Traditionally, air transport infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was exclusively under government ownership and management. Starting in the late 1990s, several Latin American countries implemented innovative public-private partnerships (PPP) that transferred the financing and management of air transport sector infrastructure to the private sector. This book presents the findings of a first-ever, comprehensive study of how LAC region airports have evolved during this notable period of transition in airport ownership. It is an unbiased, positive analysis of what happened,...

In many low and middle income countries, dismal failures in the quality of public service delivery such as absenteeism among teachers and doctors and leakages of public funds have driven the agenda for better governance and accountability. This has raised interest in the idea that citizens can contribute to improved quality of service delivery by holding policy-makers and providers of services accountable. This proposition is particularly resonant when it comes to the human development sectors - health, education and social protection - which involve close interactions between providers and...

The continuing rapid growth and development of China's cities brings many complex challenges. Tasked with supporting strong economic development that provides jobs and a good quality of life for its growing number of residents, China's cities also must ensure sustainable development in line with national efforts to transition to a less carbon-intensive economy, as outlined in China's 12th Five-Year Plan. Sustainable Low-Carbon City Development in China summarizes, through the specific lens of low-carbon development, the lessons of the World Bank's activities related to sustainable urban...

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006 and Constituent Assembly elections in 2008 have paved the way for political and economic reform in Nepal. Indeed, the 2009 Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) shows that Nepal's private sector is starting to reap some dividend from the cessation of armed conflict in terms of employment generation, rebounding tourism, increased tax collection, as well as less complex business regulations and procedures to obtain permits. However, Nepal's private sector (already plagued with various market failures) continues to suffer from the...

Any analysis of health financing issues has to begin with sound estimates of the level and flow of resources in a health system, including total levels of spending, the sources of health expenditures, the uses of funds in terms of services purchased, and in terms of who purchases them. The analysis should also aim at understanding how these resource flows are correlated with health system outcomes, including those of improving health, reducing health inequalities, and reducing the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure. National Health Accounts (NHA) provide a framework to collect,...

Trade that straddles borders in Central Asia plays a vital role in the livelihoods of border communities and buttresses prosperity in often poor regions. By strengthening commercial ties, cultural understanding and deepening community relationships, border trade nurtures amicable relations between neighboring countries. This book examines the characteristics of trade intermediated by a network of bazaars in Central Asia and its significance for local economies. It uncovers the dynamic phenomenon of bazaars in propelling trade. Bazaars were invented in central Asia centuries ago; in their...

Since the Rose Revolution at the end of 2003, Georgia has had singular success in fighting corruption in a variety of public services. This book is an attempt to chronicle these efforts and to distil the 'how to' of these anti-corruption reforms. The reason corruption in public services had to be fought was clear. What had to be done was also obvious to many. But little has been written on 'how' the government made it happen. What were the salient features of Georgia's anti-corruption reforms? Can Georgia's success with cleaning up its public services be replicated elsewhere or is it unique?...

This toolkit provides a novel approach and a set of tools that allow policymakers and analysts to identify non-tariff measures (NTMs), assess their trade restrictiveness and impact on prices and welfare, and to strengthen the institutional coordination mechanism, transparency, and regulatory governance on NTMs. It also aims at encouraging economies to increasingly address the NTM agenda from a domestic competitiveness and/or poverty perspective rather than from a mercantilist standpoint of concessions to trading partners. NTMs are policy measures, other than ordinary customs tariffs, that can...

Since the 1990s, new economic geography has received a lot of attention as mainstream economists such as Krugman and others began to focus on where economic activity occurs and why. Coincidentally, international trade, location theory, and urban economics all appear to be asking the same question: where is economic activity located and why? The challenge is to explain the economic concentration or agglomeration of a large number of activities in certain geographical space. This volume breaks down the various types of cities and evaluates the key factors used to look at cities, such as...

Public Works as a Safety Net: Design, Evidence, and Implementation reviews the conceptual underpinnings and operational elements of public works programs around the world. Drawing from a rich evidence base including program documentation, policy papers, peer-reviewed publications, and empirical data from over 40 countries, it provides an overview of the state of public works programs and how they function as part of wider social protection systems. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the design features and alternative models of public works implemented under diverse country...