Timor-Leste has achieved enormous
progress in rehabilitating its economy, reconstructing its
infrastructure, reintegrating its refugees and building the
key elements of a sustainable political process in an
environment of internal peace. It now faces many challenges
of nation-building and of overcoming the deprivation
affecting the lives of the poor. This report written in two
volumes lays out the challenge of poverty reduction in

High and sustained rate of economic
growth in Yemen is a necesary, though not sufficient,
condition for reduction of the high incidence of poverty and
for raising the living standards of Yemeni citizens.
Evidence in this report suggests that the main obstacle to
rapid and sustained economic growth is the weak governance
that characterizes Yemen in addition to the weaknesses in
domestic security, property rights, and rule of law systems.

This qualitative assessment of poverty
in Albania seeks to deepen the understanding of poverty in
the country, first, by involving poor Albanians in a process
of exploring the causes, nature, extent of poverty, and how
it affects their livelihoods. Second, it is intended to
support the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP); third, it supports preparation of the Country
Assistance Strategy (CAS), and the Living Standards

High and sustained rate of economic
growth in Yemen is a necesary, though not sufficient,
condition for reduction of the high incidence of poverty and
for raising the living standards of Yemeni citizens.
Evidence in this report suggests that the main obstacle to
rapid and sustained economic growth is the weak governance
that characterizes Yemen in addition to the weaknesses in
domestic security, property rights, and rule of law systems.

The focus of the report, combined with
Vietnam's remarkable long-term growth potential,
presents a favorable outlook, suggesting the effects of the
East Asian crisis are over. The country is committed to
socially inclusive development, and, translates a vision of
transition towards a market economy, with socialist
orientation into concrete public actions, emphasizing the
transition should be pro-poor, noting this will require

Recent international experience has shown that excessively complex administrative procedures, required to establish, and operate a business, discourage inflows of foreign direct investment. The authors present a new database on the administrative costs faced by private investors in 32 developing countries.

What drives growth at the microeconomic
level? The authors divide the factors that determine a
location's growth performance into two groups,
"1st advantage" and "2nd advantage." The
term 1st advantage refers to the conditions that provide the
environment in which new activities can be profitably
developed, including most of the factors on which
traditional theory has focused, such as access to inputs

Christiaensen, Demery, and Paternostro review recent evidence on the trends in
household well-being in Africa during the 1990s. They draw
on the findings of a series of studies on poverty dynamics
that use the better data sets now available. The authors
begin by taking a broad view of poverty, tracing changes in
both income poverty and in other more direct measures of
individual welfare. Experiences have been varied: several

The objective of the report is to point
at the need for a new poverty strategy, and the areas of
action it should cover, where each area should be
specifically discussed, addressing the lives of
Indonesia's poor, and the tradeoffs policymakers will
need to consider, based on the belief that this poverty
strategy should emerge from a broad dialogue among
stakeholders. First, in broadening poverty, the report looks

The report highlights how much recent
achievements, in terms of growth, and poverty reduction, owe
to the progress the country has made on a broad front of
policy issues, such as openness to trade, investment, and
competition, as well as education, and financial regulation.
Nonetheless, progress has been uneven in several fronts,
such as the need to intensify trade liberalization, and
domestic competition; to strengthen governance across

Vietnam grew rapidly in the 1990s, and
yet by many measures it has poor economic institutions.
Dollar seeks to explain this apparent anomaly. Between the
1980s and 1990s Vietnam carried out significant economic
reforms, notably stabilization, the introduction of positive
real interest rates, trade liberalization, and initial
property rights reform in agriculture. Relating these
changes to the empirical growth literature, the author finds

The importance of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) function within public administration
has been magnified by the growing voice of civil society,
which has brought the issues of good governance and more
effective public administration to the fore. The global
trend towards more accountable, responsive and efficient
government has bolstered the appeal for M&E capacity
development, which has been the central focus of efforts to