Economic progress in Macedonia has been
variable and slow during the last 10 years. This slow
progress is attributable to the succession of political and
economic shocks, and the failure to complete economic
reform. Agriculture is an important sector in the Macedonia
economy, with production and processing contributing around
18% of GDP. As a small economy with a structural deficit in
most food commodities, agricultural trade is essential for

The authors explore the use of
cross-sectional analysis to measure the impacts of climate
change on agriculture. The impact literature, using
experiments on crops in laboratory settings combined with
simulation models, suggests that agriculture will be
strongly affected by climate change. The extent of these
effects varies by country and region. Therefore, local
experiments are needed for policy purposes, which becomes

A "forest-hydrology-poverty
nexus" hypothesis asserts that deforestation in poor
upland areas simultaneously threatens biodiversity and
increases the incidence of flooding, sedimentation, and
other damaging hydrological processes. The authors use rough
heuristics to assess the applicability of this hypothesis to
Central America. They do so by using a simple rule of thumb
to identify watersheds at greater risk of hydrologically

A tradable development rights (TDR)
program focusing on biodiversity conservation faces a
crucial problem defining which areas of habitat should be
considered equivalent. Restricting the trading domain to a
narrow area could boost the range of biodiversity conserved
but could increase the opportunity cost of conservation. The
issue is relevant to Brazil, where TDR-like programs are
emerging. Current regulations require each rural property to

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala, and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Honduras. The
objective of the study is to understand how broad-based
economic growth can be stimulated and sustained in rural
Central America. The study identifies "drivers" of
sustainable rural growth and poverty reduction. Drivers are
defined as the assets and combinations of assets needed by

This report is a review of the Lesotho's financial system covering: i) the macro-financial environment; ii) safety and soundness of the banking system; iii) non-bank financial institutions; and iv) microfinance and finance for small and medium enterprises. The report was based on data and other information collected during the March 2003 mission.

Most researchers examining poverty and
multilateral trade liberalization have had to examine
average, or per capita effects, suggesting that if per
capita real income rises, poverty will fall. This inference
can be misleading. Combining results from a new
international cross-section consumption analysis with
earnings data from household surveys, this article analyzes
the implications of multilateral trade liberalization for

This paper seeks to clarify how
valuation should be conducted to answer specific
environmental policy questions. In particular, it looks at
how valuation should be used to examine four distinct
aspects of the value of ecosystems: 1) Determining the value
of the total flow of benefits from ecosystems; 2)
Determining the net benefits of interventions that alter
ecosystem conditions: 3) Examining how the costs and

This note reviews the performance of key
sectors of the Kenyan economy after the power-sharing
arrangement of 2008. Declines in the agricultural,
manufacturing, and services sectors considered in this note
are estimates. Data collected and information interpreted
provides picture of the broad orders of magnitude
anticipated of the economic decline. Assuming that the
power-sharing arrangement holds and the country returns to

This paper tells a story about
conditions in Tanzania's hidden economy, the parts of
the natural resource sector often ignored in conventional
economic analyses and studies, and makes recommendations for
future policy actions. The paper draws primarily from
extensive background studies undertaken of the forestry,
fishery, wildlife, mining, and tourism sub sectors (COWI
2005) as well as a wide range of complementary studies

Tunisia has successfully shifted from
resource-based exports dominated by oil and gas to
manufactures and services. The economy is now driven mainly
by textile, electrical, mechanical, and food processing
exports; tourism and related activities; and production of
olives and cereals. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
has been rising consistently, increasing from 3 percent
annually over 1985-90 to more than 5 percent annually over

This volume analyzes the economic
challenges confronting Turkey in its quest to accede to the
European Union (EU). It focuses on the extent to which
Turkey is ready to join the Single Market, comply with the
EU's body of economic regulations and directives, the
Acquis Communautaire, and meet the Maastricht criteria for
fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies. This book
also provides an assessment of Turkey's national