"Food policy often depends on markets and markets depend on institutions. But how good do institutions have to be before reforms can be launched? Relying on well timed surveys of agricultural prices and a joint study by the Government of Bulgaria and the World Bank on agricultural market...

"Although it is widely accepted that financial development is associated with higher growth, the evidence on the channels through which credit affects growth on the micro-level is scant. Using data from a cross section of Bulgarian firms, the authors estimate the impact of access to credit (as...

"This paper analyzes the process of institutional transformation in Bulgaria and assesses the extent to which it has established institutions and policies fostering domestic economic activity and integration into global markets. After a brief review of characteristics and achieved progress in...

"This paper looks at Bulgaria's industrial restructuring through the lenses of its evolving specialization in international division of labor and integration into international markets with a special emphasis on EU markets. Its major findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Developments in...

The study is the first-ever Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (PEIR) on Bulgaria by the World Bank. It outlines public expenditure issues, and policy directions to improve the efficiency, and effectiveness of public expenditures in the country. To this end, it assesses fiscal...

The Bulgarian labor market has suffered from the economic crisis, and cyclical unemployment has turned into structural unemployment. The labor market crisis is amplified by demographic change as the young and skilled labor force emigrates, aggravating a skills mismatch. Vulnerable groups are...

The European Union (EU) sets the policy framework for municipal solid waste management that drives reform initiatives in new EU member states and candidate countries. The EU policies, implementation targets, and grant funding establish the enabling environment that transforms the solid waste...

Although Bulgaria now implements the European Union's (EU's) "common" agricultural policy (CAP), national policymakers still maintain responsibility to tailor CAP implementation to meet the specific development needs of the country. The National Rural Development Program (NRDP) very...