rafmacalaba/datause-encoder-data huggingface dataset:
Public expenditure reviews for
            education : the Bank's experience
Public expenditure reviews (PERs) are an
            excellent vehicle for analyzing important sector issues in
            the context of the overall economic and fiscal situation.
            PERs should give as accurate a picture as possible of how
            funds to the sector are allocated and disbursed.  The
            education sector (like other social sectors) has specific
            characteristics that affect the relationship between sector
            and macro expenditures that can skew the impact of
            "sector-neutral" policies.  PERs should pay
            explicit attention to these concerns, which include : a) the
            different time frames for the attainment of macroeconomic
            and education sector goals; b) the often substantial part of
            education sector spending that is outside the purview and
            control of the Ministry of Education; c) the low ratio of
            nonwage to wage expenditures within the sector's
            recurrent budget; and e) the large and capital-intensive
            foreign financing component of sector funding in many
            low-income countries, which is often fragmented among many
            donors and projects.  The treatment of the education sector
            in PERs must be analyzed in the broader context of Bank
            operations.  This report is the first step in a broader
            research agenda which includes : 1) analysis of effects of
            adjustment operations on the sector; and 2) development of
            guidelines for an improved analysis of sector-specific cost
            and financing issues in the macroeconomic expenditure context.
Industrial organization and trade
            liberalization : evidence from Korea
Drawing on evidence about industrial
            organization and market structure, the authors develop a
            computable general equilibrium model in selected industrial
            sectors with increasing returns to scale. They use this
            model to estimate the welfare gains Korea would realize from
            abolishing the import restraints prevailing in 1982. Under
            constant returns to scale, they estimate welfare gains to be
            1 percent of GDP. With increasing returns to scale in three
            industrial sectors, they estimate welfare gains ranging from
            -0.5 percent to 10 percent of 1982 GDP, depending on
            assumptions about the pricing behavior (markup pricing or
            Cournot competition) and profit levels that existed under protection.
Do wage distortions justify
            protection in the U.S. auto and steel industries
This paper models endogenous
            union-induced labor market distortions in applied general
            equilibrium.  It also investigates systematically the impact
            of labor market distortions under different market structure
            assumptions.  The paper describes how to model labor market
            distortions with and without labor union activity and how
            model economies of scale are modelled and how they represent
            pricing practices.  It describes the data and benchmarking
            for the counterfactual simulations and reports on the
            welfare costs of VERs under constant returns to scale and no
            wage distortions.  It also evaluates the distortionary costs
            of protection created by VERs both with and without labor
            market distortions and, with and without imperfectly
            competitive behavior. This step-by-step approach helps
            isolate the contribution of each distortionary component.
            It asks what would be the likely benefits of optimal wage
            and tariff policies in the auto and steel industries.
School effects on achievement in
            secondary mathematics and Portuguese in Brazil
The authors use a multilevel modeling
            procedure to explore 1) the percentage of variance in
            secondary school achievement in Brazil that could be
            attributed to the types of school attended, 2) differences
            between schools in students' achievement in mathematics
            and Portuguese, and 3) differences between schools in
            reducing achievement differences based on students'
            socioeconomic status. The authors identified the following :
            students in Brazil's federal technical schools
            outperformed students in other schools in both mathematics
            and Portuguese. Important factors were class size
            (achievement was higher in larger classes), the number of
            hours math was taught (the more the better), the
            school's organizational complexity, average family
            social class background, and the number of hours students
            spent working.
Voluntary choices in concerted deals
            : mechanics and attributes of the menu approach
When sovereign debt trades at a discount
            on secondary markets, a market buyback increases the
            secondary market price. The wealth of private creditors
            increases because part of the funds used in the repurchase
            is a transfer payment to them. This transfer of resources
            can be mitigated by imposing a capital gains tax on the
            remaining debt. The authors show how this can be achieved by
            including exit and new money options in a menu of options
            from which creditors can freely choose. The menu approach
            imposes an implicit tax on the capital gains on the
            remaining debt by requiring lenders that do not exit to
            extend new loans in proportion to the debt they retain. The
            menu approach does not require that particular choices from
            the menu be assigned to each lender. Instead, it implements
            debt reduction through a price system, allowing different
            creditors to select different portfolios in equilibrium from
            a common set of options. The authors illustrate some of
            their results by analyzing the recent Mexican debt
            agreement. They show how to read through the complex
            financial acrobatics to estimate the net debt reduction.
            Funds provided by international financial institutions
            benefited both Mexico and its creditors. Mexico directly
            retained 62 percent of these resources and the banks 34 percent.
The business cycle associated with
            exchange-rate-based stabilization
This paper deals with the effects of
            disinflation on economic activity in "chronic
            inflation" countries -- countries with a long
            inflationary history above the rates in industrialized
            countries, where labor and capital markets are adjusted to
            function in the inflationary environment.  The sample is
            based on a number of Latin American countries and Israel.
            The main finding is that stabilization processes in chronic
            inflation countries do not normally follow the usual
            Phillips curve trade off in the medium run.  Specifically,
            stabilization progams in these countries are often
            associated with a business cycle, beginning with a boom and
            ending with a recession.  This finding relates to the
            programs which used the exchange rate as the main nominal
            anchor, referred to as "exchange rate based
            stabilization" (ERBS).  This paper documents the main
            features of the business cycle phenomenon in ERBSs, and
            tries to understand its causes and to derive some policy
            implications for future stabilizations.  It refers to
            relevant features of stabilizations in industrial
            low-inflation economies and in hyperinflationary episodes,
            and then turns to chronic inflation countries.  It
            highlights the main facts concerning the business cycles in
            these experiences and discusses the differences between
            ERBSs and disinflation programs which use money as the
            nominal anchor.  This paper concludes with issues related to
            the countercyclical policies.
The Kuwaiti NGOs : their role in aid
            flows to developing countries
There is evidence of a substantial
            amount of Kuwaiti private aid flows to developing countries,
            although reliable estimates are not yet systematically
            collected.  There is also some evidence that this amount
            could expand to form a larger portion of Kuwait's
            development assistance.  Following are the key points that
            emerge:  (A) Two factors, Islam and Arab heritage, are the
            most important contributors to the growth of Kuwaiti private
            aid giving; (B) Whatever the motivation, the emphasis in
            external giving has been on developmental projects with
            geographical distribution favoring Africa, the Middle East
            and South-East Asia.  (C) Most nongovernmental organizations
            (NGOs) have moved from a single sector approach to a more
            multi-faceted approach that focuses on education, health and
            agriculture. (D) Because Kuwait is a small country with a
            homogenous endogenous population, individuals do not face
            the problem of choosing a reliable organization for their
            donations. (E) Kuwaiti private giving is not tightly
            controlled by the government, nor is there tension between
            public/private linkages. (F) In the absence of some
            government regulation, a Kuwaiti NGO weakness could be
            diffusion and duplication of aid efforts.  Kuwaiti NGOs
            place emphasis on individual projects that seem to be
            designed and implemented in isolation of broader development
            recipient country strategies.
World Bank treatment of the social
            impact of adjustment programs
Since 1987 the Bank's operational
            guidelines have required President's Reports supporting
            structural adjustment loans (SALs) to pay particular
            attention to an analysis of the short term impact of the
            adjustment program on the poor and to measures proposed to
            alleviate negative effects. The authors review how SAL
            President's Reports prepared between July 1986 and
            December 1988 have addressed the social impact issue. The
            authors find that most efforts to address this issue have
            focused on targeted projects, including special employment
            programs, nutrition projects, resettlement projects, and
            credit, severance pay, and retraining projects for displaced
            workers. By contrast, there has been little analysis of the
            impact of the chosen policy mix on major sub-groups in
            poverty. Design modifications other than reallocations of
            social expenditures, have received relatively less
            attention. For example, the composition, incidence, and
            effectiveness of public expenditures and their implications
            for reducing poverty have not generally been examined. In
            preparing for adjustment operations, Bank staff should
            explore policy choices that eliminate economic distortions
            in a way that creates a basis for a more equitable pattern
            of long-term growth. To the extent that some adjustment
            measures may hurt the poor in the short term, this should be
            mitigated through appropriate modifications in SAL design
            and carefully designed targeted projects.
Household production, time
            allocation, and welfare in Peru
This paper uses the Peruvian Living
            Standard Survey (PLSS) data to analyze: (a) inequality in
            the distribution of income; (b) labor market participation
            of men and women and the variations in hours of work; and
            (c) the relationship between variations in labor supply and
            income inequality.  It uses a decomposing method to analyze
            income inequality and utilizes a structural neo-classical
            model to analyze household production, consumption, time
            allocation and welfare.  The purpose is to study the effect
            on production, consumption, and time allocation of changes
            in education and wage rates.  Most of the available
            information on economic inequality in developing countries
            refers to the distribution of income among earners.
            Although this information constitutes an important element
            for understanding the labor market and the related
            distribution of income, it is less helpful in the analysis
            of inequality as a welfare issue.  A more relevant indicator
            of welfare is per capita household income or consumption.
            This paper uses this indicator in an analysis of economic
            inequality.  The methodological approach is based on a
            summary measure of inequality which is closely related to
            the Gini coefficient.  The essential difference is that the
            proposed measure of inequality gives more weight than the
            Gini coefficient to transfers related to the very poor.
Poverty in Poland, Hungary, and
            Yugoslavia in the years of crisis, 1978-87
The deep economic crisis that
            characterized Eastern Europe in the 1980's had a strong
            impact on average incomes of the population and on the
            percentage of people living below the poverty line. The
            situation deteriorated most sharply in Poland, where the
            percentage of the poor in total population increased from
            less than 10 percent before the crisis to more than 20
            percent by the late 1980's. In Yugoslavia, increase was
            somewhat less (from 17 to 25 percent) while in Hungary
            overall poverty rate remained constant. Perhaps as important
            was the change in composition of poverty; before the crisis
            most of the poor lived in rural areas, now most of the poor
            live in cities. Social groups most affected by the economic
            decline are urban, socialized sector workers; their real
            wages, or real per capita income of their households, having
            declined by more than 30 percent in Poland and Yugoslavia.
            Reduction in income was accompanied by an unchanged pattern
            of distribution as socialized sector wages were generally
            cut uniformly across the board.
Patents and pharmaceutical drugs :
            understanding the pressures on developing countries
This paper offers a discussion to the
            question of why there are pressures on developing countries
            for introducing and/or reinforcing patent protection to
            pharmaceutical drugs. Patent protection is an important
            component of a complex strategy developed by the research
            and development intensive pharmaceutical drug companies of
            industrial countries to meet market competition. For legal
            and economic reasons, patents are fundamental instruments
            for allowing the drug-inventing companies to appropriate the
            returns from their inventions. Patents sustain high prices,
            which in turn provide rents to undertake further research
            and development, which in turn allows the invention of new
            drugs, etc. In recent years, increasing drug regulations
            have implied that effective patent protection to the
            research and development intensive pharmaceutical drug
            companies has eroded. Furthermore, competition from the
            generic drug companies has increased quite significantly.
            Restoring patent protection in industrial countries and
            making developing countries introduce patent protection, has
            become part of research and development intensive
            pharmaceutical companies' strategies to regain market share.
Applying tax policy models in
            country economic work : Bangladesh, China, and India
General principles can guide the design
            of the overall contours of a tax reform package to a
            considerable extent.  This paper reports on the use of three
            tax policy models to analyze issues in the course of
            undertaking economic work with the regional departments in
            the World Bank's Operational Complex.  The first model,
            that for Bangladesh, is used to demonstrate how the relative
            attractiveness of different revenue-raising options depends
            sensitively on the workings of labor markets and
            substitution relationships in production.  The second model,
            that for China, emphasizes the importance of taking a
            system-wide view of taxation in a decentralizing socialist
            economy, where the coexistence of administered and free
            market prices for the same commodities can make standard tax
            reform prescriptions most inappropriate. The third model,
            that for India, examines the kinds of domestic tax
            adjustment that would be necessary in the wake of reductions
            in import tariffs in order to allow the government to
            continue to meet its real expenditures wihout any change in
            foreign borrowing, but taking into account changes in the
            prices of intermediates and capital goods resulting from
            tariff reform.  The paper also discusses the costs involved
            in constructing and implementing tax policy models and
            summarizes the principal finding of the paper.
Creating the reform resistant
            dependent economy : the CMEA international trading relationship
In this report the authors analyze the
            CMEA trading relationship using the standard concepts of 1)
            specialization in accord with comparative advantage, and 2)
            the incentives to resist trade liberalization because of
            rents accruing to industry specific factors of production
            (including job security that sustains hidden unemployment).
            These concepts permit a demonstration of how the CMEA system
            of international trade sustained a dependence relationship
            between the Eastern European economies and the Soviet Union
            that inhibited market oriented liberalization and
            adjustment. The authors focus on Poland and Hungary and in
            describing and analyzing the implications of CMEA trading
            relationship, they use conceptions and models that are well
            known from the theory of international trade and the theory
            of the firm. In conclusion, abolition of the CMEA trading
            system and a change to trade at world prices eliminates the
            terms of trade advantage of the Eastern European economies.
            The terms of trade loss and the writing down of the value of
            the CMEA capital stock are not independent or additive costs
            of the end of the CMEA system of international trade, but
            will have been linked via capitalization of the preferential
            terms of trade into the value of the CMEA transaction
            specific capital.
Taxing foreign income in
            capital-importing countries : Thailand's perspective
This paper proposes a framework for
            analyzing international-income taxation.  The standard
            approach, involving the user cost of capital, is extended to
            incorporate the role of tax policy implemented by the home
            country.  Tax provisions of home countries vary
            significantly.  Of particular relevance are: (a) whether
            remitted earnings are taxed at home; (b) if so, whether they
            receive any unilateral tax relief, that is, deduction or
            foreign tax credit; (c) whether the home country accepts tax
            sparing; and (d) the scope and extent of deductible
            expenses, which generally differ from those of the host.
            Also of interest to the host are firms' international
            tax planning opportunities.  Thailand has sought and
            achieved double-taxation agreement with most of its trading
            partners.  It has attracted substantial foreign investments
            and collected the attendant revenue.  Its tax policy remains
            vulnerable in many areas, however.  There are, for example,
            inadequate safeguards against excessive leverage, transfer
            pricing, and treaty shopping. Its strategy concerning tax
            incentives could also be strengthened to remove the barriers
            for extending the treaty network and enhancing regional coordination.
Health insurance in Zaire
This study of health insurance systems
            in Zaire was carried out as part of a larger program of
            initiatives designed to improve the sustainability of health
            care systems and increase the health status of the Zairian
            population. This paper presents the objectives of the study
            and a discussion of the economic aspects of health
            insurance, background information about the health sector
            and health financing systems in Zaire and highlights of
            previous related work. The major motivations for this study
            were: (a) to provide information for the ongoing social
            sector adjustment dialogue in Zaire; and (b) to serve as a
            case study in the World Bank's Region Study of Health
            Finance. Specifically, the study sought to document
            different types of insurance systems in Zaire, and to
            conduct in-depth case studies of several schemes. The
            in-depth case studies presented in this report evaluate the
            design, management operational efficiency of four health
            insurance programs from both rural and urban areas. The case
            studies also attempt to analyze the effects of insurance on
            equity of access, utilization of health care services, and
            mobilization of financial resources for the health sector.
            From these analyses, the report draws conclusions about the
            advantages and disadvantages of health insurance programs as
            a means of financing health care services in Zaire, and
            suggests avenues for future research, policy, and
            programming initiatives.