This paper focuses on the experience of
the national-level adaptation planning efforts and the
lessons that can be derived for more effective adaptation
from an examination of local governance of development and
natural resources. After examining national level adaptation
plans, particularly the NAPAs (National Adaptation
Programmes of Action), the paper analyzes the range of
institutional instruments and relationships visible in

Doing Business 2007: How to reform is
the fourth in a series of annual reports investigating the
regulations that enhance business activity and those that
constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative
indicators on business regulations and the protection of
property rights that can be compared across 175
economies-from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe-and over time. This
publication points out how regulations affecting 10 areas of

Seven years out of brutal conflict,
Sierra Leone is now a peaceful and stable country. Yet, its
strides toward economic recovery and competitiveness have
been modest even in sectors such as tourism, which used to
be a major generator of foreign exchange revenues prior to
the conflict. This paper presents a cluster-based analysis
of the tourism sector in Sierra Leone. The analysis shows
that tourism in Sierra Leone draws entirely on basic factor

Forest-sector collaborative arrangements
come in many forms. The local partner may be a community, an
association, or a set of individual landholders. The outside
partner may be a private organization or a government. The
interest of the local partner may be production of income
from the forest, security of access to land, increased labor
or small business opportunities, protection of traditionally
valued resources, or other values. The interest of the

China has been the most successful developing country in this modern era of globalization. Since initiating economic reform after 1978, its economy has expanded at a steady rate over 8 percent per capita, fueling historically unprecedented poverty reduction (the poverty rate declined from over 60 percent to 7 percent in 2007). Other developing countries struggling to grow and reduce poverty are naturally interested in what has been the source of this impressive growth and what, if any, lessons they can take from China.

In this introduction, the authors do three things. They first introduce the puzzle and relate it to existing interpretations from market reformists and their critics, arguing that both sets of views are inadequate. The authors then offer an alternative interpretation: that entrenched inequities sustained by a rent-sharing political equilibrium are a primary source of inefficiencies and weak growth. Moreover, this equilibrium has been resilient to democratization in ways that can be explained by the nature of the underlying forces.

Nicaragua is a small, open economy that
is vulnerable to external and natural shocks. With an
estimated Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of US$1000
in 2006, and a total population of 5.2 million, it is one of
the poorest countries in Latin America. Forty six percent of
the population lived below the poverty line in 2005 (while
15 percent lived in extreme poverty), and the incidence of
poverty is more than twice as high in rural areas (68

This paper studies nonmarket
institutions that facilitate exports. In Malawi, as in many
other developing countries, farmers face numerous
constraints that disconnect them from export markets. The
paper explores the role of a local institution, the burley
tobacco clubs, in bridging smallholders to exports. Burley
clubs potentially enable farmers to increase their tobacco
farming productivity by providing services related to

Lao PDR's economic outlook remains favorable, with continued strong growth. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth remained at above 7 percent in 2007. Output expanded in mining, newly emerging processing industries, agriculture, and new construction of hydropower projects, tourism and other services. Non-resource sectors contributed over 5 percent to this growth, and the resource sector around 2.5 percent.

Financial intermediation in Tajikistan
has deepened in recent years, albeit from a low base. This
is reflected in the overall growth of the financial system,
greater diversification, and the expansion of lending to
previously under-served sectors, such as agriculture and
small- and medium-sized enterprises. Even after the
expansion, however, the financial sector remains small and
cannot serve all the financing needs of the economy. While

The Strategic Environmental and Social
Assessment (SESA) of the mining sector in Sierra Leone was
undertaken in response to the Government of Sierra
Leone's (GOSL) request for assistance in developing its
minerals policy. The SESA will help meet long-term country
development by integrating environmental and social
considerations in mining sector reforms. The crucial aspect
of the SESA process is that the environmental and social

The need for land-related investment to
ensure sustainable land management and increase productivity
of land use is widely recognized. However, there is little
rigorous evidence on the effects of property rights for
increasing agricultural productivity and contributing toward
poverty reduction in Africa. Whether and by how much
overlapping property rights reduce investment incentives,
and the scope for policies to counter such disincentives,