This report argues that in the future
Moldova will need to develop a second engine of growth from
exports of goods and services. We argue that Moldova needs
to resurrect agro-based exports, to raise their value by
exporting to higher value markets, and develop service
exports in order to provide job opportunities for
underemployed tertiary graduates. To be successful in doing
so, the government will need to implement deep fiscal and

In order to inform the 2010 Strategy,
and suggest what role the World Bank Group (WBG) can
realistically play in strengthening environmental
institutions and governance, this paper takes stock of WBG
operations in this area since the 2001 Strategy. Looking
across the spectrum of lending and nonlending operations,
the first task is to identify the approaches which have been
used to engage with clients. The analysis then evaluates

This report undertakes a comprehensive
assessment of Ukraine's growth experience over the past
decade. It shows how vulnerabilities were allowed to
accumulate during the economic boom. And how growth,
averaging seven percent annually between 2000 and 2008, was
achieved without tackling Ukraine's well known
weaknesses in the investment climate and public sector
governance. The report also traces the emergence of large

Income inequality in Latin America ranks
among the highest in the world. It can be traced back to
the unequal distribution of assets (especially land and
education) in the region. But the extent to which asset
inequality translates into income inequality depends on the
redistributive capacity of the state. This paper documents
the performance of Latin American fiscal systems from the
perspective of income redistribution using newly-available

The Niger Diagnostic Trade Integration
Study (DTIS) has been prepared under the Integrated
Framework (IF) for trade related technical assistance to
least developed countries in response to a request from the
Government of Burkina Faso. The study is to build the
foundation for accelerated growth by enhancing the
integration of its economy into regional and global markets.
This Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) is intended

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has
played a significant and positive role in driving economic
growth and upgrading economic structure in Shanghai. The
shift in the pattern of FDI over the last decade towards
services has been particularly crucial. Given its
importance, Shanghai municipal government may continue to
devote efforts to attract FDI and have foreign funded
enterprises help reshape Shanghai's economic landscape.

Latin America is together with
Sub-Saharan Africa the most unequal region of the world.
This paper documents recent inequality trends in the Latin
American region, going beyond traditional measures of income
inequality. The paper also reviews some of the explanations
that have been put forward to understand the current
situation, and discusses why reducing income inequality
should be an important policy priority. In particular, the

The remote and sparsely populated
provinces of Papua and West Papua face a time of great
change. Monetary transfers from Jakarta have grown
extraordinarily in recent years, by more than 600 percent in
real terms and 1300 percent in nominal terms since 2000,
greatly increasing demand for goods and services. The high
price of imports in the interior is producing pressure to
improve roads in order to lower transport costs. Pressure is

The release of 'Sunken billions:
The economic justification for fisheries reform' has
drawn renewed attention to the enormous loss of wealth
suffered in fisheries each year due to weak fisheries
governance and the need for fundamental fisheries reform.
Such reform calls for addressing the issues plaguing the
world's fisheries, such as persistent overfishing and
fleet overcapitalization, and addressing the political

East Asia and the Pacific is a region of
dynamic growth. Women have contributed significantly to this
growth and have benefited from it through active
participation in the labor market. However, women are still
disproportionately represented in the informal sector and in
low paid work. Efforts to identify barriers to women's
business and entrepreneurial activities in the region are
critical not only to facilitate inclusive growth in a

This study examines the constraints on
the housing sector in Afghanistan. It evaluates government
policy on housing, looks at the state of housing finance,
and examines legal and regulatory barriers with a bearing on
the housing market. The report provides policy
recommendations aimed at helping to develop a private-sector
led housing market. To assist in formulating policies and
implementing actions, the study recommends forming a housing

How global emissions reduction targets
can be achieved equitably is a key issue in climate change
discussions. This paper presents an analytical framework to
encompass contributions to the literature on equity in
climate change, and highlights the consequences -- in terms
of future emissions allocations -- of different approaches
to equity. Progressive cuts relative to historic levels --
for example, 80 percent by industrial countries and 20