In recent years, the number of studies
looking at the effect of politics on economic outcomes has
flourished. For developing economies, these studies are
useful to better understand why long overdue reforms are not
implemented. The studies analyze the overall context within
which reforms are being implemented and the underlying
incentive framework. However, it seems difficult to make
such studies actionable, especially in sectors where donors

This Country Economic Memorandum (CEM)
is the first for Burundi since the 1980s. It has been
developed in collaboration with the government of Burundi.
The CEM has been prepared in cooperation with the African
development bank and the U.K. department for international
development. Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the
world, and has suffered from many years of civil conflict
and its consequences. In the last years, peace has been

Kosovo's economic growth in the
past decade has been solid, yet, with a gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita of 1,760, the country remains one
of the poorest in Europe. The end of the conflict, output
was growing at double-digit rates, driven by the
donor-funded reconstruction efforts. Since 2005, annual
growth has decelerated to below 5 percent. However, the
other countries in Southeast Europe have been growing

The goal of the Congo, Democratic
Republic of (DRC's) trade policy is to create a
regulatory, fiscal and institutional environment in which
domestic and foreign trade can develop unhindered, opening
up the country's vast territory and integrating it into
regional and international trade channels. In this respect,
the analyses in this report highlight three priorities: (i)
to streamline and reduce port taxation; (ii) to conclude the

This paper explores the reduction of
food insecurity in Bolivia, adopting a supply side approach
that analyzes the role of agricultural spending on
vulnerability. Vulnerability to food insecurity is captured
by a municipal level composite -- developed locally within
the framework of World Food Program food security analysis
-- that combines welfare outcomes, weather conditions and
agricultural potential for all 327 municipalities in 2003,

The Dominican Republic-Central American
Free Trade Agreement with the United States aims to create a
free trade zone for economic development. The Agreement is
expected to intensify commerce and investment among the
participating countries. This paper analyzes the changes in
the production and trading patterns in 2-digit manufacturing
sectors with the goal of understanding the short-term
environmental implications of the Dominican Republic-Central

In May 2008, the commission on growth
and development (the growth commission) issued its report
entitled 'the growth report'. In it the commission
attempted to distill what had been learned in the past two
decades, from experience and academic and policy research,
about strategies and policies that produced sustained high
growth in developing countries. It became clear in the
course of the work that politics, leadership, and political

This report proposes a growth strategy
for Sudan that reduces its dependence on oil, while building
an economic foundation for a diversified, inclusive and
sustainable growth path. Specifically, Sudan's near
term strategy should focus on: a) developing and maintaining
the necessary enabling environment for growth, specifically
macroeconomic stability and effective fiscal management
(chapter one); b) implementing policies aimed at improving

This paper reviews the literature on tax
assignment in decentralized countries. Ideally, own-source
revenues should be sufficient to enable at least the richest
subnational governments to finance from their own resources
all locally-provided services that primarily benefit local
residents. Subnational taxes should also not unduly distort
the allocation of resources. Most importantly, to the extent
possible subnational governments should be accountable at

The past decade has witnessed major
shift thinking about water, including how water
infrastructure development strategies can help advance
sustainable development and the global fight against
poverty. This reflects, in part, greater attention now being
paid to governance reforms promoting integrated water
resource management (IWRM), the efficient and wise use of
water, and expanding access to water and energy services. In

In 2004, the government of Sierra Leone
opted for a rethink of its national governance arrangement
by embarking on the resuscitation of democratically elected
local government after 32 years experimenting with central
government appointed district and municipal governments. The
decision by the government and the people of Sierra Leone
was driven by a primary consideration to address the
country's seeming nonperformance in the areas of

The Niger Diagnostic Trade Integration
Study (DTIS) has been prepared under the Integrated
Framework (IF) for trade related technical assistance to
least developed countries in response to a request from the
Government of Burkina Faso. The study is to build the
foundation for accelerated growth by enhancing the
integration of its economy into regional and global markets.
This Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) is intended