The Enterprise Surveys (ES) focus on many aspects of the business environment. These factors can be accommodating or constraining for firms and play an important role in whether an economy's private sector will thrive or not. An accommodating business environment is one that encourages firms to...

Swaziland's economic growth has moderated over the last two decades and has been among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. The slow growth has exacerbated the serious challenges facing the country's development, for example, high unemployment, particularly among the youth. The demographic shift in...

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...

This report presents an analysis of how effectively the current policies in Swaziland engage the private sector in basic (primary and secondary) education. The analysis draws on the engaging the private sector (EPS) framework, a product of the World Bank's systems approach for better education...

This report presents an analysis of the early childhood development (ECD) programs and policies that affect young children in Swaziland and recommendations to move forward. This report is part of a series of reports prepared by the World Bank using the systems approach for better education...

The Report on Observance of Standards and Codes, Accounting and Auditing (ROSC A&A), requested by the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland, contributes to development of a comprehensive plan that will strengthen the institutional framework that underpins accounting and auditing practices in...

This study explores the potential and the limits of medium-resolution satellite data as a proxy for economic activity at small geographic units. Using a commune-level dataset from Vietnam, it compares the performance of commonly used nightlight data and higher resolution Landsat imagery which...

In recent years, alongside democratic backsliding and security threats, censorship is increasingly used by governments and other societal actors to control the media. Who is likely to be affected by censorship and why? Does censorship as a form of punishment coexist with or act as a substitute...

Eruptions of Popular Anger: The Economics of the Arab Spring and Its Aftermath sets out to answerthree puzzles-the "Arab inequality" puzzle of civil uprisings in countries with low-to-moderateand stagnant economic inequality, the "unhappy development" paradox of increasing dissatisfactionat a...

After a sharp fall in 2017, economic growth in MENA is projected to rebound to 3.1 percent in 2018, thanksto the positive global outlook, oil prices stabilizing at relatively higher levels, stabilization policies andreforms, and recovery and reconstruction as conflicts recede. The outlook for...