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...

"With more than 20 percent, Switzerland is one of the countries with the largest foreign population. Since 1970 the government has tried to manage the flows of migrants in the hope of reconciling a chronic excess demand for labor with mounting pressures from nationalistic groups to control the...

"Its highly fragmented structure of local governments and serious horizontal fiscal imbalances make Switzerland a surprisingly powerful model for Eastern European countries that are currently facing the challenge of fiscal decentralization. In spite of the substantial differences in the...

The report focuses on the social safety net, particularly cash and in-kind transfers. The safety net can play an important role in addressing poverty and vulnerability; however, the process by which the safety nets have been developed in Swaziland has produced a fragmented system that leaves...