In the course of trade-policy reforms, countries must confront at least two important questions with respect to tariffs. First, what is the optimal structure of tariffs? In particular, is it optimal to tax all imports at a uniform rate? Second, should intermediate inputs be subject to import...

This report examines trends in the Zambian labor market over the period since independence. It focuses particularly on two phenomena - skill shortages and wage rigidities - which have made it more difficult for the economy to recover from the fall in price of its main export commodity : copper,...

What part of the inequality observed in a particular country is due to unequal opportunities, rather than to differences in individual efforts or luck? This paper estimates a lower bound for the opportunity share of inequality in labor earnings, household income per capita and household...

By the end of the 1990s, most industrial and many developing countries had liberalized their telecommunications markets to improve service accessibility and affordability for both businesses and households. In contrast, Algeria still managed its telecommunications sector as public property. The...

The authors provide an empirical analysis of the determinants of three child-health outcomes related to the Millennium Development Goals: the infant mortality rate, the child mortality rate, and the prevalence of malnutrition. Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys, they go beyond...

The authors provide estimates of the impact that removing all merchandise trade distortions (including agricultural subsidies) would have on food and agricultural production, trade, and incomes. Using the latest versions of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database and the World Bank's...

The authors provide a conceptual framework for designing a comprehensive risk management strategy for rapid onset natural disasters at the country level, with a particular emphasis on the role of catastrophe loss funding. The authors discuss the key policy and technical issues involved in...

Joseph Schumpeter argued in 1911 that the services provided by financial intermediaries - mobilizing savings, evaluating projects, managing risk, monitoring managers, and facilitating transactions -stimulate technological innovation and economic development. The authors present evidence that...

Reinsurance is a mechanism the insurance industry uses to spread the risk it assumes from policyholders. Through reinsurance, the industry's losses are absorbed and distributed among a group of companies so that no single company is overburdened with the financial responsibility of offering...

The author presents some general lessons in institution-building that has relevance for judiciary reform. She emphasizes the value of simplicity in design commensurate with country capacity, the importance of innovation and experimentation, and of economic openness in effective...