The publication of this year's Africa Competitiveness Report 2007 (ACR) marks a new level of cooperation in Africa. It is the first report on the region's business environment to present a dual perspective based on a combination of aggregate perception data and firm-level data capturing the...

Protection of sound management of coastal and marine areas is acknowledged as important mechanisms for alleviating poverty in the developing tropics. Tanzania has had considerable practical experience with a diversity of models that rely on private sector partnerships, community co-management...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a challenge the global community has set for itself. They are a challenge to poor countries to demonstrate good governance and a commitment to poverty reduction. And they are a challenge to wealthy countries to make good on their promise to support...

A main goal of this study is to determine the variables responsible for the lower formality of women-owned businesses. The companion study (the World Bank 2007a) shows that Bolivia's informal sector is the largest in Latin America by many definitions and measures. It also provides a rationale...

The first part of the report presents stylized facts of youth and labor markets in Africa. The second part discusses past youth employment interventions in the region. It argues for the need of an integrated approach should governments want to tackle youth employment issues in a sustainable...

The global financial crisis, the most severe since the great depression, is rapidly turning into a human and development crisis. The financial crisis originated in the developed world, but it has spread quickly and inexorably to the developing world, sparing no country. Increasingly it appears...

What is the human cost of the global economic crisis? How many people will the crisis prevent from escaping poverty, and how many will remain hungry? How many more infants will die? Are children being pulled out of schools, not getting the education they need to become more productive adults and...

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 report the findings and outcomes of the three joint UNESCO/World Bank missions to Guyana, Jamaica, and St. Lucia, and elaborates on next steps identified for action at both national and regional levels. The report also sets these findings and next steps within the broader context of the...

World Development Indicators 2012 is a compilation of relevant, high-quality, and internationally comparable statistics about development and the quality of people's lives. Organized around six themes, world view, people, the environment, the economy, states and markets, and global links, it...