The pattern of global land use has important implications for the world's food and timber supplies, bioenergy, biodiversity and other eco-system services. However, the productivity of this resource is critically dependent on the world's climate, as well as investments in, and dissemination of...

This study uses household models based on detailed expenditure and agricultural production data from 31 developing countries to assess the impacts of changes in global food prices on poverty in individual countries and for the world as a whole. The analysis finds that food price increases...

The differences in financial development across Indian states, while seeming substantial, have a minor effect on firm lifecycle and growth. These results hold controlling for differences in labor regulations across states, capital intensity, and for firms born before and after the major reforms....

Well-run water utilities play an important role in ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Consumers need reliable access to high quality and affordable water and sanitation services. To deliver these basic services efficiently and effectively requires high-performing utilities that are...

The Country Opinion Survey for FY2013 in Burkina Faso assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Burkina Faso perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies,...

This case study is one of six evaluations of the implementation of the World Bank's 1991 Forest Strategy. This and the other cases (Brazil, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, and India) complement a review of the entire set of lending and nonlending activities of the World Bank Group and the Global...

This book presents the key findings from a new poverty assessment for Vietnam, led jointly by the World Bank and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS). It takes a fresh look at the lives of poor men, women, and children, and explores the constraints and opportunities they face today in...

The Country Opinion Survey for FY2012 in Djibouti assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Djibouti perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media,...

This case study, one of six evaluations in a series of country case studies, aims to understand the implementation of the 1991 Forest Strategy in World Bank operations and to obtain the views of the various stakeholders in the country about the involvement of the Bank. Each country study...

Corruption has a devastating impact on developing and transition countries, with estimates of $20 billion to $40 billion per year stolen by public officials, a figure equivalent to 20 to 40 percent of flows of official development assistance. The return of the proceeds of corruption--asset...