This year???s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person???s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts,...

"An adequate supply of infrastructure services has long been viewed by both academics and policy makers as a key ingredient for economic development. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks consistently at the bottom of all developing regions in terms of infrastructure performance, and an increasing number of...

"Just as equality of opportunity becomes an increasingly prominent concept in normative economics, the authors argue that it is also a relevant concept for positive models of the links between distribution and aggregate efficiency. Persuasive microeconomic evidence suggests that inequalities in...

This study addresses three questions : why do inequalities matter for Brazil's development? Why does Brazil occupy a position of very high inequality in the international community? And, What should public policy do about it? Excessive income inequality is unfair, and undesirable on ethical...

Cambodia's changing distribution of income-related outcomes is consistent with the process of transition from a planned to an open market economy, and the accompanying growth of incomes. This transformation has promoted better resource reallocation, expanded the spectrum of gainful activities,...

Vietnam has achieved remarkable success in reducing poverty while controlling inequality. The country's broad-based growth reflects the government's focus on developing labor-intensive export sectors while investing heavily in human capital that saw the country exceed its peers. However, gains...

The present Report is motivated by the coming together o f three widespread perceptions about inequality, two somewhat newer and one long-standing. The two newer ones are; (i) that inequality may matter for the country's economic development, and (ii) that public policy can and should do...

The present Report is motivated by the coming together o f three widespread perceptions about inequality, two somewhat newer and one long-standing. The two newer ones are; (i) that inequality may matter for the country's economic development, and (ii) that public policy can and should do...