The Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania and Poland are situated along strategic trade
corridors within Europe, constituting the EUs eastern border
with Russia and other CIS countries. EU membership has
triggered rapid economic growth for the Baltic States and
Poland due to the removal of trade barriers and reduced
transaction costs. A heavy influx of EU grants has targeted
development and improvement of transport infrastructure, and

The past eight years witnessed
China's phenomenal growth and integration into the
world economy, expedited by its accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 2001. The accession greatly
accelerated China's domestic reforms. By the end of
2007, China was ranked the second largest exporter and third
largest trader in the world after its exports grew at over
20 percent per year for the sixth year in a row. The

The paper assesses the costs and
household level benefits of migrating overseas from
Bangladesh. The authors survey households who have had
overseas migrants to assess their characteristics compared
to non-migrants. They also compute various types of
migration and remittance related transaction costs and
discuss the channels by which overseas migration is
financed, remittances sent and the constraints faced by the

The aim of this study is to assist the
government in this endeavor by focusing on selected
priorities. The overarching objective of this report is to
promote the mainstreaming and integration of climate related
risks in India's development policies and processes,
where this is appropriate. The objectives and scope of work
were developed in close consultation with the Ministry of
Environment and Forests as the primary counterpart, a

This report presents the outcomes of the
functional review of Romania's agricultural
administration. Given the sectoral and territorial relevance
of its regulatory domain, Romania s Agricultural and Rural
Development Administration is a key administrative body
undergoing this Functional Review. The review will examine
whether the policy goals and objectives of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and its agencies

Agriculture sector growth has made a
powerful contribution to post-war economic recovery in
Tajikistan, accounting for approximately one third of
overall economic growth from 1998 to 2004. Sector output
increased by 65 percent in real terms during this period,
and has now returned to the level extant at independence in
1990. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) has also increased, by
3 percent per year. Despite this progress, there is

The first volume of Independent
Evaluation Group (IEG) series (IEG 2009) examined World Bank
experience with the promotion of the most important win-win
(no regrets) energy policies, policies that combine domestic
gains with global greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. These
included energy pricing reform and policies to promote
energy efficiency. This second phase covers the entire World
Bank Group (WBG), including the International Finance

This Agriculture Public Expenditure
Review (AgPER) comprehensively reviews public expenditures
on agriculture in Uganda and analyzes their efficiency and
effectiveness. Its genesis lies in Agriculture Sector
Working Group (A-SWG) discussions, especially during the
budget process, which raised concerns about the seemingly
low budget allocations to the sector and the failure to
align limited resources with recognized priorities in the

The study includes four sections: i)
brief production background; ii) description of the
Argentine soybean value chain; iii) evolution of the main
policies and institutional regimes in Argentina; iv) lessons
learned related to the political economy and the industrial
organization. The study describes the main policies
implemented in Argentina during the last two decades which
had impact on the structure of the soybean value chain and

Agriculture is one of the major sources
of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting for
approximately 14 percent of total GHG emissions. However,
unlike other sectors such as transport or energy,
agriculture is potentially a significant carbon
'sink'. Moreover, because the majority of GHG
emissions from agriculture originate in developing
countries, early intervention could be highly
cost-effective. This note examines the potential role of

The issue of regional differences in
development has moved to the center of the development
debate in Sri Lanka, partly after the release of regional
poverty data. For the past many years, there have been
significant and increasing differences between the Western
province and the rest of the country in terms of per capita
income levels, growth rates of per capita income, poverty
rates, and the structure of provincial economies. The

Many investments in infrastructure are
built on the belief that they will ineluctably lead to
poverty reduction and income generation. This has entailed
massive aid-financed projects in roads in developing
countries. However, the lack of robust evaluations and a
comprehensive theoretical framework could raise questions
about current strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the
second Cameroonian national household survey (Enquete