World Bank Technical Paper
25 primary works • 59 total works
Book 455
'Once equity has fallen below a certain threshold for a significant period of time, it triggers a suspension of debt payments and distorts incentives for equity holds and managers. But what is a significant period of time? You or I could pay a $10 million annual mortgage payment for a day or two but not two or three months. Similarly, owners and managers can withstand short periods of illiquidity or negative equity but not longer ones. At some point in time, the inability to meet obligations and perception of continued difficulties creates a system-wide breakdown in debt payments.' The relationship between the corporate sector and a country's macroeconomy is receiving increased attention from policymakers and investors, especially those affected by the Asian crisis. Recent crises have pointed out the importance of improving our understanding of the links between the corporate sector, the financial sector, and the macroeconomy in a world of volatile capital flows. Assessing the vulnerability of the corporate sector and its links to financial and exchange rate crisis is important for both improved surveillance and in the design of policies in crisis countries. However, the analytical and operational tools available to policymakers and investors to analyze this problem have been limited. This Technical Paper was prepared as part of an initiative to develop new frameworks which can integrate state-of-the art corporate finance principles, macroeconomic, and financial sector analysis. An innovative yet practical framework is provided which has numerous applications for assessing corporate sector vulnerability, design of corporate restructuring strategies, as well as financial sector and macroeconomic policies. It will be of interest to bankers, economic policymakers, corporate finance specialists, and macroeconomists.
Book 462
Municipal Solid Waste Incineration
by T. Rand, J. Houkohl, U. Marxen, and World Bank
Published 30 June 2000
As urban populations continue to grow, solid waste management becomes critical. Searching for ways to dispose of it poses a serious problem for municipal managers. Locating a site on the outskirts of the city creates concerns about how to ensure that daily operations are environmentally sound. Mass burn incineration systems like those found in developed countries attract municipal managers, but the capital and operating requirements for such plants surpass those needed for landfills. To assist local officials with developing cost effective strategies for dealing with solid waste management, the World Bank launched a program to provide high level advice on approaches that support themselves financially and are socially and environmentally responsible. This Technical Paper provides the foundation for such a detailed evaluation of solid waste incineration systems. This volume will be of interest to municipal managers and others concerned with solid waste and incineration projects.
Book 463
Identifies appropriate technical and institutional approaches for improving the operational reliability of waterwells and the sustainability of groundwater resources as a whole. The paper emphasizes action to reduce the growth in groundwater abstraction and to constrain subsurface contaminant load.
Book 492
Assessing Markets for Renewable Energy in Rural Areas of Northwestern China
by Tuntivate Voravate, Douglas F Barnes, V. Susan Bogach, World Bank, V. Susan Bogach0, and Douglas F. 1 Barnes
Published 1 January 2001
There is a growing consensus that renewable energy will play an important role in future development programs. Despite this acceptance, few studies have been made on the emerging markets for renewable energy in most countries. This study examines the market potential for photovoltaic systems in the remote areas of China, especially in villages without access to grid electricity. The study estimates the size of the potential market for photovoltaic systems in four Chinese provinces. It provides important information on the characteristics, ability to pay, and preferences of potential customers. The report also details positive and negative experiences with existing photovoltaic systems, and it develops recommendations to increase the penetration of photovoltaic systems in rural China as part of the upcoming China Renewable Energy Development Project. The primary conclusion of this report is that households in remote areas have a need for electricity and that a potential market exists for photvoltaic systems in many of these regions.
Book 503
Household Welfare, the Labor Market and Social Programs in Albania
by Mansoora Rashid, Vajeera Dorabawila, Richard Adams, and World Bank
Published 1 June 2001
The main focus of this paper is to assess household welfare in Albania, describe the labor market, and evaluate the equity and efficiency of public expenditures on cash benefits and education. This report provides a benchmark against which future welfare developments of the population can be measured. It also includes a statistical annex.
No.357.
Civil Service Reform in Francophone Africa
by World Bank, Lapido Adamolekun, Guy De Lusignan, and Armand Atomate
Published 1 January 1997
No.386.
No.335.
No.358.
'Utility Pricing and the Poor' evaluates the 1999 electricity tariff increase and the potential for improved water-sector cost recovery, with a particular focus on service accessibility and affordability for the poor. A two-stage approach is recommended. In the first stage, revenues should be increased by ensuring payment from households that have reliable service but are not paying their bills. After collection capacity is strengthened, the utility should implement a program of tariff adjustment, based on improved service and meter-based billing.
No. 457.
Russia's educational system, with broad access, and high levels of scholarly achievement, has long been a source of strength. The Soviet system, however, was grossly overcentralized, inefficient, and lacking in accountability. In the last decade, attempted rapid decentralization has not been well designed, since there has been no commensurate transfer of resources and levels of responsibility have remained unclear. Unless corrected soon, the harmful impact on educational quality and equity could be very serious. The purposes of this report are to analyze the nature of the current problems and to discuss policy options open to the Russian Government in its efforts to improve educational efficiency, preserving and even improving equitable access, without sacrificing traditions of academic excellence. This report is based on analysis of trends across the 89 Russian regions and case studies. In its conclusions, the report draws on this regional experience to suggest reform options. Among other proposals, efficiency could be increased by giving schools increased financial autonomy, using of per capita financing formulae, and beginning to rationalize the teaching force and improve its quality. A national system of student assessment might help both to raise quality and improve the equity of access to highly selective institutions. Reforms are required to improve the market responsiveness of first-level vocational education, and especially to avoid excessive and premature specialization. Education practitioners and policy makers will find this publication of interest.
No.356.
Financial Market Fragmentation and Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa
by World Bank
Published 1 January 1997
No.407.
The demand-driven rural investment fund (DRIF) is a new mechanism for decentralizing decisionmaking authority and financial resources to local governments and communities to use for investments of their choice. To counteract the local government's weak capacity to choose and implement projects well, central governments have often constrained the choices of communities by limiting the types of projects eligible for financing and requiring specific procedures for procurement and disbursement. This study explores the extent to which well-designed DRIF rules and incentive structures can substitute for central control. It looks at the different and often conflicting motivations of donors, central governments, and communities and explores how rules can be devised to allow actors to achieve their objectives.
Little effort has been made to research the nonagricultural or economywide macroneconomic impact of droughts in Sub-Saharan Africa. In an effort to fill the gap, this paper reports the findings of an exploratory study of the subject. It provides insights into the impact of drought in Sub-Saharan Africa in the past and suggests policy options for dealing with future droughts.
This report assesses the changes in social welfare and policy that have taken place in Poland during the economic transition. It tests the main hypotheses concerning changes in the role of the welfare state, workings of the labor market, the distributional consequences of transition, and more generally about the winners and losers in transition. Chapter one examines trends in social expenditure during economic transition. Chapter two focuses on changes in the labor market, including emerging risks and opportunities. Chapter three explores distributional consequences of transition.
No.420.
This paper provides practical guidance to government officials charged with managing case-by-case privatization programs. It identifies the key steps for privatization, describes sale options and the processes for carrying them out, and examines special conditions. It outlines how governments should undertake case-by-case privatization by identifying basic principles and common challenges, describes various methods for valuing state enterprises, and explains the role of financial advisers and sales agents in valuing candidates for privatization and developing sale options.
Despite its importance, labor is one of the least addressed issues in privatization. The lack of information on the employment impact of privatization has exacerbated the fears and concerns of governments and workers alike. This paper examines the effects of privatization on labor and analyzes the mechanisms that governments can use to minimize the political and social costs of labor restructuring in privatization, by drawing on the experience of mixed economies.
This paper examines the increased role of the private sector in developing and maintaining critical infrastructure. It identifies governments' quest to shift part of the burden of new infrastructure investments to the private sector for the economic development of firms and industry and the improvement of quality of life and, given the constraints on public budgets, to finance growing infrastructure needs. Adequate infrastructure services include power, telecommunications, transport, water supply and sanitation. The paper also emphasizes the private sector involvement in bringing increased efficiency to investment and management and operation.
No.414.
International Watercourses
by World Bank, Salman M a Salman, and Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Published 1 January 1998