Newsletter: World Bank in India - June 2022

World Bank in India Vol 24 / No. 5

June 2022

Connecting villages through Rural Roads in India

Regional Dialogue

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Projects

13

Publications

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Connecting villages through Rural Roads in India

• Since 2001, India has been constructing all-weather roads and upgrading old ones in rural areas across the country • The World Bank has invested $2.1 billion in the country’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, directly benefitting almost 19,000 habitations through 48,000 km of village roads.

• These roads have helped boost rural incomes, opened new livelihood opportunities, and made it easier to access markets, hospitals and schools.

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nita Saini teaches science to secondary school students in the small town of Baggad in Jhunjhunu district in India’s desert state of Rajasthan. On Karva Chauth, the day that many married Hindu women traditionally fast for a long life for their husbands, Anita was riding her scooter to school five km away from her home. Wearing a peach silk saree for this special day of fasting, she said that the road, built in 2014, had provided her with a new sense of freedom and purpose. “When there was no road, there were no options. Women like me had to stay home.”

A

Anita belongs to one of the 171,000 habitations that have benefitted from India’s $46-billion rural roads program – the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) – which, since 2001, has been constructing all-weather roads and upgrading old ones in rural areas across the country.

Across the country, the construction and upgrading of rural roads has put once-nondescript villages on the map of the country. They have helped boost family incomes, opened up new opportunities for livelihood and given residents easier access to markets, hospitals and schools, along with a variety of avenues for entertainment.

Access to health and education in Rajasthan In the low-literacy state of Rajasthan, rural roads have enabled school buses to reach far-flung villages, making it easier for children to get to school. Every child is now enrolled in school and many of the youth are pursuing higher studies in towns nearby.

Pre-school children too have benefitted. The women who look after the anganwadi centers (a type of rural

When there was no road, there were no options.

Women like me had to stay home.

Anita Saini, Teacher, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan

childcare centre in India) can get to work more easily, enabling them to provide hot meals to the little ones in the afternoons and read or sing songs with them.

Health care is also within easier reach. Earlier the sick had to be carried on makeshift beds or on camel carts on rutted dirt roads to the nearest health facility. Now, during an emergency, ambulances can reach right up to village homes to take pregnant women and the elderly to hospitals nearby.

In the parched and rocky terrain of Rajasthan, more and more people in small towns now own motorcycles and pick-up vans, enabling them to take up new livelihood opportunities in towns nearby.

Greater access to resources has translated into visible changes such as many more brick houses with toilet facilities.

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Increased Access to Markets in Meghalaya In the remote north-eastern state of Meghalaya, the hilly terrain coupled with almost six months of heavy rain made life difficult, especially for rural people. In Rongsa village in the East Garo Hills, where banana, cashew, betelnut and rice cultivation are the primary sources of livelihood, a new road has made it possible for farmers to take their produce to Daranggiri, Asia’s largest banana market 10 km away on the AssamMeghalaya border.

Panseng M. Momin, a farmer, says that earlier he needed to walk for hours with the bananas hoisted on his back to reach the market. He could only carry four or five bunches each time. Now a pick-up van transports his entire produce of 300-400 bundles, doubling his weekly income to Rs 1,000-2,000.

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Alternative Livelihoods In Jharkhand, roads have opened new livelihood opportunities for rural youth who were earlier dependent on an erratic agriculture. Young men like Kartik Mohato and Lal Mohan Mohato, along with some 25-30 men from their village, now go on motorcycles and bicycles, or take the bus to work as daily wagers in factories in Jamshedpur 60 kms away.

“When we only had a dirt road in our village, it would become unusable during the rains,” says he used to travel by cycle he says. He had to carry his cycle on their shoulders when the dirt road became slushy with rain water.

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Community Participation One of the project’s most important innovations is the promotion of people’s participation at every stage of road construction, from planning to monitoring and audit.

The World Bank has introduced a ‘Transect Walk’ approach where local community representatives are consulted to identify where a road should be built in their area. This unique feature brings transparency into the process of planning and construction and promotes the inclusion of those affected by the project.

Further, under the Bank funding, the project has piloted adoption of innovative contracts that engage

World Bank Support

local community and women self-help groups for maintenance of rural roads. This has shown positive results in community engagement especially in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya. Many other states are now scaling up this pilot.

To ensure greater transparency, a web-based monitoring and evaluation system provides a centralized database which gives detailed information on all PMGSY projects, their procurement status, finances and progress in construction. It also allows for managers to better plan and implement their work, while ensuring compliance with the World Bank's safeguard standards.

To support the government’s vision

The project focused on connecting villages in

to build rural infrastructure, improve

the nine states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

livelihoods, and bring access to health and

Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,

education to the remotest corners of the

Meghalaya, Tripura and Punjab and funded

country, the World Bank has so far invested the construction of 48,000 km of village roads, $2.1 billion under the Rural Roads Project.

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directly benefiting almost 19,000 habitations.

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Multimedia

India’s Rural Roads Program Brings Villages Closer

Education and health services closer home

Rural roads lead to path of prosperity

Village roads bring women freedom and choice

Village roads have brought schools closer for boys and girls. Pregnant women and sick people can access healthcare services that now come to their doorstep.

Villagers are travelling to other towns and big cities for newer livelihood opportunities. Ease of access to newer markets have helped boost family incomes

More women and girls in villages are going to schools, accessing healthcare facilities and becoming financially independent.

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Regional Dialogue Connecting Across Borders: South Asia’s Digital Opportunity An intense tropical storm in 1999 caught the Indian state of Odisha by surprise, killing more than 10,000 people, and tearing down homes and public infrastructure. Over the next decade, the Odisha government invested in weather forecast data, early warning systems reliant on digital technologies, and disaster response measures. When another such cyclone hit in 2013, the state was better prepared with early response, reducing fatalities to 38.

This example illustrates one of the many ways digital technologies can transform lives and livelihoods by changing how people, businesses, and government’s function and interact. In South Asia, digital transformation is stirring growth across sectors, but the progress is uneven, with emerging risks and challenges. How do we address these challenges to effectively tap digital opportunities, and create a robust digital economy, both at the country and regional level?

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The 10th OneSouthAsia Conversation, Connecting across Borders: South Asia’s Digital Opportunity, explored some of these questions with panelists from Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

The conversation built on the key messages of a recent report, South Asia's Digital Opportunity: Accelerating Growth, Transforming Lives, which lists three core thematic areas for South Asia’s digital approach: prioritizing inclusion, strengthening institutions, and fostering trust in digital economy.

The report also recommends greater regional coordination in three priority areas: i) cross-border connectivity and data infrastructure, ii) an enabling environment for cross-border data flows, and iii) integrated cross-border payment systems.

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Digital Gaps The South Asia digital story is a paradox. While the region is brimming with opportunities, the gaps in digital access and usage are sobering. The region has the highest percentage— 61 percent — of people living within the range of a broadband network, but do not use the internet. Vivien Foster, chief economist for the World Bank’s infrastructure vice-presidency, explained that the gaps are largely due to lack of affordable internet access and adequate digital skills in the region. There are other dimensions of digital divides— gender, urban-rural, and intersectionality with other forms of marginalization.

Helani Galpaya, chief executive officer of Sri Lanka-based LIRNEasia, a digital policy research center, highlighted that lack of awareness and relevance of internet are other factors that considerably impact usage. “When we asked the unconnected why they do not use the internet, the top two responses were: I do not know what the internet is, and I do not know if I need it,” said Galpaya, adding that COVID-19 addressed the salience issue to some extent. Largely driven by need during the pandemic lockdowns, over 130 million individuals in South Asia used the internet for the first time between 2020, and first two quarters of 2021, she added.

South Asia has the highest percentage of 61% people living within the range of a broadband network, but not

In India, while 80% of the population has a

financial account, less

than 6% have used a mobile phone or the Internet, to access it in the last year.

using the internet.

MOBILE NETWORK COVERAGE AND USAGE GAPS BY COUNTRY Connected

Usage Gap

Coverage Gap

100 80 60 40 20 0

Afghanistan

Nepal

Pakistan

Bhutan

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

India

Maldives

Source: South Asia’s Digital Opportunity: Accelerating Growth, Transforming Lives. 2022

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Digital identity as an enabler, but with protection Digital identity is a key enabler to ensuring access, inclusion, and trust. Pramod Varma, the chief architect of Aadhaar, India’s 12-digital unique identification number, shared the India-experience where digital identity has been the key to enabling ownership of individual data, and to accessing benefit delivery systems, financial services, and markets.

Access and ownership aspects are complemented by trust. “While ensuring inclusion, we also made sure that our Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) falls into place. This outlines a techno-legal approach to individual data ownership in India,” said Varma.

While South Asia countries are working on digital identities, only three out of the eight countries (India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) have made progress on

"Foundational digital identity is one of the key enablers of inclusion, trust, and equity in India. It empowers people to own their individual assets, data, and credentials and gives them access to financial and economic opportunities in addition to Government benefits delivery. For enabling equitable access to economic opportunities in the domains of commerce, mobility, and jobs, India is creating decentralized networks instead of centralized platforms via interoperable open protocols.

These advances made in India are being replicated elsewhere in South Asia and India is ready to share its experience and technology."

Pramod Verma, Chief Architect, Aadhaar and India Stack

setting up a fully digital identity system that enables secure authentication for online service delivery and transactions.2 Other countries are following up close. “Bhutan is developing a national digital identity system where we want to ensure that individuals have control over their own data,” said Jigme Tenzing, who is the director for Bhutan’s Information Technology and Telecom department. Being a late starter, Bhutan has the advantage to reflect on the challenges other nations have encountered, he added.

The benefits of digital identity and digitalization are not limited to a nation-wide approach but can be scaled to cross-border data flows, cross-border payments, and access to markets and service.

“Before that happens, the countries need to have their own techno-legal and institutional frameworks in place to ensure proper protection and trust,” emphasized Varma.

Digital financial services India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is a real time payment system that facilitates interbank peerto-peer and peer-to-merchant payments. Varma highlighted that it is an open-source protocol, available for free for global public good.

“If any South Asian country adopt this architecture, and sets up a UPI switch at their end, it instantly becomes interoperable across countries with the same interface, helping quick cross-border payments and transactions,” he explained.

Bhutan was the first country in the region to adopt the UPI architecture, followed by Nepal.

2 South Asia's Digital Opportunity: Accelerating Growth, Transforming Lives. 2022

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Bhutan was the first country in the region to adopt the UPI architecture, followed by Nepal.

“Majority of trade for Bhutan is with India, and ever since we have connected with India on UPI initiative, the fees for transfer of funds have reduced, and convenience for people on both sides has enhanced,” said Tenzing.

Cross-border infrastructure access Land-locked countries like Nepal, and Bhutan have their share of challenges. Broadband costs are high, access is restricted and often not as reliable. In Bhutan, internet users have increased from 73 percent in 2016 to 100 percent at present, but mostly via mobile devices and networks. “During COVID, we saw that mobile internet was not ideally suited to meet the requirements of home-based work, virtual classrooms, and for us the costs of broadband are

high,” explained Tenzin, adding that they are working with neighbors like Bangladesh and India on alternate broadband connections and to improve reliability of access.

In Nepal, despite limited broadband access, the pandemic forced a giant leap toward digitalization.

“During the pandemic, fixed broadband penetration doubled, online payments soared by 400 percent, e-commerce quadrupled,” said Sewa Pathak, chief executive officer of Vianet, an internet service provider in Nepal. The country’s digital demands are on the rise, but internet access is still restricted due to high costs and reliance on neighbors.

“Stronger cross -border links with India could be instrumental in accelerating access and infrastructure,” said Pathak, adding that India’s heavy investments in telecom development in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had already benefitted bordering rural areas of Nepal, which earlier had no access.

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Regional institutions and cooperation Connectivity is one part of the problem. For stronger regional digital economy, South Asian countries needs robust institutions, protection frameworks, and regulations. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs how personal data of individuals may be processed and transferred, is a good precedent, but with challenges for South Asia. “Implementation of these regulations requires data protection authority with the right skills, sufficient resources, and independence, which is a challenge for resource-constraint countries in South Asia,” explained Galpaya.

But there is an opportunity to harmonize these regulations across all South Asian countries and pool legal-technical skills. This will not only save resources, but strengthen enforcement when countries work as a bloc. While concerted government and policy actions could be slow moving, peer-to peer networks could facilitate these collaborations. Varma emphasized that institutions are not limited to the governments, but there are opensource foundations, non-profits, and network facilitating organizations that are playing a significant role in setting up collaborative efforts.

Cecile Fruman, the World Bank’s director of regional integration and engagement in South Asia, said robust institutions will require strong public-private partnerships, and should be able to convey the voices of the consumers and the industry.

"While there are ongoing initiatives and engagements to coordinate on specific digital activities among countries in South Asia, there is huge potential to collaborate through regional institutions and groupings in ways that would unlock secure and seamless flows of money, data, and ideas."

Cecile Fruman, Director, Regional Integration and Engagement, South Asia, World Bank

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Projects World Bank Approves $47 Million Program to Strengthen India’s Public Sector Capability The Public Service Capability Enhancement Project will support the Government of India's Mission Karmayogi, a national program to build civil service capacity.

The Bank’s financing aims to support the Government’s objectives of enhancing the functional and behavioral competencies of approximately four million civil servants. It will focus on three components: the development and implementation of competency frameworks; the development of an integrated learning platform; and program monitoring, evaluation, and management.

The $47 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a final maturity of 11 years, including a grace period of 4.5 years.

World Bank Approves $245 million to Enable Indian Railways Carry More Freight, Reduce GHG Emissions The Rail Logistics Project will support India’s efforts to modernize its rail freight and logistics infrastructure. The project, will help India shift more traffic from road to rail, making transport—both freight and passenger—more efficient and, reduce millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) each year. The project will also incentivize more private sector investment in the rail sector.

The project will also strengthen India’s multimodal transport hubs and terminals, by improving rail links with ports and inland gateways, and strengthening building first and last mile connectivity to railways.

A major focus of the project will be on harnessing commercial financing by engaging the private sector, and developing customeroriented approaches. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) together will support DFCCIL access commercial sources of finance.

The $245 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity of 22 years, including a grace period of 7 years.

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World Bank Approves $162 Million To Strengthen Social Protection Systems for People with Disabilities in Tamil Nadu The RIGHTS: Inclusion, Accessibility and Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in Tamil Nadu Project will strengthen the social protection systems and capability of the State of Tamil Nadu to promote inclusion, accessibility, and opportunities for persons with disabilities, especially women and youth. RIGHTS is the first World Bank Group-financed operation in the South Asia Region that exclusively focuses on people with disabilities, with its innovative approaches to specialized training and access to employment among others, it could serve as a model for future engagement for the Bank.

The project aims to help the Sate improve the management and care of persons with disabilities by supporting the development of a centralized registry of persons with disabilities including the issuance of disability certificates, setting up social care service centers, providing mobile outreach of therapy services, improving access to public infrastructure, and identifying job opportunities particularly for women and youth, among others.

The $162 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity of 24 years, including a grace period of six years.

World Bank Approves Additional Financing of $250 Million to Mitigate Covid-19 Learning Losses in Gujarat The Gujarat Outcomes for Accelerated Learning (GOAL) program aims to improve education results for children across the state of Gujarat. This financing will benefit an additional 3,000 schools that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The financing complements the original loan of $500 million, which was approved by the World Bank Board in March 2021, and is in line with the Bank’s Rapid Response Framework that seeks to: • • • • •

Reach every child and retain them in schools Assess learning levels regularly Prioritize teaching the fundamentals Increase catch up learning Develop psychosocial health for students and teachers

The $250 million variable spread loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a final maturity of 16 years including a grace period of 5.5 years.

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World Bank Approves $150 Million to Help India’s Fisheries Sector Recover from Post-Pandemic Shocks The Fisheries Sector COVID-19 Recovery Project of India’s fisheries sector. In 2020-21 the sector saw losses of about $5.5 billion and fish production fell almost 40 percent in one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

India’s fisheries sector currently employs about 12 million people directly and another 13 million through associated activities. The Project will complement the Government of India’s Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, which aims to transform the sector in a sustainable manner by introducing modern practices, improving access to finance and making it more climate-resilient.

The project will also help improve the sector’s risk management capability against future shocks and losses by facilitating access to insurance. Microenterprises that adopt

energy-efficient and good aquaculture practices, including using legal and non-destructive technologies and those owned by women, will be especially incentivized.

To discourage overexploitation of ecological resources, the project will provide performance grants. These grants will be provided to microenterprises that create jobs by reengaging in production and distribution after the pandemic. Similar grants will also be offered to microenterprises that use effective climate-resilience measures.

The $150 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development has a repayment term of 18.5 years including a grace period of 5 years.

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Some recent

Blogs A greener future: Thoughts on India’s proposed battery swapping policy India considers e-mobility and clean energy generation mission critical for its 2070 Net Zero target.

Battery swapping is emerging as a cost, time, and space efficient solution for two and three wheelers.

Read more : https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/greener-future-thoughts-indias-proposed-battery-swapping-policy

India seeks to arrest its alarming decline in groundwater India is the largest user of groundwater globally and almost two-thirds - 63 percent - of India’s districts are threatened by falling groundwater levels.

The Government of India's landmark groundwater program, the Atal Bhujal Yojna, is trying to arrest this precipitous decline.

Read more : https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/india-seeks-arrest-its-alarming-decline-groundwater

Parking and congestion charges: Are we sitting on a gold mine?

In cities around the world, the scales are still tipped heavily in favor of private cars. Take parking policy, for instance. The idea of charging motorists for using roads is even less common, even in the developed world. When governments let motorists drive or park for free while transferring the cost to taxpayers and society at large, they are, in fact, subsidizing car use.

Read more : https://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/parking-and-congestion-charges-are-we-sitting-gold-mine

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Let’s be at the helm of road safety with helmets Two-wheeler crashes account for the highest death rate around the world, compared to other road traffic crashes. The situation is particularly alarming in South Asia, where motorized two-wheelers account for up to 70% of total vehicles and are also 30 times more prone to crashes compared to cars on a per km travelled basis.

Read more : https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/lets-be-helm-road-safety-helmets

An adjustment to global poverty lines In fall 2022, the World Bank will switch to using the 2017 PPPs for its global poverty numbers. This follows the 2020 release of a new set of PPPs based on prices collected in 2017 by the International Comparison Program. As a result, the international poverty line will be $2.15. This means that everyone living on less than this amount per day will be considered in extreme poverty.

Read more : https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/adjustment-global-poverty-lines

COVID-19 quietens, South Asia faces stronger headwinds and shifting risks As the COVID-19 pandemic quietens, South Asian economies, left fragile and uneven in their recovery, are facing renewed headwinds : high inflation, rising fiscal deficits, and deteriorating current account balances are disrupting growth. As South Asia charts a new way forward to address rising inequality, accommodate energy transition, and unleash new growth potential, an essential part of the economic recovery lies in reshaping norms to make the economies more conducive to growth and progress.

Read more : https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/covid-19-quietens-south-asia-faces-stronger-headwinds-and-shifting-risks

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From the Archives

1980s

Following global oil shocks, as India sought indigenous sources of energy, the World Bank supported the development of oil and gas extraction facilities at Bombay High and the Cambay Basin, and assisted with the exploration of hydrocarbon reserves in the Krishna Godavari Delta.

With the advent of containerized cargo, projects also supported the development of India’s largest container port at Nhava Sheva near Mumbai.

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World Bank in India

t Project n e m p lo e shore Dev ff O h ig H Bombay

lion

$150 mil

1977

1981 2 0 t c je o r pment P

re Develo o h s ff O h ig Bombay H

K

odavari rishna - G

Petroleum

ct 1983 je o r P n io t Explora

Project m u le o r t e ay Basin P

Camb

leum

K

avari Petro d o G a n rish a Port v e h S a v a Nh

lion

$400 mil

lion

$165 mil

1984

ct 1983 je o r P n io Explorat 1984

illion

$242.50 m

illion

$165.5 m

lion

$250 mil

Project

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Publications South Asia Economic Focus: Spring 2022

Reshaping Norms A New Way Forward

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he uneven recovery from the pandemic has left countries in South Asia with multiple policy challenges, exacerbated by the impact of the war in Ukraine. While several countries are navigating rising inflation and growing difficulties to finance fiscal deficits and trade deficits, the region must also chart a new way forward to address rising inequality, accommodate an energy transition, and unleash new growth potential. To reshape their economies, the region cannot avoid redesigning tax systems, increasing competition, and challenging vested interests and existing gender norms. This issue of the South Asia Economic Focus describes recent economic developments, analyzes the economic impact on South Asia of the war in Ukraine, presents growth forecasts, provides risk scenarios, and concludes that reshaping economies goes hand in hand with reshaping norms.

For Report click here

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World Bank in India

Global Economic Prospects June 2022

Stagflation Risk Rises Amid Sharp Slowdown in Growth

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ussia’s invasion of Ukraine and its effects on commodity markets, supply chains, inflation, and financial conditions have steepened the slowdown in global growth. One key risk to the outlook is the possibility of high global inflation accompanied by tepid growth, reminiscent of the stagflation of the 1970s. This could eventually result in a sharp tightening of monetary policy in advanced economies, which could lead to financial stress in some emerging market and developing economies.

A forceful and wide-ranging policy response is required to boost growth, bolster macroeconomic frameworks, reduce financial vulnerabilities For Report click here

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he report, looks at the opportunities and challenges related to digitalizing the economies, societies and governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The report finds that while some countries are benefiting from expanded access to services and markets, new jobs, innovation, reduced transaction costs and a better quality of life due to increased digitalization, its full game-changing potential remains untapped. A concrete, comprehensive approach to digitalization can help advance South Asia’s green, resilient and inclusive development.

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For Report click here

World Bank in India

Working Paper Series — India WPS10039

The Impact of Lifting Firing Restrictions on Firms: Evidence from a State-Level Labor Law Amendment Sarur Chaudhary and Siddharth Sharma In 2014, the Indian state of Rajasthan amended labor laws to increase employment flexibility in firms. The most discussed of the amendments lifted the requirement for government approval for retrenching regular workers in medium-size factories. This paper finds that the amendment reduced the implicit regulatory cost of labor in firms, but there is no discernible impact on their total employment and output

paper also discusses demand-side subsidies for mortgages in India and identifies opportunities to improve the targeting of the program.

WPS10031

Housing Demand and Affordability in India: Implications for Housing Policy Nadeem M. Karmali and Xinyu Weng The focus of this paper is on the demand for housing in urban India. The analysis also provides guidelines to improve the targeting of housing programs and highlights the methodological challenges in measuring housing affordability in developing countries.

WPS10038

The Growth and Performance of Affordable Housing Finance Lenders in India Nadeem M. Karmali and Guillermo J. Rodriguez Ruiz Anecdotal studies have highlighted the recent rapid growth of so-called affordable housing finance companies across India. These new lenders are reported to be using a high-touch approach common to microfinance to provide mortgages to households that are newer to credit, have irregular incomes, and live in smaller urban centers. The

WPS9994

Poverty in India Has Declined over the Last Decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide This paper sheds light on how poverty and inequality have evolved since 2011 using a new household panel survey, the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey conducted by a private data company.

South Asia Publications Humanitarian and Social Protection Linkages with Examples from South Asia

Toward Safer and More Productive Migration for South Asia

Steen Lau Jorgensen and Maria Virginia Ceretti

S. Amer Ahmed and Laurent Bossavie

Traditionally social protection (SP) and humanitarian programs were quite distinct in their objectives, scope, and operations. The analysis shows how programs apply a ‘mix and match’ approach building on factors such as political will, technical capacity, and alignment of objectives across implementing agencies, donors, and the government.

International migration for temporary employment is key to South Asia’s development path, in terms of both jobs and remittance flows. The book provides policy options to address information gaps on employment opportunities overseas at the departure stage, to prepare migrants adequately for their experience overseas, to diversify destinations and occupations abroad, and to maximize the benefits of return migration.

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Other Publications Women, Business, and the Law 2022 Amid ongoing development challenges that disproportionately affect women, this report identifies barriers to women’s economic participation and encourages the reform of discriminatory laws. This year, the study also includes preliminary findings and analysis of pilot data collected on the provision of childcare and the implementation of the law.

Enhancing Debt Transparency

by Strengthening Public Debt Transaction Disclosure Practices Susan Maslen and Cigdem Aslan Improving debt transparency is critical for promoting debt sustainability and creditworthiness assessments, increasing the accuracy of public debt information, and protecting the interests of a diverse range of stakeholders. The discussion in this paper reveals issues that arise from confidentiality and disclosure practices among lenders and borrowers; and highlights how these issues cause information asymmetries and undermine the interests of stakeholders.

The Long Shadow of Informality : Challenges and Policies Franziska Ohnsorge and Shu Yu A large percentage of workers and firms operate in the informal economy, outside the line of sight of governments in emerging markets and developing economies. Widespread informality may hold back the recovery in these economies from the deep recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of informality and its implications for a durable economic recovery and for long-term development.

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State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2022 This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national, and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments and how they could accelerate the delivery of long-term mitigation goals.

Using Data Analytics in Public Procurement Operational Options and a Guiding Framework The world spent $11 trillion on public procurement in 2018, amounting to 12 percent of global GDP (Bosio et al. 2022).

This paper highlights the successful approaches and good practices of previous PDA work and provide useful resources to World Bank teams with country engagements relating to public procurement. Possibly interesting to a broader audience, an analytical framework is also discussed to guide the application of data analytics tools in public procurement, data sources, the open government agenda, and data standards.

Innovations in Tax Compliance: Building Trust, Navigating Politics, and Tailoring Reform Roel Dom, Anna Custers, Stephen Davenport, and Wilson Prichard The Report takes a fresh look at tax reform. The authors draw on recent research and experience for their new conceptual framework to guide more effective approaches to reform.

Building on the achievements of recent decades, they argue for a greater emphasis on the overlapping goals of building trust, navigating political resistance, and tailoring reform to unique local contexts, an emphasis achieved by identifying the most binding constraints on reform.

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From Low to High Inflation: Implications for Emerging Market and Developing Economies Ayhan Kose There have been intense debates about the global consequences of rising inflation. This report sheds light on these debates (i) analyzes the expected increase in near-term inflation, in part due to the supply shocks associated with the invasion of Ukraine; (ii) compares current inflation prospects with developments during the Great Inflation of the 1970s; and (iii) explores the resulting policy challenges for emerging market and developing economies.

Place, Productivity, and Prosperity: Revisiting Spatially Targeted Policies for Regional Development Arti Grover, Somik V. Lall, and William F. Maloney This book develops a framework for thinking through such spatially targeted policies and assessing their social value, while presenting new evidence on key empirical issues.

Getting Down to Earth: Are Satellites Reliable for Measuring Air Pollutants That Cause Mortality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

World Bank Outdoor air pollution accounts for an estimated 4.2 million deaths worldwide, caused predominantly by exposure to fine aerosols. This report investigates the performance of satellites for predicting outdoor concentrations of PM2.5, the most harmful air pollutant to human health, in lowand middle-income countries.

The Global Health Cost of PM2.5 Air Pollution: A Case for Action Beyond 2021 World Bank This report estimates the global, regional, and national costs of health damage from exposure to PM2.5 ambient and household air pollution in 2019.

While recognizing the various costs of air pollution to society, this report focuses on the cost of morbidity and premature death from air pollution, the world's leading environmental health risk.

The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021: Managing Assets for the Future

Skilled Migration: A Sign of Europe's Divide or Integration?

World Bank

Laurent Bossavie, Daniel Garrote Sanchez, Mattia Makovec, and Caglar Ozden

'The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021' covers national wealth for countries as the sum of produced capital, natural capital, net foreign assets, and human capital overall as well as by gender and type of employment.

This book examines the migration trends, drivers, and impacts among skilled workers within the European Union. It assesses the economic benefits and costs of skilled migration in the short and long term and formulates policy recommendations to address the costs that migration induces while maximizing its benefits.

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Insuring Nature's Survival : The Role of Insurance in Meeting the Financial Need to Preserve Biodiversity Samantha Cook This paper explores how and to what extent insurance can play a role in meeting the increasing financial needs to protect biodiversity. It outlines how the insurance sector, as underwriters, may impact and protect against biodiversity risks, leveraging approaches to climate change and catastrophe risk to highlight key opportunities and challenges that exist for insurance-based solutions for biodiversity.

Financing Solutions to Reduce Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions Gianni Lorenzato, Silvana Tordo, Berend van den Bergand et.al.

This book aims to create awareness of the business case for reducing gas flaring and methane emissions. It focuses on midsized flares that collectively

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represent 58 percent of the global flare volumes. These flares are typically too small to be prioritized by oil companies but still allow for profitable monetization.

Commodity Markets Outlook, April 2022: The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Commodity Markets - Special Focus The war in Ukraine has caused major supply disruptions and led to a major shock to commodity markets. The war has led to significant disruptions to the production and trade of commodities for which Russia and Ukraine are key exporters. Policymakers can better mitigate the impact of higher prices on low-income households through targeted measures, including cash transfers. However, the uncertainties for food supply availability stemming from the war are high, and low-income countries may have urgent needs for international assistance for a prolonged period.

World Bank in India

Policy Research Working Papers WPS10047

WPS10041

Two Heads Are Better Than One: Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire

Incentivizing Social Learning for the Diffusion of Climate-Smart Agricultural Techniques

Aletheia Donald, Markus Goldstein and Léa Rouanet

Guigonan Serge Adjognon, Tung Nguyen, Huy Jonas and Guthoff Daan van Soest

WPS10046

Qualitative Analysis at Scale: An Application to Aspirations in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh Julian Ashwin, Vijayendra Rao, Monica Biradavolu and et.al.

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Prospects for Markets for Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes under the Paris Agreement Jon Strand

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Livelihood Impacts of Refugees on Host Communities: Evidence from Ethiopia Solomon Zena Walelign, Soazic Elise Wang Sonne and Ganesh Seshan

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How Urban Land Titling and Registry Reform Affect Land and Credit Markets: Evidence from Lesotho Klaus Deininger and Daniel Ayalew Ali

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Normative Indicators Combining Poverty and Mortality: A Survey

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Data Triangulation Strategies to Design a Representative Household Survey of Hosts and Rohingya Displaced in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh Joaquin Endara, Maria Eugenia Genoni, Afsana I. Khan and et.al.

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The Impact of Lifting Firing Restrictions on Firms: Evidence from a State-Level Labor Law Amendment Sarur Chaudhary and Siddharth Sharma

WPS10038

The Growth and Performance of Affordable Housing Finance Lenders in India Nadeem M. Karmali and Guillermo J. Rodriguez Ruiz

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Does It Matter Where You Grow Up Childhood Exposure Effects in Latin America and the Caribbean Ercio Andres Munoz Saavedra

Benoit Marie A Decerf

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WPS10036

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The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean

Effects of Data Collection Methods on Estimated Household Consumption and Survey Costs: Evidence from an Experiment in the Marshall Islands

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School Is Closed: Simulating the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic–Related School Disruptions in Kuwait Simon Bilo, Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad, Ebtesam AlAnsari and et.al.

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When Is There Enough Data to Create a Global Statistic Daniel Gerszon Mahler, Umar Serajuddin and Hiroko Maeda

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An Analysis of COVID-19 Student Learning Loss Harry Anthony Patrinos, Emiliana Vegas and Rohan Carter-Rau

WPS10032

Skills, Human Capital, and Economic Development Sudhakar Satyanarayan Raju and Shobhana Sosale

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Housing Demand and Affordability in India: Implications for Housing Policy Nadeem M. Karmali and Xinyu Weng

WPS10028

Women’s Labor Force Participation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: A Study of Social and Psychological Barriers Sen Iman, Zeina Afif, Varun Gauri and et.al.

WPS10027

Unemployment Benefits, Active Labor Market Policies, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from New Global Data Hulya Ulku and Dorina Peteva Georgieva

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Cash and In-Kind Transfers in Humanitarian Settings: A Review of Evidence and Knowledge Gaps Dahyeon Jeong and Iva Trako

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Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap: Evidence from Sri Lanka Emiko Fukase, Yeon Soo Kim and Cristina Andrea Chiarella

WPS10024

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Displacement and Return in the Internet Era: How Social Media Captures Migration Decisions in Northern Syria

The Legal Profile of Russian Eurobonds: Engineered against Speed

Erin Elizabeth Walk, Kiran Garimella and Fotini Christia

Juan Pablo Farah Yacoub

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Michael K. Sharp, Bertrand Buffière, Kristen Himelein and et.al

World Bank in India

WPS10023

WPS10017

Superstitions and Civilian Displacement: Evidence from the Colombian Conflict

Benefits and Costs of Public Schooling in Ghana

Oliver Kaplan

Dhushyanth Raju and Stephen D. Younger

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Displacement and Social Empowerment: Evidence from Surveys of IDPs in Iraq, the Philippines, and Uganda

Intimate Partner Violence against Women: Prevalence, Formal Reporting, and Risk Factors in Chile

Patrick Thierry Vinck, Thomas O’Mealia, Carol,al-Saiedi Wei and et.al.

Trinidad Berenice Saavedra Facusse, Juan Manuel Contreras Urbina and Maria Gabriela Inchauste Comboni

WPS10021

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Forced Displacement, Exposure to Conflict and Long-run Education and Income Inequality: Evidence from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Calamities, Debt, and Growth in Developing Countries

Dejan Kovac, Adnan Efendic and Jacob N. Shapiro

Rachel Yuting Fan, Daniel Lederman, Ha Nguyen and Claudio J. Rojas

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Extortion and Civic Engagement among Guatemalan Deportees Elaine Kathryn Denny, David Dow, Gabriella Levy and et.al.

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Social Cohesion, Economic Security, and Forced Displacement in the Long-Run: Evidence from Rural Colombia Juan Fernando Tellez and Laia Balcells

Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones: Global Evidence since 1985 Jun Erik Maruyama Rentschler, Paolo Avner, Mattia Marconcini and et.al.

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New Algorithm to Estimate Inequality Measures in Cross-Survey Imputation: An Attempt to Correct the Underestimation of Extreme Values Gianni Betti, Vasco Molini and Lorenzo Mori

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Determining the Caloric Content of Food Consumed away from Home: An Application to the Construction of a Cost-of-Basic-Needs Poverty Line Kristen Himelein

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Childcare, COVID-19 and Female Firm Exit: Impact of COVID-19 School Closure Policies on Global Gender Gaps in Business Outcomes Markus Goldstein, Paula Gonzalez, Sreelakshmi Papineni and Joshua Wimpey

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WPS10011

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The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms

Near-Real-Time Welfare and Livelihood Impacts of an Active Civil War: Evidence from Ethiopia

Asif Mohammed Islam and Mohammad Amin

Kibrom A. Abay Kibrom Tafere Guush Berhane and et.al.

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Rising Incomes, Transport Demand, and Sector Decarbonization Mathilde Sylvie Maria Lebrand and Ewane Theophile

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Unequal Households or Communities Decomposing the Inequality in Nutritional Status in South Asia Caitlin Susan Brown, Eeshani Kandpal, Jean Nahrae Lee, Anaise Marie Williams

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Absolute and Relative Poverty Measurement: A Survey Benoit Marie A Decerf

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Quantifying Vulnerability to Poverty in Uganda Aziz Atamanov, Chris Ndatira Mukiza and Vincent Fred Ssennono

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Estimating the Demand for Informal Public Transport: Evidence from Antananarivo, Madagascar Atsushi Iimi

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Air Pollution and Poverty: PM2.5 Exposure in 211 Countries and Territories Jun Erik Maruyama Rentschler and Nadia Leonova

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WPS10003

The Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Children in Kenya Emma Ward Richardson Cameron, Antonia Johanna Sophie Delius, Amanda Epstein Devercelli and et.al.

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Tracking Economic Fluctuations in Bangladesh with Electricity Consumption Selvia Arshad and Robert Carl Michael Beyer

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Welfare and Environmental Benefits of Electric Vehicle Tax Policies in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombia Jerónimo Callejas, Joshua Abraham Linn and Jevgenijs Steinbuks

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The Impact of Ethiopia’s Road Investment Program on Economic Development and Land Use: Evidence from Satellite Data Simon Alder, Kevin Croke, Alice Duhaut and et.al.

WPS9999

Talk or Text Evaluating Response Rates by Remote Survey Method during COVID-19 Sofia Amaral, Lelys Dinarte-Diaz, Patricio Dominguez and et.al.

World Bank in India

WPS9998

WPS9991

FDI, Market Power, and Markups: Evidence from Vietnam

Globally Engaged Firms in the COVID-19 Crisis

Yue Li, Ryan Kuo Mauricio, Pinzon-Latorre and et.al.

Marchionni and Mariana Viollaz

Cristina Constantinescu, Ana Margarida Fernandes, Arti Grover and et.al.

WPS9997

Firm Resources, Strategies, and Survival and Growth during COVID-19: Evidence from Two-Wave Global Surveys Sheng Fang, Chorching Goh, Shaomin Li and et.al.

WPS9996

Impacts of Temporary Migration on Development in Origin Countries Laurent Bossavie and Çağlar Özden

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Spatial Misallocation, Informality, and Transit Improvements: Evidence from Mexico City Román D. Zárate WPS9989

Cash Transfers after Ebola in Guinea: Lessons Learned on Human Capital Damien de Walque and Dimitris Mavridis WPS9988

WPS9995

Million Dollar Plants and Retail Prices Abhishek Bhardwaj, Devaki Ghose, Saptarshi Mukherjee and et.al.

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Poverty in India Has Declined over the Last Decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide

Economic Integration, Industrial Structure, and Catch-up Growth: Firm-Level Evidence from Poland Paulo Bastos, Stefania Lovo, Gonzalo Varela and et.al.

WPS9987

Individual Wealth Inequality: Measurement and Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries Ardina Hasanbasri, Talip Kilic, Gayatri Koolwal and et.al.

WPS9986

WPS9993

A Few Good Masks: Evidence from Mask Manufacturing in Rwanda during the COVID-19 Pandemic Kieran Byrne, Florence Kondylis, John Loeser and et.al.

The Effects of Community Health Worker Visits and Primary Care Subsidies on Health Behavior and Health Outcomes for Children in Urban Mali Mark Dean and Anja Sautmann WPS9985

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Fathoming Shipping Costs: An Exploration of Recent Literature, Data, and Patterns Adina Ardelean, Volodymyr Lugovskyy, Alexandre Skiba and et.al.

Attitudes and Policies toward Refugees: Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries Cevat Giray Aksoy and Thomas Ginn

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WPS9984

WPS9977

Late Banking Transitions: Comparing Uzbekistan to Earlier Reformers

Proximity without Productivity: Agglomeration Effects with Plant-Level Output and Price Data

Davit Babasyan, Yunfan Gu and Martin Melecky

Arti Grover and William F. Maloney WPS9983

The Geography of Displacement, Refugees’ Camps and Social Conflicts Nicola Daniele Coniglio, Vitorocco Peragine and Davide Vurchio WPS9982

Immigration, Labor Markets and Discrimination: Evidence from the Venezuelan Exodus in Peru Andre Groeger, Gianmarco León-Ciliotta and Steven Stillman

WPS9976

Roads, Electricity, and Jobs: Evidence of Infrastructure Complementarity in SubSaharan Africa Mansoureh Abbasi, Mathilde Lebrand, Arcady Bluette Mongoue and et.al.

WPS9975

How Resilient Was Trade to COVID-19?

Maria Bas, Ana Fernandes and Caroline Paunov WPS9974

WPS9981

Inclusive Refugee-Hosting in Uganda Improves Local Development and Prevents Public Backlash Yang-Yang Zhou, Guy Grossman and Shuning Ge WPS9980

Effectiveness of Government Support for the Private Sector during the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from El Salvador and Georgia

Jonathan Lain, Marta Schoch and Tara Vishwanath WPS9973

Globalization and Factor Income Taxation Pierre Bachas, Matthew Fisher-Post and Anders Jensen WPS9972

Nona Karalashvili and M. Nazım Tamkoç

Fiscal Risks from Early Termination of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure

WPS9979

Matías Herrera Dappe, Martin Melecky and Burak Turkgulu

Where Are All the Jobs A Machine Learning Approach for High Resolution Urban Employment Prediction in Developing Countries

WPS9971

Samira Barzin, Paolo Avner, Jun Rentschler and et.al.

State-Owned Enterprises as Countercyclical Instruments: Experimental Evidence from the Infrastructure Sector

WPS9978

Herrera Dappe, Aldo Musacchio, Carolina Pan and et.al.

Saving Lives through Technology: Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality Justice Tei Mensah, Kibrom Tafere and Kibrom A. Abay

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Estimating a Poverty Trend for Nigeria between 2009 and 2019

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