Bøger i Directions in Development serien

Central America is in the midst of an important transformation. Central America Urbanization Review: Making Cities Work for Central America provides a better understanding of the implications of urbanization in the region, and the actions that central and local governments can take to reap the intended benefits of this transformation.

While adoption of new technologies is understood to enhance long-term growth and average per-capita incomes, its impact on lower-skilled workers is more complex and merits clarification. Concerns abound that advanced technologies developed in high-income countries would inexorably lead to job losses of lower-skilled, less well-off workers and exacerbate inequality. Conversely, there are countervailing concerns that policies intended to protect jobs from technology advancement would themselves stultify progress and depress productivity. This book squarely addresses both sets of concerns with new research showing that adoption of digital technologies offers a pathway to more inclusive growth by increasing adopting firms' outputs, with the jobs-enhancing impact of technology adoption assisted by growth-enhancing policies that foster sizable output expansion. The research reported here demonstrates with economic theory and data from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico that lower-skilled workers can benefit from adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies biased towards skilled workers, and often do. The inclusive jobs outcomes arise when the effects of increased productivity and expanding output overcome the substitution of workers for technology. While the substitution effect replaces some lower-skilled workers with new technology and more highly-skilled labor, the output effect can lead to an increase in the total number of jobs for less-skilled workers. Critically, output can increase sufficiently to increase jobs across all tasks and skill types within adopting firms, including jobs for lower-skilled workers, as long as lower-skilled task content remains complementary to new technologies and related occupations are not completely automated and replaced by machines. It is this channel for inclusive growth that underlies the power of pro-competitive enabling policies and institutions--such as regulations encouraging firms to compete and policies supporting the development of skills that technology augments rather than replaces--to ensure that the positive impact of technology adoption on productivity and lower-skilled workers is realized.

Reviews the monitoring approaches used in the Millennium Development Goals period, and its chapters highlight the significant gap between "improved" water and sanitation and impacts on health.

Although Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing segments of emerging global financial markets, its concepts are not fully exploited especially in the areas of economic development, inclusion, access to finance, and public policy. This volume is to improve understanding of the perspective of Islamic finance on economic development, social

This study is aimed at facilitating policy development leading to a demand-driven, high-quality and equitable education and training system conducive to lifelong learning. The intended audience includes policymakers in the Ministries of Education, Human Resources and Social Security, Agriculture and Finance and the Poverty Alleviation Office and National Development and Reform Commission.

News and money today travel fast, but in Central Asia the bulk of people and goods still travel by road. Hence, the main roads crisscrossing this vast region and related services are arteries supporting the life and activities of millions of people today.

Examines such questions as: What has been the trajectory of Cameroon's economic growth? Which sectors have contributed to growth? What jobs are being created? What types of skills are being used in the sectors where the highest percentages of the population are employed? What are the demand and supply barriers to skills? Which policies and institutions are in play? Are they sufficient?

Shows how urban resettlement can become a development opportunity for those who are adversely affected by the process of urban development. Examples include improvements to legal systems in Brazil, resettlement programs in slums in India and Mauritania, and restoration of informal sector livelihoods in Morocco and Pakistan.