The authors present evidence that in
Burkina Faso, certain high-performing local institutions
contribute to equitable economic development. They link
reduced levels of poverty, and inequality to a high degree
of internal village organization. The structure of these
high-performing local organizations means they can exist in
a number of African countries, because they depend more on
internal participation, rather than on nay one

Geographic targeting is perhaps the most
popular mechanism used to direct social programs to the poor
in Latin America. The author empirically compares geographic
targeting indicators available in Peru. He combines
household-level information from the 1994 and 1997 Peru
Living Standards Measurement Surveys and district-level
information from the 1993 Peru Population and Housing
Census. He then conducts a series of simulations that

The author identifies conditions under
which the urban sector's share of the poor population
in a developing country will be a strictly increasing and
strictly convex function of its share of the total
population. Cross-sectional data afor 39 countries and
time-series data for for India are consistent with the
expected theoretical relationship. The empirical results
imply that the poor urbanize faster than the population as a

As in many developing countries, data
collection has proved to be a considerable challenge in
Papua New Guinea (PNG). A welcome effort at data collection
on dispute incidence and personal security was made in
PNG's household income and expenditure survey (HIES or
the Survey), (2009-2010) an experience that also highlights
some of the challenges of such an exercise. For the first
time, the HIES asked questions about dispute incidence and

With limited land, capital, and a fast
growing population, Burundi's main asset is its
youthful population. Its main challenge is also to create
good quality jobs for its youth. With low levels of
educational attainment and poor health status, the quality
of this young population is poor. After more than 13 years
of conflict ending in 2000, and a period of modest recovery,
Burundi has the opportunity to stimulate growth. Burundi is

This report aims to update knowledge of
gender disparities in Ethiopia using the latest household
survey data. The aim of this analysis is to support ongoing
efforts to implement Plan for Accelerated and Sustained
Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) vision. The significant
progress in addressing key dimensions of gender disparities
such as education shown in this report as well as in the
recent annual progress report on the implementation of

This report shows that some investors
still perceive Aceh as a risky place to do business, despite
being relatively peaceful for almost four years. Security
incidents, relatively common in post-conflict environments,
deter businesses and individuals from investing in Aceh,
robbing the economy of necessary capital and innovation.
Other consequences of the conflict, including forms of
illegal taxation, also hurt investment. The Government of

This Investment Climate Policy Note
(ICPN) identifies the main constraints to the development of
the private sector in the Republic of Congo, based on a
survey of enterprises operating in the manufacturing and
services sectors, in Pointe Noire and Brazzaville, and to
propose specific short term recommendations to address these
constraints. The ICPN emphasizes cross-country comparisons
and benchmarks the investment climate across various firm

Despite positive, relatively broad-based
and stable growth record in recent years and immense
untapped potential in agriculture, mining and services,
Zambia's poverty rates have not declined significantly
and remain high. Income growth is limited by coordination
failures such as poor access to domestic and international
markets, inputs, extension services and information. High
indirect costs - most of which attributable to

This history illustrates a number of
themes encountered in Swaziland that faces developing
countries and their external partners in Africa and beyond.
Firstly, the history relates the experience of a small and
comparatively insular country in addressing complex
challenges deriving from rapid urbanization and, as a
result, the growing need to adapt governance systems and
structures. A second key issue is the challenge that small

This Investment Climate Policy Note
(ICPN) for Sierra Leone evaluates the country's
business environment by: (i) analyzing barriers to private
sector investment and growth and how they vary among
different types of firms; (ii) benchmarking Sierra
Leone's investment climate and firm performance to that
of other countries; and (iii) providing recommendations to
promote and strengthen the private sector. The ICPN is

The dynamism of air traffic markets in
the Middle East obscures the persistence of restrictions on
international competition. But how important are such
restrictions for passenger traffic? This paper uses detailed
data on worldwide passenger aviation to estimate the effect
of air transport policy on international air traffic. The
policy variable is a quantitative measure of the commitments
under international agreements. The paper analyzes, for the