The severity of labor redundancy has been underestimated because of difficulties in conceptualizing the issue and finding politically acceptable solutions. Schemes to reduce labor redundancy can decrease the wage bill significantly and allow fairly high compensation to the employees laid off yet still allow the government to recoup its costs in a relatively short time.
This paper reviews the linkages between infrastructure and economic development based on both formal empirical research and informal case studies. The main thesis is that economic benefits result from investments in infrastructure only to the extent that they generate a sustainable flow of services valued by consumers. Thus, an analysis of infrastructures' contributions to growth must look at the impacts of services as actually perceived, not at indirect indicators that measure only aggregate provision of infrastructure capital. The paper notes that macro and industry level research , although having its limitations, suggest a positive and statistically significant relationship between infrastructure and economic output. However the conclusions derived from this research (most of which derives from developed countries) provide little specific guidance for policy. To gain more practical insights about how infrastructure contributes to economic growth and to improved quality of life, and to understand the welfare costs of inadequate or unreliable infrastructure, it is necessary to look at microeconomic evidence. Particularly interesting illustrations of these relationships are to be found in developing countries where there is wide variance in the availability and quality of infrastructure.
Assesses the progress of private sector development in low-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, from 1987 to the present. The book identifies causes of uneven performance and outlines the main elements of a strategy--led by the private sector-- for accelerated and shared growth to reduce poverty. Also available in French: (ISBN 0-8213-3550-2) Stock No. 13550.
Annotation World Bank Discussion Paper No. 335. Presents the proceedings of a high-level international symposium on Chinese state-owned enterprise reform held in Beijing, China, June 1995. This report includes five policy option papers presented by Chinese officials and one presented by the World Bank Group that makes recommendations for reform on the basis of the Group's international experience in this area.
This collection of papers was presented at the World Bank Conference on 'Civil service reform in Latin America and the Caribbean', held in 1993. The goal of the conference was to promote the flow of ideas among researchers and practitioners in the civil s
"This publication elaborates on how the specific characteristics of the different transport subsectors affect the potential for expanding the role of competitive markets. It defines the principal challenges currently faced by the transport sector as a whole as: (i) the completion of basic infrastructure networks and (ii) the provision of adequate maintenance for them. Future challenges may include: (i) increasing responsiveness to customer needs, (ii) adjusting to global trade patterns, and (iii) coping with rapid motorization. These challenges highlight the need to reform institutional and transport policy in order to support a better quality of life on a sustained basis. This book identifies some generally applicable principles and best practices as the foundation of a policy for more sustainable transport. Economic and financial sustainability requires that resources be used efficiently and that assets be maintained properly. Environmental and ecological sustainability requires that the external effects of transport be taken into account fully when public or private decisions are made that determine future development. Social sustainability requires that the benefits of improved transport reach all sections of the community. It is necessary to redefine the role of governments in the transport sector--the focus in transport policy must shift toward a market-based approach with the private sector taking on more of the responsibility for providing, operating, and financing transport services and infrastructure. The role of the government would therefore decline, but its importance as the enabler of competition and the custodian of environmental and social interests would increase. The World Bank Group's role will be to focus on institutional and policy reform; it can help governments fulfill their enabling and supervisory role in a freer transport market through more selective and focused technical assistance for building the capacity and skills needed by the public sector." -- Website.
For some sectors the effect on import prices of investigating antidumping cases and countervailing measures is as great as imposing a duty. And investigations that end in duties have different effects than those resulting in no action.
