The present study examines the
challenges facing municipal governments in FYR Macedonia.
The introductory chapter provides some further context for
these developments, in terms of the challenges they pose
for urban areas and their governments. Chapter Two examines
issues for financial management of municipalities under the
decentralized regime, and the attendant need for improving
local government capacity. The third chapter highlights

This document presents the main
governance indicators for the country, as compiled by the
World Bank Institute (WBI), and how are they used by
international institutions in making decisions about
assistance to Nicaragua. Although these indicators have
weaknesses, they can provide a general indication of what
are the priority areas for investigation. Accordingly, the
present review concentrates on a few key areas where the

In the urban planning literature, it is
frequently explicitly asserted or strongly implied that
ongoing urban sprawl and decentralization can lead to
development patterns that are unsustainable in the long run.
One manifestation of such an outcome is that if extensive
road investments occur, urban sprawl and decentralization
are advanced and locked-in, making subsequent investments in
public transit less effective in reducing vehicle kilometers

Doing Business in Egypt 2008 covers
three topics at the sub national level: starting a business,
dealing with licenses and registering property. These
indicators have been selected because they cover areas of
local jurisdiction and practice. In the last two years,
doing business in Egypt has become more affordable the
minimum capital required to start a business and the costs
of registering property and dealing with licenses have been

This report is designed to provide
policymakers with estimates of the likely outcomes of an
array of potential changes in transportation sector policy.
To this end, the report uses a variety of economy-wide
models to simulate alternative cost reductions and
efficiency improvements. A detailed discussion of the
various policies that may yield efficiency gains and cost
reductions, as well as the specifics of their

In 2007, Montenegro was one of the
world's fastest growing non-oil economies. The country
reaped the benefits from its comprehensive, pre-independence
reform program. After the international recognition of
statehood had removed the lingering uncertainty over
Montenegro's political status, investors reassessed the
country's relative attractiveness as a site for
business, responding positively to (i) the implementation of

This is a summary report of the South
Asia Region and the East Asia Pacific regions training
workshop from April 28-30, 2008 on the importance of
disaster risk reduction and risk transfer including major
concepts, models, and various applications of disaster risk
reduction around the globe. This report represents an
analysis and summary of the main presentations made during
the course of the workshop. It provides a comprehensive

Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD)
is a fundamental component of Ethiopia's economic
growth and poverty reduction strategy. The agricultural
development strategy under Agriculture Development Led
Industrialization (ADLI) and Sustainable Development and
Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) focused on enhancing the
productive capacity of smallholder farmers, promoting crop
diversification, shifting to a market based system, ensuring

Moldova is one of the poorest countries
in Europe. It is landlocked, bounded by Ukraine on the east
and Romania on the west. Like many other former Soviet
Republics, Moldova has experienced economic difficulties.
Since its economy was highly dependent on the rest of the
Soviet Union for energy and raw materials, the breakdown in
trade following the breakup of the Soviet Union had severe
impacts, exacerbated by drought and civil conflict. Moldova

The Lao PDR economy continues to grow, but at a relatively slower pace as the impacts of the global financial turmoil are starting to be felt. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to slow in 2008 to about 7 percent as result of the impacts of the global financial crisis. GDP growth is also projected to slow to between 5 and 6 percent in 2009. However, growth remains fairly strong and still driven by the ongoing hydropower projects as well as agro processing industries, construction and other services.

This report reviews Community Driven
Development (CDD) projects in Lao People's Democratic
Republic (PDR) to determine their effectiveness in
channeling resources to communities for poverty reduction.
The study examines three CDD projects in depth: the Poverty
Reduction Fund, the Village Investment for the Poor (both
supported by the World Bank), and the Government-financed
Village Development Fund. Through close analysis of these

Poor governance is a major impediment to
achieving development outcomes of the forest sector. It
results in losses of income, employment, government
revenues, and local and global environmental services.
However, at present, no comprehensive guide to reforming
forest governance has been developed. Although usually it is
relatively easy to recognize that the forest sector in a
country is failing to deliver all its potential benefits,