After decades of turmoil and
instability, a period of calm and progress evolved in
Guinea-Bissau in 2009. A military coup in April 2012
interrupted it. A fresh start is needed to alter the
dynamics that kept Guinea-Bissau poor. In 2013, Gross
National Income per capita was US$590. Average economic
growth barely kept pace with population growth. In 2010,
poverty at the national poverty line of US$2 a day was 70

An Integrated Fiduciary Assessment (IFA)
was conducted for the proposed Transformation of Agriculture
Sector Program Phase-3 (PSTA 3) Program-for-Results (PforR)
operation. The assessment used the DRAFT Guidance Notes on
Program-for-Results Operations and Requirements of OP/BP
9.00, Program for Results, (PforR). The OECD-DAC four
pillars approach was also used to define the inherent risks
in the procurement environment. The assessment covered the

Croatia, the newest member-state of the
European Union (EU), undertook significant justice reforms
during the last decade. Many were part of its
justice-related EU accession process, including the
enactment and implementation of new laws and amendment of
others, improved case management and enforcement and
computerization of land registers. Benchmarking
Croatia's justice sector indicates that it compares

Despite the remarkable progress achieved
since the end of the conflict, Burundi still faces
significant development challenges. Since 2005, the
Government of Burundi has embarked on a potentially
transformative process of decentralization, with the aim of
strengthening social cohesion, improving local governance,
and promoting access to basic infrastructure and service
delivery. The weakness of the communal tax system, coupled

World Bank carried out an enterprise
survey in Myanmar for the first time. Enterprise survey is
the world's most comprehensive company level data in
emerging markets and developing economies. The enterprise
survey is standardized, so it allows comparisons: (i) across
countries, and (ii) across time - when the survey is
repeated. Therefore, early findings are also a baseline for
measuring future changes. Through analogous enterprise

Regional trade in Africa can play a
vital role in diversifying economies and reducing dependence
on the export of a few mineral products, in delivering food
and energy security, in generating jobs for the increasing
numbers of young people, and in alleviating poverty and
promoting a shared prosperity. Women play a key role in
trade in Africa and will be essential to Africa's
success in exploiting its trade potential. In many countries

This study is highly selective
and organized into four thematic chapters.
Specifically, chapter 1 provides a snapshot of
Burundi’s political and macroeconomic context,
and reviews the evolution of the decentralization
process to better understand how institutional,
political, and bureaucratic dynamics have shaped
the historical trajectory of decentralization
and generated the outcomes observed today.
Chapter 2 provides a systematic investigation of the status of fiscal decentralization in Burundi,

Real gross domestic product (GDP)
expanded by 6.7 percent in 2013, a modest deceleration from
the 7 percent recorded in the previous year, but well above
the average 4.9 percent rate of growth recorded over the
last ten years. The economy benefited from strong growth in
the agriculture (rebounding from last year's drought),
mining and services sectors, which largely offset weaker
activity in fishing activity. A continuation of these

The development community is
increasingly accepting the importance of evidence, feedback,
and learning. Some of which is generated through research,
monitoring, and self-evaluation during policy-making,
program design, and implementation. Others come from
feedback from people directly affected by interventions who
have gained a greater voice, be it through third-party
feedback mechanisms, social media, beneficiary surveys, or

Using a panel of administrative data and
regression discontinuity analysis, this paper examines how
the introduction of preferential tax regimes for Georgian
micro and small businesses in 2010 affects formal firm
creation and tax compliance. The results show that the new
tax regime for micro businesses increased the number of
newly registered formal firms by 18-30 percent below the
eligibility threshold during the first year of the reform,

Panama's economic growth has been at the
top of the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region in
recent years. The country s rapid growth has been largely
pro-poor and translated into significant poverty reduction.
The new Administration is well placed to tackle these
challenges, with its commitment to maintaining an open and
diversified economy and redressing social imbalances.
Looking ahead, the country s main challenges are to maintain

This paper examines the current status
of justice and dispute-resolution mechanisms in Bangladesh,
ranging from the formal justice system to the traditional
shalish (a form of dispute resolution), and focuses on the
costs and benefits of utilizing nongovernmental organization
(NGO)-led legal services programs as an alternative form of
justice delivery and dispute resolution for the poor, with a
focus on women and girls. In particular, this paper takes a