Many of the poorest Argentines are invisible in official statistics. Four million rural residents and another 12 million in small urban areas lie outside the reach of the Permanent Household Survey (EPH), which is the basis for poverty figures and most data on social conditions in the country....

Argentina's youth, 6.7 million between the ages of 15 and 24, are an important, but to a certain extent untapped, resource for development. Over 2 million (31 percent) have already engaged in risky behaviors, and another 1 million (15 percent) are exposed to risk factors that are correlated with...

Bolivia's trade liberalization, launched in the mid-1980s, has resulted in a relatively open trade regime; but the results have been mixed. Bolivia's export to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio and export entrepreneurship index rating are among the highest in the Latin American and Caribbean...

A main goal of this study is to determine the variables responsible for the lower formality of women-owned businesses. The companion study (the World Bank 2007a) shows that Bolivia's informal sector is the largest in Latin America by many definitions and measures. It also provides a rationale...

Bolivia's informal sector is the largest in Latin America, by many definitions and measures. Bolivia's high informality rate has been blamed on many factors including the burden of regulation, the weakness of public institutions, and the lack of perceived benefits to being formal. The high level...

This paper tells a story about conditions in Tanzania's hidden economy, the parts of the natural resource sector often ignored in conventional economic analyses and studies, and makes recommendations for future policy actions. The paper draws primarily from extensive background studies...

Haiti made good progress over the past three years but major challenges remain to accelerating growth and reducing poverty. After the lost decade 1994-2004, marked by political instability and economic decline, Haiti reformed significantly and revived growth, especially in the past three years....

This study supports the development of a more coherent and effective nutrition strategy in Ecuador through an analysis of the main nutrition issues, based on in-depth statistical analysis of a large new household survey dataset (ENDEMAIN 2004) and other data sources, together with a review of...

This book points out that the main issues confronting the Angolan authorities in their efforts to consolidate macroeconomic stability on a sustainable basis and in promoting an improvement in the welfare of the Angolan citizens do not seem to differ significantly from those addressed in the 1990...

One of the principal challenges in reducing poverty and accelerating development in Peru is improving the quality of education. This book is a contribution from the World Bank to the debate over how to improve the quality of education. The book has three main recommendations that, to be...