Although Bulgaria now implements the
European Union's (EU's) "common"
agricultural policy (CAP), national policymakers still
maintain responsibility to tailor CAP implementation to meet
the specific development needs of the country. The National
Rural Development Program (NRDP) very appropriately lays out
the challenges that Bulgarian agriculture and rural
development face, but the early implementation of a

Energy poverty is a frequently used term
among energy specialists, but unfortunately the concept is
rather loosely defined. Several existing approaches measure
energy poverty by defining an energy poverty line as the
minimum quantity of physical energy needed to perform such
basic tasks as cooking and lighting. This paper proposes an
alternative measure that is based on energy demand. The
energy poverty line is defined as the threshold point at

The authors use regression analysis to
assess the potential welfare impact of rainfall shocks in
rural Indonesia. In particular, they consider two shocks:
(i) a delay in the onset of monsoon and (ii) a significant
shortfall in the amount of rain in the 90 day post-onset
period. Focusing on households with family farm businesses,
the analysis finds that a delay in the monsoon onset does
not have a significant impact on the welfare of rice

Lesotho began a structural economic
transformation in the early 1990s. The transformation has
brought higher, more secure incomes to households while the
government succeeded in dramatically improving access to
services such as education, health, water, and
transportation. Yet today, Lesotho faces a number of serious
development challenges, including a high rate of chronic
poverty, entrenched income inequality, and most troubling

This paper examines the policy options
for India as it seeks to improve living conditions of the
poor on a large scale and reduce the population in slums.
Addressing the problem requires first a diagnosis of the
market at the city level and a recognition that government
interventions, rather than thwarting the operations of the
market, should seek to make it operate better. This can
substantially reduce the subsidies required to assist low

Little is known about the situation
facing widows and their dependent children in West Africa
especially after the widow remarries. Women in Malian
society are vulnerable to the loss of husbands especially in
rural areas. Households headed by widows have significantly
lower living standards on average than male or other female
headed households in both rural and urban areas; this holds
both unconditionally and conditional on observable household

Economic growth in Solomon Islands since
the end of civil conflict in 2003 has been driven by rapid
expansion of the forestry sector and large increases in
international aid flows. Stocks of natural forest logs are
nearing exhaustion and, as the security situation improves,
aid flows are likely to flatten off. The Solomon Islands
Government asked the World Bank to investigate future growth
prospects. This note summarizes the findings and presents a

This briefing note examines
intergenerational aspects of community involvement, trust,
and authority, and dispute participation/resolution in
Timor-Leste, using findings from the justice module included
in an extension of the 2007 Timor-Leste Survey of Living
Standards (TLSLS2) and a review of relevant social-science
literature. It is hoped that this report will be a valuable
resource for civil servants, civil society organizations,

This paper estimates the impact of a
change in procurement strategy of a private buyer in the
central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Beginning in October
2000, internet kiosks and warehouses were established that
provide wholesale price information and an alternative
marketing channel to soy farmers in the state. Using a new
market-level dataset, the estimates suggest a significant
increase in soy price after the introduction of kiosks,

The objective of this policy note is to
examine the gender dimension of the Egyptian labor market,
with a focus on identifying the scope for policies to
improve female labor force participation. An update to the
Egypt gender assessment report of 2003, it is envisioned as
a contribution to programmatic work on gender and inclusion
in Egypt, helping build evidence which can inform policy
aimed at improving the participation and retention of women

There have been important changes in the
budgeting process in Vietnam since 2006 when the government
of Vietnam instituted a revolutionary reform in the
management and allocation of the state budget. For the
period of 2007-2010, the norms include ethnic minority
population data, and poverty rates. The purpose of this
research assignment is to describe the evolution of
budgeting mechanisms in recent years, in association with

This study examines the relationship
between transport infrastructure and agriculture in
Sub-Saharan Africa using new data obtained from geographic
information systems (GIS). First, the authors analyze the
impact of road connectivity on crop production and choice of
technology. Second, they explore the impact of investments
that reduce road travel times. Finally, they show how this
type of analysis can be used to compare cost-benefit ratios