The process by which different
ecological conditions and historical trajectories interacted
to create different social and cultural systems resulted in
major differences in economic development performance within
Southeast Asia. In the late 19th century, Indonesia, the
Philippines, and Thailand commonly experienced
vent-for-surplus development through exploitation of unused
lands. Nevertheless, different agrarian structures were

The authors empirically estimate the
impact of social capital on household welfare in
Bolivia--where they found 67 different types of local
associations. They focus on household memberships in local
associations as being especially relevant to daily decisions
that affect household welfare and consumption. On average,
households belong to 1.4 groups and associations: 62 percent
belong to agrarian syndicates, 16 percent to production

This discussion paper: a) proposes a new
approach of targeted collaboration among different sectors;
b) devises new tools or enhances existing ones to facilitate
the contributions of different sectors to help relieve
health problems; and c) puts theory into practice through a
pilot in Ghana. The report is divided into three parts. Part
1 explains the foundations of environmental health and
proposes a new approach that taps health benefits

This book documents the experiences of
men, women, and children in Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz
Republic, Latvia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan as they struggle with the dramatic changes in
lifestyle and extreme poverty that followed the collapse of
the Soviet Union. Based on hundreds of open-ended interviews
conducted by local people over a span of five years, this
book captures the particularities of poverty in each

This povert y update finds the
following: Between 1997 and 2000, poverty has increased
unambiguously, for a full set of poverty lines and
definitions of poverty measures. Poverty has increased
because over the period, consumption fell and inequality
rose. Living standards have not risen despite growth in
Gross Domestic Product because growth was too weak, too
concentrated in a narrow set of sectors, and there were no

This report finalized in March 2001
constitutes a step toward the objective of designing an
integrated strategy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil,
The report contains an updated and more detailed profile of
the rural poor in the northeast (NE) and southeast (SE) of
Brazil; identifies key determinants of rural poverty in
these regions; and proposes a five-pronged strategic
framework in which to couch a set of integrated policies

This report reviews poverty in Armenia
in 2001, and examines the most recent trends covering the
1998/99 to 2001 period. It looks at the determinants of
poverty, and analyzes linkages between economic growth,
sector policies and poverty. The findings are based on two
rounds of the Armenia Integrated Living Conditions Survey
(ILCS), one carried out in 1998/99, and the other in 2001.
The report has contributed to the development of

Could the simplifying assumptions made
in project appraisal be so far from the truth that the
expected benefits of public investments are not realized?
Using data for Vietnam, commonly used estimates of the
benefits from irrigation investments based on means are
compared with impacts assessed through an econometric
modeling of marginal returns that allows for household and
area heterogeneity using integrated household-level survey

Moldovan GDP growth rose and the poverty
rate fell steeply following the end of the Russian financial
crisis in 1999. Since late 2002, GDP has continued to grow
vigorously, however there has been little progress in
reducing poverty. In short, GDP growth is no longer reducing
poverty. The national poverty rate is broadly stable while
the rural poverty rate is on a modest upward trend. Analysis
of data from the household budget surveys shows that the

This study serves as the preliminary
basis for further rounds of discussions and analyses among
stakeholders to arrive at a strategic vision for the Eritrea
health sector. It incorporates comments received from the
Ministry of Health's central agencies, Zoba (regional)
health teams, external partners working in Eritrea, and the
World Bank Eritrea Country Team. In March 2001, the Ministry
of Health of the Government of Eritrea launched a process to

Since its recovery of macroeconomic
stability in 1991, the Dominican Republic has experienced a
period of notable economic growth. Poverty has declined in
the 1990s. Nevertheless, a segment of the population-mainly
in rural areas-does not seem to have benefited from this
growth. Poverty in this country in 1998 is less than that of
other countries if one adjusts for the level of economic
development. The principal poverty characteristics are the

This report finalized in March 2001
constitutes a step toward the objective of designing an
integrated strategy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil,
The report contains an updated and more detailed profile of
the rural poor in the northeast (NE) and southeast (SE) of
Brazil; identifies key determinants of rural poverty in
these regions; and proposes a five-pronged strategic
framework in which to couch a set of integrated policies