This World Bank Discussion Paper brings together two contributions on external debt issues. The first paper discusses the insurability of sovereign debt against default. The second paper reviews numerous studies that have been conducted over the years to identify the variables that could predict...

The paper develops an operational definition of governance that can be applied to social protection. The 2004 World Development Report (WDR) accountability framework acts as a starting point, defining accountability in terms of a set of principal?agent relationships between policymakers,...