Part one of the report provides an
overview of the economy. It has one chapter (chapter one),
which provides an overview of the country’s growth and
macroeconomic performance and challenges and analyzes and
emphasizes the limited dynamism of a rent- and
hydrocarbon-cursed economy. Part II describes cross-cutting
issues that constrain policy implementation, regardless of
the sectors where they occur. In chapter two, the report

This reports focus is making global
value chains (GVCs) more inclusive. This is achieved by
overcoming participation constraints for Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) and facilitation access for Low Income
Developing Countries (LIDCs).The two major points of this
report are 1) participation in GVCs is heterogeneous and
uneven, across and within countries and 2) available data
and survey-based evidence suggest that SME participation in

This paper is motivated by the emphasis
on secure property rights as a determinant of economic
development in recent literature. The authors use village
and household level information from about 800 villages
throughout China to explore whether legal reform increased
protection of land rights against unauthorized reallocation
or expropriation with below-average compensation by the
state. The analysis provides nation-wide evidence on a

Once concentrated among a few large
economies, global flows of goods, services, and capital now
reach an ever-larger number of countries worldwide. Global
trade in goods and in services both increased 10 times
between 1980 and 2011, while foreign direct investment (FDI)
flows increased almost 30-fold. A value chain is global when
some of these stages are carried out in more than one
country, most notably when discrete tasks within a

Robust GDP growth continues, and real
growth for 2014 has been revised up by the authorities to
7.1 percent from an earlier estimate of 7.0 percent. Strong
domestic demand, boosted by a construction boom and
accommodated by high domestic credit growth, helps offset
the moderation in export growth with the slowdown of the
garment, tourism and agriculture sectors observed in the
first half of 2015. As an oil importer, the country benefits

This study identifies several factors
that inhibit efficiency improvements in the farming sector,
both in themselves and through the dynamics of their mutual
interaction. The study observes that incentives faced in the
labor market have important implications for the land
structure and, and in many ways, are at the heart of the
problem of low labor productivity in agriculture. The study
finds that, while rural households are increasingly

The countries comprising the Southern
African Customs Union (SACU) are currently not very
integrated into global value chains (GVCs), potentially
missing out on important development opportunities.
Accordingly, we explore high level options for promoting
their integration. Given East Asia’s spectacular success
with integrating into GVCs, we first assess the probability
that SACU can copy their flying geese pattern. That was

The systematic country diagnostic (SCD)
is designed to identify the most critical binding
constraints and opportunities facing Indonesia in ending
extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. In line with
the World Bank Group’s (WBG’s) new country engagement model,
the findings of the SCD will provide inputs for the
preparation of the country partnership framework (CPF),
which will outline the WBG’s engagement with Indonesia to

This report centers on the problems
stemming from land issues in Nicaragua. The report's
main recommendations deal with four priority actions:
institutional reform; adjustments to the legal framework;
systematic regularization of land rights; and, firmly
addressing previous land invasions, and preventing future
invasions. The issue of land distribution, and ownership is
especially critical in Nicaragua; indeed, the country

Myanmar grew at an estimated 8.5 percent
in real terms in 2014-15. Economic reforms have supported
consumer and investor confidence despite business
environment and socio-political challenges. The economic
impact of the floods that hit Myanmar from July 2015 is
still being assessed, but will likely adversely affect the
main rice crop this year. According to preliminary analysis
of census data, the areas most affected by the floods are

After a destructive civil war and
extreme political instability, Uganda began its
reconstruction process in 1987. Within the enabling
environment of macroeconomic stability, most of the progress
on the twin goals was attributable to higher agricultural
incomes. Poverty reduction among households primarily
engaged in agriculture accounted for 53 percent of the
reduction in poverty from 2006 to 2010 and 77 percent of the

Costa Rica stands out for being among the most politically stable, progressive, prosperous, and environmentally conscious nations in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Its development model has brought important economic, social, and environmental dividends, with sustained growth, upward mobility for a large share of the population, important gains in social indicators, and significant achievements in reforestation and conservation. However, there are a number of development challenges that need to be addressed to maintain the country’s successful development path.