Special economic zones can be an
effective instrument to promote industrialization if
implemented properly in the right context. In China,
starting in the 1980s, special economic zones were used as a
testing ground for the country's transition from a
planned to a market economy, and they are a prime example of
China's pragmatic and experimental approach to reforms.
One of the great special economic zone success stories in

While the need for land-related investment for sustainable land management and increased productivity is well recognized, quantitative evidence on agricultural productivity effects of secure property rights in Africa is scant. Within-household analysis of investments by owner-cum-occupants in Uganda points toward significant and quantitatively large investment effects of full ownership. Registration is estimated to have no investment effects, whereas measures to strengthen occupancy rights attenuate investment disincentives.

Part one of the report provides an
overview of the economy. It has one chapter (chapter one),
which provides an overview of the country’s growth and
macroeconomic performance and challenges and analyzes and
emphasizes the limited dynamism of a rent- and
hydrocarbon-cursed economy. Part II describes cross-cutting
issues that constrain policy implementation, regardless of
the sectors where they occur. In chapter two, the report

Romanian industrial and power
installations entered the European Union Emissions Trading
Scheme (EU ETS) in 2007 when Romania joined the European
Union. Emissions from aircraft operators were included in
2012. Around 200 Romanian installations and operators
currently participate in the European Union Emissions
Trading Scheme (EU ETS), out of a total of some 10,000, and
they emitted around 40 percent of Romanian greenhouse gases

Twenty years after the end of the war,
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has yet to achieve shared
prosperity for its citizens and approach European living
standards. The country has been at peace since the end of
1995, but its development model needs adjustment if it is to
join the ranks of prosperous European economies. BiH has a
disproportionately large public sector that dates back to
Yugoslav times and has only been partly reformed since, and

Afghanistan is a deeply fragile and
conflict affected state. It has been in almost constant
conflict for over 35 years since the Soviet invasion of
1979. Today the country is at a crossroads in its
development with economic growth down sharply and poverty
incidence stubbornly high. Afghanistan faces tremendous
development challenges. Gross domestic product (GDP)
per-capita is among the lowest in the world, poverty is deep

Impact and desirability of land transfers in post-socialist-transition economies have been subject of considerable debate. We use data from Vietnam to identify factors conducive to the development of land markets and to assess potentially differential impacts of rental and sales. Results show that both rental and sales transfer land to more productive producers but that rental is more important for the poor to access land that becomes available as the non-farm economy develops.

The Lake Chad Climate resilience action
plan outlines the concept that there is a need to turn Lake
Chad into a rural hub for regional development in parallel
to the restoration of peace and security. The Plan intends
to contribute significantly to food security, employment,
and the social inclusion of the youth by improving, in a
sustainable way, the living conditions of populations
settled on the Lake’s banks and islands as well as the

Transformational engagements are a critical pillar of the World Bank Group’s strategy for achieving its twin goals of extreme poverty elimination and shared prosperity. This learning product uses evaluative evidence from the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) to understand the mechanisms and conditions for transformational engagements and the implications for the World Bank Group if it seeks to rely on such engagements to more effectively pursue its goals.

The hub-periphery development pattern of
the Guangdong economy, to some extent, is a miniature of
that of the Chinese economy. The Pearl River Delta, drawing
from its first-nature comparative advantages in factor
endowments and proximity to Hong Kong SAR, China, and Macau
SAR, China, and the second-nature advantages as first-movers
in the reforms in attracting and retaining domestic and
foreign resources, has developed into a regional economic

Uruguay is a country of about 3.3
million people, which has consistently given high priority
to achieving broadly-shared economic growth and a
sustainable reduction in poverty. A strong and progressive
social compact has been a defining feature of Uruguayan
society and politics, with consistent emphasis placed on
protecting vulnerable groups, assuring worker dignity and
promoting equitable growth. This compact, combined with

Costa Rica stands out for being among the most politically stable, progressive, prosperous, and environmentally conscious nations in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Its development model has brought important economic, social, and environmental dividends, with sustained growth, upward mobility for a large share of the population, important gains in social indicators, and significant achievements in reforestation and conservation. However, there are a number of development challenges that need to be addressed to maintain the country’s successful development path.