The objective of this study is to analyse the impact of various types of
government spending on growth and poverty reduction, using provincial level data over
the last decade. Government spending reduces poverty through many channels such as
agricultural growth and improved nonfarm employment. We will try to capture all these
different effects in the analysis if the data allow. This paper opens with a review of
Vietnam’s economic reforms and growth over the past decade. We then sketch Vietnam’s

The Little Green Data Book 2005 is based on the World Development Indicators 2005, and represents an abbreviated collection of information. Its production is a collaboration between the Development Economics Data Development Group, and the Environment Department of the World Bank. Development and poverty alleviation-the World Bank's mission-call for a long-term vision. Enhancing environmental quality, improving natural resource management, and maintaining global ecosystems are all important steps toward this goal.

Recent trends in Albania suggest that it
has the potential for a modern and competitive agricultural
sector, provided there is sufficient private investment and
the right policy environment. This chapter looks at the role
of agriculture in the economy and the current status of the
sector, and outlines the implications of modernization and
transformation of agriculture for rural areas. It also
identifies trends and sources of growth for agriculture, and

This report discusses the study of slums
in the city of Surat and it is divided into eight sections.
Section one introduces the study and discusses general
background, overall methodology, methods and techniques of
data collection, and methods of analysis; section two
profiles the city of Surat and slums therein; section three
discusses definition and recognition of slums and situation
of tenure of land along with the physical and social

Urbanization, which is almost completed
now in developed countries and even in Latin America, is now
proceeding in much of Asia at an unprecedented rate. Many of
the countries in the region have up to half their population
now living urban lifestyles and increasingly also living in
urban regions. The forms that urbanization is taking in the
developing countries, however, are problematic. Towns and
cities that were never planned to have large populations are

This poverty assessment for Romania
covers the period from 1995 to 2002, since the last World
Bank poverty analysis reviewed the evolution of poverty from
1989 to 1994, the early years of transition from a socialist
to a market economy. This assessment's objective is to
understand how poverty has evolved and how economic growth
and social protection programs, 10 percent of GDP, have
affected poverty, as Romania prepares for accession to the

The country's approach to poverty reduction is outlined in the 2003 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, and draws on a development approach in which growth and poverty reduction are mutually reinforcing. Three areas of focus are identified in the PRSP: (1) restoration of law and improvements in governance; (2) promotion of broad-based growth; and (3) promotion of systems for establishing human and material security. The DPR presents Madagascar's development policy agenda in an integrated framework within which issues of policy consistency, priorities, and sequencing could be addressed.

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala, and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Nicaragua. The
objective of the study is to understand how broad-based
economic growth can be stimulated, and sustained in rural
Central America. The study identifies "drivers" of
sustainable rural growth and poverty reduction, where
drivers are defined as the assets and combinations of assets

This report finalized in March 2001
constitutes a step toward the objective of designing an
integrated strategy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil,
The report contains an updated and more detailed profile of
the rural poor in the northeast (NE) and southeast (SE) of
Brazil; identifies key determinants of rural poverty in
these regions; and proposes a five-pronged strategic
framework in which to couch a set of integrated policies

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala, and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Nicaragua. The
objective of the study is to understand how broad-based
economic growth can be stimulated, and sustained in rural
Central America. The study identifies "drivers" of
sustainable rural growth and poverty reduction, where
drivers are defined as the assets and combinations of assets

The report provides a synthesis of the
main results obtained on the evolution of poverty, and other
indicators of well being over the 1990s, and is intended to
facilitate debate on strategy options for poverty reduction
in Madagascar. Section I provides the setting for study, and
presents a synthesis of macroeconomic trends in the country
during the last decade. Section II looks at the evolution of
poverty, inequality, and other indicators over the 1993-1999

This review systematically assesses the
focus of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on
environment-related issues. A total of 40 Interim and full
PRSPs from countries in Africa, Latin America and Eastern
Europe, the Middle East, Central and East Asia are reviewed.
Four major questions: are posed: (i) What issues of
environmental concerns and opportunities are identified in
the PRSPs?; (ii) To what extent are poverty-environment