"We use a recently constructed cross-country data set on absolute poverty to examine whether there is regional and sectoral variation in the relationship between poverty and economic growth. We find that the povertygrowth linkage is strongest in East Asia and that this linkage is essentially...

"This research study examines how the Thai central government can finance decentralization and make local governments accountable for their own finances. The Thai government's medium-term fiscal stance is not conducive to planned fiscal decentralization, and local governments will not...

"This study examines the role of infrastructure development and technical change in explaining increases in agricultural production and changes in land use in the Mekong Delta Region of Viet Nam during the mid-1990s. The study relies on econometric analysis of household-level longitudinal farm...

"The paper identifies a set of core concepts that reflect key "political economy" factors shaping the policy reform process that can assist in guiding the policy-based lending (PBL) design process. It discusses the recurring themes that constrain the effectiveness of PBL, reviews from a...

"Developing countries, in particular the least developed ones, probably have more to learn from social policies in Europe during the early 20th century than from the elaborate welfare-state arrangements after World War II. In addition to macroeconomic growth and stability, the main ambitions...

The extent and seriousness of poverty vary markedly across Asian developing countries, and so does the rate at which poverty has changed over time. In addition, there are large intercountry differences in the extent to which social services, especially health and education, reach the poor. There...