Gelb, A.: China's reforms in the wider context of transition. - S. 1-15. Sinton, J. E. ; Fridley, D. G. ; Dorian, J.: China's energy future. The role of energy in sustaining growth. - S. 17-43. Swaine, M. D.: Chinese military modernitation. - S. 45-65. Banister, J.: China: population dynamics...

Oil and other mineral rents are, in most countries, owned by producing states on behalf of their citizens. The paper focuses on three questions. First, how should countries take into account the great uncertainty over future export prices in planning their spending programs? Second, how should...

International Development Association (IDA) donors and others operating a country performance-based allocation system face two difficult problems: how to strengthen incentives to produce and document development results and how to increase flexibility for fragile states. Fragile states have the...

Emerging market countries require substantial foreign investment for development, economic growth,and poverty alleviation. There are multiple challenges to attracting this investment, however, ranging from political and economic instability to corruption, poor security, and small market size. An...

Robust personal identification (ID) systems are critical to the success of many development programs. Regardless of the methods used, official ID for all - together with the legal, political, and economic rights it confers - is becoming a priority for governments around the world. Legal ID is on...

Findings reports on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region. This issued focuses on the new aid architecture and how aid coming in now has development objectives where as in the past it was often guided by...

In the study "Can Africa claim the 21st century?" the author argues on the enormous unexploited potential the region has in its people, "a hidden growth reserve" as he refers to them, and, most importantly in its women, who now provide more than half the region's labor, but who lack equal access...

Evidence is mounting that the pattern of overseas aid through time, of which its volatility (or instability) is a key dimension, has an important influence on its effectiveness. The three papers in this special section examine the extent of this influence, and how it may be possible to control...

We explore ways of mitigating the costs of aid volatility: in particular, we show that these can be dramatically reduced by a flexible pre-commitment rule which adjusts flows in the case of drastic improvements or deteriorations in country performance ratings. Such a system can further reduce...