This paper uses firm-level data from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Surveys to study the process of convergence of transition countries with developed market economies. The study focuses on competition and market structure, finance and the structure of lending to firms, and...

Commodity prices are expected to remain weak for the remainder of 2014 and, perhaps through much of 2015. Crude oil has seen one of the sharpest declines, down more than 20 percent to $83/barrel (bbl) on October 15 from this year’s high of $108/bbl in mid-June. Agricultural prices have...

Bhutan is a small landlocked country in the Himalayas between China and India. Poverty reduction has been rapid from about 23 percent in 2007 to 12-13 percent in 2012. Gender equality and women's empowerment are important determinants of reproductive health. Contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR)...

The report first summarizes the key findings from the following three studies in three provinces (Guizhou, Jilin, Shandong): (a) a demand survey to assess rural ICT access and attitudes; (b) a library study including scoping the status of ICT use in rural libraries; and (c) a limited impact...

The six case studies in this book were prepared as background studies for a synthesis report on land administration and reform in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Collectively they cover two main areas of land governance: reforms in redistributing agricultural land; and reforms in land administration....

This year's edition of the World Bank publication, African Development Indicators (ADI) 2004, depicts a diverse picture of development in Africa, with several countries making remarkable progress and others lagging seriously behind. ADI 2004 presents data for more than 500 indicators of...