The growth of regional trading blocks is now a major feature of international relations. This book examines regionalism from the viewpoint of developing countries, and provides a comprehensive account of existing economic theory, and empirical results. In a thorough analysis of the politics, and...

Women now account for nearly half of all international migration. Theoretical and empirical models that omit gendered determinants and impacts of migration are missing key elements of the story. Women's roles in destination labor markets and in remittance flows-to cite just two examples-are...

Knowledge of the economic effects of migration, especially its impact on economic development, is rather limited. In order to expand knowledge on migration, and identify policies and reforms that would lead to superior development outcomes, this volume presents the results of a first set of...

This volume reflects the expansion of the World Bank Research Program on International Migration and Development into new substantive and geographic areas. It presents a new global migration database and includes studies of the determinants and impact of return and circular migration, the impact...

From its creation in the 1990s, the Chilean monitoring and evaluation (M and E) system has represented a substantial part of the effort to improve the use of Chile's public resources within a broader context of multiple initiatives designed to modernize and improve public management in many...

Events of the past decade have underscored the vital need for social safety net (SSN) programs in all countries, especially in times of crisis. Many countries have some form of targeted SSN program, especially in high- and middle-income countries, but SSNs are increasingly spreading to the...

A series of global initiatives have been launched over the last decade by the international community to accelerate progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals. These initiatives entailed commitments to provide more aid and efforts to strengthen aid effectiveness. They culminated in...

The way countries finance health care influences how well a health system performs and achieves its expected outcomes, including how equitable and efficient it is. Countries decide how to mobilize revenues from different sources for financing health care, how to pool revenues in public and...

The aim of this report is to inform the design and the implementation of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA's) new Strategic Directions FY12-14 by drawing lessons from recent experience with one of the main pillars of the MIGA, financial sector guarantees, the fastest growing...

This second report of a two-phase evaluation of the World Bank Groupapos;s unprecedented response to the 2008-09 global economic crisis addresses questions raised by the findings of the first phase evaluation regarding the Bankapos;s crisis lending in the financial, fiscal, and social protection...