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This study examines the development of renewable energy support mechanisms in the EU. It assesses the potential for their transformation in light of the formation of the European Energy Union in the context of the growing global energy crisis. As part of its long-term strategy to increase the share of renewable energy, the EU has set several ambitious targets, measures and legislative initiatives, such as Directive 2001/77/EC, which sets targets for 12 % of energy and 22 % of electricity from renewable sources by 2010, and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), which updates the RED I targets and provides for a share of renewable energy in final energy consumption of at least 32 % by 2030. Various direct and indirect mechanisms to support renewable energy sources were analysed. It is concluded that the EU’s commitment to increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix is consistent and ambitious. These initiatives demonstrate the EU’s commitment to addressing the urgent need for a low-carbon economy., У цьому дослідженні розглядається розвиток механізмів підтримки відновлюваної енергетики в ЄС та оцінюється потенціал їх трансформації у світлі фо-рмування Європейського енергетичного союзу в умовах посилення глобальної енергетичної кризи. У рамках довгострокової стратегії збільшення частки відновлюваної енергетики ЄС визначив низку амбітних цілей, заходів та законодавчих ініціатив, таких як Директива 2001/77/ЄС, яка встановлює цілі щодо досягнення 12 % енергії та 22 % електроенергії з відновлюваних джерел до 2010 року, а також Директива з відновлюваної енергетики (RED II), яка оновлює цілі RED I та передбачає частку відновлюваної енергії у кінцевому енергоспоживанні на рівні не менше 32 % до 2030 року. У дослідженні також розглядаються різні види прямих і непрямих механізмів підтримки відновлюваних джерел енергії, включаючи «зелені» тарифи, зміцнення мереж і механізми розширення потужностей, а також екологічні податки і скасування субсидій на викопне паливо. Впровадження та ефективність цих механізмів підтримки ВДЕ відрізняються в різних країнах- членах ЄС через такі фактори, як їхня індивідуальна енергетична політика, існуюча інфраструктура та ринкові умови. Крім того, вартість технологій відновлюваної енергетики продовжує знижуватися, що робить їх більш конкурентоспроможними порівняно з традиційними джерелами викопного палива. Це означає, що рівень підтримки, необхідний для ВДЕ, з часом також може зменшитися. Крім того, інтеграція відновлюваної енергії в енергосистему та розробка рішень для зберігання енергії матимуть вирішальне значення для досягнення амбітних цілей Крім того, ЄС стикається з геополітичними проблемами енергетичної безпеки, і план ЄС RePowerEU спрямований на вирішення цих проблем шляхом прискорення інвестицій у виробництво електроенергії з відновлюваних джерел. У дослідженні робиться висновок, що зобов’язання ЄС щодо збільшення частки відновлюваної енергії в енергетичному балансі є послідовним і амбітним, і ці ініціативи демонструють прихильність ЄС до вирішення нагальної потреби переходу до низьковуглецевої економіки.

This paper investigates the effect of awarding a second investment grant to the same firm. We implement a Regression Discontinuity Design strategy using a very rich firm-level administrative database, which allows us to link applications to grants and their scores to firms' performance. Overall, our results show a positive and significant impact of an investment grant booster shot on firms' labour productivity. This effect is significantly larger than the effect of a single grant. A more granular analysis shows a strong impact of awarding a second grant to small-sized firms. However, we found no effect on micro, medium and large-sized firms. Our results suggest that the characteristics of the targeted firms, namely firm size, matter for the effectiveness of awarding a second grant to the same firm.

This paper estimates establishment-level employment effects of investment grants in one of the German Federal States receiving the most support. We analyze general treatment effects, as well as the influence of heterogeneity in the characteristics and economic environment of the establishment on its employment development. Modifying the standard matching and difference-in-differences approach, we develop a new procedure that is particularly useful for evaluating funding programs with individual treatment phases within the period of observation. Our data basis combines treatment-related, establishment-specific and regional information from different sources. The results suggest that investment grants have a positive influence on the development of employment in establishment in both absolute and standardized figures (i. e. in relation to the amount of subsidy received) - with considerable effect heterogeneity. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden die Beschäftigungseffekte der Investitionsförderung für eines der am stärksten geförderten deutschen Bundesländer ermittelt. Wir analysieren dabei nicht nur die allgemeinen Effekte auf die Beschäftigungsentwicklung, sondern betrachten auch ihre Heterogenität bezüglich unterschiedlicher betrieblicher und umfeldbezogener Merkmale. Durch eine Modifzierung des Matching-und Differenz-in-Differenzen-Ansatzes entwickeln wir ein neues Verfahren zur Evaluation von Förderprogrammen, das die individuellen Förderphasen innerhalb der Beobachtungsperiode genau berücksichtigen kann. Unsere Datenbasis kombiniert dabei förderbezogene, betriebsbezogene und regionale Informationen unterschiedlicher Quellen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Investitionsförderung einen positiven Einfluss auf die Beschäftigungsentwicklung in den Betrieben hat, sowohl in absoluter, als auch in einer standardisierten Betrachtung (d. h. in Bezug zur Höhe der Förderung) - mit erheblicher Effektheterogenität.

Central America is undergoing an important transition, with urban populations increasingat accelerated speeds, bringing pressing challenges as well as opportunities to boost sustained,inclusive and resilient growth. Today, 59 percent of Central America's population lives in urban areas, but it is expected that within the next generation 7 out of 10 people will live in cities, equivalent to adding 700,000 new urban residents every year. At current rates of urbanization, the region’s urban population will double in size by 2050, welcoming over 25 million new urban dwellers, calling for better infrastructure, higher coverage and quality of urban services and greater employment opportunities. As larger numbers of people concentrate in urban areas, Central American governments at the national and local levels face both opportunities and challenges to ensure the prosperity of their country's present and future generations.

Prior to the political and security crisis of 2012, Mali, a large landlocked country in West Africa already ranked among the poorest countries in the world. In early 2012, the vast northern regions fell under the control of extremist forces, while a coup d’état in Bamako threw the country into political instability and turmoil. A strong international military response in early 2013 prevented further destabilization, though part of the North remains outside government control and insecurity has spread to Bamako and the South. The signing of a peace agreement in June 2015 has revived hopes for peace and stability. The WBG has continued to support Mali throughout the crisis. An Interim Strategy Note (ISN, FY14-15) addressed the root causes of Mali’s underestimated fragility, namely weak governance, extremely high demographic growth and the consequences of climate change. This CPF will continue to address the drivers of Mali’s fragility, with a strong focus on governance, while building on the progress and experience of the ISN. Drawing from the recent Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD), which stresses the criticality of improving rural livelihoods to sustainable poverty reduction, the Framework intends to contribute to improving rural incomes by increasing productivity and resilience in the four livelihood zones of the country. Accordingly, the CPF proposes orientations for the WBG engagement around three areas of focus: (i) improve governance, by strengthening public resource management at central and local levels and fostering citizen engagement; (ii) create economic opportunities, by enhancing the productive capacity of smallholders, increasing agricultural value added and diversification to catalyze transformation, and improving basic services by developing infrastructure and connectivity; and (iii) build resilience, by developing human capital, strengthening safety nets, improving risk management mechanisms for the poor and vulnerable and mitigating climate shock. A comprehensive program has been proposed for the first two years of the CPF that includes knowledge activities and development policy operations to address the binding constraints to poverty reduction, as well as citizen engagement, investment financing, partner-funded and joint IFC/IDA investments and guarantees. Key areas include the reinsertion of ex-combatants, competitiveness and agricultural productivity, statistical capacity, climate change, water and sanitation, safety nets programs, energy, irrigation and transport.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LCR) will be center stage in the global development debate as leaders from around the world convene in Lima, Peru for the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund. Critical progress in poverty reduction has been made in the region over the last decade. The region’s bottom 40 percent of the population saw growth eclipsing that seen by the group in every other region in the world. However, a global slowdown in economic growth and activity challenges these positive strides. The stories in this report embody concrete successes of countries working together with the World Bank. Innovative development approaches were designed and implemented. Individuals, communities, countries, and even regions benefited from better health, education, governance, disaster risk management, and more.

This paper reviews the experiences of intergovernmental fiscal systems (IGFS) to look for possible lessons for how Official Development Assistance (ODA) is delivered. Specifically, it compares IGFS and ODA in two specific respects. The first is the proportion of public resources that central governments make available to sub-national governments on a conditional basis, and how that compares with the proportion of non-earmarked ODA given to low income countries. The second is the role of performance outcome in resource allocation to sub-national governments and how that compares with the role of performance in ODA, particularly multilateral ODA allocation. The comparisons show that: (i) the share of earmarked ODA is more than three times higher than that of conditional grants in intergovernmental systems, suggesting that donors in ODA rely more on earmarking to influence the spending decisions of the recipient countries than their federal governments do on conditional grants to induce policy changes in their own sub-national governments; and (ii) none of the OECD countries currently use outcome measures in determining resource allocation to their sub-national governments for a variety of good reasons, and the recent debate as to whether multilateral ODA allocation should be based on development outcomes seems to ignore this experience.

The provention consortium was created in February 2000 as a formal partnership between the World Bank, other International Financial Institutions (IFIs), bilateral donor organizations, the insurance sector, the academic community, and civil society. Designed as a think-tank to commission research and to disseminate risk reduction tools, the provention secretariat was to rotate from one partner organization to another. Thus, after three years at the Bank, the secretariat was transferred to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva. The overall goal of provention is to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impacts of natural disasters on vulnerable populations in developing countries in order to alleviate poverty and contribute to sustainable development. This is achieved through (a) forging partnerships; (b) promoting policy; (c) improving practice; and (d) sharing knowledge. Under the Washington-based Secretariat, provention supported four types of activities: applied research studies, pilot and demonstration projects, education and training activities, and workshops and conferences. Provention was repeatedly criticized for its weak governance structure. Therefore, the secretariat commissioned a governance review in 2005. The governance review recommended reactivating the presiding council (PC); replacing the Steering Committee (SC) by a forum to discuss the impact of disasters in developing countries; and creating an Advisory Committee as the main governing body.

The paper analyses the timing of spontaneous environmental innovation when second-mover advantages, arising from the expectation of declining investment costs, increase the option value of waiting created by investment irreversibility and uncertainty about private payoffs. We then focus on the design of public subsidies aimed at bridging the gap between the spontaneous time of technological change and the socially desirable one. Under network externalities and incomplete information about firms’ switching costs, auctioning investment grants appears to be a cost-effective way of accelerating pollution abatement, in that it allows targeting grants instead of subsidizing the entire industry indiscriminately.