The World Bank Group estimates that, by 2030, up to two-thirds of the world's extreme poor will live in countries characterized by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). The Bank's FCV strategy emphasizes the critical role the private sector plays in providing jobs and income in fragile and...

This evaluation reviews the World Bank Group's (WBG's) experience with guarantee instruments during 1990-2007. Although these instruments have been an established product line of the WBG for two decades, they have not been rigorously evaluated across the World Bank, International Finance...

"The international diffusion of technology presents an opportunity for developing economies distant from the world technological frontier to reduce their income gap relative to advanced economies. It is therefore crucial to understand why, when faced with similar technological alternatives...

"The paper reviews labor market developments in the transition economies of Europe and Central Asia. It argues that the scarcity of productive job opportunities and the growing labor market segmentation are the two main labor market problems facing the transition economies. In the European...

"Despite sustained output growth since 1997, low-income Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (CIS-7) have not experienced growth in employment, a phenomenon observed elsewhere in transitional economies and labeled as "jobless growth." The author addresses the causes of this...

"This paper is the introduction and summary chapter of the 43 chapter volume entitled Handbook of Trade Policy and WTO Accession for Development in Russia and the CIS. The key policy conclusions of each of the chapters are highlighted in this paper. The Handbook will be published only in Russian...