The report reviews the substantial progress Costa Rica made over the past decade in reducing poverty and improving social indicators. However, while economic growth certainly reduced poverty rates, the country's recent experience shows that relying on economic growth and increased public...

"This paper describes and analyzes the effort to institute river basin management in the Tárcoles basin of Costa Rica. Located in west-central Costa Rica, the Tárcoles basin represents 4.2 percent of the nation's total land area, but is home to half the nation's population and the metropolitan...

"This paper reviews the most important changes, both in the economy and in the legal and institutional framework, to deal with unfair trade practices that Costa Rica has experienced during its trade liberalization process. It also evaluates whether the sectors that as a result of such a process...

Costa Rica is a clear success story. The country enjoys the highest standard of living in Central America and one of the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Not surprisingly, poverty levels are among the lowest in LAC. Indeed in 2004, Costa Rica had the second lowest poverty...

Costa Rica, an upper middle-income developing country of 4 million inhabitants, is well known for its socio-economic achievements. Costa Rica's economic growth has averaged 4.7 percent annually over the last 15 years, about 2 percentage points above the rest of Latin America, reflecting its...

The objective of the Costa Rica Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate constraints on growth of the private sector in Costa Rica using a survey of 343 manufacturing firms known as the Investment Climate Survey (ICs) and a Logistic Survey in 75 firms in three export sectors (processed...

This study examines recent developments on the poverty front in Costa Rica, with particular emphasis on why poverty rates have not declined over the last 10 years despite consistent economic growth over the period. To accomplish this, the report develops a dynamic profile of poverty in Costa...

This country note briefly summarizes information relevant to both climate change and agriculture in Costa Rica, with focus on policy developments (including action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like most countries in Latin America, Costa Rica has submitted one national...