Since independence in 1966,
Guyana's economy has gone through a state control of
major productive sectors, and financial institutions -
including controls of prices, credit, and foreign exchange -
to a combination of political/social unrest, with terms of
trade deterioration, and slow economic growth. This led
Guyana to become the fourth poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere, despite its rich endowment in mineral resources,

Bangladesh has marked considerable
progress since independence in 1971 despite its dire initial
conditions. Real per capita income is about 60percent higher
now than in 1971. The share of population in poverty
currently stands at about 50 percent, compared with over 70
percent in the early 1970s. Even more impressive has been
the progress in improving the social and human dimensions of
poverty. Bangladesh's faster gains in human development

The transition from a centrally planned
economy to a "socialist oriented market economy"
in Vietnam has called for comprehensive changes in the legal
framework of the State. The last ten years have witnessed
great progress in the development of the Vietnamese legal
system, both in substantive and procedural matters. A number
of important legal instruments have been promulgated, such
as the Constitution in 1992; the Land Law in 1993; and the

For Croatia, the challenge is to create
conditions that will attract investment and produce growth.
These conditions can broadly be categorized as (a) stable,
progressive and predictable laws and institutions; (b)
efficient labor and financial markets; (c) macroeconomic and
financial stability; (d) social and environmental
sustainability; (e) effective integration into the European
infrastructure networks ensuring competitive cost and

This is the first Economic Report on
Afghanistan by the World Bank in a quarter-century. It is
intended to contribute to a better understanding of the core
challenges that lie ahead for the country and key strategic
priorities for national reconstruction. It focuses on the
conceptual frameworks, policies, and institutions that will
be needed to achieve core national objectives of
state-building; sustained rapid, broad-based economic

Favorable economic conditions offer a
window of opportunity for the Ukrainian government External
factors served as a catalyst for the economic turnaround but
policies and reforms have also played a critical role.
Nevertheless, the positive trends will weaken without vision
at the top level of government. An "insider
economy" threatens to become a primary obstacle to
Ukraine's future development and also weakens the link

The major constraints to RNF growth,
according to a large survey of rural entrepreneurs,'
include (1) flood and natural disasters; (2) access to
electricity; (3) road conditions, (4) access to finance and
(5) transportation to markets. Bangladesh's
vulnerability to frequent floods and other natural disasters
severely hampers operations of more than a third of rural
firms. The next most important constraint to RNF growth is

T his report analyzes natural resource
management and governance in the Philippines, identifying
recent trends, current challenges, and future goals. The
first half of the report summarizes the status of the
country's natural resources, describes sector policies,
institutions, and budget mechanisms, and identifies
impediments to improvements. The second half focuses on
three crucial issues for natural resource governance:

The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 draws on a survey of more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries. It addresses people’s direct experiences with bribery and details their views on corruption in the main institutions in their countries. It also provides insights into people's willingness to stop corruption. Visit the Barometer web pages.

The most recent ‘land rush’ precipitated by the convergent ‘crises’ of fuel, feed and food in 2007–2008 has heightened the debate on the consequences of land investments, with widespread media coverage, policy commentary and civil society engagement. This ‘land rush’ has been accompanied by a ‘literature rush’, with a fast-growing body of reports, articles, tables and books with varied purposes, metrics and methods. Land grabbing, as it is popularly called, is now a hot political topic around the world, discussed amongst the highest circles.

The author discusses the revolution in
public sector thinking that is transforming the public
sectors of developing and transition countries. Countries
are reconsidering their fiscal systems and searching for the
right balance between central government control and
decentralized governance. Political decentralization has
advanced in most countries. Subnational expenditures in
developing countries as a percentage of total public

The study reviews the performance of
four transition countries - Albania, Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz
Republic, and Moldova - in the areas of private, and
financial sector development, identifying both their
achievements, and challenges, to extract beneficial reform
efforts, and alternative approaches, setting the pace for
sustainable growth. These countries were selected because
they are among the poorest in the region, whose problems are