Scaling up: A path to effective development

Poverty reduction, Hunger, MDGs, Interventions, Political dynamics, Capacity, Development assistance, Scaling up,

Economic Integration of Eurasia: Opportunities and Challenges of Global Significance

With the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991, a new frontier in the process of globalization of the world economy opened up: the economic integration of the Eurasian "super-continent". This paper begins to explore the process and prospects of economic integration of the huge land-mass that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and from the Arctic Sea to the Indian Ocean. Since the Eurasian economic integration process is of global significance, there are also geo-political aspects and implications to be considered. This paper touches on some of these at the end, but focuses principally on exploring the economic dimensions and significance of the integration process of Eurasia. It compiles evidence on Eurasian integration in the areas of energy and non-energy trade and transport, illicit drug trade, investment and capital flows, migration, and communication and knowledge. It concludes with a consideration of the institutional and political dimensions that affect regional cooperation for Eurasia and with some broad policy recommendations. The paper represents only a first step in what is necessarily a major research undertaking. But the authors hope that it will provoke thought, debate and follow-up research.Capital flows, China, economic integration, Energy, Eurasia, European Union, illicit drugs, India, migration, Russia, trade

Public finance, trade, and development : what have we learned?

Interdependence of trade and public finance policy are important considerations in designing macroeconomic policy, public revenue policy, and public expenditure policy. A competitive real exchange rate, improved trade performance, and trade liberalization are all built on the base of sound fiscal management. Trade policies and trade liberalization may, however have a negative effect on fiscal balances, which must be considered and compensated for. Improving competitiveness and reducing protection is likely to involve reform of both trade tariffs and domestic taxation. Greater reliance on efficiently designed user charges will also help make a country more competitive internationally. Correct priorities should be set for public expenditures - whether they are rising or falling - to ensure that they are supportive of trade and of tradeable goods production.Public Sector Economics&Finance,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research

Swamp Stompers, a Field Course in Secondary School

Author Institution: Department of Education, Huron County, Norwalk, OhioSwamp Stomping is an interdisciplinary (biology, geology and ecology) field course for high school students. The emphasis on field work is two-prongedfor future natural scientists to begin procedures inherent in field work and, secondly, to develop in all Swamp Stompers an appreciation of and concern for their natural resources so that as an electorate they will be better informed on the wise utilization of Ohio's natural resources

The Assignment of Local Government Revenues in Developing Countries

Local governments play an important role in the public sector of many developing countries. They are frequently responsible for a wide range of public services, many of which are financed by resources raised locally. Particularly in rapidly growing urban areas, local authorities have been faced with ever-increasing responsibilities, poorly matched by limited and often stagnant resources with which the expanding expenditure requirements. The resulting \u27fiscal gap\u27 between expenditure requirements and resource availability for local government can be addressed by reducing public service levels, by increasing nominal tax levels, by increasing tax effort, or by reassigning fiscal responsibility, i.e., shifting responsibility for some expenditure functions away from local governments, increasing local revenue authority, and increasing transfers from higher level governments. This paper explores the question of which revenue sources should be allocated to local governments in developing countries. In doing this, extensive reference is made to actual experience in these countries by providing descriptive evidence and an assessment of the revenue assignments to local governments, particularly in urban areas

Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Developing Countries

The financing and management problems of many of the largest cities in developing countries have be­gun to attract the serious attention of economists. Several factors explain why these issues have been so long ignored: the traditional concerns of development economists have been macro growth models and the agricultural sector; the urban fiscal problem was small in relation to the financial problems of the central gov­ernment; aid donors dealt with central governments; the fiscal data of local governments were scanty; and troublesome local government issues seemed better left to administrative specialists. Things have changed, pri­marily because the fiscal problems of cities have become national concerns and because donors have recognized that the success of capital projects in urban areas is closely tied to the ability of local governments to meet recurrent cost obligations. This chapter addresses an increasingly important aspect of urbanization in developing countries--the problems and practices of urban government finances. It identifies and analyzes the most important pressures on local budgets, suggests major options for reforms, and sets out constraints on improvements. An important limitation to this effort is the inadequacy of comparable data, as reflected by the paucity of empirical support for these arguments

Fiscal Decentralization and Intergovernmental Transfers in Less Developed Countries

This article addresses the issue of fiscal decentralization in developing countries, and the use of intergovernmental transfers to achieve this objective. We find that developing countries have more centralized fiscal structures and argue that this is consistent with the theory of fiscal federalism. Economic development, however, does push the advantage toward decentralization. We also show that developing countries use a wide variety of transfer instruments to fund local governments, and that these instruments give the national government varying degrees of control over local government finances