scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers by "World Bank published in 2013"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a quantification of present and future flood losses in the 136 largest coastal cities, using a new database of urban protection and different assumptions on adaptation, and account for existing and future flooding defences.
Abstract: Flood losses in coastal cities will rise due to increasing populations and assets. Research now quantifies average losses in the 136 largest coastal cities. Estimated at approximately US$6 billion in 2005, average annual losses could increase to US$52 billion by 2050 on the basis of projected socio-economic change alone. If climate change and subsidence are also considered, current protection will need to be upgraded to avoid unacceptable losses. Flood exposure is increasing in coastal cities1,2 owing to growing populations and assets, the changing climate3, and subsidence4,5,6. Here we provide a quantification of present and future flood losses in the 136 largest coastal cities. Using a new database of urban protection and different assumptions on adaptation, we account for existing and future flood defences. Average global flood losses in 2005 are estimated to be approximately US$6 billion per year, increasing to US$52 billion by 2050 with projected socio-economic change alone. With climate change and subsidence, present protection will need to be upgraded to avoid unacceptable losses of US$1 trillion or more per year. Even if adaptation investments maintain constant flood probability, subsidence and sea-level rise will increase global flood losses to US$60–63 billion per year in 2050. To maintain present flood risk, adaptation will need to reduce flood probabilities below present values. In this case, the magnitude of losses when floods do occur would increase, often by more than 50%, making it critical to also prepare for larger disasters than we experience today. The analysis identifies the cities that seem most vulnerable to these trends, that is, where the largest increase in losses can be expected.

1,592 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze how changes in balance sheets of some 2800 banks in 48 countries over 2000-2010 respond to specific macro-prudential policies, and find that measures aimed at borrowers such as caps on debt to income and loan-to-value ratios, and limits on credit growth and foreign currency lending are effective in reducing leverage, asset and noncore to core liabilities growth during boom times.

404 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that many reform initiatives in developing countries fail to achieve sustained improvements in performance because they are merely isomorphic mimicry, i.e., governments and organizations pretend to reform by changing what policies or organizations look like rather than what they actually do.

392 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the first time internationally comparable data to draw an economic profile of persons with disabilities in 15 developing countries and found that disability is associated with higher multidimensional poverty as well as lower educational attainment, lower employment rates, and higher medical expenditures.

369 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the elements of a strategy, built around a combination of short-term fixes and long-term methodological advancements, to reverse the existing trends of poor coordination and slow methodological innovation in food security measurement and monitoring.

338 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the importance of financial literacy and its effects on behavior and found that individuals with higher financial literacy are significantly less likely to report experiencing a negative income shock during 2009 and have greater availability of unspent income and higher spending capacity.
Abstract: The ability of consumers to make informed financial decisions improves their ability to develop sound personal finance. This paper uses a panel data set from Russia, an economy in which household debt has grown at an astounding rate, to examine the importance of financial literacy and its effects on behavior. The paper studies both the financial and real consequences of financial illiteracy. Even though consumer borrowing increased very rapidly in Russia, only 41% of respondents demonstrate an understanding of interest compounding and only 46% can answer a simple question about inflation. Financial literacy is positively related to participation in financial markets and negatively related to the use of informal sources of borrowing. Moreover, individuals with higher financial literacy are significantly less likely to report experiencing a negative income shock during 2009 and have greater availability of unspent income and higher spending capacity. The relationship between financial literacy and availability of unspent income is higher in 2009, suggesting that financial literacy may better equip individuals to deal with macroeconomic shocks.

287 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: The authors found that the change in the share of income of the poorest two quintiles in a global dataset spanning 118 countries over the past four decades is small and uncorrelated with changes in average income, implying that the latter accounts for most of the variation in income growth in the poorest quintiles.
Abstract: Incomes in the poorest two quintiles on average increase at the same rate as overall average incomes. This is because, in a global dataset spanning 118 countries over the past four decades, changes in the share of income of the poorest quintiles are generally small and uncorrelated with changes in average income. The variation in changes in quintile shares is also small relative to the variation in growth in average incomes, implying that the latter accounts for most of the variation in income growth in the poorest quintiles. These findings hold across most regions and time periods and when conditioning on a variety of country-level factors that may matter for growth and inequality changes. This evidence confirms the central importance of economic growth for poverty reduction and illustrates the difficulty of identifying specific macroeconomic policies that are significantly associated with the relative growth rates of those in the poorest quintiles.

284 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2013-Geoforum
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative study of two wetland communities in Trinidad and Tobago, a country that is expected to bear some of the most severe impacts of climate change, was conducted.

269 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the existence of an unconditional gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa was shown and when key observable characteristics of the enterprises or individuals are taken into account the gender gap disappears.

253 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In many nations today the state has little capability to carry out even basic functions like security, policing, regulation or core service delivery as mentioned in this paper, and the state needs to enhance this capability, especially in fragil...
Abstract: In many nations today the state has little capability to carry out even basic functions like security, policing, regulation or core service delivery. Enhancing this capability, especially in fragil...

Journal ArticleDOI
Branko Milanovic1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an overview of calculations of global inequality, recently and over the long term, and outline the main controversies and political and philosophical implications of the findings, focusing on the winners and losers of the most recent episode of globalization, from 1988 to 2008.
Abstract: article presents an overview of calculations of global inequality, recently and over the long term, and outlines the main controversies and political and philosophical implications of the findings. It focuses in particular on the winners and losers of the most recent episode of globalization, from 1988 to 2008. It suggests that the period has witnessed the first decline in inequality between world citizens since the Industrial Revolution. However, the decline can be sus- tained only if countries' mean incomes continue to converge (as they have been doing during the past ten years) and if internal (within-country) inequalities, which are already high, are kept in check. Mean-income convergence would also reduce the huge 'citizenship premium' that is enjoyed today by the citizens of rich countries.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the liquidity demand of large settlement banks in the UK and its effect on the money markets before and during the subprime crisis of 2007-08.
Abstract: We study the liquidity demand of large settlement banks in the UK and its effect on the money markets before and during the subprime crisis of 2007-08. We find that the liquidity demand of large settlement banks experienced a 30% increase in the period immediately following August 9 2007, the day when money markets froze, igniting the crisis. Following this shift, liquidity demand had a precautionary nature in that it rose on days of high payment activity and for banks with greater credit risk. This caused over- night interbank rates to rise, an effect virtually absent in the precrisis period.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an examination of motivational factors relating to contribution to the wiki OpenStreetMap, a site for voluntary geographic information, based on a wide literature review of mo...
Abstract: This article presents an examination of motivational factors relating to contribution to the wiki OpenStreetMap, a site for voluntary geographic information. Based on a wide literature review of mo...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The research and development pipeline of drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases from 2000 to 2011 shows a persistent insufficiency in drug and vaccine development for neglected Diseases, with a slight improvement during the past 12 years.

BookDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, gender differences in the use of financial services using individual-level data from 98 developing countries were analyzed and found that women are less likely to own an account relative to men, as well as to save and borrow.
Abstract: This paper documents and analyzes gender differences in the use of financial services using individual-level data from 98 developing countries. The data, drawn from the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database, highlight the existence of significant gender gaps in ownership of accounts and usage of savings and credit products. Even after controlling for a host of individual characteristics including income, education, employment status, rural residency and age, gender remains significantly related to usage of financial services. This study also finds that legal discrimination against women and gender norms may explain some of the cross-country variation in access to finance for women. The analysis finds that in countries where women face legal restrictions in their ability to work, head a household, choose where to live, and receive inheritance, women are less likely to own an account, relative to men, as well as to save and borrow. The results also confirm that manifestations of gender norms, such as the level of violence against women and the incidence of early marriage for women, contribute to explaining the variation in the use of financial services between men and women, after controlling for other individual and country characteristics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that hourly wages are on average 34% higher for men who speak fluent English compared to men who do not speak English, while the complementarity between English skills and education appears to have strengthened over time.
Abstract: India’s colonial legacy and linguistic diversity give English an important role in its economy, and this role has expanded due to globalization in recent decades. In this study, we use individual-level data from the 2005 India Human Development Survey to quantify the effects of English-language skills on wages. After controlling for age, social group, schooling, geography, and proxies for ability, we find that hourly wages are on average 34% higher for men who speak fluent English and 13% higher for men who speak a little English relative to men who do not speak English. The return to fluent English is as large as the return to completing secondary school and half as large as the return to completing a bachelor’s degree. In addition, we find that more experienced and more educated workers receive higher returns to English. The complementarity between English skills and education appears to have strengthened over time—only the more educated among young workers receive a premium for English-speakin...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a standardization and estimation strategy using Meta regressions and discusses methodology for constructing data and discuss main features of the entrepreneurship programs in their sample studies, and then discuss the main findings of the Meta analysis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provided a nationally-representative analysis of the gender gap in Malawi, and decomposes it, for the first time, at the mean and at selected points of the agricultural productivity distribution into (i) a portion driven by gender differences in levels of observable attributes (the endowment effect), and (ii) a part driven by women differences in returns to the same set of observables (the structure effect).

ReportDOI
TL;DR: The Global Financial Development Database (GFDB) as discussed by the authors provides information on financial systems in 205 economies over the period from 1960 to 2010 and includes measures of financial depth, degree to which individuals and firms can and do use financial services (access), efficiency of financial intermediaries and markets in intermediating resources and facilitating financial transactions (efficiency), and stability of financial institutions and markets (stability).
Abstract: This paper describes our construction of the Global Financial Development Database and uses the data to compare financial systems around the world. The database provides information on financial systems in 205 economies over the period from 1960 to 2010 and includes measures of (1) size of financial institutions and markets (financial depth), (2) degree to which individuals and firms can and do use financial services (access), (3) efficiency of financial intermediaries and markets in intermediating resources and facilitating financial transactions (efficiency), and (4) stability of financial institutions and markets (stability).

Journal ArticleDOI
18 Jan 2013-BMJ
TL;DR: Rwanda’s approach to delivering healthcare in a setting of post-conflict poverty offers lessons for other poor countries, say Paul Farmer and colleagues.
Abstract: Rwanda’s approach to delivering healthcare in a setting of post-conflict poverty offers lessons for other poor countries, say Paul Farmer and colleagues

Journal ArticleDOI
Ioannis N. Kessides1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the problems confronting Pakistan's electricity sector and identified the key elements of a potential policy response to address the country's severe power crisis, which is the direct result of imprudent and reckless energy policies over the last three decades.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A survey of the empirical literature on export and import diversification and its linkages with growth is presented in this article, focusing on how export diversification relates to trade liberalization and economic development.
Abstract: This paper surveys the empirical literature on export and import diversification and its linkages with growth. We review widely used measures of diversification and the evidence about their evolution focusing on how export diversification relates to trade liberalization and economic development. We also discuss the linkages between trade diversification and productivity at the firm and industry level, highlighting new advances on the linkages between import diversification and productivity.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work proposes an encompassing definition rooted in risk science: water security is a tolerable level of water-related risk to society, and argues that water security policy questions need to be framed so that science can marshal interdisciplinary data and evidence to identify solutions.
Abstract: Water-related risks threaten society at the local, national and global scales in our inter-connected and rapidly changing world. Most of the world's poor are deeply water insecure and face intolera...

Journal ArticleDOI
Shantayanan Devarajan1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that the statistical foundations of the recent growth in per-capita GDP and reduction in poverty are quite weak, in that GDP accounts use old methods, population censuses are out of date, and poverty estimates are infrequent and often not comparable over time.
Abstract: While Africa may have overcome its growth tragedy, it is facing a statistical tragedy, in that the statistical foundations of the recent growth in per-capita GDP and reduction in poverty are quite weak. In many countries, GDP accounts use old methods, population censuses are out of date, and poverty estimates are infrequent and often not comparable over time. The proximate reasons have to do with weak capacity, inadequate funding, and a lack of coordination of statistical activities. But the underlying cause may be the political sensitivity of these statistics, and some donors' tendency to go around countries' own National Statistical Development Strategies (NSDS). Greater openness and transparency of statistics, and a higher profile for the NSDS, possibly with “naming and shaming” of those who try to circumvent it, may help Africans turn around their statistical tragedy.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Offers of cash transfers strongly reduced psychological distress among baseline schoolgirls, but these large beneficial effects declined with increases in the transfer amount offered to the parents conditional on regular school attendance by the adolescent girls.
Abstract: This brief summarizes the income shocks and adolescent mental health in Malawi. Monthly transfers were made from 2008 to the end of 2009; in total the intervention lasted two years. The author investigates the effects of a positive income shock on mental health among adolescent girls using evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Malawi. Offers of cash transfers strongly reduced psychological distress among baseline schoolgirls. However, these large beneficial effects declined with increases in the transfer amount offered to the parents conditional on regular school attendance by the adolescent girls. Improved physical health, increased school attendance, personal consumption, and leisure contributed to the effects. There was also strong evidence of increased psychological distress among untreated baseline schoolgirls in treatment areas. All of these effects dissipated soon after the program ended.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the impact on financial stability of bank competition in emerging markets by taking into account crisis periods is investigated, showing that a higher degree of market power in the banking market is associated with higher capital ratios, higher income volatility and higher insolvency risk of banks.

ReportDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present experimental evidence on the impact of contract teachers using data from an 'as is' expansion of contract-teacher hiring across a representative sample of 100 randomly-selected government-run rural primary schools in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Abstract: The large-scale expansion of primary schooling in developing countries has led to the increasing use of non-civil-service contract teachers who are hired locally by the school, are not professionally trained, have fixed-term renewable contracts, and are paid much lower salaries than regular civil-service teachers. This has been a controversial policy, but there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of contract teachers in improving student learning. We present experimental evidence on the impact of contract teachers using data from an 'as is' expansion of contract-teacher hiring across a representative sample of 100 randomly-selected government-run rural primary schools in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. At the end of two years, students in schools with an extra contract teacher performed significantly better than those in comparison schools by 0.16σ and 0.15σ, in math and language tests respectively. Contract teachers were also much less likely to be absent from school than civil-service teachers (18% vs. 27%). Combining the experimental reduction in school-level pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) induced by the provision of an extra contract teacher, with high-quality panel data estimates of the impact of reducing PTR with a regular civil-service teacher, we show that contract teachers are not only effective at improving student learning outcomes, but that they are no less effective at doing so than regular civil-service teachers who are more qualified, better trained, and paid five times higher salaries.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

Journal ArticleDOI
Miriam Bruhn1, David McKenzie1
TL;DR: The authors summarizes the evidence on the effects of entry reforms and related policy actions to promote firm formalization and concludes that most of these policies result only in a modest increase in the number of formal firms, if at all.
Abstract: The majority of microenterprises in most developing countries remain informal despite more than a decade of reforms aimed at making it easier and cheaper for them to formalize. This paper summarizes the evidence on the effects of entry reforms and related policy actions to promote firm formalization. Most of these policies result only in a modest increase in the number of formal firms, if at all. Less is known about the impact of other forms of business regulations on the performance of low-scale enterprises. Most informal firms appear not to benefit on net from formalizing, so ease of formalization alone will not lead to most of them formalizing. Increased enforcement of rules can increase formality. Although there is a fiscal benefit of doing this with larger informal firms, it is unclear whether there is a public rationale for trying to formalize subsistence enterprises.

BookDOI
Rui Han1, Martin Melecky1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the link between the broader access to bank deposits prior to the 2008 crisis and the dynamics of bank deposit growth during the crisis, while controlling for relevant covariates.
Abstract: In crisis times, depositors get anxious, can run on banks, and withdraw their deposits. Correlated withdrawals of bank deposits could be mitigated if bank deposits are more diversified, that is, held by more individuals. This paper examines the link between the broader access to bank deposits prior to the 2008 crisis and the dynamics of bank deposit growth during the crisis, while controlling for relevant covariates. Employing proxies for access to deposits and the use of bank deposits, the authors find that greater access to bank deposits can make the deposit funding base of banks more resilient in times of financial stress. Policy efforts to enhance financial stability should thus not only focus on macroprudential regulation, but also recognize the positive effect of broader access to bank deposits on financial stability.