As the global economy rapidly changes and new technologies are introduced, more highly-skilled workers are required. In the countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), firms struggle to fill skilled positions due to a lack of qualified candidates, while the number of unemployed low skilled workers is growing. This paradox especially affects youth. Even during recent economic booms, youth unemployment has remained high, indicating a mismatch between skills acquired in school and the critical skills demanded by the labor market. More relevant education and training is...

'Zambia Health Sector Public Expenditure Review' portrays the performance of the health sector in Zambia using quantitative techniques. While there have been a number of health sector assessments in the country, they have relied on qualitative and anecdotal evidence for the most part. For the first time, this public expenditure review of the health sector brings together the results of three separate but related analytical efforts: multi-year national health accounts, a public expenditure tracking and quality of service delivery survey, and resource and impact modeling using the Marginal...

Bolivia's informal economic sector is the largest in Latin America, and women-owned businesses tend to be overrepresented in the informal sector and to be less profitable than firms in the formal sector. This study seeks to better understand gender-based differences in firms' tendencies toward formality, the impact of formality on profits, and the productivity of small informal firms. Using data from firm surveys, national household surveys, and qualitative data from focus groups, the study conducts a gender analysis of formality and productivity in six different sectors in Bolivia. The...

Bolivia's informal economic sector is the largest in Latin America and has been attributed to many factors including the burden of regulations, the weakness of public institutions, and the lack of perceived benefits to formality. 'Increasing Formality and Productivity of Bolivian Firms' presents fresh qualitative and quantitative analyses to help understand the reasons why firms are informal and the impact of formalization on their profitability, in order to better inform appropriate policies. A crucial finding of the study is that the impact of tax registration on profitability depends on...

The government of Bolivia seeks to reinvigorate the nontraditional export sector as part of its national development strategy. This Country Study investigates the role that trade should play in Bolivia s development strategy, given the country s rich resource endowment, and examines the lessons of Bolivia s integration into the global economy. Considering the past links between trade and Bolivia s economy, the study analyzes the impact of different scenarios on growth, employment, trade flows, and poverty; it also evaluates barriers to higher export competitiveness and constraints on...

The question of whether political, fiscal, and administrative decentralization improves government effectiveness is hotly debated among researchers and policy makers. 'Decentralization, Democracy, and Development' contributes to the empirical literature on decentralization and the debate on whether it is a viable and desirable state-building strategy for post-conflict countries. This book is a collection of eight papers written by nine authors who were intimately involved in the complex decentralization reform process in Sierra Leone from 2003-07. During this period, Sierra Leone's government...