This ROSC analyzes accounting, financial reporting and auditing practices within the corporate sector in Nicaragua, using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as benchmarks, and drawing on international experience and good practice in...

This report analyzes corporate financial reporting and auditing practices in Haiti. It supports the Government's efforts to: (a) improve financial sector stability and development; (b) encourage a business climate conducive to private investment and local companies' access to credit and...

This assessment of accounting and auditing practices in Ukraine is part of a joint initiative of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to prepare Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC). The assessment focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the accounting and...

Lao PDR is at a point on its development trajectory where strategic attention to administrative performance is crucial. An efficient and high-performing civil service, with the compensation and human resource management systems to attract and motivate qualified personnel, will be essential to...

The goal was to see whether linking bonus payments to performance had a positive effect. Rwanda, which was forced to rebuild its institutions after the 1994 civil war and genocide, began piloting programs in 2001 to give health clinics cash bonuses for meeting certain healthcare objectives, such...

Educators and education policy makers are concerned with creating the best possible learning environment for students. How to do this, especially in primary school, where reading, writing and mathematical skills are first acquired, is the subject of policy debates in many parts of the world....

"Formal and informal commercial sex work is a way of life for many poor women in developing countries. Though sex workers have long been identified as crucial in affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the nature of sex-for-money transactions remains poorly...

"Expanding and improving basic education in developing countries requires, at a minimum, teachers who are present in the classroom and motivated to teach, but this essential input is often missing. This paper describes the findings of a series of recent World Bank and other studies on teacher...

"The authors report results from a randomized evaluation of a merit scholarship program for adolescent girls in Kenya. Girls who scored well on academic exams received a cash grant and had school fees paid. Girls eligible for the scholarship showed significant gains in academic examination...