Recent international experience has shown that excessively complex administrative procedures, required to establish, and operate a business, discourage inflows of foreign direct investment. The authors present a new database on the administrative costs faced by private investors in 32 developing countries.

Environmental degradation can inflict
serious damage on poor people because their livelihoods
often depend on natural resource use and their living
conditions may offer little protection from air, water, and
soil pollution. At the same time, poverty-constrained
options may induce the poor to deplete resources and degrade
the environment at rates that are incompatible with
long-term sustainability. In such cases, degraded resources

This report finalized in March 2001
constitutes a step toward the objective of designing an
integrated strategy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil,
The report contains an updated and more detailed profile of
the rural poor in the northeast (NE) and southeast (SE) of
Brazil; identifies key determinants of rural poverty in
these regions; and proposes a five-pronged strategic
framework in which to couch a set of integrated policies

The market system consists of a price
mechanism, built on the foundation of a system of property,
and contract. In many developing, and transition economies,
the market system functions poorly. In many cases, if not
most, the malfunctioning is not simply in the price system
(for example, anti-competitive activities), but in the
underlying property system (such as contracts being
breached, and externalities in the sense of transfers not

This report proposes a strategy to
promote growth, and poverty reduction through export
development. It supports the strategic directions of the
Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP), stressing
the importance of improving economic governance, and the
environment for investments, for an active participation in
the world economy. The report reviews the performance of
trade policies, and exports in the 1990s; discusses the new

The main objective of the study is to
provide the Government of Senegal the analyses and
information to implement policies towards reducing the rural
poor's vulnerability. While during the latest years,
economic growth reduced poverty in the country, this has
been less noticeable among the rural population, who
actually account for 6 million people over a total
population of 10 million. The rural economy remains

The present study describes, and
quantifies the provision of basic urban services to the
poor, in three Central American cities in El Salvador,
Honduras, and, Panama. It also identifies priority areas for
government intervention, using specialized household surveys
to quantify current deficits, and to rank households from
poor to rich, using aggregate consumption as the measure of
welfare. The urban poverty profile is examined in each city,

Major changes are needed if Africans and
their children are to claim the 21st century. With the
rapidly growing population, 5 percent annual growth is
needed simply to keep the number of poor from rising.
Halving severe poverty by 2015 will require annual growth of
more than 7 percent, along with a more equitable
distribution of income. Trends in Africa will need to change
radically for a catch-up process to materialize. This will

This Poverty Assessment report reviews
the evolution, and nature of poverty in Sri Lanka, by
examining why its significant, recent economic downturn
contrasts sharply with its considerable, economic advances
during the 1960s; why poverty fell rapidly, and to a
relatively, low level in some areas, though it remained high
in other parts of the country; and, whether the large
resources given to re-distributive programs, really helped

The paper analyzes the linkages between the reform strategies in transition countries and
economic performance. We focus on agriculture because of the sharpness of the policy
changes, fundamental differences among countries, and relative simplicity of agricultural
relationships. We document post reform performance in the transition countries of Asia and
Europe. We show how: a.) pricing reform and subsidy reductions; b.) land rights reform
and policies that affect farm restructuring; and c.) the presence institutions that facilitate

This report evaluates the shortcomings
of current housing policies, and provides a framework for
analysis of alternative policies. Its message is threefold:
First, housing has a significant role in terms of basic
social support, where the housing unit is a source of
capital accumulation, thus a key to expanding Mexico's
middle class, from a minority to a majority. Second, the
country is facing a two-tiered housing market, those that

Infrastructure plays a crucial role in
supporting Cambodia's growth and development. Improving
access to efficient and affordable water, electricity,
transport, and telecommunications services has a major
impact on the living standards of individual households.
This Country Framework Report (CFR) is one of a series of
country reviews aimed at improving the environment for the
private sector involvement in infrastructure. This book