Ownership and control over assets such
as land and housing provide direct and indirect benefits to
individuals and households, including a secure place to
live, the means of a livelihood, protection during
emergencies, and collateral for credit that can be used for
investment or consumption. Unfortunately, few studies -
either at the micro or macro levels- examine the gender
dimensions of asset ownership. This paper sets out a

The Dominican Republic-Central American
Free Trade Agreement with the United States aims to create a
free trade zone for economic development. The Agreement is
expected to intensify commerce and investment among the
participating countries. This paper analyzes the changes in
the production and trading patterns in 2-digit manufacturing
sectors with the goal of understanding the short-term
environmental implications of the Dominican Republic-Central

Lessons from six case studies illustrate
the complex relationships between international trade,
vulnerable ecologies and the poor. The studies, taken from
Africa, Asia and Latin America and conducted by local
researchers, are set in places where the poor live in close
proximity to ecologies that are important to global
conservation efforts, and focus on the cascading
consequences of trade policy for local livelihoods and

As the financial crisis has spread
through the world, the lack of real-time data has made it
difficult to track its impact in developing countries. This
paper uses a micro-simulation approach to assess the poverty
and distributional effects of the crisis in the Philippines.
The authors find increases in both the level and the depth
of aggregate poverty. Income shocks are relatively large in
the middle part of the income distribution. They also find

This paper examines whether and to what
extent amendments in inheritance legislation impact
women's physical and human capital investments, using
disaggregated household level data from India. The authors
use inheritance patterns over three generations of
individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu
Succession Act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth
rights in joint family property that were denied to

This paper investigates the impact of
rising wheat prices -- during the 2007/08 global food crisis
-- on food security in Afghanistan. Exploiting the temporal
stratification of a unique nationally-representative
household survey, the analysis finds evidence of large
declines in real per capita food consumption and in food
security (per capita calorie intake and household dietary
diversity) corresponding to the price shocks. The data

Asia's green revolution in rice was
transformational and improved the lives of millions of poor
households. Rice has become an increasingly important part
of African diets and imports of rice have grown. Agronomists
point out that large areas in Africa are well suited for
rice and are encouraged by the field tests of new rice
varieties. So is Africa poised for its own green revolution
in rice? This study reviews the recent literature on rice

The 1998 edition of world development
indicators initiated a series of annual reports on progress
toward the International development goals. In the foreword
then, World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn recognized
that 'by reporting regularly and systematically on
progress toward the targets the international community has
set for itself, the author will focus attention on the task
ahead and make those responsible for advancing the

Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate
change is a serious global threat. The scientific evidence
is now overwhelming. Continued growth of greenhouse gas
emissions and associated global warming could well promote
SLR of 1m-3m in this century, and unexpectedly rapid breakup
of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets might produce
a 5m SLR. In this paper, the authors have assessed the
consequences of continued SLR for 84 developing countries.

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Costa Rica, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like
most countries in Latin America, Costa Rica has submitted
one national communication to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one
under preparation. Land use change and forestry are the

The effects of policy interventions on
women are of increasing concern to policy makers in all
fields, and trade is no exception. This note reviews recent
World Bank projects and studies that 'gender
inform' trade-related interventions, and it uses the
Bank's experience to promote gender-equal opportunities
by highlighting entry points at which trade projects,
studies, and policies can effectively address gender issues.

Russia's exports became further
dominated by petroleum and natural gas over the last decade.
The sector experienced double-digit annual export growth in
the last decade and represented almost 65 percent of
Russia's exports value in 2009 a product of higher
commodity prices and higher export volumes. Export growth
rates of the non-oil and gas sector were also notable. Such
industries as machinery, electronics, transportation