Books by World Bank

Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula faces growing risks from environmental hazards. Oil spills, hurricanes, coral bleaching, extreme flooding, and erosion have all been experienced over the past decade. This report explores selected topics that aim to inform decision-making in the region.

Provides actionable advice on how to design and implement fiscal policies for both development and climate action. Building on more than two decades of research in development and environmental economics, it argues that well-designed environmental tax reforms are especially valuable in developing countries.

Presents key activities, promising practices, and lessons learned from the World Bank Tuberculosis in the Mining Sector Initiative - a multisectoral, multicountry, public-private regional initiative in southern Africa. It examines how ministries, sectors, and partners have been brought together to address the epidemic's varied dimensions.

A World Bank Group Flagship Report. Published semiannually, the report includes analysis of topical policy challenges faced by developing countries through in-depth research in the January edition, and shorter analytical pieces in the June edition.

This volume supports Vietnam's path to economic prosperity by identifying policies and targeted interventions that will drive development through leveraging GVC participation that take major shifts in trade policy and rapid technological advances in ICT into account.

Proposes a simple framework to understand the political economy of subsidy reform and applies it to four in-depth country studies covering more than 30 reform episodes. The most successful reforms involve active efforts by policy leaders to identify the political forces supporting energy subsidies and redirect or inoculate them.

Analyses the spatial development patterns of Mexican cities and examines how recent urban spatial growth has affected economic performance and livability. Based on the analysis, this report offers recommendations and instruments to support more sustainable spatial development and to make Mexican cities become more productive and inclusive.

Uses data from the World Bank's STEP Household Skills Survey to explore patterns of educational mismatch in 12 developing countries. Workers are considered "mismatched" if their personal education is different than that required by their jobs. The report finds that over-education is common across diverse developing contexts.

Performance budgeting is a reform adopted by governments in many OECD countries and encouraged by development agencies. This book explores the experiences of seven countries and suggests a fresh approach to avoid classic pitfalls and adopting ideas from successful reformers.

After years of high growth and poverty reduction, Ghana is now facing important economic and social challenges. More jobs, jobs that pay better, and jobs that include the more vulnerable groups will be needed. This book provides a diagnostic of Ghana's workers and jobs and possible policy directions going forward.

Identifies a four-pillar strategy for Bangladesh to sustain and accelerate export growth: breaking into new markets, breaking into new products, improving worker and consumer welfare, and building a supportive environment.

The book is structured to be of use to researchers, planners, and economists who are tasked with analysing key areas of health labour markets, including overall labour market assessments as well as and more narrow and targeted analyses of demand and supply (including production and migration), performance, and remuneration of health.

Assesses the technical work and the policy actions taken by the Georgian government during 2014 and 2015. It covers the full cycle of the reform of a social assistance program, from establishing the objectives to the design of compensation measures that minimize the number of newly ineligible beneficiaries.

Draws on the experience of eight different case studies from around the world. The case studies outline various policy and financial instruments to attract private sector investment in urban regeneration of underutilized/unutilized areas and the requisite infrastructure improvements.

Provides a narrative description of the institutional and management decisions, infrastructure, systems and processes, impact, and lessons learned and policy implications for developing countries from Korea's multi-decade Digital Governance experience.

After more than three decades of average annual growth close to 10 percent, China's economy is transitioning to a 'new normal' of slower but more balanced and sustainable growth. Its old drivers of growth -- a growing labor force, the migration from rural areas to cities, high levels of investments, and expanding exports -- are waning or having less impact. China's policymakers are well aware that the country needs new drivers of growth. This report proposes a reform agenda that emphasizes productivity and innovation to help policymakers promote China's future growth and achieve their vision of a modern and innovative China. The reform agenda is based on the three D's: removing Distortions to strengthen market competition and enhance the efficient allocation of resources in the economy; accelerating Diffusion of advanced technologies and management practices in China's economy, taking advantage of the large remaining potential for catch-up growth; and fostering Discovery and nurturing China's competitive and innovative capacity as China approaches OECD incomes in the decades ahead and extends the global innovation and technology frontier.