This report aims to assist the
government in improving implementation of the New Socialist
Countryside (NSC) program, especially in raising the
effectiveness of public expenditures, and the harmonization
of public finance. While this report pays particular
attention to rural aspects of public finance, it addresses
this topic within the overall framework of intergovernmental
finance that impacts both rural and urban areas. Similarly,

This housing policy in developing
countries, conjectures and refutations article discusses
housing policy in developing economies. It examines recent
research findings in light of earlier arguments as to the
benefits of more market-oriented approaches. It also looks
at whether the recommendations of earlier work have been
refuted or developed in subsequent analyses and policy
measures. In particular, it reviews the empirical analysis

This report seeks to identify changes in
human development outcomes in a period of deepening
decentralization and to suggest how the country's
decentralized governance structure will be improved to
increase access to, as well as the quality of, relevant
services. The report states decentralized governance
structure helped facilitate improvements in service delivery
and human development outcomes. The report argues that while

The purpose of this report is to assist
policy makers and planners in developing countries in the
preparation of a National Transport Strategy (NTS). The
report highlights lessons that can be learned from NTSs
developed by different countries around the world. It draws
upon transport strategy and policy documents from 23
countries and from a range of World Bank source material.
The aim is not to provide a ready-made strategy document but

This paper examines broadly the
intergovernmental structure in the Middle East and North
Africa region, which has one of the most centralized
government structures in the world. The authors address the
reasons behind this centralized structure by looking first
at the history behind the tax systems of the region. They
review the Ottoman taxation system, which has been
predominantly influential as a model, and discuss its impact

Levels of economic development vary
widely within countries in the Americas. This paper argues
that part of this variation has its roots in the colonial
era. Colonizers engaged in different economic activities in
different regions of a country, depending on local
conditions. Some activities were "bad" in the
sense that they depended heavily on the exploitation of
labor and created extractive institutions, while

This report reviews Community Driven
Development (CDD) projects in Lao People's Democratic
Republic (PDR) to determine their effectiveness in
channeling resources to communities for poverty reduction.
The study examines three CDD projects in depth: the Poverty
Reduction Fund, the Village Investment for the Poor (both
supported by the World Bank), and the Government-financed
Village Development Fund. Through close analysis of these

This report presents policy, market, and
agriculture transition in the Northern Uplands of Lao
People's Democratic Republic aims to contribute to such
a dialogue by providing: (a) a policy-relevant typology of
the structural characteristics and transition patterns of
the principal small-holder agriculture systems in the
Northern Uplands; and (b) recommendations to strengthen
Government's facilitation of a more sustainable and

Albania has undertaken major reforms in
its system of local government finance since 2000. What had
been a system in which local functions were ambiguous and
financing was largely provided through tightly controlled
earmarked grants is now one in which functions are
relatively clear and local governments have more autonomy
over the allocation of funds. A new system of competitive
grants for infrastructure investment has been introduced.

Indonesian agriculture is at a
crossroads. Supporting the livelihood of millions of
Indonesians, it needs to underpin renewed and robust growth
of the economy; and be a key component of the
Government's poverty alleviation strategy. The
challenge for the future is to reinvigorate productivity
gains among rural producers, and provide the foundation for
long run sustainability of these productivity gains.

Rwanda established targets for Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) growth and poverty reduction, to be
achieved by the year 2020; these were to (i) raise real per
capita income from $230 to $900; and (ii) reduce the poverty
incidence by half. To reach these targets, the Government
projected in its 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP) that GDP growth will to be in the range of 6 to 7
percent over the medium term. The PRSP focused on six

Beginning in the late 1990s, Montenegro's economic reform program reached momentum in the early 2000s. Its reform program rested on two broad pillars: macroeconomic stabilization, and market-oriented structural reforms. However, the macroeconomic and structural reforms have yielded modest economic recovery and transition, holding a current account deficit, which although still high, is improving; yet its principal human welfare indicators such as poverty, life expectancy, and adult literacy remained moderate and stable. But significant challenges remain.