The importance of transport corridors for trade and development, including for some of the poorest countries in the world, is widely recognized in this book. A new consensus has also emerged that reducing trade costs and improving access to corridors is not just a matter of building...

The little data book 2009 is a pocket edition of World Development Indicators (WDI) 2009. It is intended as a quick reference for users of the WDI 2009 book and CD-ROM and WDI online, and electronic subscription database. Together, they cover more than 800 indicators and span more than 40 years....

The report has four main parts. In the first, the commission reviews the 13 economies that have sustained, high growth in the postwar period. Their growth models had some common flavors: the strategic integration with the world economy; the mobility of resources, particularly labor; the high...

Women's contributions to poverty reduction, economic growth, and private sector development are increasingly recognized globally. A growing amount of research demonstrates the link between women's empowerment and societal well-being. Yet research also indicates that woman's economic...

Does the content of what economies export matter for development? And, if it does, can governments improve on the export basket that the market generates through the shaping of industrial policy? This book considers these questions by reviewing relevant literature and taking stock of what is...

The World Bank Group recognizes the critical importance of women's contribution to shared economic growth, especially in Africa. Women's important contribution to economic activity in Tanzania is well recognized: In the 2006 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap report Tanzania was ranked...

Urban growth throughout the developing world has created a challenge for financing infrastructure. Investment in infrastructure is needed to provide basic services for newly developed parts of urban areas. It is needed to meet the demand for a safer and more reliable water supply, higher...

This book develops a comparative institutional framework for responsive, responsible, and accountable governance in developing countries. It provides a synthesis of analytical literature on local governance. It traces the historical evolution of local governance and presents a stylized view of...

In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Armenia, like other former Soviet republics, began to struggle with the implications of its newfound independence. In the electricity sector, this meant learning how to manage and sustain a fragment of a system that had never been designed to function...

The 2005 Annual Report on Operations Evaluation (AROE) focuses on the country because it is the main unit of account for monitoring, managing, and evaluating performance. It examines Country Assistance Strategies (CASs) for how well they link country goals, CAS outcomes, and Bank programming. It...