Uneven Odds, Unequal Outcomes
Uneven Odds, Unequal Outcomes

Author: Nandini Krishnan

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2016-06-28

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1464807876

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Perceptions of eroding living standards and low life satisfaction are widespread in the Middle East and North Africa region today, along with pessimism about prospects for economic mobility. Conventional measures of economic well-being offer little in the way of explanation †“ in most countries in the region, extreme poverty is low and declining and economic inequality is lower than in other parts of the world. This book investigates possible reasons for this disconnect, focusing on the role played by inadequate and unequal access to opportunities to realize one’s aspirations for economic mobility. The inability of most countries in the region to meet the aspirations of citizens is closely linked to persistent weaknesses in the labor markets where the pace of job creation has been chronically below levels required to absorb the growing and increasingly better educated population. A high degree of segmentation in the labor markets also puts the youth and women in the region at a particular disadvantage. While labor markets are critical for mobility, opportunities and life paths can diverge even earlier in life if access to basic services in health, education and infrastructure are unequally distributed among children in their formative years. This book documents sharp disparities in the quality of services available to children of varying birth circumstances in the region. Although the most intense debates in development coalesce around inequality of income or wealth, the notion of inequality of opportunity has an intuitive appeal that can bridge ideological differences. By drawing attention to the notion of equality of opportunity to create a level playing field for all sections of society, the book highlights the need to critically examine the social contract and governance structures that guide the delivery of services and are instrumental for implementing necessary reforms to make labor markets more dynamic and equitable.

Fair Progress?
Fair Progress?

Author: Ambar Narayan

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-05-31

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1464812799

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Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations around the World focuses on an issue that has gotten much attention in the developed world, but will present new data and analysis covering most of the world including developing economies. The analysis considers whether those born in poverty or in prosperity are destined to remain in the same economic circumstances into which they were born, and looks back over a half a century at whether children's lives are better or worse than their parents' in different parts of the world. It suggests local, national, and global actions and policies that can help break the cycle of poverty, paving the way for the next generation to realize their potential and improve their lives.

World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2018
World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2018

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-10-03

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1464813663

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"Despite some financial turbulence, growth in developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) was resilient during the first half of 2018. The growth outlook for the region remains positive. After peaking in 2017, growth in developing EAP is expected to slow modestly in 2018, as China's economic expansion continues to moderate. However, downside risks have significantly intensified. An escalation in trade tensions and heightened financial market turbulence, either due to an acceleration in U.S. monetary policy normalization or contagion from other emerging markets could threaten the region's growth prospects. To navigate uncertainty, developing EAP economies should reduce short-term vulnerabilities and enhance buffers, redouble their commitment to an open, rules-based international trade and investment framework, including through deeper regional economic integration, and deepen structural reforms. The intensification of risks underscores the need to continue to enhance economic security by investing in human capital and strengthen social assistance and insurance programs to increase households' resilience to systemic shocks."

Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016
Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016

Author: World Bank Group

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2016-10-12

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1464809798

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Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016 is the first of an annual flagship report that will inform a global audience comprising development practitioners, policy makers, researchers, advocates, and citizens in general with the latest and most accurate estimates on trends in global poverty and shared prosperity. This edition will also document trends in inequality and identify recent country experiences that have been successful in reducing inequalities, provide key lessons from those experiences, and synthesize the rigorous evidence on public policies that can shift inequality in a way that bolsters poverty reduction and shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. Specifically, the report will address the following questions: • What is the latest evidence on the levels and evolution of extreme poverty and shared prosperity? • Which countries and regions have been more successful in terms of progress toward the twin goals and which are lagging behind? • What does the global context of lower economic growth mean for achieving the twin goals? • How can inequality reduction contribute to achieving the twin goals? • What does the evidence show concerning global and between- and within-country inequality trends? • Which interventions and countries have used the most innovative approaches to achieving the twin goals through reductions in inequality? The report will make four main contributions. First, it will present the most recent numbers on poverty, shared prosperity, and inequality. Second, it will stress the importance of inequality reduction in ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity by 2030 in a context of weaker growth. Third, it will highlight the diversity of within-country inequality reduction experiences and will synthesize experiences of successful countries and policies, addressing the roots of inequality without compromising economic growth. In doing so, the report will shatter some myths and sharpen our knowledge of what works in reducing inequalities. Finally, it will also advocate for the need to expand and improve data collection—for example, data availability, comparability, and quality—and rigorous evidence on inequality impacts in order to deliver high-quality poverty and shared prosperity monitoring.

The Rise and the Future of Militias in the MENA Region
The Rise and the Future of Militias in the MENA Region

Author: Ranj Alaaldin

Publisher: Ledizioni

Published: 2020-01-12

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 8855261398

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In recent decades, militias and sub-national armed groups have played a decisive role in politics and security in the MENA region. Their prominence with local and outside actors in areas where state institutions have collapsed presents multiple policy challenges. Armed groups have access to substantial resources and in some cases enjoy considerable local legitimacy. That makes them formidable but also resilient forces. This is why their suppression – through coercive measures or marginalization – can bring more costs than benefits to already fragile state institutions and exhausted populations. This volume addresses the void in the current debate on subnational armed groups, focusing particularly on the multiple ongoing conflicts and turmoil in the MENA region. It places a particular emphasis on whether armed groups can be integrated into state-building initiatives and whether they can play a constructive role with other key actors.

Convergence
Convergence

Author: World Bank Group

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2020-02-10

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 1464814511

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Policy makers across the Middle East and North Africa have for many years articulated plans to integrate their people spatially and economically. Wishing to bring communities together and narrow economic gaps, governments have made large capital investments in transport corridors and “new cities.†? Hoping to provide jobs in places with little economic activity, governments have designated new industrial zones supported by spatially targeted business incentives. Yet the results of these place-based initiatives in MENA are limited. The disparities between capital cities and lagging areas, and between richer and poorer quarters of cities, remain stark. Across much of the region, a fortunate few are connected to opportunity, while many more people are marginal to the formal economy—or live outside it, seemingly forgotten. Why have place-based spatial initiatives in MENA countries largely underdelivered, not yielding more sustainable jobs and growth? Although the challenges are many and vary across the region, this book explains that many of these place-based policies get one thing wrong: they attempt to treat inequity‘s spatial and physical symptoms, not its causes. This book presents the five roots causes of spatial inequity in institutional inefficiencies across MENA—urban regulatory frictions, credentialist education systems, centralized control over local public services, barriers to the spatial mobility of goods and people, and barriers to market entry and lopsided business environments—within cities, within countries, and across national borders

Pathways for Peace
Pathways for Peace

Author: United Nations;World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-04-13

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 1464811865

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Violent conflicts today are complex and increasingly protracted, involving more nonstate groups and regional and international actors. It is estimated that by 2030—the horizon set by the international community for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals—more than half of the world’s poor will be living in countries affected by high levels of violence. Information and communication technology, population movements, and climate change are also creating shared risks that must be managed at both national and international levels. Pathways for Peace is a joint United Nations†“World Bank Group study that originates from the conviction that the international community’s attention must urgently be refocused on prevention. A scaled-up system for preventive action would save between US$5 billion and US$70 billion per year, which could be reinvested in reducing poverty and improving the well-being of populations. The study aims to improve the way in which domestic development processes interact with security, diplomacy, mediation, and other efforts to prevent conflicts from becoming violent. It stresses the importance of grievances related to exclusion—from access to power, natural resources, security and justice, for example—that are at the root of many violent conflicts today. Based on a review of cases in which prevention has been successful, the study makes recommendations for countries facing emerging risks of violent conflict as well as for the international community. Development policies and programs must be a core part of preventive efforts; when risks are high or building up, inclusive solutions through dialogue, adapted macroeconomic policies, institutional reform, and redistributive policies are required. Inclusion is key, and preventive action needs to adopt a more people-centered approach that includes mainstreaming citizen engagement. Enhancing the participation of women and youth in decision making is fundamental to sustaining peace, as well as long-term policies to address the aspirations of women and young people.

Trapped in the Middle?
Trapped in the Middle?

Author: José Antonio Alonso

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-10-22

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0192594230

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There is growing evidence that overcoming the low-income threshold and reaching middle-income status is not sufficient for countries to converge toward high-income levels. Few middle-income countries have successfully completed that transit in recent decades, with the majority remaining in the middle-income group, and so facing what has come to be called "the middle-income trap". It is therefore essential to explore whether middle-income traps really exist and, if they do, how these pitfalls are manifested, what their causes are, what economic policy measures are required to escape from them, and what international cooperation can do to support this process. Trapped in the Middle? brings together diverse perspectives on these important questions, providing new evidence and analytical approaches to enrich the debate on the domestic and international challenges faced by a significant number of middle-income countries, in which over three-quarters of the global population live.

The Routledge Handbook on the Middle East Economy
The Routledge Handbook on the Middle East Economy

Author: Hassan Hakimian

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-07-09

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 1351596683

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This Handbook captures the salient features of Middle Eastern economies and critically examines the public policy responses required to address the challenges and opportunities across the region. Bringing together wide-ranging perspectives from carefully selected and renowned subject specialists, the collection fills a gap in this relatively young and growing academic field. Combining discussion of theory and empirical evidence, the book maps out the evolution of Middle East economics as a field within area studies and applied development economics. Presented in six thematic sections, the book enables the reader to gain a comprehensive understanding of the region’s main economic themes and issues: • Growth and development in comparative perspectives • Labour force and human development • Natural resources, resource curse and trade • Poverty, inequality and social policy • Institutions and transition to democracy • Corruption, conflict and refugees Providing an overview of the principal economic problems, policies and performances relating to the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, this collection will be a key resource for upper-level undergraduates, graduates and scholars with an interest in Middle East economics, applied development economics, development studies and area studies.