Local governments are facing large losses in revenues and increased expenditures because of the COVID-19 crisis. We document a causal relationship between fiscal pressures induced by COVID-19 and the layoffs of state and local government workers. States that depend more on sales tax as a source...

Policy toward fiscal rules is an important issue in the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). According to a rough estimate, the countries with rules (all but North Macedonia) have complied with their debt and...

The Fiscal Institutions of Tomorrow, the first publication in the series Institutions for People, addresses issues of public management that are key to economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It presents the challenges that the countries in the region face to strengthen fiscal...

This paper outlines some of the issues that affect small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in three areas: regulation, procurement, and dispute resolution. The work presented herein is part of the Bank's most recent efforts to develop new approaches and instruments to strengthen its role as a...