During recent years, many Latin American countries have undergone significant reforms. The economic systems that emerged in the 1930s, stifled by heavy government intervention and protectionism, have given way to new ones based on market orientation, openness, and competition. This study provides a thorough analytical review of the events that led to the transformation of these economies during the past decade. The author analyzes economic developments from the debt crisis of 1982 to the stabilization programs of the late 1980s. The evolution of social conditions in the region, including poverty and inequality, is examined in detail. Key topics addressed include the sequencing of reform, the speed of trade liberalization, alternative modes of privatizing state-owned enterprises, the effectiveness of exchange rates as nominal anchors, and the use of emergency social funds as a way of providing a social safety net during the transition. The author concludes with a look at the implications of the recent Mexican currency crisis for the region and an evaluation of Latin America's challenges for the future.

Crisis and Reform in Latin America: From Despair to Hope (A World Bank Publication)

Business & Money

Edwards, Sebastián

USA, Oxford University Press

Economics

World Bank Publications

The information revolution makes understanding knowledge and development more urgent than before. New communication technologies and plummeting computing costs are transforming distance and eroding borders and time, but the fact remains that people still lack basic, life-saving knowledge because simple information does not flow as readily as one would hope. This year's Report, the twenty-first in this annual series, examines the role of knowledge in advancing economic and social well being. It proposes that we step back from the familiar problems of development and consider them from a fresh, new perspective: the perspective of knowledge. In studying these issues, the Report considers two sorts of knowledge: how-to knowledge (farming, health or accounting) and knowledge about attributes (the quality of a product, credibility of a borrower, or the diligence of an employee). The Report suggests three lessons that are particularly important to the welfare of the billions of people living in developing countries. First, developing countries must institute policies that will enable them to narrow the knowledge gaps that separate poor countries from rich countries. Second, developing country governments, multilateral institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector must work together to strengthen the institutions needed to address information problems. Finally, no matter how effective these endeavors are, problems with knowledge will persist, but by recognizing that knowledge is at the core of all our development effort, unexpected solutions to seemingly intractable problems will be discovered.

World Development Report 1998/99: Knowledge for Development

World Bank

With increasing assistance from the World Bank and other donors, microfinance is emerging as an instrument for reducing poverty and improving the poor's access to financial services in low-income countries. Providing the poor with access to financial services is one of many ways to help increase their incomes and productivity. In many countries, however, traditional financial institutions have failed to provide this service. Microcredit and cooperative programs fill this gap. They provide credit through social mechanisms such as group-based lending to reach the poor and other clients, including women, who lack access to formal financial institutions. Their purpose is to help the poor become self-employed and thus escape poverty. This book examines the experiences of the Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, and the Bangladesh Rural Development Board's Rural Development Project-12 in order to quantify the potential and limitations of microcredit programs as an instrument for reducing poverty and delivering financial services to the poor. A copublication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press.

Fighting Poverty with Microcredit: Experience in Bangladesh (World Bank Publication)

Khandker, Shahidur

'Some people may believe that crises are an inevitable feature of the capitalist system. Others hold that exchange-rate crises will vanish as more and more countries adopt floating exchange rates... But, some of us believe that crises can be avoided or at least limited by good economic management, and that having a reasonable idea of where the equilibrium exchange rate lies is an essential requirement for good macro management...' - John Williamson, Chief Economist, South Asia Region, World Bank 'Exchange Rate Misalignment' provides a comprehensive treatment of the conceptual and empirical issues concerning measuring exchange rate misalignment in developing countries. The report hopes to provide policymakers and their advisors with a compendium of practical techniques for estimating equilibrium real exchange rates. The book analyzes, in detail, four methodologies for the empirical estimation of the long-run equilibrium real exchange rate. The findings of the report include: -- An assessment of alternative empirical measures of the internal and external real exchange rates. -- An up-to-date survey of the literature on estimating equilibrium exchange rates in both industrial and developing countries. -- A detailed presentation of currently available methodologies for empirically estimating the equilibrium exchange rate in developing countries. The analytical depth and practical techniques provided in 'Exchange Rate Misalignment' make this book an invaluable resource for policymakers and foreign exchange specialists in the public and private sector. Published by Oxford University Press for the World Bank.

Exchange Rate Misalignment: Concepts and Measurement for Developing Countries

Montiel, Peter J.

Hinkle, Lawrence E.

World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty (World Bank Development Report)

At the start of a new century, poverty remains a global problem of huge proportions. Of the world's 6 billion people, 2.8 billion live on less than $2 a day and 1.2 billion on less than $1 a day. Eight out of 100 infants do not live to see their 5th birthday. Nine of 100 boys and 14 of 100 girls who reach school age do not attend school. Poverty is also evident in poor people's lack of political power and voice and in their vulnerability to ill health, economic dislocation, personal violence and natural disasters. The scourge of HIV/AIDS, the frequency and brutality of civil conflicts, and rising disparities between rich countries and the developing world have increased the sense of deprivation and injustice for many. 'World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty' (which follows 2 other 'World Development Reports' on poverty, in 1980 and 1990) argues that major reductions in all these dimensions of poverty are indeed possible―that the interaction of markets, state institutions, and civil societies can harness the forces of economic integration and technological change to serve the interests of poor people and increase their share of society's prosperity. Actions are needed in 3 complementary areas: promoting economic opportunities for poor people through equitable growth, better access to markets, and expanded assets; facilitating empowerment by making state institutions more responsive to poor people and removing social barriers that exclude women, ethnic and racial groups, and the socially disadvantaged; and enhancing security by preventing and managing economywide shocks and providing mechanisms to reduce the sources of vulnerability that poor people face. But actions by countries and communities will not be enough. Global actions need to complement national and local initiatives to achieve maximum benefit for poor people throughout the world. A copublication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press.

World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty

Governments often expect more from their vocation education and training (VET) systems than the systems have been able to provide. These high expectations have resulted in heavy government involvement in VET. However, the exaggerated expectations and overly involved governments appear to be responsible for the disappointments that have plagued VET in many countries. Some countries are now realizing that demands from the VET systems may have been unrealistic and that the government's heavy involvement may be unnecessary. Based on the experiences of countries worldwide, 'Vocational Education and Training Reform' examines the constraints they face in implementing VET and related policies; analyzes how some countries have successfully implemented reforms; and evaluates VET reforms in central and eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and other countries in transition to a market economy, such as China. This book is a joint production of the World Bank and the International Labour Office.

Vocational Education and Training Reform: Matching Skills to Markets and Budgets

Job Hunting & Careers

This updated edition of 'Confronting AIDS' includes a vital, new statistical appendix that assembles information about the levels and determinants of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and selected policy variables for low- and middle-income countries. It draws on three bodies of knowledge: the epidemiology of HIV; public health insights into disease control; and especially public economics, which focuses on assessing tradeoffs in the allocation of scarce public resources. This title is written to inform and motivate political leaders, policymakers, and development specialists to support the public health community, concerned civil society, and people living with HIV in dealing with this devastating disease.

Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global Epidemic (Policy Research Reports)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

With contributions from 35 leading economists, this forward-looking book explores the future of development economics against the background of the past half-century of development thought and practice. Outstanding representatives of the past two generations of development economists assess development thinking at the turn of the century and look to the unsettled questions confronting the next generation. The volume offers a thorough analysis of the broad range of issues involved in development economics, and it is especially timely in its critique of what is needed in development theory and policy to reduce poverty. An overriding issue is whether in the future 'development economics' is to be regarded simply as applied economics or whether the nature and scope of development economics will constitute a need for a special development theory to supplement general economic theory. 'Frontiers of Development Economics' is an ideal reference for all those working in the international development community.

Frontiers of Development Economics: The Future in Perspective

The last decade of the 20th century witnessed striking progress in the developing world and at the same time, it also saw stagnation and setbacks. Economic growth is key to development both in its pace and also in its quality. 'The Quality of Growth' is a collection of essays in an ongoing research project. The book looks at the 'World Development Report 1991: The Challenge of Development' and examines how far we have progressed at the turn of the millennium. According to the report, there are four factors especially relevant for poverty outcomes: • distribution, • sustainability, • variability, and • governance surrounding the growth process. 'The Quality of Growth' advocates broadening the policy framework from a quantitative agenda for short-term economic growth to a qualitative agenda involving human, social, and environmentally sustainable development. It is an important resource for policymakers, academicians, and all those working in the area of international development. A copublication of the World Bank and Oxford University Press.

The Quality of Growth

Thomas, Vinod

Wang, Yan

Kaufmann, Daniel

Dailami, Mansoor

Dhareshwar, Ashok

Lopez, Ramon E.

Kishor, Nalin

Lately our world has witnessed massive changes and reforms in various sectors in many countries, developing and developed alike. Institutional and pricing reforms in the water sector are also part of that recent trend. They are led by the recognition of a need to respond to increased scarcity and deteriorated quality. Is the water sector different than other sectors, as some claim? Should reforms in the water sector be designed and implemented differently than reforms of a similar type, in other sectors? 'The Political Economy of Water Pricing Reforms' answers these questions by providing various analytical frameworks that allow comparison across various conditions, and by actually comparing reform processes under various conditions in different countries. This book demonstrates the common threads that characterize pricing reforms in the water sector by analyzing various aspects of the reforms in the irrigation and urban subsectors of 10 countries. Cases from Morocco, Senegal, Honduras, Belgium, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Yemen, and the United States illustrate the difficulties of designing and implementing "optimal" pricing reforms and explain how reform outcomes fall short of the original objective.

The Political Economy of Water Pricing Reforms

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