In less than fifty years, Brazil evolved from a predominantly rural society and economy to a highly urbanized country in which 85 percent of its people now live in urban areas and more than 90 percent of the country’s GDP is generated in the cities. This rapid urbanization process was...

In less than fifty years, Brazil evolved from a predominantly rural society and economy to a highly urbanized country in which 85 percent of its people now live in urban areas and more than 90 percent of the country’s GDP is generated in the cities. This rapid urbanization process was...

Procurement of commonly used items is a challenge for government agencies. If the items are repeatedly purchased in one-off fashion, so that the total volume is significant, there may be potential problems like loss of economy of scale, loss of efficiency, lower competition, and no long-term...

Bleak short-term economic outlook raises the risk that social and environmental achievements may not be sustained. The changed economic circumstances have exposed shortcomings in Brazil's development model, epitomized by the struggle to achieve a sustainable fiscal policy. Against this...

This study presents options for disaster risk financing in Brazil, drawing from international experience. The study presents a series of complementary options for disaster risk financing, based on a preliminary fiscal risk analysis and a preliminary review of the current budget management of...

A set of case studies were prepared as part of the World Bank's Water Global Practice initiative "Wastewater. Shifting paradigms: from waste to resource" to document existing experiences in the water sector on the topic. The case studies highlight innovative financing and contractual...

Evidence on the impacts of many teacher policies remains insufficient and scattered, and the impact of many reforms depends on specific design features. In addition, teacher policies can have very different impacts, depending on the context and other education policies already in place. Systems...

Although Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, it has a relatively low number of natural hazards. However, its exposure to natural hazards has increased relative to other countries because of insufficient preventive actions in the past, resulting in more damage from natural hazards...

The agriculture sector of Brazil faces a large number of risks linked to the productive process, which has led to substantial losses to the country in the past years. An adequate and integrated management of those risks can leave farmer incomes less exposed to losses, benefiting the sector and...