A rainforest can be modeled as a dynamic
asset subject to various risks, including risk of fire. Any
small part of the forest can be in one of two states: either
untouched by forest fire, or already damaged by fire, in
which case there is both a local forest loss and increased
dryness over a broader area. In this paper, two Bellman
equations are constructed, one for unharmed forest and a
second for already burnt forest. The analysis solves the two

Since the industrial revolution, the
economic development of Western Europe and North America was
characterized by continuous urbanization accompanied by a
gradual phasing-in of urban land property rights over time.
Today, however, the evidence in many fast urbanizing
low-income countries points towards a different trend of
“urbanization without formalization”, with potentially
adverse effects on long-term economic growth. This paper

Liberia had an estimated 4.3 million
hectares of forests in 2011, comprising approximately 50
percent of Liberia’s landmass. These forests support very
high levels of biodiversity, provide a wide range of
ecosystem services (for example, bush meat, medicines,
construction materials, and charcoal), and generate
employment and revenue from commercial and chainsaw logging.
Encouraging inward investment while striking a sound balance

Situated in a fertile low-lying river
delta, Bangladesh combines high vulnerability to floods,
tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and climate change with one
of the world’s highest population densities, with around 159
million people living in less than 150,000 sq. km. With the
world’s second lowest per capita income in 1975, it was
labeled ‘the test case for development’ in view of the
formidable development challenges it faced. Nevertheless,

Biochar is the carbon-rich organic
matter that remains after heating biomass under the
minimization of oxygen during a process called pyrolysis.
There are a number of reasons why biochar systems may be
particularly relevant in developing-country contexts. This
report offers a review of what is known about opportunities
and risks of biochar systems. Its aim is to provide a
state-of-the-art overview of current knowledge regarding

This report presents some figures
exploring the way Romanian installations have been operating
under the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
At the request of the Government of Romania, a two-year
Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) Program on climate
change and low-carbon green growth was launched by the World
Bank in July 2013. The RAS project focuses on
operationalizing Romania’s national climate change strategy

Almost a decade after large land-based
investment for agriculture increased sharply, opinions on
its impact continue to diverge, partly because (positive or
negative) spillovers on neighboring smallholders have never
been rigorously assessed. Applying methods from the urban
literature on Mozambican data suggests that changes in the
number and area of large farms within 25 or 50 kilometers of
these investments raised use of improved practices, animal

The growing availability of free or
inexpensive satellite imagery has inspired many researchers
to investigate the use of earth observation data for
monitoring economic activity around the world. One of the
most popular earth observation data sets is the so-called
nighttime lights from the Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program. Researchers have found positive correlations
between nighttime lights and several economic variables.

This survey reviews the current state of
the economic literature, assessing the impact of transport
policies on growth, inclusion, and sustainability in a
developing country context. The findings are summarized and
methodologies are critically assessed, especially those
dealing with endogeneity issues in empirical studies. The
specific implementation challenges of transport policies in
developing countries are discussed.

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD)
aims to identify the major constraints on and opportunities
for sustaining poverty reduction and shared prosperity in
Serbia. The SCD serves as the analytic foundation on which
the World Bank Group and the Government of Serbia will
define a new Country Partnership Framework for FY2016 to
FY2020. It is based on the best possible analysis, drawing
on available evidence, and not limited to areas where the

Actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions to stabilize warming at 2 degree Celsius, as
agreed by the international community in 2009, will fall
short if they do not include the transport sector. Transport
is responsible for around 23 percent of global carbon
dioxide emissions and emissions are expected to rise without
further action to curb emission growth and invest in low
carbon transport modes. Investment needs are estimated at

For many developing countries, natural
resource exports such as oil, diamonds and copper continue
to be important drivers for economic growth and provide a
unique opportunity for generating revenues for much-needed
infrastructure and human development. Dependence on
extractive resources, however, may also increase the
likelihood of underdevelopment, fragility and conflict. The
challenges for managing these resources efficiently are