Ending Extreme Poverty and Sharing Prosperity: Progress and Policies

To guide its work toward a "world free of poverty," the World Bank Group in 2013 established two clear goals: end extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity. Along with the requirement to pursue these goals sustainably -- economically, environmentally, and socially -- the two goals are comprehensive in nature. They are fully aligned to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To evaluate progress, the two goals are measured by two overall indicators: a reduction in the global headcount ratio of extreme poverty (the population share of those whose income is below the international poverty line) to 3 percent by 2030, and the promotion of income growth in the bottom 40 (B40) percent of the population in each country.This Policy Research Note updates the assessment of progress toward these two goals in a sustainable manner. The poverty goal is examined through three lenses: the evolution of income poverty based on the new international poverty line that has been re-estimated at $1.90 a day; an assessment of person-equivalent income poverty, a new intuitive indicator that combines the incidence with the depth of poverty; and a review of the breadth of poverty, recognizing that income shortfalls often coexist with multiple non-income deprivations. The shared prosperity goal is examined on the basis of the latest comparison of (comparable) household data on B40 income growth. As part of its analysis of the two goals, this note also comments on the status of defining and monitoring sustainability in its economic, environmental and social aspects

The effects of international soft law on state behaviour: Understanding degrees of compliance with the Basel Accord, 1988-2000.

The thesis provides a comprehensive examination of the impact of the 1988 Basel Accord on the capital adequacy regulations of developed economies. The study seeks to understand if the Accord affected broad or isolated convergence of 18 developed states' bank credit risk regulations from 1988 to 2000, and understand what political economic variables influenced levels of regulatory isomorphism. The thesis argues that previous research has failed to effectively address whether the Accord accomplished its "level regulatory playing field" objective by employing small sample sizes. In order to address this lacuna, the thesis creates a quantitative database of developed states' interpretations of the Basel rules. The results indicate that the Accord may have successfully provided a regulatory floor as most states implemented the agreement in some form by 1991. Yet, some persistent distinction remained in the way states implemented the Accord. Second, the thesis aims to understand why convergence emerged among a subset of states, yet not others, by testing a battery of political economic explanations. Statistical tests reveal that initial interpretations of the Accord's provisions were conditioned by the severity of a state's capital adequacy regime prior to 1988. States with weak (severe) pre-Basel capital adequacy regimes tended to implement weak (severe) interpretations of the Accord. Departures from "path dependent" positions resulted mostly from the presence of acute banking crises and the impact of private financial market influences. The qualitative studies of implementation in the United States, France, Germany, and Japan tend to support the quantitative finds, yet also emphasize the importance of considering tax, accounting, and loan-loss provisioning policies in assessments of capital adequacy regulation. These results should have implications for revised studies of the economic effects of the Accord and studies of possible impact of the Basel 2 Accord

Remittances, Institutions and Economic Growth

There is considerable debate regarding the relative contribution of international migrants' remittances to sustainable economic development. While officially recorded remittances to developing countries have increased over the last decade. research has not come to a consensus over whether remittances, have a positive or negative impact on long-run growth. This paper argues that contradictory findings have emerged when looking at the remittances-growth link because of an omitted variable bias: specifically, remittances will be more likely to contribute to longer-term growth ill countries with higher quality political and economic policies and institution

Sociodemographic Determinants of Waitlist and Posttransplant Survival Among End-Stage Liver Disease Patients

While regional organ availability dominates discussions of distribution policy, community-level disparities remain poorly understood. We studied micro-geographic determinants of survival risk and their distribution across Donor Service Areas (DSAs). Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients records for all adults waitlisted for liver transplantation 2002-2014 were reviewed. The primary exposure variables were county-level sociodemographic risk, as measured by the Community Health Score (CHS), a previously-validated composite index local health conditions, and distance to listing transplant center. Among 114 347 patients, the median CHS was 19.4 (range: 0-40). Compared the lowest risk counties (CHS 1-10), highest-risk counties (CHS 31-40) had more black (14.6% vs. 5.4%), publicly insured (44.9% vs. 33.0), and remote candidates (34.0% vs. 15.1% living >100 miles away). Higher-CHS candidates had greater waitlist mortality in Cox multivariable (HR 1.16 for CHS 31-40, 95% CI 1.11-1.21) and competing risks analysis (sHR 1.07, 95% CI 0.99-1.14). Post-transplant survival was similar across CHS quartiles. Living >25 miles from the transplant center conferred excess mortality risk (sHR 1.08, 95% CI 1.03-1.12). Proposed distribution changes would disproportionately impact DSAs with more high-CHS or distant candidates. Low-income, rural and minority patients experience excess mortality while awaiting transplant, and risk disproportionately worse outcomes with reduced organ availability under current proposals