Since 1978, the World Bank’s annual World Development Report (WDR) has provided in-depth analysis and policy recommendations on a specific and important aspect of international de....
Since 1978, the World Bank’s annual World Development Report (WDR) has provided in-depth analysis and policy recommendations on a specific and important aspect of international development from agriculture, the role of the state, economic growth, and labor to infrastructure, health, the environment, and poverty. In the process, it has become a highly influential publication that is consulted by international organizations, national governments, scholars, and civil society networks to inform their decision-making processes.
In this essay, Shahid Yusuf examines the last 30 years of development economics, viewed through the WDRs. The essay begins with a brief background on the circumstances of newly independent developing countries and summarizes some of the main strands of the emerging field of development economics. It then provides a sweeping examination of the coverage of the WDRs, reflecting on the key development themes synthesized by these reports and assessing how the research they present has contributed to policy making and development thought. The book then looks ahead and points to some of the big challenges that the World Bank may explore through future WDRs. The essay is followed by five commentaries, each written by a distinguished economist or development practitioner, which further explore this terrain from different perspectives.
Together, the contents of this volume provide an extraordinary and remarkably compact tour of development economics through, around, and beyond the WDR. It will be invaluable to anyone interested in the evolution of development economics over the past three decades as well as for students, scholars, and policy makers in the field of development.
Jobs provide higher earnings and better benefits as countries grow, but they are also a driver of development. Poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empowering women....
Jobs provide higher earnings and better benefits as countries grow, but they are also a driver of development. Poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empowering women lead to greater investments in children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs bring together people from different ethnic and social backgrounds and provide alternatives to conflict. Jobs are thus more than a byproduct of economic growth. They are transformational–they are what we earn, what we do, and even who we are.
High unemployment and unmet job expectations among youth are the most immediate concerns. But in many developing countries, where farming and self-employment are prevalent and safety nets are modest are best, unemployment rates can be low. In these countries, growth is seldom jobless. Most of their poor work long hours but simply cannot make ends meet. And the violation of basic rights is not uncommon. Therefore, the number of jobs is not all that matters: jobs with high development payoffs are needed.
Confronted with these challenges, policy makers ask difficult questions. Should countries build their development strategies around growth, or should they focus on jobs? Can entrepreneurship be fostered, especially among the many microenterprises in developing countries, or are entrepreneurs born? Are greater investments in education and training a prerequisite for employability, or can skills be built through jobs? In times of major crises and structural shifts, should jobs, not just workers, be protected? And is there a risk that policies supporting job creation in one country will come at the expense of jobs in other countries?
The World Development Report 2013: Jobs offers answers to these and other difficult questions by looking at jobs as drivers of development—not as derived labor demand—and by considering all types of jobs–not just formal wage employment. The Report provides a framework that cuts across sectors and shows that the best policy responses vary across countries, depending on their levels of development, endowments, demography, and institutions. Policy fundamentals matter in all cases, as they enable a vibrant private sector, the source of most jobs in the world. Labor policies can help as well, even if they are less critical than is often assumed. Development policies, from making smallholder farming viable to fostering functional cities to engaging in global markets, hold the key to success.
The lives of women around the world have improved dramatically, at a pace and scope difficult to imagine even 25 years ago. Women have made unprecedented gains in rights, education, health, and ....
The lives of women around the world have improved dramatically, at a pace and scope difficult to imagine even 25 years ago. Women have made unprecedented gains in rights, education, health, and access to jobs and livelihoods. More countries than ever guarantee equal rights in property, marriage, and other domains. Gender gaps in primary schooling have closed in many countries, while in a third of all countries girls now outnumber boys in secondary school. And more young women than men attend universities in 60 countries. Women are using their education to participate more in the labor force: they now make up for 40 percent of the global labor force and 43 percent of its farmers. Moreover, women now live longer than men in every region of the world.
Despite the progress, gaps remain in many areas. Women are more likely to die—relative to males—in many low- and middle-income countries than their counterparts in rich countries—especially in childhood and during their reproductive years. Primary and secondary school enrollments for girls remain much lower than for boys in many Sub-Saharan African countries and some parts of South Asia, as well as among disadvantaged populations. Women are more likely than men to work as unpaid family laborers or in the informal sector, to farm smaller plots and grow less profitable crops, operate in smaller firms and less profitable sectors, and generally earn less. Women—especially poor women—have less say over decisions and less control over household resources. And in most countries, fewer women participate in formal politics than men and are underrepresented in the upper echelons.
The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that closing these persistent gender gaps matters. It matters because gender equality is a core development objective in its own right. But it is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative.
Building on a growing body of knowledge on the economics of gender equality and development, the Report identifies the areas where gender gaps are most significant—both intrinsically and in terms of their potential development payoff—and where growth alone cannot solve the issues. It then sets forth four priorities for public action:
Reducing excess female mortality and closing education gaps where they remain
Improving access to economic opportunities for women
Increasing women’s voice and agency in the household and in society
Limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations.
Policies need to focus on the underlying determinants of gender gaps in each priority area. In some priority areas—such as excess female mortality in infancy and early childhood as well as in the reproductive years— improving service delivery (especially of clean water and sanitation, and maternal care) is of primary importance. For other priority areas—such as gender gaps in earnings and productivity—policies need to tackle the multiple constraints that originate in the workings of markets and institutions to limit progress. Policy makers will need to prioritize these constraints and address them simultaneously or sequentially.
While domestic policies are central to reducing gender inequalities, development partners should focus on complementing these efforts in each of the four priority areas, and on supporting evidence-based public action through better data, evaluation, and learning. This will require a mix of more funding, efforts to foster innovation and learning, and broader partnerships. The funding should be directed particularly to supporting the poorest countries in reducing excess female mortality and gender gaps in education. Investments are needed to improve the availability of better gender-disaggregated data and support more experimentation and systematic evaluation. And the partnerships should involve the private sector, development agencies, and civil society organizations.
With more than 1.5 billion people living in countries affected by conflict, the World Development Report 2011 (WDR) looks into the changing nature of violence in the 21st century. Interstate and....
With more than 1.5 billion people living in countries affected by conflict, the World Development Report 2011 (WDR) looks into the changing nature of violence in the 21st century. Interstate and civil wars characterized violent conflict in the last century; more pronounced today is violence linked to local disputes, political repression, and organized crime. The Report underlines the negative impact of persistent conflict on a country’s or a region’s development prospects, and notes that no low-income, conflict-affected state has yet achieved a single Millennium Development Goal..
The risk of major violence is greatest when high levels of stress combine with weak and illegitimate national institutions. Societies are vulnerable when their institutions are unable to protect citizens from abuse, or to provide equitable access to justice and to economic opportunity. These vulnerabilities are exacerbated in countries with high youth unemployment, growing income inequality, and perceptible injustice. Externally driven events such as infiltration by foreign combatants, the presence of trafficking networks, or economic shocks add to the stresses that can provoke violence.
The WDR 2011 draws on the experiences of countries that have successfully managed to transition away from repetitive violence, pointing to a specific need to prioritize actions that build confidence between states and citizens, and develop institutions that can provide security, justice, and jobs. Government capacity is central, but technical competence alone is insufficient: institutions and programs must be accountable to their citizens if they are to acquire legitimacy. Impunity, corruption, and human rights abuses undermine confidence between states and citizens and increase the risks of violence. Building resilient institutions occurs in multiple transitions over a generation, and does not mean converging on Western institutional models..
The WDR 2011 draws together lessons from national reformers escaping from repetitive cycles of violence. It advocates a greater focus on continuous preventive action, balancing a sometimes excessive concentration on postconflict reconstruction. The Report is based on new research, case studies, and extensive consultations with leaders and other actors throughout the world. It proposes a toolkit of options for addressing violence that can be adapted to local contexts, as well as new directions for international policy intended to improve support for national reformers and to tackle stresses that emanate from global or regional trends beyond any one country’s control.
Today’s enormous development challenges are complicated by the reality of climate change—the two are inextricably linked and together demand immediate attention. Climate ch....
Today’s enormous development challenges are complicated by the reality of climate change—the two are inextricably linked and together demand immediate attention. Climate change threatens all countries, but particularly developing ones. Understanding what climate change means for development policy is the central aim of the World Development Report 2010. It explores how public policy can change to better help people cope with new or worsened risks, how land and water management must adapt to better protect a threatened natural environment while feeding an expanding and more prosperous population, and how energy systems will need to be transformed. The report is an urgent call for action, both for developing countries who are striving to ensure policies are adapted to the realities and dangers of a hotter planet, and for high-income countries who need to undertake ambitious mitigation while supporting developing countries efforts. A climate-smart world is within reach if we act now to tackle the substantial inertia in the climate, in infrastructure, and in behaviors and institutions; if we act together to reconcile needed growth with prudent and affordable development choices; and if we act differently by investing in the needed energy revolution and taking the steps required to adapt to a rapidly changing planet.
Places do well when they promote transformations along the dimensions of economic geography: higher densities as cities grow; shorter distances as workers and businesses migrate closer t....
Places do well when they promote transformations along the dimensions of economic geography: higher densities as cities grow; shorter distances as workers and businesses migrate closer to density; and fewer divisions as nations lower their economic borders and enter world markets to take advantage of scale and trade in specialized products. WDR 2009 argues that the three dimensions of transformation—density, distance, and division—are essential for development and should be encouraged.
The world’s demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vul....
The world’s demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. World Development Report 2008 seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especially development that favors the poor. It examines several broad questions: How has agriculture changed in developing countries in the past 20 years? What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture? Which new sources of agricultural growth can be captured cost effectively in particular in poor countries with large agricultural sectors as in Africa? How can agricultural growth be made more effective for poverty reduction? How can governments facilitate the transition of large populations out of agriculture, without simply transferring the burden of rural poverty to urban areas? How can the natural resource endowment for agriculture be protected? How can agriculture’s negative environmental effects be contained? This year’s report marks the 30th year the World Bank has been publishing the World Development Report.
The theme of the World Development Report (WDR) 2007 is youth, aged 12 to 24. It focuses on decisions concerning the five phases with the biggest long-term impact on how human capital is....
The theme of the World Development Report (WDR) 2007 is youth, aged 12 to 24. It focuses on decisions concerning the five phases with the biggest long-term impact on how human capital is kept safe, developed, and deployed. For each phase (continuing to learn, starting to work, developing a healthful lifestyle, beginning a family, and exercising citizenship) governments must increase investments directly and cultivate an environment for young people and their families to invest in themselves. The WDR suggests that a youth lens on policies affecting the five phases would help focus on three broad directions: expanding opportunities, enhancing capabilities, and providing second chances. Each pathway (opportunities, capabilities, and second chances) is applied to each of the transitions, generating reform suggestions. To mobilize the economic and political resources to stimulate such reforms, countries must resolve three issues: better coordination and integration with national policy, stronger voice, and more evaluation. In addition, the WDR examines both youth migration, and their increasing use of new technologies.
Inequality of opportunity, both within and among nations, sustains extreme deprivation, results in wasted human potential and often weakens prospects for overall prosperity and economic ....
Inequality of opportunity, both within and among nations, sustains extreme deprivation, results in wasted human potential and often weakens prospects for overall prosperity and economic growth, concludes the 2006 World Development Report. To correct this situation and reduce poverty more effectively, Equity and Development recommends ensuring more equitable access by the poor to health care, education, jobs, capital, and secure land rights, among others. It also calls for greater equality of access to political freedoms and political power, breaking down stereotyping and discrimination, and improving access by the poor to justice systems and infrastructure. To level the playing field among countries, and thereby reduce global inequities that hurt the poor in developing countries, the report calls for removal of trade barriers in rich countries, flexibility to allow greater in-migration of lower-skilled people from developing countries, and increased—and more effective—development assistance.
The WDR 2005 focuses on investment climate, and concludes that accelerating growth and poverty reduction required governments to reduce the policy risks, costs, and barriers to competiti....
The WDR 2005 focuses on investment climate, and concludes that accelerating growth and poverty reduction required governments to reduce the policy risks, costs, and barriers to competition facing firms of all. It highlights opportunities for governments to improve their investment climates by expanding the opportunities and incentives for firms of all types to invest productively, create jobs, and expand. The report's strong focus on the empirical reality of business's investment decisions, for both large and small firms, is serving well in terms of opening the eyes of policy makers to the reforms that need to be undertaken to spur investment and growth.
The WDR 2004 warns that broad improvements in human welfare would not occur unless poor people receive wider access to affordable and improved services in health, education, water, sanit....
The WDR 2004 warns that broad improvements in human welfare would not occur unless poor people receive wider access to affordable and improved services in health, education, water, sanitation, and electricity. It provides powerful examples of where services did work, showing how governments and citizens could do better. The on-going impact of the 2004 is four-fold. First, it has focused attention on the problem of service delivery, or public-expenditure efficiency more generally, as critical to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Second, the WDR 2004’s analytical framework has been applied in regional and operational activities, including two regional reports from the LAC and ECA regions, several programmatic operations in Africa and South Asia and in the country assistance strategy of Indonesia. Third, the WDR 2004’s discussion of using budget-support aid to improve service delivery has had an impact not just in the Bank, which was already moving in this direction, but also in other donor agencies, especially DFID. Finally, the WDR 2004 made a strong pitch for increasing impact evaluation of service-delivery innovations in order to learn what to scale-up. This has given a boost to the Bank’s increased use of impact evaluations.
The report examines the relationship between competing policy objectives – reducing poverty, maintaining growth, improving social cohesion, and protecting the environment –....
The report examines the relationship between competing policy objectives – reducing poverty, maintaining growth, improving social cohesion, and protecting the environment – over a 50-year horizon. It also notes that many good policies have been identified but not adopted or implemented, and traced this problem to distributional issues and institutional barriers (including institutional capture), reviewing institutional innovations that might help overcome these barriers. The WDR identifies three institutional characteristics to improve the provision of public goods. It also emphasizes that the burden of guaranteeing sustainable development must be shared locally, nationally, and globally.
The report moves towards a deeper understanding of market-supporting institutions and a better appreciation of how people could build such institutions. It presents four main lessons: de....
The report moves towards a deeper understanding of market-supporting institutions and a better appreciation of how people could build such institutions. It presents four main lessons: design these institutions to complement what exists (other supporting institutions, human capabilities, and available technologies); innovate to identify institutions that work, and drop those that do not; connect communities of market players through open information flows and open trade; and promote competition among jurisdictions, firms and individuals. The report advances the development agenda at a time when the development community was recognizing that policies alone were not sufficient to secure successful broad-based growth and poverty reduction. It provides lessons on the key elements of institution-building that are required for policy reforms to be effective. This WDR was the first to finance the simplification of business regulations project (which has gained wide currency). Finally, the WDR's focus on information and the media was influential.
At the start of a new century, poverty remains a global problem of huge proportions. The report argues nevertheless that major reductions in all the dimensions of poverty are indeed poss....
At the start of a new century, poverty remains a global problem of huge proportions. The report argues nevertheless that major reductions in all the dimensions of poverty are indeed possible. Actions are needed in three complementary areas: first, promoting economic opportunities for poor people through equitable growth, better access to markets, and expanded assets; second, facilitating empowerment by making state institutions more responsive to poor people and removing social barriers that exclude women, ethnic and racial groups, and the socially disadvantaged; finally, enhancing security by preventing and managing economywide shocks and providing mechanisms to reduce the sources of vulnerability that poor people face.
The report states that localization – the growing economic and political power of cities, provinces, and other sub-national entities – will be one of the most important new....
The report states that localization – the growing economic and political power of cities, provinces, and other sub-national entities – will be one of the most important new trends in the 21st century. Together with accelerating globalization of the world economy, localization could revolutionize prospects for human development or it could lead to chaos and increased human suffering, the report says. According to the WDR 1999/2000, improved communications, transportation and falling trade barriers are not only making the world smaller they are also fueling the desire and providing the means for local communities to shape their own future. Faced with popular demands for greater self-determination, national governments from Africa to Latin America, and from Europe to South East Asia are devolving power to the local level with mixed results.
The report analyzes the risks and opportunities that the global information revolution is creating for developing countries, and concludes that access to financial, technical, and medica....
The report analyzes the risks and opportunities that the global information revolution is creating for developing countries, and concludes that access to financial, technical, and medical knowledge is crucial to improving the health and living standards of the poor. The report focuses on two types of knowledge -- and two types of problems -- that are critical for developing countries: How-to knowledge, such as nutrition, birth control, engineering, or accounting. Typically, developing countries have less know-how than industrial countries, and poor people have less know-how than wealthier people. The report argues that closing these knowledge gaps-for example, through education, better phone systems, and openness to exchanges with foreign countries, including trade-can do much to help the world’s poorest people to improve their lives. Second, knowledge about attributes or characteristics, such as the quality of a product, diligence of a worker, or creditworthiness of a firm. The report describes this lack of knowledge as “information problems" and argues that this in turn leads to market failures, such as lenders’ refusal to offer loans to poor people, because of the difficulty in assessing their ability to repay.
The report is devoted to the role and effectiveness of the state: what it should do, how it should do it, and how it can improve in a rapidly changing world. Governments with both centra....
The report is devoted to the role and effectiveness of the state: what it should do, how it should do it, and how it can improve in a rapidly changing world. Governments with both centrally-planned and mixed economies are shrinking their market role because of failed state interventions. This report takes an oppositestance: that state’s role in the institutional environment underlying the economy, that is, its ability to enforce a rule of law to under p intransactions, is vital to making government contribute more effectively to development. It argues against reducing government to a minimalist state, explaining that development requires an effective state that plays a facilitator role in encouraging and complementing the activities of private businesses and individuals. The report presents a state reform framework strategy: First, focus the state’s activities to match its capabilities; and second, look for ways to improve the state’s capability by re-invigorating public institutions. Successful and unsuccessful examples of states and state reform provide illustrations.
This World Development Report examines the transition of countries with alternative systems of centrally planned economies back to a market orientation. These countries seceded from....
This World Development Report examines the transition of countries with alternative systems of centrally planned economies back to a market orientation. These countries seceded from the world market economy between 1917 and 1950 and now face a massive restructuring task. This transition goes beyond typical reforms because the change is deep and systemic, requiring the establishment of key market institutions. This report analyzes two sets of overarching questions. The first series focuses on the initial challenges of transition and how different countries have responded. It examines: (i) whether differences in transition policies and outcomes reflect different reform strategies, or whether they reflect primarily country-specific factors such as economic structure, the level of development, or the impact of simultaneous political changes; (ii) whether strong liberalization and stabilization policies are needed up front, or if other reforms can progress equally well without them; (iii) whether privatization is necessary early in the reform process or at all; and (iv) whether there has to be a gulf between winners and losers from transition. The second set of questions looks beyond these challenges to the longer-term agenda of consolidating the reforms by developing the institutions and policies that will help the new market system to flourish. It focuses on: (i) how countries in transition should develop and strengthen the rule of law and control corruption and organized crime; (ii) how they can build effective financial systems; (iii) how governments should restructure themselves to meet the needs of a market system; (iv) how countries can preserve and adapt their human skills base; (v) why international integration is so vital for transition, and what the implications are for trading partners and capital flows; and (vi) how external assistance can best support countries in transition.
This eighteenth annual report assesses what a more market-driven and integrated world means for workers. It asks which development strategies best address workers’ needs, and....
This eighteenth annual report assesses what a more market-driven and integrated world means for workers. It asks which development strategies best address workers’ needs, and what domestic labor market policies can do to establish a more equitable distribution of income, greater job security, and higher workplace standards, while preserving and indeed enhancing the efficiency of labor markets. The report concludes that global integration holds out the prospect of tremendous future gains for the world’s work force - but no guarantees. Sound domestic and international policies are indispensable for realizing the promise of a prosperous, integrated global workplace. Policies that rely on markets while avoiding or correcting market failures, that invest in people, that provide a supportive environment for family farms as well as emerging industrial and service sectors - all these are good for workers. Governments continue to exercise important functions: building and maintaining the social framework within which workers, unions, and firms interact to set wages and working conditions; supporting workers who are hurt when industries or whole economies suffer major shocks; and defending the rights of the most vulnerable workers, whether they be child laborers victimized by exploitation, or women or ethnic minorities suffering from discrimination. In those economies that are less prepared to face global competition—in particular, those emerging from central planning—public action has a particularly important role in promoting labor mobility, easing the cost of transition, and reaching those left out.
World Development Report 1994 examines the link between infrastructure and development and explores ways in which developing countries can improve both the provision and the quality....
World Development Report 1994 examines the link between infrastructure and development and explores ways in which developing countries can improve both the provision and the quality of infrastructure services. In recent decades, developing countries have made substantial investments in infrastructure, achieving dramatic gains for households and producers by expanding their access to services such as safe water, sanitation, electric power, telecommunications, and transport. Even more infrastructure investment and expansion are needed in order to extend the reach of services - especially to people living in rural areas and to the poor. But as this report shows, the quantity of investment cannot be the exclusive focus of policy. Improving the quality of infrastructure service also is vital. Both quantity and quality improvements are essential to modernize and diversify production, help countries compete internationally, and accommodate rapid urbanization. The report identifies the basic cause of poor past performance as inadequate institutional incentives for improving the provision of infrastructure. To promote more efficient and responsive service delivery, incentives need to be changed through commercial management, competition, and user involvement. Several trends are helping to improve the performance of infrastructure. First, innovation in technology and in the regulatory management of markets makes more diversity possible in the supply of services. Second, an evaluation of the role of government is leading to a shift from direct government provision of services to increasing private sector provision and recent experience in many countries with public-private partnerships is highlighting new ways to increase efficiency and expand services. Third, increased concern about social and environmental sustainability has heightened public interest in infrastructure design and performance.
This report examines the interplay between human health, health policy and economic development. Because good health increases the economic productivity of individuals and the economic g....
This report examines the interplay between human health, health policy and economic development. Because good health increases the economic productivity of individuals and the economic growth rate of countries, investing in health is one means of accelerating development. More important, good health is a goal in itself. During the past forty years life expectancy in the developing world has risen and child mortality has decreased, sometimes dramatically. But progress is only one side of the picture. The toll from childhood and tropical diseases remains high even as new problems—including AIDS and the diseases of aging populations—appear on the scene. And all countries are struggling with the problems of controlling health expenditures and making health care accessible to the broad population. This report examines the controversial questions surrounding health care and health policy. Its findings are based in large part on innovative research, including estimation of the global burden of disease and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. These assessments can help in setting priorities for health spending. The report advocates a threefold approach to health policy for governments in developing countries and in the formerly socialist countries. First, to foster an economic environment that will enable households to improve their own health. Policies for economic growth that ensure income gains for the poor are essential. So, too, is expanded investment in schooling, particularly for girls. Second, redirect government spending away from specialized care and toward such low-cost and highly effective activities such as immunization, programs to combat micronutrient deficiencies, and control and treatment of infectious diseases. By adopting the packages of public health measures and essential clinical care described in the report, developing countries could reduce their burden of disease by 25 percent. Third, encourage greater diversity and competition in the provision of health services by decentralizing government services, promoting competitive procurement practices, fostering greater involvement by nongovernmental and other private organizations, and regulating insurance markets. These reforms could translate into longer, healthier, and more productive lives for people around the world, and especially for the more than 1 billion poor.
The World Development Report 1992 explores the links between economic development and the environment. The 1990 report on poverty, 1991 report on development strategies, and this report c....
The World Development Report 1992 explores the links between economic development and the environment. The 1990 report on poverty, 1991 report on development strategies, and this report constitute a trilogy on the goals and means of development. The main message of this year’s report is the need to integrate environmental considerations into development policy making. The report argues that continued, and even accelerated, economic and human development is sustainable and can be consistent with improving environmental conditions, but that this will require major policy, program, and institutional shifts. A twofold strategy is required. First, the positive links between efficient income growth and the environment need to be aggressively exploited. Second, strong policies and institutions need to be put in place which cause decision makers to adopt less damaging forms of behavior. Where trade offs exist between income growth and environmental quality, the report argues for a careful assessment of the costs and benefits of alternative policies. This approach will result in much less environmental damage.
This report synthesizes and interprets the lessons of more than forty years of development experience. Together with last year’s report on poverty and next year’s on t....
This report synthesizes and interprets the lessons of more than forty years of development experience. Together with last year’s report on poverty and next year’s on the environment, it seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the development agenda. The 1990s began with dramatic changes, as many countries in Eastern Europe and elsewhere initiated ambitious reforms of their economic and political systems. Against the backdrop of these transitions, this report links the historical debates that counseled policymakers in their past decisions, the lessons of experience, and the evolving thought on how best to proceed. One of the most valuable lessons relates to the interaction between the state and the market in fostering development. It describes a market-friendly approach in which governments allow markets to function well, and in which governments concentrate their interventions on areas in which markets prove inadequate. The report looks at four main aspects of the relationship between governments and markets: (a) investing in people; (b) the climate for enterprises to flourish; (c) the integration of countries with the global economy; and (d) a stable macroeconomic foundation for sustained progress. The report stresses that, above all, the future of developing countries is in their own hands. Domestic policies and institutions hold the key to successful development.
This report is about the poor. It is thus about the fundamental issue in economic development: the eradication of poverty from the world. The report defines poverty in broad terms, ....
This report is about the poor. It is thus about the fundamental issue in economic development: the eradication of poverty from the world. The report defines poverty in broad terms, to include literacy, nutrition, and health, as well as income. The evidence suggests that rapid and politically sustainable progress on poverty has been achieved by pursuing a strategy with two equally important elements. The first is to promote the efficient use of the poor’s most abundant asset: labor. It calls for policies that harness market incentives, social and political institutions, infrastructure and technology. The second element is the provision of basic social services to the poor (e.g. primary health care, family planning, nutrition, and primary education). The report concludes that eliminating poverty altogether is not a realistic goal for the 1990s, but that reducing it greatly is entirely possible. Using plausible assumptions about the global economic environment, and with some policy improvements, the report projects a fall of one third in the number of people in poverty by the year 2000.
Economic growth rates among the developing countries have varied considerably. The external environment has had an adverse impact on growth, but domestic policies have been more importan....
Economic growth rates among the developing countries have varied considerably. The external environment has had an adverse impact on growth, but domestic policies have been more important. Countries striving to adjust their economies have had considerable success reducing external imbalances but less success with internal balance. In the absence of large inflows of foreign capital, countries will need to rely on the mobilization of domestic financial resources. The structure of a country’s financial system reflects its economic philosophy; the present financial structure of many developing countries reflects their approach to development in the 1960s and 1970s, an approach that emphasized government intervention in the economy. Today many countries are revising their approach to rely more heavily on the private sector. For the financial sector, this implies a smaller role for government in the allocation of credit, determination of interest rates, and the daily decisionmaking of financial intermediation. Relaxation of these controls calls for an effective system of prudent regulation and supervision. Hence while the objective is an open market, countries should not remove all capital controls until other economic and financial reforms are in place.
Part I reviews recent trends in the world economy and their implications for the future prospects of developing countries. Part II examines the role of public finance in devel....
Part I reviews recent trends in the world economy and their implications for the future prospects of developing countries. Part II examines the role of public finance in development. Despite continued economic growth through 1987 and into 1988, two problems have characterized recent trends: unsustainable economic imbalances within and among industrial countries, and highly uneven economic growth among developing countries. Part I of the report concludes that three interdependent policy challenges need to be addressed. First, industrial countries need to reduce their external payments imbalances. Second, developing countries need to continue restructuring their domestic economic policies in order to gain creditworthiness and growth. Third, net resource transfers, external debt, from the developing countries must be trimmed so that investment and growth can resume. Part II of the report explores how public finance policies are best designed and implemented. How deficits are reduced is crucial: controlling costs in mobilizing revenues and setting careful priorities in public spending are equally important. Efficiency in providing public services and expanding the scope for raising revenue can be achieved through decentralizing decisionmaking and reforming state-owned enterprises with the latter permitting greater private participation.
Part I reviews recent trends in the world economy and their implications for the future prospects of developing countries. It stresses that better economic performance is poss....
Part I reviews recent trends in the world economy and their implications for the future prospects of developing countries. It stresses that better economic performance is possible in both industrial and developing countries, provided the commitment to economic policy reforms is maintained and reinforced. In regard to the external debt issues, the report argues for strengthened cooperation among industrial countries in the sphere of macroeconomic policy to promote smooth adjustment to the imbalances caused by external payments (in developing countries). Part II reviews and evaluates the varied experience with government policies in support of industrialization. Emphasis is placed on policies which affect both the efficiency and sustainability of industrial transformation, especially in the sphere of foreign trade. The report finds that developing countries which followed policies that promoted the integration of their industrial sector into the international economy through trade have fared better than those which insulated themselves from international competition.
The world economy is entering its fourth year of growth since the recession of 1982. Yet the recovery is hesitant with many developing countries facing serious problems of adjustmen....
The world economy is entering its fourth year of growth since the recession of 1982. Yet the recovery is hesitant with many developing countries facing serious problems of adjustment. The recent decline in oil prices, interest rates, and inflation will provide a stimulus to developed and developing countries alike. But many debtor countries, particularly oil exporters, will find it hard to maintain growth in the near term. The effects of the recovery have been much weaker for many low-income Sub-Saharan countries. Part I of the report explores the policies required to restore growth in the developing world. It stresses the importance of developed countries maintaining the policies that have both reduced inflation and moderated distortions in their markets. Of concern however is the increase in international trade restrictions, if countries are to attain sustainable growth, the reform of domestic institutions must be accompanied by an effort towards international freer trade. Part 2 suggests that the gradual liberalization of trade should be a high priority for international action in agriculture. An examination of the policy options in developing countries suggests that economic stability and growth could be greatly enhanced by focusing on improved pricing and trade policies.
This report focuses on the contribution that international capital makes to economic development. While the report pays close attention to the events of the recent past, it also pla....
This report focuses on the contribution that international capital makes to economic development. While the report pays close attention to the events of the recent past, it also places the use of foreign capital in a broader and longer-term perspective. Using such a perspective, the report shows how countries at different stages of development have used external finance productively; how the institutional and policy environment affects the volume and composition of financial flows to developing countries; and how the international community has dealt with financial crises. This report concludes that the developing countries will have a continuing need for external finance. It demonstrates that many of the policies required to attract external finance and promote economic growth are either being implemented or planned already.
Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this report. The first part looks at economic performance, past and prospective. Th....
Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this report. The first part looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.
This report reviews trends in the international economy and their implications for the developing countries with a special focus on the management and institutional aspects of devel....
This report reviews trends in the international economy and their implications for the developing countries with a special focus on the management and institutional aspects of development. The early recovery in the world economy foreseen in last year’s World Development Report did not materialize. The recession has lasted longer than expected and has set back global development more decisively than at any time since the Great Depression. The indications of an upturn are now firmer, but the international financial system remains severely strained and protectionism continues to be an ominous threat. This report reviews how alternative policies may affect the future prospects for recovery. It concludes that the present financial crisis is manageable, provided concerted efforts are made both nationally and internationally. It is essential for the industrial countries to maintain the momentum of their recovery, to promote freer trade, and to ensure growth in capital flows. Equally important, developing countries must for their part continue their efforts to adjust their economies to the new external circumstances and thereby regain the confidence of their creditors.
This report reviews development prospects in the international economy and supplements the extensive discussion of adjustment issues in the 1981 WDR. It finds that, although interna....
This report reviews development prospects in the international economy and supplements the extensive discussion of adjustment issues in the 1981 WDR. It finds that, although international prospects have worsened over the past year, during the remainder of the decade the middle-income countries should be able to continue narrowing the income gap between themselves and the industrial countries. The prospects for many of the low-income countries, however, remain a matter of grave concern. The report concentrates on agriculture, which remains the chief source of income for close to two-thirds of the population in developing countries and for the vast majority of the world’s poor. Informing the discussion is the experience gained by the World Bank in helping to finance some 800 agricultural and rural development projects in more than 70 countries - experience supported by its broad, intensive programs of economic, scientific, and social research.
Adjustment, global and national, to promote sustainable growth in the changing world economy is the main theme of this report. Recession and inflation in the industrial countries, togeth....
Adjustment, global and national, to promote sustainable growth in the changing world economy is the main theme of this report. Recession and inflation in the industrial countries, together with the rise in oil prices, have been the main forces at work in the world economy in the 1970s. The report examines their effect on developing countries to see how adjustment has been managed and what lessons may be learned for the 1980s. Adjustment occurs through international trade and capital flows and through changes in national production and consumption patterns. The earlier chapters of the report present global and regional projections for the 1980s and consider international aspects of adjustment in trade, energy and finance. It then turns to adjustment problems of different groups of developing countries and a consideration of the prospects for human development.
Developing countries start the decade facing two major challenges: to continue the social and economic progress of the past 30 years in an international climate that looks less helpful; ....
Developing countries start the decade facing two major challenges: to continue the social and economic progress of the past 30 years in an international climate that looks less helpful; and to tackle the plight of the 800 million people living in absolute poverty, who have benefited too little from past progress. This report examines some of the difficulties and prospects in both areas. One of its central themes is the importance of people in development. The first part addresses the expected sluggish world economic growth as oil-importing countries reduce their current account deficits and adapt to higher energy costs. Domestic policies of developing countries will be crucial, and the fate of poor people in these countries will be decided largely by domestic opportunities and policies. The second part describes the role of human development programs (in education, health, nutrition, and fertility reduction) and their related effects on productivity and population growth.
Structural transformation is particularly important for middle income countries. In dealing with the appropriate policies to be associated with structural changes, this report analyzes t....
Structural transformation is particularly important for middle income countries. In dealing with the appropriate policies to be associated with structural changes, this report analyzes the processes of industrialization, urbanization, and the sectoral deployment of labor. The challenges identified, analyzed, and presented for consideration are: (i) creation of job opportunities for an additional half billion people that will join the labor force in the developing countries by 2000; (ii) accommodation of an additional one billion people in the same time perspective in the urban areas of the developing countries in socially acceptable and economically productive conditions; (iii) creation of an international trade environment that is supportive of the development efforts; and (iv) significant steps to the elimination of absolute poverty.
This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to t....
This first report deals with some of the major development issues confronting the developing countries and explores the relationship of the major trends in the international economy to them. It is designed to help clarify some of the linkages between the international economy and domestic strategies in the developing countries against the background of growing interdependence and increasing complexity in the world economy. It assesses the prospects for progress in accelerating growth and alleviating poverty, and identifies some of the major policy issues which will affect these prospects.
