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International Debt Report 2022: Updated International Debt Statistics (International Debt Report)
by World BankThe International Debt Report (IDR), formerly International Debt Statistics (IDS), is a longstanding annual publication of the World Bank featuring external debt statistics and analysis for the 121 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System. IDR 2022 includes (1) an analyses of external debt stocks and flows from 2010 to 2021 for these countries; (2) an assessment of the evolution of the creditor composition of external debt over the past decade; (3) a focus on how the World Bank has sought to enhance data quality and transparency against the backdrop of rapidly changing global debt dynamics that contribute to debt transparency issues; (4) tables and charts detailing debtor and creditor composition of debt stock and flows, terms volume and terms of new commitments, maturity structure of future debt service payments and debt burdens; and (5) a one-page summary for each country, plus global, regional, and income-group aggregates showing debt stocks and flows, relevant debt indicators, and metadata for 6 years (2010 and 2017†“2021). Unique in its coverage of the important trends and issues fundamental to the financing of LMICs, IDR 2022 is an indispensable resource for governments, economists, investors, financial consultants, academics, bankers, and the entire development community. For more information on IDR 2022 and related products, please visit the World Bank's Debt Statistics website at www. worldbank.org/debtstatistics.
Women, Business and the Law 2022 (Women, Business and the Law)
by World BankWomen, Business and the Law 2022 is the eighth in a series of annual studies measuring progress toward gender equality in 190 economies by examining the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity. The project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. This year, the study also includes preliminary findings and analysis of pilot data collected on the provision of childcare and the operation of laws in practice. Examining the economic decisions women make throughout their working lives, as well as progress toward gender equality over the last 50 years, the study is meant to inform research and policy discussions about the state of women’s inclusion. By presenting powerful examples of change and highlighting the gaps still remaining, Women, Business and the Law 2022 is a vital tool in the work of ensuring economic empowerment for all. The data are current as of October 1, 2021.
Building Resilient Migration Systems in the Mediterranean Region: Lessons from COVID-19
by Mauro Testaverde Jacquelyn PavilonFor thousands of years, migration has been a source of social and economic well-being for people living on different shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Whether through higher earnings for migrants, access to labor for receiving countries, or remittances for sending communities, migration has been an important driver of development in the Mediterranean region. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has severely disrupted this complex web of movements, raising questions about whether migration will continue to be an important driver of the region’s well-being. As time passed, it became clear that the drivers of migration are so strong that mobility restrictions can only reduce movements, not halt them entirely. Building Resilient Migration Systems in the Mediterranean Region: Lessons from COVID-19 presents evidence on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on mobility in the region to inform policy responses that can help countries restart migration safely and better respond to future shocks. While some of the challenges that emerged during the pandemic are specific to public health crises, others are common to different types of shocks, including those related to economic, conflict, or climate-related factors. To inform this reform process, this book suggests a set of actions that can help Mediterranean countries to maximize the benefits of migration for all people living in the region, while at the same time ensuring the sustainability of migration flows. As a whole, these proposed policy actions point to a vision of migration resilience that, even during crises, can address key labor shortages, keep both migrant and native populations safer, sustain household incomes, and ameliorate blows to economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has created momentum for policy reforms. Whether this crisis can illuminate the way toward better adapting migration systems to future crises will depend on learning its lessons.
World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery (World Development Report)
by World BankThe COVID-19 pandemic triggered the largest global economic crisis in more than a century. In 2020, economic activity contracted in 90 percent of countries, the world economy shrank by about 3 percent, and global poverty increased for the first time in a generation. Governments responded rapidly with fiscal, monetary, and financial policies that alleviated the worst immediate economic impacts of the crisis. Yet the world must still contend with the significant longer-term financial and economic risks caused by, or exacerbated by, the pandemic and the government responses needed to mitigate its effects. World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery examines the central role of finance in the economic recovery from COVID-19. Based on an in-depth look at the consequences of the crisis most likely to affect low- and middle-income economies, it advocates a set of policies and measures to mitigate the interconnected economic risks stemming from the pandemic—risks that may become more acute as stimulus measures are withdrawn at both the domestic and global levels. Those policies include the efficient and transparent management of nonperforming loans to mitigate threats to financial stability, insolvency reforms to allow for the orderly reduction of unsustainable debts, innovations in risk management and lending models to ensure continued access to credit for households and businesses, and improvements in sovereign debt management to preserve the ability of governments to support an equitable recovery.
Blue Skies, Blue Seas: Air Pollution, Marine Plastics, and Coastal Erosion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Development Report)
by Martin Heger Lukas Vashold Anabella Palacios Alahmadi Marcelo AcerbiWhile economic and social indicators in many Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries have improved over the past three decades, the region’s blue natural assets—clean air, healthy seas, and coastlines—have degraded virtually everywhere. Air pollution levels in the region’s cities are among the highest in the world. Per capita marine plastic pollution is among the highest in the world; coastal erosion rates are the second fastest in the world. These combined challenges threaten local communities, livelihoods, and economies. In fact, the economic cost of MENA’s deteriorating skies and seas is estimated at more than 3 percent of GDP per year. Blue Skies, Blue Seas: Air Pollution, Marine Plastics, and Coastal Erosion in the Middle East and North Africa reviews integrated solutions that the authors identify as the “four I’s†?: • Inform stakeholders about the sources of these challenges. • Provide incentives that improve environmental outcomes for the public and the private sector. • Strengthen institutions to lower air and plastic pollution and to mitigate uncontrolled development and erosion of coastlines. • Invest in abatement options and promote sustainable solutions. Restoring MENA’s blue skies and seas will benefit the health, livelihoods, and incomes of residents. There will inevitably be trade-offs, but choosing a path of green growth will create jobs, diversify economies, and make the region a better place for current and future generations. The actions of policy makers today will shape the trajectory of economies and communities for decades to come.
Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA Development Report)
by Johannes G. Hoogeveen Gladys Lopez-AcevedoCOVID-19 is one of multiple crises to have hit the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the decade following the Arab Spring. War, oil price declines, economic slowdowns, and now a pandemic are tearing at the social fabric of a region characterized by high rates of unemployment, high levels of informality, and low annual economic growth. The economic costs of the pandemic are estimated at about US$227 billion, and fiscal support packages across MENA are averaging 2.7 percent of GDP, putting pressure on already weak fiscal balances and making a quick recovery challenging. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, MENA was the only region in the world experiencing increases in poverty and declines in life satisfaction. Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa Region investigates how COVID-19 changed the welfare of individuals and households in the region. It does so by relying on phone surveys implemented across the region and complements these with microsimulation exercises to assess the impact of COVID-19 on jobs, income, poverty, and inequality. The two approaches complement and corroborate each other's results, thereby making the findings more robust and richer. This report's results show that, in the short run, poverty rates in MENA will increase significantly and inequality will widen. A group of 'new poor' is likely to emerge that may have difficulty recovering from the economic consequences of COVID-19. The report adds value by analyzing newly gathered primary data, along with projections based on newly modeled micro- and macrosimulations, and by identifying key issues that policy makers should focus on to enable a quick, inclusive, and sustained economic recovery.
Taxing Crime: A Whole-of-Government Approach to Fighting Corruption, Money Laundering, and Tax Crimes (StAR Initiative)
by Jean-Pierre Brun Rita Julien Ana Gomez Ndubai Yara Soto Siddhesh RaoTaxing Crime: A Whole-of-Government Approach to Fighting Corruption, Money Laundering, and Tax Crimes examines how tax audits and investigations can lead to uncovering white-collar crime and how investigations of corruption can, in turn, lead to prosecutions of tax evasion or recovery of unpaid taxes. Prepared jointly by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) and the Global Tax Policy Center at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, Vienna University of Economics and Business, this report offers analysis, case studies, examples of legal and operational frameworks, and recommendations that policy makers can use to enhance cooperation between tax authorities and law enforcement agencies at the national and international levels. This study is designed to serve as a reference and source of advocacy for policy makers, but it may be useful to other practitioners as well, including law enforcement offi cials, investigating magistrates, and prosecutors. Specifically, chapters present strategic considerations for establishing communication channels between tax and criminal investigative agencies; suggestions for combining tax and financial crime prosecution as part of an interagency asset recovery strategy; and approaches to developing interagency information exchange at the regional and international levels. It concludes with recommendations on ways to enhance the roles of both the tax authorities in combating money laundering and corruption and of the law enforcement authorities in recovering the proceeds of tax crimes. • Chapter 1 provides an introduction. • Chapter 2 presents strategic considerations for establishing information exchange channels between tax and criminal investigative agencies. • Chapter 3 explains how to combine tax and financial crime prosecution as part of an interagency asset recovery strategy. • Chapter 4 discusses approaches to developing interagency information exchange at the regional and international levels. • Chapter 5 provides recommendations for future efforts to enhance the role of tax authorities in supporting efforts to combat money laundering and corruption, and the role of law enforcement authorities in the recovery of proceeds of tax crimes. • The appendix contains case studies that illustrate effective interagency cooperation, including at the international level.
Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Seizing Opportunities in Global Value Chains (Africa Development Forum)
by Kaleb G. Abreha Woubet Kassa Emmanuel K. Lartey Mengistae Albert G. ZeufackIndustrialization drives the sustained growth in jobs and productivity that marks the developmental take-off of most developed economies. Yet, academics and policy makers have questioned the role of manufacturing in development for late industrializers, especially in view of rapid advancements in technologies and restructuring of international trade. Concurrently, industrialization and structural transformation are integral to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the development strategies of several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Given this renewed interest in industrialization across the region, a central question is not whether SSA countries should pursue industrialization as a potential path to sustainable growth but how to promote the prospects of industrialization. Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Seizing Opportunities in Global Value Chains addresses this question by reassessing the prospects for industrialization in SSA countries through integration into global value chains. It also examines the role of policy in enhancing these prospects. The main findings indicate that • SSA has not experienced premature deindustrialization; the region has witnessed substantial growth in manufacturing jobs despite a lack of improvement in the contribution of manufacturing value-added to GDP. • The region’s integration into manufacturing global value chains is reasonably high but it is dominated by exports of primary products and engagement in low-skill tasks. • Global value chain integration has led to job growth, and backward integration is associated with more job creation. The report emphasizes the role of policy in maintaining a competitive market environment, promoting productivity growth, and investing in skills development and enabling sectors such as infrastructure and finance. Policy makers can strengthen the global value chain linkages by (1) increasing the value-added content of current exports, (2) upgrading into high-skill tasks, and (3) creating comparative advantages in knowledge-intensive industries.
The Long Shadow of Informality: Challenges and Policies
by World Bank GroupA large percentage of workers and firms operate in the informal economy, outside the line of sight of governments in emerging markets and developing economies. Widespread informality may hold back the recovery in these economies from the deep recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic—unless governments adopt a broad set of policies to address the challenges of widespread informality. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of informality and its implications for a durable economic recovery and for long-term development. It finds that pervasive informality is associated with significantly weaker economic outcomes—including lower government resources to combat recessions, lower per capita incomes, greater poverty, less financial development, and weaker investment and productivity.
Deep Trade Agreements: Anchoring Global Value Chains in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Nadia Rocha Michele RutaGlobally, greater integration in international trade and global value chains (GVCs) has been linked to increased GDP per capita and productivity. Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries have displayed limited trade openness and weak integration into GVCs. Their trade is roughly one-third of GDP on average, compared with one-half in countries in Europe and Central Asia, as well as East Asia and the Pacific—and that share has not grown since 2000. Although the gaps between potential and actual GVC integration are the result of economic fundamentals—such as geography, market size, institutions, and factor endowments—policy choices matter as well. The region has untapped potential in trade and GVCs to grow in the wake of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Deep trade agreements are reciprocal agreements between countries that seek integration of goods, services, and factors’ markets, or deep integration. Drawing on new data and evidence, Deep Trade Agreements: Anchoring Global Value Chains in Latin America and the Caribbean shows that these agreements can drive policy reforms that can help the region overcome some of its disadvantageous fundamentals. Four areas of deep integration—trade facilitation, regulatory cooperation, services, and state support—are priorities to improve the participation of countries in the region in GVC: 1. Facilitating trade can reduce border delays and ease the challenges caused by the remoteness of some countries. 2. Improving regulatory cooperation can help create larger regional markets by reducing the costs of nontariff measures. 3. Opening the service economy can compensate for factor endowment scarcity and facilitate access to skills and technology. 4. Fostering competition and regulating state support and state-owned enterprises can improve the quality of economic institutions. These areas are increasingly important as global trade tensions persist and economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In these times of uncertainty and upheaval, the policy commitments in deep trade agreements can create a more stable institutional environment to promote the ability of countries to participate in GVCs and to reap the benefits of integration. This work is a product of the regional studies program sponsored by the Latin America and the Caribbean Chief Economist’s Office.
An Investment Perspective on Global Value Chains
by Yan Liu Christine Zhenwei Qiang Victor SteenbergenThis report investigates the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in helping developing countries participate in global value chains (GVCs). It combines the perspectives and strategies from three types of players: multinational corporations, domestic firms and governments. It aims to provide practical guidance for developing countries to develop strategies that use FDI to strengthen GVC participation and upgrading. The report has six main chapters: 1. FDI and GVCs. Assesses the trade-investment nexus and analyzes the effect of FDI in countries’ GVC participation and upgrading at the country level. 2. MNCs shape GVC development. Highlights MNCs' contribution to global economy and how their business strategies shape the evolution of GVCs. The chapter also compares MNCs' business strategies in terms of outsourcing and offshoring, risk mitigation and increasing market power across GVC archetypes. 3. Domestic firm perspectives on GVC participation. Looks at the various paths domestic firms can take to internationalize their production and trade. Investigates domestic firm characteristics that predict higher GVC participation, and the effect of GVC participation on firm performance. 4. Investment policy and promotion: what is in a government’s toolbox? Summarizes the various policy instruments governments have at their disposal to help attract MNCs to their country and facilitate GVC participation of domestic firms. 5. Integrating countries into GVCs. Draws on a range of case studies to illustrate how governments can develop coherent strategies and policy packages to integrate their countries into GVCs. 6. FDI and GVCs in the wake of COVID-19. Reflects the impact of COVID-19 on FDI and GVCs, the response from multinationals and suppliers, and the implications for GVC reconfiguration. In addition, there are seven case studies that offer more nuanced analysis on the GVC participation in selected countries and sectors: • Five qualitative case studies: Five countries have been selected that managed to use FDI to stimulate GVC participation using a range of approaches. By design, these five countries also cover five different GVC archetypes. These countries are: (1) Kenya (horticulture); (2) Dominican Republic (textiles); (3) Mauritius (tourism); (4) Malaysia (electronics); (5) China (software). • Two quantitative case studies: Rwanda, West-Bengal (India). These use a combination of firm- and transaction level datasets to study firm-level dynamics that explain the role of multinational and domestic firms across GVCs.
Global Economic Prospects, January 2022: Making Trade Work For The World's Poor (Global Economic Prospects)
by World Bank GroupThe global recovery is set to decelerate amid diminished policy support, continued COVID-19 flare-ups, and lingering supply bottlenecks. In contrast to that in advanced economies, output in emerging market and developing economies will remain markedly below pre-pandemic trends over the forecast horizon. The outlook is clouded by various downside risks, including new COVID-19 outbreaks, the possibility of de-anchored inflation expectations, and financial stress in a context of record-high debt levels. If some countries eventually require debt restructuring, this will be more difficult to achieve than in the past. Climate change may increase commodity price volatility, creating challenges for the almost two-thirds of emerging market and developing economies that rely heavily on commodity exports and highlighting the need for asset diversification. Social tensions may heighten as a result of the increase in inequality caused by the pandemic. These challenges underscore the importance of strengthened global cooperation to promote a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery path. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.
Quality Early Learning: Nurturing Children's Potential (Human Development Perspectives)
by Magdalena Bendini Amanda E. DevercelliIn this volume, leading researchers and implementation experts from an array of disciplines provide evidence-based, cost-effective, and actionable strategies for delivering quality early childhood education (ECE) at scale in low- and middle-income countries (LMICS).Over the past decade, neuroscientists, developmental and cognitive psychologists, economists, and education researchers have amassed evidence to inform ECE program design. Yet much of this evidence has not been readily accessible to policymakers and practitioners, and potential synergies from cross-disciplinary considerations have not been realized.Quality Early Learning: Nurturing Children’s Potential synthesizes the evidence across disciplines and charts a forward course for quality ECE. The volume includes Overview, From Evidence to Effective Policies: How to Invest in Early Childhood Education to Nurture Children’s Potential, by Magdalena Bendini, Amanda E. Devercelli, Elaine Ding, Melissa Kelly, and Adelle Pushparatnam Chapter 1, Learning in the Early Years, by Elizabeth Spelke and Kristin Shutts Chapter 2, Pedagogy and Curricula Content: Building Foundational Skills and Knowledge, by David Whitebread and Yasmin Sitabkhan Chapter 3, Building an Effective Early Childhood Education Workforce, by Nirmala Rao, Emma Pearson, Benjamin Piper, and Carrie Lau Chapter 4, Creating Early Childhood Education Environments That Promote Early Learning, by Cynthia Adlerstein and Alejandra Cortázar Chapter 5, The Role of Management, Leadership, and Monitoring in Producing Quality Learning Outcomes in Early Childhood Education, by Iram Siraj, Violeta Arancibia, and Juan Barón Chapter 6, Toward Quality Early Learning: Systems for Success, by Sharon Lynn Kagan and Caitlin M. Dermody In the volume, the authors provide the latest evidence on how young children learn most effectively and how ECE programs can foster children’s natural ability and motivation to learn. It offers guidance for policy makers on policy design and implementation including what elements of ECE to prioritize in resource- and capacity-constrained settings in LMICs.
Hidden Debt: Solutions to Avert the Next Financial Crisis in South Asia (South Asia Development Matters)
by Martin MeleckyThe COVID-19 crisis, which has sent economies in South Asia and around the world into a deep recession, has highlighted South Asia’s rising debt levels and sizable hidden liabilities. State-owned enterprises, state-owned commercial banks, and public-private partnerships have been at the center of the rising debt wave and the latest pandemic response. Historically,South Asia has relied on these direct public interventions more than other regions. The interventions have helped governments tackle key development challenges and rapidly deliver relief measures during crises. However, because of their inefficiencies and weak governance, the interventions are also a significant source of public indebtedness and macrofinancial risks. Hidden Debt examines the trade-off between tackling development challenges through direct state presence in the market and avoiding unsustainable debt due to economic inefficiencies of such off†“balance sheet operations, which greatly leverage public capital. The study recommends a reform agenda based on the four interrelated principles of purpose, incentives, transparency, and accountability (PITA). The reforms can mitigate the risks that off†“balance sheet operations will become the source of the next financial crisis in South Asia.
Tax Theory Applied to the Digital Economy: A Proposal for a Digital Data Tax and a Global Internet Tax Agency
by Cristian Óliver Lucas-Mas Raúl Félix Junquera-VarelaDigital technology allows businesses to operate in a country without a physical presence, which poses challenges for traditional taxation. The digital debate focuses on direct taxation and the creation of new taxing rights arising from the tax claims of market jurisdictions on income obtained by foreign digital suppliers conducting business therein without any physical presence. Tax Theory Applied to the Digital Economy analyzes the tax-disruptive aspects of digital business models and reviews current tax initiatives in light of traditional tax theory principles. The analysis concludes that market countries’ tax claims are unsubstantiated and contravene the most basic foundations of tax theory, giving rise to a series of legal, economic, tax policy, and tax administration issues that policy makers cannot overlook. The authors propose establishing a digital data tax (DDT) that is a license-type consumption tax, rather than an income tax, on the international supply of Internet bandwidth to access digital markets. The DDT can be applied either globally or unilaterally, and could become a significant source of tax revenues for market jurisdictions. It is aligned with tax principles and it does not conflict with other tax initiatives: the DDT taxes foreign digital companies as consumers, while income tax proposals tax them as suppliers. The authors also propose creating a new global internet tax agency (GITA) under the auspices of the United Nations that would provide a neutral forum for political discussion and technical assistance in the area of digital taxation. The digital economy is a global phenomenon that requires a global solution: the creation of global taxing mechanisms and global institutions that provide technical assistance and support for successful global implementation. The book explains difficult technical concepts in plain language and contributes to the digital tax debate in a way that can be understood by anyone. Such understanding is essential to obtaining global support, achieving tax compliance, and fostering multilateral tax cooperation.
International Debt Statistics 2022 (International Debt Report)
by World BankInternational Debt Statistics (IDS), a long-standing annual publication of the World Bank, features external debt statistics and analysis for the 123 low- and middle-income countries that report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System. This 2022 edition of IDS includes (1) an overview analyzing global trends in debt stocks of and debt flows to low- and middle-income countries within the framework of aggregate capital flows (debt and equity); (2) an evaluation of the volume of debt service deferred through the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) in 2020 and the 2021 extension for participating eligible countries, as well as borrowing trends and debt service costs for DSSI-eligible countries that did not participate in the initiative; (3) tables and charts detailing debtor and creditor composition of debt stock and flows, terms of new commitments, and maturity structure of future debt service payments and debt burdens, measured in relation to gross national income and export earnings for each country; (4) one-page summaries per country, plus global, regional, and income group aggregates showing debt stocks and flows, relevant debt indicators, and metadata for six years (2010 and 2016†“20); and (5) a user guide describing the tables and content, definitions and rationale for the country and income groupings used in the report, data notes, and information about additional resources and comprehensive datasets available to users online. Unique in its coverage of the important trends and issues fundamental to the financing of low- and middle-income countries, IDS 2022 is an indispensable resource for governments, economists, investors, financial consultants, academics, bankers, and the entire development community. For more information on IDS 2022 and related products, please visit the World Bank's Data Catalog at datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/international-debt-statistics.
Global Economic Prospects, June 2022 (Global Economic Prospects)
by World BankThe world economy continues to suffer from a series of destabilizing shocks. After more than two years of pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its global effects on commodity markets, supply chains, inflation, and financial conditions have steepened the slowdown in global growth. In particular, the war is leading to soaring prices and volatility in energy markets, with improvements in activity in energy exporters more than offset by headwinds to activity in most other economies. The war has also led to a significant increase in agricultural commodity prices, which is exacerbating food insecurity and extreme poverty in many emerging market and developing economies. Numerous risks could further derail what is now a precarious recovery. Among them is, in particular, the possibility of stubbornly high global inflation accompanied by tepid growth, reminiscent of the stagflation of the 1970s. This could eventually result in a sharp tightening of monetary policy in advanced economies to rein in inflation, lead to surging borrowing costs, and possibly culminate in financial stress in some emerging market and developing economies. A forceful and wide-ranging policy response is required by policy makers and the global community to boost growth, bolster macroeconomic frameworks, reduce financial vulnerabilities, provide support to the vulnerable population groups, and attenuate the long-term impacts of the global shocks of recent years.
A Sorceress Comes to Call
by T. KingfisherNamed a Best Fantasy Book of the Year by NPR, Elle, and PasteA Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award NomineeFrom New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call—a dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl," rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t evil sorcerers.When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family."Kingfisher never fails to dazzle."—Peter S. Beagle, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning author of The Last Unicorn"Kingfisher is an inventive fantasy powerhouse."—BookPageAlso by T. KingfisherNettle & BoneThornhedgeWhat Moves the DeadWhat Feasts at NightA House with Good BonesAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19
by World BankHuman capital—the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives—is a central driver of sustainable growth, poverty reduction, and successful societies. More human capital is associated with higher earnings for people, higher income for countries, and stronger cohesion in societies. Much of the hard-won human capital gains in many economies over the past decade is at risk of being eroded by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Urgent action is needed to protect these advances, particularly among the poor and vulnerable. Designing the needed interventions, targeting them to achieve the highest effectiveness, and navigating difficult trade-offs make investing in better measurement of human capital now more important than ever. The Human Capital Index (HCI)—launched in 2018 as part of the Human Capital Project—is an international metric that benchmarks the key components of human capital across economies. The HCI is a global effort to accelerate progress toward a world where all children can achieve their full potential. Measuring the human capital that children born today can expect to attain by their 18th birthdays, the HCI highlights how current health and education outcomes shape the productivity of the next generation of workers and underscores the importance of government and societal investments in human capital. The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19 presents the first update of the HCI, using health and education data available as of March 2020. It documents new evidence on trends, examples of successes, and analytical work on the utilization of human capital. The new data—collected before the global onset of COVID-19—can act as a baseline to track its effects on health and education outcomes. The report highlights how better measurement is essential for policy makers to design effective interventions and target support. In the immediate term, investments in better measurement and data use will guide pandemic containment strategies and support for those who are most affected. In the medium term, better curation and use of administrative, survey, and identification data can guide policy choices in an environment of limited fiscal space and competing priorities. In the longer term, the hope is that economies will be able to do more than simply recover lost ground. Ambitious, evidence-driven policy measures in health, education, and social protection can pave the way for today’s children to surpass the human capital achievements and quality of life of the generations that preceded them.
The Innovation Imperative for Developing East Asia (World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Report)
by Xavier Cirera Andrew D. Mason Trang Thu Tran Francesca de Nicola KuriakoseAfter a half century of transformative economic progress that moved hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, countries in developing East Asia are facing an array of challenges to their future development. Slowed productivity growth, increased fragility of the global trading system, and rapid changes in technology are all threatening export-oriented, labor-intensive manufacturing—the region’s engine of growth. Significant global challenges—such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic—are exacerbating economic vulnerability. These developments raise questions about whether the region’s past model of development can continue to deliver rapid growth and poverty reduction. Against this background, The Innovation Imperative in Developing East Asia aims to deepen understanding of the role of innovation in future development. The report examines the state of innovation in the region and analyzes the main constraints that firms and countries face to innovating. It assesses current policies and institutions, and lays out an agenda for action to spur more innovation-led growth. A key finding of the report is that countries’ current innovation policies are not aligned with their capabilities and needs. Policies need to strengthen the capacity of firms to innovate and support technological diffusion rather than just invention. Policy makers also need to eliminate policy biases against innovation in services, a sector that is growing in economic importance. Moreover, countries need to strengthen key complementary factors for innovation, including firms’ managerial quality, workers’ skills, and finance for innovation. Countries in developing East Asia would also do well to deepen their tradition of international openness, which could foster openness in other parts of the world. Doing so would help sustain the flows of ideas, trade, investment, and people that facilitate the creation and diffusion of knowledge for innovation.
World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives (World Development Report)
by World BankToday’s unprecedented growth of data and their ubiquity in our lives are signs that the data revolution is transforming the world. And yet much of the value of data remains untapped. Data collected for one purpose have the potential to generate economic and social value in applications far beyond those originally anticipated. But many barriers stand in the way, ranging from misaligned incentives and incompatible data systems to a fundamental lack of trust. World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives explores the tremendous potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of poor people, while also acknowledging its potential to open back doors that can harm individuals, businesses, and societies. To address this tension between the helpful and harmful potential of data, this Report calls for a new social contract that enables the use and reuse of data to create economic and social value, ensures equitable access to that value, and fosters trust that data will not be misused in harmful ways. This Report begins by assessing how better use and reuse of data can enhance the design of public policies, programs, and service delivery, as well as improve market efficiency and job creation through private sector growth. Because better data governance is key to realizing this value, the Report then looks at how infrastructure policy, data regulation, economic policies, and institutional capabilities enable the sharing of data for their economic and social benefits, while safeguarding against harmful outcomes. The Report concludes by pulling together the pieces and offering an aspirational vision of an integrated national data system that would deliver on the promise of producing high-quality data and making them accessible in a way that promotes their safe use and reuse. By examining these opportunities and challenges, the Report shows how data can benefit the lives of all people, particularly poor people in low- and middle-income countries. .
Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies
by Alistair DieppeThe COVID-19 pandemic struck the global economy after a decade that featured a broad-based slowdown in productivity growth. Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies presents the first comprehensive analysis of the evolution and drivers of productivity growth, examines the effects of COVID-19 on productivity, and discusses a wide range of policies needed to rekindle productivity growth. The book also provides a far-reaching data set of multiple measures of productivity for up to 164 advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies, and it introduces a new sectoral database of productivity. The World Bank has created an extraordinary book on productivity, covering a large group of countries and using a wide variety of data sources. There is an emphasis on emerging and developing economies, whereas the prior literature has concentrated on developed economies. The book seeks to understand growth patterns and quantify the role of (among other things) the reallocation of factors, technological change, and the impact of natural disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is must-reading for specialists in emerging economies but also provides deep insights for anyone interested in economic growth and productivity. Martin Neil Baily Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Former Chair, U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers This is an important book at a critical time. As the book notes, global productivity growth had already been slowing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and collapses with the pandemic. If we want an effective recovery, we have to understand what was driving these long-run trends. The book presents a novel global approach to examining the levels, growth rates, and drivers of productivity growth. For anyone wanting to understand or influence productivity growth, this is an essential read. Nicholas Bloom William D. Eberle Professor of Economics, Stanford University The COVID-19 pandemic hit a global economy that was already struggling with an adverse pre-existing condition—slow productivity growth. This extraordinarily valuable and timely book brings considerable new evidence that shows the broad-based, long-standing nature of the slowdown. It is comprehensive, with an exceptional focus on emerging market and developing economies. Importantly, it shows how severe disasters (of which COVID-19 is just the latest) typically harm productivity. There are no silver bullets, but the book suggests sensible strategies to improve growth prospects. John Fernald Schroders Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness and Reform and Professor of Economics, INSEAD
Global Waves of Debt: Causes and Consequences
by M. Ayhan Kose Franziska Ohnsorge Peter Nagle SugawaraThe global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation over the past 50 years. The first three debt waves ended with financial crises in many emerging market and developing economies. During the current wave, which started in 2010, the increase in debt in these economies has already been larger, faster, and broader-based than in the previous three waves. Current low interest rates mitigate some of the risks associated with high debt. However, emerging market and developing economies are also confronted by weak growth prospects, mounting vulnerabilities, and elevated global risks. A menu of policy options is available to reduce the likelihood that the current debt wave will end in crisis and, if crises do take place, will alleviate their impact.
Asset Recovery Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners, Second Edition (StAR Initiative)
by Scott Larissa Gray Jean-Pierre Brun Anastasia SotiropoulouDeveloping countries lose billions each year through bribery, misappropriation of funds, and other corrupt practices. Much of the proceeds of this corruption find 'safe haven' in the world's financial centers. These criminal flows are a drain on social services and economic development programs, contributing to the impoverishment of the world's poorest countries. Many developing countries have already sought to recover stolen assets. A number of successful high-profile cases with creative international cooperation has demonstrated that asset recovery is possible. However, it is highly complex, involving coordination and collaboration with domestic agencies and ministries in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the capacity to trace and secure assets and pursue various legal options—whether criminal confiscation, non-conviction based confiscation, civil actions, or other alternatives. This process can be overwhelming for even the most experienced practitioners. It is exceptionally difficult for those working in the context of failed states, widespread corruption, or limited resources. With this in mind, the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative has developed and updated this Asset Recovery Handbook: A Guide for Practitioners to assist those grappling with the strategic, organizational, investigative, and legal challenges of recovering stolen assets. A practitioner-led project, the Handbook provides common approaches to recovering stolen assets located in foreign jurisdictions, identifies the challenges that practitioners are likely to encounter, and introduces good practices. It includes examples of tools that can be used by practitioners, such as sample intelligence reports, applications for court orders, and mutual legal assistance requests. StAR—the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative—is a partnership between the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that supports international efforts to end safe havens for corrupt funds. StAR works with developing countries and financial centers to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and to facilitate more systematic and timely return of stolen assets.
Glaciers of the Himalayas: Climate Change, Black Carbon, and Regional Resilience (South Asia Development Forum)
by Muthukumara ManiMelting glaciers and the loss of seasonal snow pose significant risks to the stability of water resources in South Asia. The 55,000 glaciers in the Himalaya, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush (HKHK) mountain ranges store more freshwater than any region outside of the North and South Poles. Their ice reserves feed into three major river basins in South Asia—the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra—that are home to 750 million people. One major regional driver of the accelerating glacier melt is climate change, which is altering the patterns of temperature and precipitation. A second driver may be deposits of anthropogenic black carbon (BC), which increase the glaciers’ absorption of solar radiation and raise air temperatures. BC is generated by human activity both inside and outside of South Asia, and policy actions taken by the South Asian countries themselves may meaningfully reduce it. Glaciers of the Himalayas: Climate Change, Black Carbon, and Regional Resilience investigates the extent to which the BC reduction policies of South Asian countries may affect glacier formation and melt within the context of a changing global climate. It assesses the relative impact of each source of black carbon on snow and glacier dynamics. The authors simulate how BC emissions interact with projected climate scenarios. They also estimate the extent to which these glacial processes affect water resources in downstream areas of these river basins and present scenarios until 2040. Their policy recommendations include the following: Full implementation of current BC emissions policies can significantly reduce BC deposition in the region; additional reductions can be realized by enacting and implementing new policies that are economically and technically feasible. Improving the efficiency of brick kilns could be key to managing BC, and modest up-front investments could pay off quickly. Cleaner cookstoves and cleaner fuels can help to reduce BC and improve local air quality. Improving institutions for basin-based water management and using price signals are essential elements of more efficient water management. Careful management of hydropower and storage resources will require developers to factor in changing water flows and consider planning for large storage projects to stabilize water availability. Regional cooperation and the exchange of information can be an effective transboundary solution, helping countries to manage glaciers and related natural assets collaboratively. New policies are needed to reverse trends like the melting of glaciers. Success will require an active, agile cooperation between researchers and policy makers. To support an open dialogue, the model developed and used in this book is an open-source, state-of-the-art model that is available for others to use and improve on.