This paper looks at Singapore's efforts to transform the economic growth base from one that is predominantly efficiency-driven to one that is more innovation-driven. To accelerate the transition process, the government is aggressively investing in "innovation infrastructure"-systems and institutions that make the city a more conducive environment for innovations. The modus operandi, with a distinctive "winner-picking" flavor, mirrors that of its earlier strategic industrial policy in building up the manufacturing sector.

The Investment Climate Study is a
evaluation of the Operations Evaluation Department (OED).
The OED report reviews the Bank’s investment climate lending
and non-lending activities during fiscal years 1993 through
2002-03. The report presents the collected findings of
several evaluative exercises: a literature review; an
analysis of investment climate themes in country assistance
strategies and sector strategies; an analysis of lending

This report is a review of the Lesotho's financial system covering: i) the macro-financial environment; ii) safety and soundness of the banking system; iii) non-bank financial institutions; and iv) microfinance and finance for small and medium enterprises. The report was based on data and other information collected during the March 2003 mission.

The authors describe and analyze management in the Murray-Darling basin of Australia, long regarded as a model for integrated river basin management. This interior basin of over 1 million k

The paper empirically explores the
linkages between environmental regulations and international
trade flows. So far, empirical studies either have failed to
find any close statistical relationship or have delivered
questionable results due to data limitations. Using a
comprehensive new database for environmental regulations
across countries, a thorough empirical investigation of that
linkage for 119 countries and five high-polluting industries

Strategies to help the one billion people worldwide who live in informal settlements have mainly focused on slum upgrading, sites and services programs, and tenure security. In contrast, there has been less attention on what enables slum dwellers to transition into the formal housing sector, which has the dual benefits of improving service access and escaping social stigma. In this paper the authors investigate residential mobility among slum dwellers in Bhopal, India.

This paper examines the channels through
which alternative property rights institutions affect
investment. These institutions are defined by a
society's enforced laws, regulations, governance
mechanisms and norms concerning the use of resources. A
transaction cost framework is used to analyze the incentive
impact of various types of property rights, liability rules,
and rules regarding contracts. This framework is used to

The authors review the applications of noncooperative bargaining theory to water related issues-which fall in the category of formal models of negotiation. They aim to identify the conditions under which agreements are likely to emerge and their characteristics, to support policymakers in devising the "rules of the game" that could help obtain a desired result. Despite the fact that allocation of natural resources, especially trans-boundary allocation, has all the characteristics of a negotiation problem, there are not many applications of formal negotiation theory to the issue.

This Financial Sector Assessment (FSA)
is based on the work of the joint International Monetary
Fund (IMF)- World Bank missions that visited Kenya from July
15 to July 24,2003, and from September 30 to October 15,
2003, in the context of the Financial Sector Assessment
Program (FSAP). The principal objective of the missions was
to assist the Kenyan authorities in assessing the
development needs and opportunities for the financial sector

This report addresses key structural,
institutional, and sectoral policy impediments to achieving
a higher, and sustained economic growth in the sector, and
poverty reduction in rural areas of Iran. It focuses mainly
on an assessment of agricultural development outcomes, a
discussion of the agricultural policy agenda, and provides
recommendations for future policy dialogue between the Bank,
and the Government of Iran. On examining development

Over the past dozen years, policymakers
have largely abandoned long-standing popular approaches for
addressing risk in agriculture without fully resolving the
question of how best to manage the negative consequences of
volatile agricultural markets. The article reviews the
transition from past policies and describes current
approaches that distinguish between the trade-related fiscal
consequences of commodity market volatility and the

Despite Bulgaria's progress to act
in accordance with European Union (EU) environmental
directives, full compliance with the Union's
environmental acquis remains a challenge and requires a
substantial investment program in environmental
infrastructure and implementation activities in pollution
abatement, waste management, and financing the associated
operation and maintenance costs. The report focuses on