"The author presents evidence that balance sheet effects are critical determinants of both the likelihood of a crisis and of income losses following a crisis. She tests the validity of "insurance" and "liquidity" models of currency crisis. Both models predict that the occurrence of a balance of...

At the request of the Government of Egypt (GOE), the objective of this brief note is to provide concise recommendations on next steps for the National Housing Program (NHP). These recommendations and policy analysis are an elaboration of the framework for housing policy reform in urban areas in...

This document builds upon several recent studies and reports carried out in the 2006-2007 period. The first note, entitled analysis of housing supply mechanisms (World Bank), analyzes the situation of housing supply in urban areas in Egypt, including the study of existing formal and informal...

The objective of this study, requested by the Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, is to assist the government of Egypt in: formulating a coherent national affordable housing strategy which puts in place an effective institutional and regulatory framework that creates the...

This note provides a short overview of urban land and housing market performance in Punjab Province of Pakistan. It describes the characteristics of well-functioning urban land and housing markets and argues that, at present, the Punjab's urban land and housing markets are not performing well....

Bulgaria's housing sector provides a window into the broader issues of the country's social, and economic transformation. This process has been difficult, and, as was the case in many transition countries, one of the main problem areas has been the housing sector. While the government has played...

"It is so widely recognized that innovation is a key driver of economic growth that it is cliche to say so. This article studies product innovation by firms with data from 68 countries, covering more than 25,000 firms in eight manufacturing sectors. The author assesses the predictions of...