Despite fiscal and administrative
reforms pursued by the Government of Madagascar since the
mid 1980s, to prod economic and financial liberalization,
contributing to steady GDP growth rates, manufacturing
production however, still represents a relatively small
share of value added. And, the development of
import-substituting (IS) firms has been considerably slower,
showing stagnating signs as these firms are unprepared for

This review aims to provide the
Government of Madagascar with a situation assessment and
insights and guidance on how to position the rural and
environment sector as an engine for inclusive and
sustainable economic growth. The review has cast the
analytical net quite widely with the aim to come up with a
comprehensive overview of the sector. In view of the
intimate linkages between rural development and the

Using household survey data for 1998, the authors assess the distributional impact of the recent economic crisis in the Philippines. The results suggest that the impact of the crisis was modest, leading to a five percent reduction in average living standards, and a nine percent increase in the incidence of poverty - with larger increases indicated for the depth, and severity of poverty. The greater shock came from El Nino, rather than through the labor market. The labor market shock was progressive (reducing inequality) while El Nino shock was regressive (increasing inequality).

Despite its healthy economic growth, due
to good macroeconomic management, and progress in trade
liberalization, Sri Lanka's development is perceived to
be well below its potential. Certainly, the civil conflict
has taken a heavy social, and economic toll on the
country's performance, but also governance, and public
institutions have weakened, though maintaining a dominance
on the financial sector, and utilities, which further

The performance of the East Asian
transition economies in export and income growth has been
strikingly better than that of countries in Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union. The East Asian economies have
achieved remarkably high growth rates in outputs and exports
without the often large declines in output and exports
observed in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. East
Asian reformers have successfully made many of the parallel

This paper deals with economic rents
arising from the development of hydroelectric generation on
international watercourses. The paper briefly defines the
concept of economic rent and its application to
hydroelectric developments. It explores two areas of
precedents that shows how the concept could be applied in
developments on international watercourses. First, it looks
at international law on the ownership and rights of use of

The major constraints to RNF growth,
according to a large survey of rural entrepreneurs,'
include (1) flood and natural disasters; (2) access to
electricity; (3) road conditions, (4) access to finance and
(5) transportation to markets. Bangladesh's
vulnerability to frequent floods and other natural disasters
severely hampers operations of more than a third of rural
firms. The next most important constraint to RNF growth is

The Global Poverty Report considers
the effects of globalizing markets on poverty in developing
countries. It outlines the channels through which increased
trade openness can affect poverty and examines the evidence
from four regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific,
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the
Caribbean. Written at the request of the G8, the report is
the result of a joint effort of the regional development

Following the East Asian financial
crisis, the Bank's involvement in Thailand intensified,
enabling a multifaceted stabilization, and structural reform
dialogue, which deepened the economic, financial, and sector
knowledge of the country. The study benefits from this
analytical work, and provides an overview on the ongoing
policy dialogue, regarding short- and medium-term reform,
through a number of instruments. To promote longer-term

The authors compare changes in gender
roles and women's empowerment in China, India, and the
Republic of Korea. Around 1950, these newly formed states
were largely poor and agrarian, with common cultural factors
that placed similar severe constraints on women's
autonomy. They adopted very different paths of development,
which are well known to have profoundly affected development
outcomes. These choices have also had a tremendous impact on

Forest resources directly contribute to
the livelihoods of 90 percent of the 1.2 billion people
living in extreme poverty and indirectly support the natural
environment that nourishes agriculture and the food supplies
of nearly half the population of the developing world.
Forests also are central to growth in many developing
countries through trade and industrial development. However,
mismanagement of this resource has cost governments revenues

Human welfare and development are
heavily influenced by climatic factors. As many as 95
percent of all disaster-related casualties occur in
developing countries, and after an event the recovery often
takes years. Natural disasters can significantly derail the
process of social and economic development. The Bank has
always supported reconstruction in countries affected by
natural disasters. A forward-looking approach to disaster