This paper is aimed at providing
guidance on transport issues for those involved in designing
multi-topic household surveys such as the Living Standards
Measurement Studies (LSMS) surveys. The inclusion of a few
key questions can provide critical information for better
designing transport programs and policies aimed at improving
access, affordability and quality services. Questions on
transport access, quality, mode, distance, time, and cost

Albania provides a small amount of
social assistance to nearly 20 percent of its population
through a system that allows some community discretion in
determining distribution. This study investigates how well
this social assistance program is targeted to the poor.
Relative to other safety net programs in low-income
countries, social assistance in Albania is fairly well
targeted. Nevertheless, the system is hampered by the

This brief includes the following
headings: rationale, objectives, and basic features of the
1997 land law; acquiring land-use rights; obstacles to
transferring urban land-use rights; promote the productive
use of Direito de Uso e Aproveitamento dos Terras, or
DUATs; and enforce the land tax.

This Decision approves the master plan on socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta key economic region through 2020, with orientations toward 2030 with the following principal functions: The Mekong Delta key economic region (embracing Can Tho city and Ca Mau, An Giang and Kien Giang provinces) is a key region for producing food, aquatic products and flowers and fruits, significantly contributing to ensuring national food security and the exploit of agricultural and aquatic products of the whole country. It is a major energy center of the country in the southwestern waters.

This paper presents a new type of land
market analysis relevant to cities with plural tenure
systems as in West Africa. The methodology hinges on a
systemic analysis of land delivery channels, which helps to
show how land is initially made available for circulation,
how tenure can be formalized incrementally, and the
different means whereby households can access land. The
analysis is applied to the area of Bamako in Mali, where

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

This paper pilots an approach to
identifying, categorizing, and mapping public land owned by
the central, state, and local government in urban developed
areas of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The methodology uses
information on plot sizes, location, and ownership that is
publicly available for all areas covered by town planning
schemes. The study examines the extent of unutilized and
underutilized public land, which excludes all cemeteries,

Government entities in India hold large
amounts of public land. Their landholdings include some of
the most valuable property in the country. Parts of this
patrimony lie vacant or underutilized. Public sector bodies
also own large blocs of land that sometimes stand in the way
of efficient completion of urban infrastructure networks. At
the same time, urban India is deficient in basic
infrastructure -- both network infrastructure needed to

Despite strong economic growth,
investment in basic urban infrastructure -- water supply,
wastewater removal and treatment, roads, and other
capital-intensive systems -- has failed to keep pace with
urban growth, leaving a critical urban infrastructure
deficit. At the same time, urban lands in these many
developing countries are among the most expensive in the
world. Much of this land is owned by public authorities.

This paper takes stock of the current
state of banking systems across Sub-Saharan Africa and
discusses recent developments including innovations that
might help Africa leapfrog more traditional banking models.
Using an array of different data, the paper documents that
African banking systems are shallow but stable. African
banks are well capitalized and over-liquid, but lend less to
the private sector than banks in non-African developing

Kenya has experienced a decade of
relatively strong economic growth. Between 2000 and 2009,
economic growth in Kenya averaged 3.7 percent. However,
growth declined sharply in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the
violence following the December 2007 presidential elections,
of the global food, fuel, and financial crisis, and of the
drought that occurred after the fourth consecutive year.
This persistent poverty and vulnerability highlights the

This report assesses the challenges and
opportunities for the development of the Khatlon oblast in
Tajikistan. The report argues that the rise in the strategic
significance of Khatlon must be matched by responses in
public policy and a strong upturn in private investment to
strengthen economic prospects. The report identifies four
key reform imperatives for stimulating growth in the oblast.
These are: (i) promoting cities and internal connectivity to