The past two decades have witnessed a fundamental transformation in the structure of government across East Asia. Prior to 1990 most East Asian countries were highly centralized; today, decentralization is ubiquitous throughout the region. From China to Thailand, sub-national governments are now...

This report, which is a product of the World Bank's Recurso program - reviews Peru's recent advances in health sector policy and performance and discusses upcoming challenges. Using the 'accountability triangle' approach developed in the 2004 World Development Report (WDR 2004), it focuses on...

This report responds to a Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) request to the World Bank to conduct exploratory work to examine the impacts of public sector reforms on human resources for health (HRH), with the aim of identifying areas where further analytical work may be useful. A World Bank team...

With its economy disrupted by the global economic crisis, the Serbian government faces tight budget constraints for several years to come. The Government has already responded by freezing wages and pension benefits and making cuts in capital works and other discretionary spending. These...

This assessment of public sector accounting and auditing is generally meant to help implement more effective public financial management (PFM) through better quality accounting and public audit processes in Afghanistan and to provide greater stimulus for more cost-effective outcomes of...

The present study uses examples from all three branches of Government - the Ministry of Finance, the ordinary courts, and the Congress in its budgetary role - to examine the institutional obstacles to their improved performance and the opportunities for targeted changes. It builds on recent...

This note provides an overview of the LCR Governance Practice's response to challenges and the Bank’s engagement in the LAC region. The paper isstructured around the Governance Practice's core business lines: public financial management (PFM); revenue administration; infrastructure governance;...