This paper revisits the institutional
determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) using a
comprehensive new data set on the regulations that govern
FDI in more than 80 countries. It exploits the presence of
confirmed zero investment flows between countries to
estimate productivity cut-offs of firms that invest abroad
profitably. This approach corrects likely biases arising
from firm heterogeneity and country selection in a

The purpose of this guidance note is to
bridge precisely identify how to implement World Bank
resettlement policies in the context of infrastructure
projects affecting South Asian largest cities, with a focus
on the impacts on poor areas and slums. The guidance note is
intended as a tool to help decision makers in Government
agencies and in the Bank, particularly in respect of the
main aspects: 1) methods to assess and evaluate resettlement

In this introduction, the authors do three things. They first introduce the puzzle and relate it to existing interpretations from market reformists and their critics, arguing that both sets of views are inadequate. The authors then offer an alternative interpretation: that entrenched inequities sustained by a rent-sharing political equilibrium are a primary source of inefficiencies and weak growth. Moreover, this equilibrium has been resilient to democratization in ways that can be explained by the nature of the underlying forces.

This paper summarizes the evidence on
the evolution of transport PPPs over the last 15 years or
so. In the process, it provides a primer on the associated
policy issues, including of the central role of project
finance in the implementation of PPP policies and the
debates on risk allocation in the design of PPPs. The paper
also offers a discussion of the increasingly well recognized
residual roles for the public sector in transport, with an

The recent surge in food and fuel prices
has prompted countries with high dependence on food imports
to try and lock in future food supplies through direct
investment in agricultural production in other countries.
The price surges also led to a wave of proposals to invest
in biofuels investments in agricultural land. While such
investment can provide large benefits, it also carries
considerable risks both to investors and citizens in the

The study on the sources of rural growth
in Burundi results from a meticulous work carried out by
eminent experts of the World Bank in response to a request
of the Government of Burundi. It describes the global
environment, which explains poverty aggravation and builds
proposals to overcome most binding constraints to growth in
Burundi. This study is an important contribution in the
fight against poverty, as it identifies ways to resume

The dominant hypothesis in the
literature that studies conflict is that poverty is the main
cause of civil wars. The authors instead analyze the effect
of institutions on civil war, controlling for income per
capita. In their set up, institutions are endogenous and
colonial origins affect civil wars through their legacy on
institutions. Their results indicate that institutions,
proxied by the protection of property rights, rule of law

The book clarifies many policy, and
technical issues that confront resettlement policymakers,
and practitioners. It provides guidance on resettlement
design, implementation, and monitoring, and, it discusses
resettlement issues particular to development projects in
different sectors, such as urban development, natural
resource management, and the building of dams. Construction
of infrastructure, a prerequisite for sustained

The author applies a systems-oriented "holistic" approach to China's radical economic reforms during the past quarter of a century. He characterizes China's economic reforms in terms of a multidimensional classification of economic systems. When looking at the economic consequences of China's change of economic system, he deals with both the impressive growth performance and its economic costs.

In this paper, the authors examine the
impact of reductions in barriers to migration on the
consumption of rural households in China. The authors find
that increased migration from rural villages leads to
significant increases in consumption per capita, and that
this effect is stronger for poorer households within
villages. Household income per capita and non-durable
consumption per capita both increase with out-migration, and

This handbook intends to document the
essential steps for best practice in the design, and
implementation of resettlement action plans. Given that
involuntary resettlement entails both the physical
displacement of peoples, and the disruption of their
livelihoods, social development specialists at the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), worked together
with project developers to ensure consistent, and pragmatic

In many countries the private sector has
been involved in financing infrastructure through
concessions under a public-private partnership (PPP)
program. PPP schemes, however, are somewhat underutilized in
transition economies, where the potential financing gaps are
significant and growing, and there seems to be an enormous
potential for more private sector involvement in the
financing and operation of highway assets in these