The overarching theme of the book is development in a land of contrasts. There have been large economic, social, and political changes. The mass of society is far more expressive and politically involved today. In 1945, the country had 7.4 million voters, about 11 percent of the population....

The book presents estimates of total wealth for nearly 120 countries, using economic theory to decompose the wealth of a nation into its component pieces: produced capital, natural resources and human resources. The wealth estimates aims to provide a unique opportunity to look at economic...

This book identifies key investment climate bottlenecks that slow down growth and poverty reduction. Based on face-to-face surveys of owners and managers of firms, combined with extensive dataset analysis, backed by secondary sources, the study analyses the critical factors that influence...

This book identifies key investment climate bottlenecks that slow down growth and poverty reduction. Based on face-to-face surveys of owners and managers of firms, combined with extensive dataset analysis, backed by secondary sources, the study analyses the critical factors that influence...

Political risk is a top concern for corporate foreign investors from industrialized but also developing countries when venturing into emerging markets. At the same time, these investors maintain a positive outlook on economic and business prospects in the developing world, which is expected to...

The little data book on private sector development 2011 is based on world development indicators 2011 and it's accompanying CD-ROM, with a focus on the private sector in development. Access to reliable cross-country data on private sector development is crucial when formulating responses to...

This book is organized as follows: this first chapter examines the pattern of structural transformation in Middle East and North Africa, or MENA and summarizes the role of various factors examined thoroughly in the rest of the volume. This second chapter examines the correlates of this overall...

This evaluation assesses the performance of International Finance Corporations (IFC's) energy efficiency finance program in China aimed at stimulating energy efficiency investments through bank guarantees and technical assistance. The program's significance is underpinned by the fact that...

Countries heavily dependent on imported oil to power a significant portion of their electricity generation are especially vulnerable to high and volatile oil prices. In net oil-importing countries worldwide, high and volatile oil prices ripple through the power sector to numerous segments of the...

The objective of the South Africa Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in South Africa in all its operational dimensions and to promote policies to strengthen the private sector. The investment climate is made up of the many location-specific factors that...