With the recent resurgence of interest
in equity, inequality, and growth, the possibility of a
negative relationship between inequality and economic
growth, has received renewed interest in the literature.
Faced with the prospect that high levels of inequality may
persist, and give rise to poverty traps, policymakers are
paying more attention to the distributional implications of
macroeconomic policies. Because high levels of inequality

Gender issues, particularly with respect
to women's status and rights, have for a considerable
period, been in the forefront of donors' dialogue on
social issues with Africa. While Africa countries have fully
acknowledged the seriousness of the issues and the urgent
need for action, the dialogue has been largely donor-driven
and issues and priorities been donor-set. Recognizing the
need for a new approach in this important area for

The process by which different
ecological conditions and historical trajectories interacted
to create different social and cultural systems resulted in
major differences in economic development performance within
Southeast Asia. In the late 19th century, Indonesia, the
Philippines, and Thailand commonly experienced
vent-for-surplus development through exploitation of unused
lands. Nevertheless, different agrarian structures were

Since its recovery of macroeconomic
stability in 1991, the Dominican Republic has experienced a
period of notable economic growth. Poverty has declined in
the 1990s. Nevertheless, a segment of the population-mainly
in rural areas-does not seem to have benefited from this
growth. Poverty in this country in 1998 is less than that of
other countries if one adjusts for the level of economic
development. The principal poverty characteristics are the

Based on more than 240 real-life
examples in over 60 countries, Developing Value is the first
large-scale study analyzing the business case for
sustainability in emerging markets, the opportunity for
businesses to achieve benefits such as higher sales, reduced
costs and lower risks from better corporate governance,
improved environmental practices, and investments in social
and economic development. It pinpoints the many

Poverty in Zimbabwe increased
significantly during the 1990s, and it increased in all
sectors of the economy. In the middle of the decade, more
than 60 percent of Zimbabwean households fell below the
national poverty line. There are competing reasons for this:
some say it was the result of the government instituting the
Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP), and others
say that ESAP's effectiveness was hampered by recurring

Russia and other countries in the
commonwealth of independent states that have implemented
voucher privatization programs have to account for the
puzzling behavior of insiders manager-owners-who, in
stripping assets from the firms they own, appear to be
stealing from one pocket to fill the other. This article
suggests that asset stripping and the absence of
restructuring result from interactions between insiders and

This note on social protection has as
its objective establishing an exhaustive analysis/diagnosis
of the existing social protection framework and of preparing
an integrated approach through developing better social
protection priorities and plans of actions. It a) identifies
the social risks which the Moroccan people face generally;
b) examines current social protection initiatives (public,
private, and civil society-sponsored) set up to reduce

The objective of this book is to provide
detailed advice on how to design multi-topic household
surveys based on the experience of past household surveys.
The book will help identify define objectives, identify data
needed to analyze objectives, and draft questionnaires to
collect such data. Much of the book is based on the
experience of the World Bank's Living Standard's
Measurement Study (LSMS) program, established in 1980 to

About 50 countries have prepared interim
and full Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). In this
context, this paper examines Millennium Development Goal
(MDG)7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, its targets
and indicators, and responds to three questions: To what
extent do PRSPs define and adopt targets and indicators that
align with those of MDG7? To what extent do the available
data allow tracking of progress with respect to MDG7? When

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Guatemala. The study
is motivated by several factors: First is the recognition
that sub-national regions are becoming increasingly
heterogeneous, and economically differentiated as part of
ongoing processes of development and diversification, with
some areas advancing, and others being left behind. Second

This Country Economic Memorandum reviews
the significant changes Mozambique underwent in the last
five years, specifying that to continue its rapid growth,
and reduce its high levels of poverty, the country will need
to adopt a new set of reforms. Such reforms, focused on
increasing the profitability of agriculture, and promoting
labor-intensive manufacturing activities, hold the best hope
to move poverty into prosperity. Three factors - increased