Uncertainty in project planning and appraisal is still topical in the World Bank and other lending and development agencies although it is certainly not a new issue. It is appropriate to reconsider the issue now because more than a decade of active research on risk analysis has transpired...

Incorporating risk assessment into public project appraisal makes sense when project risk is significantly correlated with uncertainty about national income. It is especially important in countries that specialize in particular agricultural or resource sectors. This report presents the following...

What makes one school more effective than another - particularly which inputs and management practices most efficiently enhance student achievement - has become the center of lively debate in the literature. Which method to use to compare school effects particularly concerns analysts. The model...

This report is an attempt to develop a method for projecting mortality trends in all countries into the future, both over the short term (for one or two decades) and over the long term (for one or two centuries). Two indicators are the focus of this exercise: life expectancy at birth and the...

The Israeli stabilization program of 1985 is generally considered one of the most successful such programs in years. Under it, the inflation rate plummeted from about 400 percent a year to about 15-20 percent a year. This paper examines how stabilization affected other key economic variables...

Very little is known about the actual impact of projects on the poor. Many are reluctant to carry out impact evaluations because they are deemed expensive, time consuming, and technically complex, and because the findings can be politically sensitive. Yet a rigorous evaluation can be powerful in...

In this note work from the end of 2001 to August 2002 is updated in an attempt to disentangle potential contagion and spillover effects of the Argentine crisis from other sources of co-movement or market volatility. We also examine the evidence on FDI flows, inquiring about potentially more...

In 2000 the World Bank made a corporate commitment to organize a small states Forum each year in the context of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings. The forum is intended to raise the profile of small states issues and provide an opportunity for small state...

Earthquakes, floods, drought, and other natural hazards cause tens of thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries, and billions of dollars in economic losses each year around the world. Many billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance, emergency loans, and development aid are...