Although a high rate of urbanization and
a high incidence of rural poverty are two distinct features
of many developing countries, there is little knowledge of
the effects of the former on the latter. Using a large
sample of Indian districts from the 1983-1999 period, the
authors find that urbanization has a substantial and
systematic poverty-reducing effect in the surrounding rural
areas. The results obtained through an instrumental variable

In September 2013, the World Bank
launched the second Zambia economic brief, entitled
Zambia's jobs challenge: realities on the ground. This
report presents response of the youth to the facts and
figures shared in the Zambia economic brief. It gives a
broad range of discussion, often provocative, as to how
Zambia's employment challenges can be tackled. It
discusses the issues as diverse as cultural mind-set,

The report's main objective is to
provide policy makers, regulators, and the private sector,
primarily in emerging economies and developing countries,
with a tool for enforcing international best practice and
for developing strategies for successful reforms in the area
of construction regulation. This paper is divided into the
following eight chapters: 1) the importance of construction
regulation reform. The first chapter defines three

Poverty reduction is the overarching
objective of the World Bank Group and is reflected in the
institution s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). More recently, the twin goals of the institution,
eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared
prosperity, expressed a renewed commitment toward the Bank
Group s vision of a world free of poverty. This message is
intimately related to another main goal of the institution:

The Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area
(GCMA), with more than 19 million inhabitants, is host to
more than one-fifth of Egypt's population. The GCMA is
also an important contributor to the Egyptian economy in
terms of GDP and jobs. The population of the GCMA is
expected to further increase to 24 million by 2027, and
correspondingly its importance to the economy will also
increase. Traffic congestion is a serious problem in the

The State of Uttarakhand experienced an
unprecedented high rainfall between June 15 and 17, 2013
that resulted in flash floods and landslides within the
State. The continuous rain disrupted normal life resulting
in a total of 580 human lives being lost, more than 4,000
persons missing and over hundred thousand pilgrims being
stranded. This event has affected over 900,000 people in
Uttarakhand this year. The numerous landslides and toe

After decades of turmoil and
instability, a period of calm and progress evolved in
Guinea-Bissau in 2009. A military coup in April 2012
interrupted it. A fresh start is needed to alter the
dynamics that kept Guinea-Bissau poor. In 2013, Gross
National Income per capita was US$590. Average economic
growth barely kept pace with population growth. In 2010,
poverty at the national poverty line of US$2 a day was 70

The Government of Ceará has asked for
the Bank s support in implementing its multi-year plan
(Plano Plurianual or PPA) for 2012-15. The objectives of the
Plan are to promote equitable social development,
sustainable economic development and to contribute to the
emergence of a more efficient and participatory public
sector.The activities to be supported have been chosen on
the basis of the importance to these goals, the state s

This paper evaluates the impact of
strengthening legal rights on the types of economic
opportunities that are pursued. Ethiopia changed its family
law, requiring both spouses' consent in the
administration of marital property, removing the ability of
a spouse to deny permission for the other to work outside
the home, and raising women's minimum age of marriage.
Thus both access to resources and the removal of

In 2011, women and girls represented
50.6 percent of the total Montenegrin population (620,029
persons). Different aspects of gender inequality vary by
region and ethnicity. The present World Bank country
partnership strategy in Montenegro is based on two pillars
that include supporting Montenegro s accession to the
European Union (EU) through boosting institutions and
competitiveness. The purpose of this report is to provide an

In many Pacific island countries,
meeting non-food basic needs is a growing challenge and
further complicated by substantial economic and
environmental risks. Hardship and vulnerability are
increasingly prominent concerns in Pacific island countries,
but the knowledge base to guide policymaking is limited.
Family and community networks are central to life in most
Pacific island countries, providing critical support to

Pakistan's rebound from the global
financial crisis has been slow and fragile, and unless it
changes course swiftly, it could face the prospects of a
second balance of payments crisis in less than five years.
Its recovery from the 2008-09 global financial crisis has
been the weakest in South Asia, featuring a unique
double-dip growth pattern. With high fertility, Pakistan
will double the size of its already young population by