Satisfying Urban Thirst
Satisfying Urban Thirst

Author: R. Maria Saleth

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9780821341469

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Vietnam's educational record is impressive: 91 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 10 are enrolled in school, and 88 percent of the countrys working-age population is literate. However, emerging market forces within Vietnam, as well as examples and competition from its economically vibrant neighbors, raise important new challenges for the countrys education and training (E & T) system. The government of Vietnam has set ambitious targets for increasing enrollments in E & T institutions, but one question remains unanswered: What policies are required to ensure that an expanded E & T system will give its graduates the knowledge, skills, and attitudes demanded by private sector employers and critical to the smooth functioning of a leaner public sector in the futureNULL This study attempts to answer the question and thereby assist education policymakers in Vietnam in making equitable and efficient choices. The report is divided into six chapters. The first two chapters set the general context for a consideration of E & T costs and financing in Vietnam and explain how the system is presently organized and managed. The third and fourth chapters assess the current financing system, including the state budget and other sources of public funding, and calculate the cost per student-year and the cost per graduate at each level. Chapter 5 examines the social rates of return and the cost burdens for different groups within the country. The final chapter looks ahead to the next decade and draws lessons from other countries.

Overcoming Obstacles to Liberalization of the Telecom Sector in Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Hungary
Overcoming Obstacles to Liberalization of the Telecom Sector in Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Hungary

Author: Robert Bruce

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 9780821345153

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This study emerges from discussions with representatives of the World Bank and high-level representatives of government and the telecommunications services industry in Hungary, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Hungary. It considers the problems inherent with the liberalization of the telecom sector. This publication is a Technical Paper sponsored by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network of the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia Division. It is part of a comprehensive series regarding the many important factors that influence European Union (EU) accession in the Central and East European countries (CEEC). The topics in the series cover both the social and economic aspects of accession across a broad range of sectors. The series also provides background information for specific acceding countries. These publications will be of interest to EU member and candidate countries, their ministries, and any one studying the accession issue.

World Bank Group Assistance for Minerals Sector Development and Reform in Member Countries
World Bank Group Assistance for Minerals Sector Development and Reform in Member Countries

Author: William Torrens Onorato

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 9780821342039

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World Bank Technical Paper No. 399. This paper examines the increased role of the private sector in developing and maintaining critical infrastructure. It identifies governments' quest to shift part of the burden of new infrastructure investments to the private sector for the economic development of firms and industry and the improvement of quality of life and, given the constraints on public budgets, to finance growing infrastructure needs. Adequate infrastructure services include power, telecommunications, transport, water supply and sanitation. The paper also emphasizes the private sector involvement in bringing increased efficiency to investment and management and operation.

Designing Rules for Demand-driven Rural Investment Funds
Designing Rules for Demand-driven Rural Investment Funds

Author: Thomas B. Wiens

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9780821342299

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The demand-driven rural investment fund (DRIF) is a new mechanism for decentralizing decisionmaking authority and financial resources to local governments and communities to use for investments of their choice. To counteract the local government's weak capacity to choose and implement projects well, central governments have often constrained the choices of communities by limiting the types of projects eligible for financing and requiring specific procedures for procurement and disbursement. This study explores the extent to which well-designed DRIF rules and incentive structures can substitute for central control. It looks at the different and often conflicting motivations of donors, central governments, and communities and explores how rules can be devised to allow actors to achieve their objectives.

Court Performance Around the World
Court Performance Around the World

Author: Maria Dakolias

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 9780821344361

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World Bank Technical Paper no. 430.QUOTEMany countries are undertaking legal and judicial reforms as part of their overall development programs; there is increasing recognition that economic and social progress requires consolidation of democracy as well as respect for the rule of law and human rights; without these development is not sustainable.QUOTEMany developing countries find that their judiciaries are inconsistent in conflict resolution and carry a large backlog of cases, thus stifling private-sector growth, eroding individual and property rights, and perhaps even violating human rights. Delays affect both the fairness and the efficiency of the system. They impede the public's access to the courts, which, in effect, weakens democracies, the rule of law and the ability to enforce human rights. This paper aims to describe and explain the performance of court systems in a sample of developing and developed countries in order to provide data to those designing or evaluating reforms. The study also seeks to show areas in which international comparison of judicial performance can be fruitful, suggesting indicators that can be used in such comparisons. Finally, it endeavors to provide comparisons of performance within individual countries over time.

Groundwater Law and Management in India
Groundwater Law and Management in India

Author: Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-07-23

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 9811626170

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This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing nature of India’s groundwater laws. In the backdrop of the gravity of groundwater crisis that threatens to engulf the country, the book examines the correlation between the imperfections in the law and water crisis and advocates a reform agenda to overhaul the legal framework. It accomplishes this objective by examining how some of the States and Union Territories regulate and manage groundwater through the legal instrumentality against the backdrop of the two conflicting paradigms: the “elitist” and the “egalitarian.” The book’s fundamental premise is that despite being an extraordinarily critical resource that supports India’s burgeoning population’s ever-increasing water demands, groundwater is abused and mismanaged. The key argument that it posits is that the elitist paradigm must give way to an egalitarian one where groundwater is treated as a common property resource. To place this message in perspective, the book’s introduction explains the dichotomy between the two paradigms in the context of groundwater. This sets the stage, after which the book is divided thematically into three parts. The first part deals with some of the general groundwater management concerns brought to the fore by the operation of the elitist paradigm. Since water is constitutionally a State subject, the second part analyses the groundwater legislations of different States and Union Territories set against their unique circumstances. As these laws do not dismantle the elitist paradigm that interlocks groundwater rights to land rights, the next part articulates the legal reform agenda where a case is made to re-engineer groundwater laws to reflect a more sustainable basis. The findings and arguments resonate with the situation in many developing countries around the world due to which the book is a valuable resource for researchers across disciplines studying this area, and also for policy makers, think tanks, and NGOs. Groundwater Management–Inter-state Water Conflicts–Aquifers–Water Markets–Water Security–Water Law Reform–Groundwater Law–Water Law–Sustainable Development–Hydrology

Hungary
Hungary

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 9780821345177

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Published by Oxford University Press for the World Bank. Some people may believe that crises are an inevitable feature of the capitalist system. Others hold that exchange-rate crises will vanish as more and more countries adopt floating exchange rates... But, some of us believe that crises can be avoided or at least limited by good economic management, and that having a reasonable idea of where the equilibrium exchange rate lies is an essential requirement for good macro management... --John Williamson, Chief Economist, South Asia Region, World Bank Exchange Rate Misalignment provides a comprehensive treatment of the conceptual and empirical issues concerning measuring exchange rate misalignment in developing countries. The report hopes to provide policymakers and their advisors with a compendium of practical techniques for estimating equilibrium real exchange rates. The book analyzes, in detail, four methodologies for the empirical estimation of the long-run equilibrium real exchange rate. The findings of the report include: * An assessment of alternative empirical measures of the internal and external real exchange rates. * An up-to-date survey of the literature on estimating equilibrium exchange rates in both industrial and developing countries. * A detailed presentation of currently available methodologies for empirically estimating the equilibrium exchange rate in developing countries. The analytical depth and practical techniques provided in Exchange Rate Misalignment make this book an invaluable resource for policymakers and foreign exchange specialists in the public and private sector.

Agriculture Sector Programs
Agriculture Sector Programs

Author: Nwanze Okidegbe

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 9780821343234

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This sourcebook provides practical guidance to policymakers and program planners in countries and to development agencies on how to carry out or support an agricultural sector program—from initial discussions, to developing the program concept, to securing broad stakeholder involvement, to implementation. It explains the reasons why countries may wish to undertake a sector or subsector program and describes the conditions which can help ensure the program's success; provides details on how to formulate a sector strategy and bring about institutional reforms; focuses on core public sector activities based on a detailed expenditure review; and suggests ways of encouraging donors to work together under the leadership of the partner country government.

Reforming Education in the Regions of Russia
Reforming Education in the Regions of Russia

Author: Mary Canning

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 9780821346242

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Russia's educational system, with broad access, and high levels of scholarly achievement, has long been a source of strength. The Soviet system, however, was grossly overcentralized, inefficient, and lacking in accountability. In the last decade, attempted rapid decentralization has not been well designed, since there has been no commensurate transfer of resources and levels of responsibility have remained unclear. Unless corrected soon, the harmful impact on educational quality and equity could be very serious. The purposes of this report are to analyze the nature of the current problems and to discuss policy options open to the Russian Government in its efforts to improve educational efficiency, preserving and even improving equitable access, without sacrificing traditions of academic excellence. This report is based on analysis of trends across the 89 Russian regions and case studies. In its conclusions, the report draws on this regional experience to suggest reform options. Among other proposals, efficiency could be increased by giving schools increased financial autonomy, using of per capita financing formulae, and beginning to rationalize the teaching force and improve its quality. A national system of student assessment might help both to raise quality and improve the equity of access to highly selective institutions. Reforms are required to improve the market responsiveness of first-level vocational education, and especially to avoid excessive and premature specialization. Education practitioners and policy makers will find this publication of interest.

Privatization of the Power and Natural Gas Industries in Hungary and Kazakhstan
Privatization of the Power and Natural Gas Industries in Hungary and Kazakhstan

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9780821344835

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Hungary and Kazakhstan have privatized a large portion of their electric power and natural gas industries, but have followed different strategies. In contrast, the other former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe have privatized almost none. Has the privatization in these two countries been a success? What lessons can other countries learn from their experience? These countries began their reforms from different starting points. The Hungarian power and gas sectors had a long history of being relatively well managed. In contrast, Kazakhstan inherited pieces of the old systems that were designed to serve the needs of the Soviet Union and had to develop new organizations to manage the system. 'Privatization of the Power and Natural Gas Industries in Hungary and Kazakhstan' analyzes how each country dealt with the key issues involved in the restructuring and privatization of the power and gas sectors. These issues include: industry structure, wholesale market, labor and management relations, regulatory framework, privatization objecties, and privatization methods.