to global economic developments.
It discusses the pace, composition, sources, and financing
of growth during 1995-2007, and the impact of key external

What are the main determinants of
transport costs: network access or competition among
transport providers? The focus in the transport sector has
often been on improving the coverage of "hard"
infrastructure, whereas in reality the cost of transporting
goods is quite sensitive to the extent of competition among
transport providers and scale economies in the freight
transport industry, creating monopolistic behavior and

This report summarizes the findings of
the study on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa
(CCAA). The objective of the CCAA study was to explore the
feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and
growth in African agriculture through the identification of
products and production systems that can underpin rapid
development of a competitive commercial agriculture. The
CCAA study focused on the agricultural potential of

This mid-term review has been undertaken
to assess progress in the implementation of the Eleventh
Five-Year Plan (11th 5YP) during its first two years and a
half, draw preliminary lessons, and make recommendations for
policy adjustments. The review examines the following
strategic objectives: ensuring the stable operation of the
macro economy and improving living standards; optimizing and
upgrading of industrial structure; increasing energy

The objectives of this Country
Environmental Analysis (CEA) were to assess the
environmental quality in the Philippines with a focus on how
this affects human welfare and sustainability, measure and
analyze the biophysical significance and monetary cost of
environmental degradation and derive priority areas of
action, assess the Philippines government's capacity to
manage the environmental challenges identified, and identify

This paper provides an overview of the
history of development research at the World Bank and points
to new future directions in both what we research and how we
research. Six main messages emerge. First, research and data
have long been essential elements of the Bank's country
programs and its contributions to global public goods, and
this will remain the case. Second, development thinking is
in a state of flux and uncertainty; it is time to reconsider

An increase in sea surface temperature
is evident at all latitudes and in all oceans. The current
understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in
intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges.
The vulnerability of coastlines to intensified storm surges
can be ascertained by overlaying Geographic Information
System information with data on land, population density,
agriculture, urban extent, major cities, wetlands, and gross

World Development Indicators (WDI) 2009
arrives at a moment of great uncertainty for the global
economy. The crisis that began more than a year ago in the
U.S. housing market spread to the global financial system
and is now taking its toll on real output and incomes. As a
consequence, an additional 50 million people will be left in
extreme poverty. And if the crisis deepens and widens or is
prolonged, other development indicators, school enrollments,

Namibia is a large country in Southern
Africa that borders the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola
to the north and South Africa to the south. With a surface
area of 824,290 square kilometers, it is similar in size to
Mozambique and about half the size of the U.S. state of
Alaska. Namibia has a small population of approximately 2.1
million people. It is also one of the least densely
populated countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average

The commission on growth and development
was established in April 2006. It felt that the benefits of
growth were not fully appreciated, but also recognized that
the causes of growth were not fully understood. Growth is
often overlooked and underrated as an instrument for
tackling the world's most pressing problems, such as
poverty, illiteracy, income inequality, unemployment, and
pollution. At the same time, grasp of the sources of growth