The author discusses the revolution in
public sector thinking that is transforming the public
sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries
are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the
right balance between central government control and
decentralized governance. Political decentralization has
advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in
developing countries as a percentage of total public

The study reviews the performance of
four transition countries - Albania, Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz
Republic, and Moldova - in the areas of private, and
financial sector development, identifying both their
achievements, and challenges, to extract beneficial reform
efforts, and alternative approaches, setting the pace for
sustainable growth. These countries were selected because
they are among the poorest in the region, whose problems are

The report analyzes poverty incidence in
India and in particular, in Uttar Pradesh (UP), and defines
its poverty levels, trends, and vulnerability. While UP once
appeared positioned to be the pace-setter for India's
economic, and social development in light of its rich
potential in human, and natural resources, economic growth
faltered in the 1990s. UP fell behind India's better
performing states, and, despite a recent acceleration in

This report is the successor to the
Country Economic Memorandum for Tanzania prepared in 1996
(World Bank 1996). The 1996 memorandum focused on the
challenge of reforms and paid particular attention to the
impact of reforms on growth, incomes, and welfare in
Tanzania. The present report draws out lessons from
Tanzania's development experience of the past four
decades, with emphasis on the period since the last report,

Doing Business in Zanzibar 2010 is a new subnational report of the Doing Business series on the sub-Saharan African region, following the subnational Doing Business reports on Nigeria and Kenya. It measures business regulations and their enforcement in the region of Zanzibar, represented by Zanzibar Town. Doing Business series currently covers 183 economies around the world.

This paper presents an assessment of the
first phase (2008?2009) of Sierra Leone's cash for work
program based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis
examining program design features, main processes and
impact. The assessment highlights that while cash for work
was an appropriate crisis response, the challenge of
achieving good targeting should not be underestimated.
Findings from the assessment point to high inclusion errors

Does the existing evidence support
policies that foster growth by reducing gender inequality?
The authors argue that the evidence based on differences
across countries is of limited use for policy design because
it does not identify the causal link from inequality to
growth. This, however does not imply that
inequality-reducing policies are ineffective. In other
words, the lack of evidence of a causal link is not in

This overview paper positions the
question of benefit sharing in the context of REDD plus. It
shares findings from a cursory review of a sample of
Readiness Preparation Proposals (RPP) for REDD plus
submitted to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).
It deconstructs the concept of benefit sharing. It also
provides a summary of the main findings from three recent
studies on benefit sharing that were financed by the Program

The objective of this report is to
respond to the request of the Ministry of Housing and
Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD), to assess the Housing
Provident Fund (HPF) system, and provide recommendations on
its positioning, strategy and future role in the overall
housing policy. The report focuses on a strategic review of
the HPF system and its strategy, mission, and operational
structure, and then analyses the market in which the

Expert statements indicate that annually
approximately 20 billion dollars will be needed to prevent
90 percent deforestation in tropical countries. Development
practitioners are eager to see the benefits from REDD plus
initiatives shared with local partners. Equally important to
understanding how local partners might benefit are questions
such as, who should derive benefits from REDD plus
initiatives, and how to ensure these initiatives reach the

Liberia aims to achieve middle-income
status by 2030 through broad participation and inclusive
growth. The Government's growth strategy aims to
accelerate growth through the exploitation of natural
resources, while maintaining sound macroeconomic policies,
improving the business environment, and prudently allocating
aid and commodity-based financing resources to expand
infrastructure and formal sector employment. However,

This Investment Climate Survey Report
(ICSR) for Cote d'Ivoire evaluates the country's
business environment by (i) analyzing barriers to private
sector investment and growth and how they vary among
different types of firms, (ii) benchmarking the Ivorian
investment climate and firm performance to that of other
countries and (iii) providing recommendations to promote and
strengthen the private sector. The ICSR is supported by the