Search

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.

The article deals with investment subsidies which were drawn by enterprises of the dairy industry in 2007–2013. It is a subsidy within the Rural Development Programme 2007–2013 and the National subsidies. This article aims to assess whether these subsidies have contributed to higher economic efficiency of enterprises. The impact of investment grants to economic indicators (sales, debt ratio, labour productivity and production consumption) is evaluated. 35 dairy enterprises that drew investment grants, were analyzed in total. According to the results, grants from national sources have a greater impact on the economy of businesses. National subsidies improve labour productivity, sales and production consumption. Impacts of subsidies drawn from the Rural Development Programme are less noticeable. These subsidies affect only the production consumption by its decreasing. The market situation in 2008 and 2009 also influenced the rated indicators.

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.