BUSINESS OF THE STATE, STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES, AND PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT

By Mariem Malouche, Birgit Hansl, and Mary C. Hallward-Driemeier

The state, as an owner of businesses, is competing and collaborating with the private sector at the firm level, market level, and economy-wide, which has profound implications for investment and growth. Governments actively participate in commercial markets in different forms, from controlling the production of goods and services to investing in firms as a minority shareholder. The impact of state participation in markets on an economy’s growth depends on the type of public-private ownership, the types of markets, and the importance of those markets in the economy. The impact also depends on how policies and institutions regulate businesses with state ownership and the markets in which they are active.

This report uses new evidence to update the understanding of how different ownership arrangements across sectors and institutional settings affect private investment, productivity, technology adoption, and job creation, and also how those arrangements influence the ability of economies to respond to shocks, from pandemics to climate change.

Private Cities

October 2023. 150 pages.

Stock no. C211998

(ISBN: 978-1-4648-1998-8). US$43.95

Outstanding Examples from Developing Countries and Their Implications for Urban Policy

By Yue Li and Martin Rama

Institutional constraints and weak capacity often hamper the ability of local governments in developing countries to steer urbanization. As a result, there are not enough cities to accommodate an unabated rural-urban migration, and many of the cities that emerge are sprawling and disconnected. The flipside is the emergence of entire cities—more than gated communities or industrial parks—led in whole or in part by private actors. To date, little systematic research has been conducted on the conditions that are necessary for such unusual entities to emerge, on the roles played by private actors, or on the consequences for efficiency and equity. This report aims to fill this gap. Using an analytical framework that draws on urban economics and political science, it includes inventories of private cities in the Arab Republic of Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan and provides structured reviews of 14 outstanding examples across all developing regions.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

June 2023. 274 pages.

Stock no. C211833

(ISBN: 978-1-4648-1833-2). US$49.50