As a low-middle-income country with a
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$1,715 and a
population of 30 million (nearly half of all of the Central
Asian population), Uzbekistan has seen stable economic
progress since the mid-2000s, both in terms of growth and
poverty reduction. Growth has averaged 8 percent per year
since 2004 and extreme poverty has declined from 27 percent
in 2000 to 15 percent in 2012. Encouraged by this

As part of a national experiment in 2008, Chengdu prefecture implemented ambitious property rights reforms, including complete registration of all land together with measures to ease transferability and eliminate migration restrictions. A triple difference approach using the Statistics Bureau’s regular household panel suggests that the reforms increased consumption and income, especially for less wealthy and less educated households, with estimated benefits well above the cost of implementation.

The extractive industries (EI) sector occupies an outsize space in the economies of many developing countries. Economists, public finance professionals, and policy makers working in such countries are frequently confronted with issues that require an in-depth understanding of the sector. The objective of this volume is to provide a concise overview of EI-related topics these professionals are likely to encounter.

The inability to unlock natural resource
wealth for the benefit of developing countries’ local
populations, a phenomenon popularly known as the ‘resource
curse’ or the ‘paradox of plenty’, has spawned extensive
debate among researchers and policy makers in recent years.
There is now a well-established body of literature exploring
the links between natural resources and conflict, with some
sources estimating that over the past 60 years, 40 percent

This report focuses on two competing forces: the Soviet industrial legacy and

In May 2005, the Bank adopted a new
policy and new procedures on Additional Financing
(OP/BP13.20) for investment lending, replacing the previous
policy on supplemental financing. This policywas later
revised in March 2012. This learning product assesses the
performance of the AdditionalFinancing (AF) operations
approved since then and draws lessons from their
implementationexperience. The assessment focuses on AF in

This paper is one of a series aimed at
deepening the World Bank’s capacity to follow through on
commitments made in response to the World Development Report
(WDR) 2011, which gave renewed prominence to the nexus
between conflict, security, and development. Nigeria is a
remarkable illustration of how deeply intractable the cycle
of poverty, conflict, and fragility can become when tied to
the ferocious battles associated with the political economy

This issue includes the following
headings: finding the right broadband public-private
partnership (PPP): whats key for emerging economies?; reform
has its rewards: telecom takes off in Myanmar; e-gov
excellence: models from Colombia, Ghana, India, and
Portugal; know what you know: creating a government
technology strategy; and closing the gap: Facebook and intel
connect the unconnected.

This issue includes the following
headings: donors: aid versus trade; investment: seeking
strong partners; power: hydro heats up; water: sanitation
solutions; and first person: African Development Bank President

This issue of the Handshake, IFCs
quarterly journal on public-private partnerships, contains
the following topics of interest: weighing the options: burn
or bury?; waste and climate: supporting governments;
community engagement: integrating Indias informal sector; an
interview with the director of the documentary Trashed; and
bonus: podcast with 2013 CNN hero on community cleanups.

This paper examines whether cooperative
behavior by respondents measured as contributions in a
one-shot public goods game correlates with reported
pro-forest collective action behaviors. All the outcomes
analyzed are costly in terms of time, land, or money. The
study finds significant evidence that more cooperative
individuals (or those who believe their group members will
cooperate) engage in collective action behaviors that

This paper analyzes the dynamic effects
of rate-of-return regulation on firms’ emissions compliance
behavior when the price of emissions permits is uncertain.
The paper shows that uncertainty regarding the price of
permits would motivate a regulated firm to adopt a more
self-sufficient strategy and would reduce the
cost-effectiveness of emission allowance trading. When
allowance transactions are treated as capital investments,