This paper analyzes changes in
agricultural production and economic welfare of farmers in
rural Peru resulting from a large irrigation infrastructure
rehabilitation project. The analysis uses a ten-year
district panel and a spatial regression discontinuity
approach to measure the causal effect of the intervention.
While general impacts are modest, the analysis shows that
the project is progressive--poor farmers consistently

The World Bank group, among the
world's largest development institutions, is a major
source of financial and technical assistance to developing
countries around the world. In fiscal 2009, the World Bank
group sponsored 767 projects with a total commitment of
$58.8 billion, distributed in credits, loans, grants, and
guarantees. This fiscal year's funding marks a 54
percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record

The government has embarked upon a
comprehensive and difficult medium term program for
reforming the public sector aimed at rebalancing the
relation between revenue and spending and enhancing the
efficiency and efficacy of service delivery. The Romanian
economy has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.
Latest estimates suggest that real Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) may have contracted by around 7 percent in 2009,

Municipalities in Mozambique were
established by law in 1997 and elected in 1998 for the first
time, only a few years after the peace agreement. Most
inherited archaic and dysfunctional remnants of colonial and
central government systems and infrastructure, and as such
limited progress was achieved in transforming them into
functioning local governments during the first mandate
(1998-2002). During the second mandate (2003-2008), however,

This year's annual review of
development effectiveness (ARDE) is being written against
the backdrop of a global financial crisis, declining growth,
and massive fiscal stimulus efforts to revitalize markets.
Demand for greater development support from the World Bank
has grown, along with concerns that resources be used
effectively and efficiently to achieve their development
objectives. This ARDE focuses on the Bank's performance

Municipalities in Mozambique were
established by law in 1997 and elected in 1998 for the first
time, only a few years after the peace agreement. Most
inherited archaic and dysfunctional remnants of colonial and
central government systems and infrastructure, and as such
limited progress was achieved in transforming them into
functioning local governments during the first mandate
(1998-2002). During the second mandate (2003-2008), however,

Although there has been considerable
recent interest in micro-credit programs, rigorous evidence
on the impacts of forming self-help groups to mobilize
savings and foster social empowerment at the local level is
virtually non-existent, despite a large number of programs
following this pattern. The authors use a large household
survey to assess the economic and social impacts of the
formation of self-help groups in India. They find positive

The purpose of this Independence
Evaluation Group (IEG) special study is to illuminate the
scale and scope of Bank support for municipal development
and to draw specific lessons from the achievements and
failures of a sample of individual projects. The study
focuses on three dimensions of municipal management:
planning, finance, and service provision that figure
repeatedly in Bank financed municipal development projects

Despite the popularity and unique nature
of women's self-help groups in India, evidence of their
economic impacts is scant. Based on two rounds of a 2,400
household panel, the authors use double differences,
propensity score matching, and pipeline comparison to assess
economic impacts of longer (2.5-3 years) exposure of a
program that promoted and strengthened self-help programs in
Andhra Pradesh in India. The analysis finds that longer

Trade can play a crucial role in the
development of services sectors in Africa. Services offer
new dynamic opportunities for exports, especially for
land-locked countries, while opening up to imports of
services and foreign direct investment is a key mechanism to
increase competition and drive greater efficiency in the
provision of services in the domestic economy. Lower prices,
higher quality and wider access to services raises

Moldova is one of the poorest countries
in Europe. It is landlocked, bounded by Ukraine on the east
and Romania on the west. Like many other former Soviet
Republics, Moldova has experienced economic difficulties.
Since its economy was highly dependent on the rest of the
Soviet Union for energy and raw materials, the breakdown in
trade following the breakup of the Soviet Union had severe
impacts, exacerbated by drought and civil conflict. Moldova

This paper addresses two vital concerns
in the debate on adaptation to climate change. First, how
can countries prepare to manage the impact of climate-change
induced natural disasters? Second, how can countries ensure
that they have the governmental institutions required to
manage the phenomenal challenge of adaptation to climate
change? A range of economic and institutional measures are
tested for their potential effects on natural disaster