Using Micro-Credit to Advance Women
PREM Note 8
This year’s floods have endangered the substantial achievements of Bangladesh’s microcredit programs. Recent studies nevertheless bring out many important lessons from such programs. Bangladesh shows that microcredit programs can raise living standards and alleviate poverty – particularly for women and their households.

 

November 1998

New frontiers in diagnosing and combating corruption
PREM Note 7
Corruption flourishes where policies provide incentives for it and restraining institutions are weak. Diagnosing corruption helps a country understand the shortcomings in its policies and institutions and design a strategy to strengthen the state’s performance.

 

October 1998

Can backward subnational regions catch up with advanced ones?
PREM Note 6
There are big differences between the per capita incomes of backward and advanced regions in developing countries - and little reason to believe that these differences will disappear very quickly. Addressing poverty may require direct policy interventions that encourage the faster development of poorer regions.

 

July 1998

Using Disaggregated Poverty Maps to Plan Sectoral Investments
PREM Note 5
By combining survey and census data to create poverty maps that show where needs are greatest policymakers can focus scarce development resources

 

May 1998

Corruption and development
PREM Note 4
What are the main causes and costs of corruption? This note examines that question and suggests ways to enhance anticorruption efforts in developing and transition economies

 

May 1998

Trade and the East Asian Crisis
PREM Note 3
Trade shocks appear to have played a role in the East Asian crisis. A key part of the recovery will be growth in net exports from the region which will require supportive trade structural and macroeconomic policies both in the region and in its major export markets.

 

April 1998

Lessons in designing safety nets
PREM Note 2
While labor-absorbing growth is required to reduce poverty, safety nets are also needed to help the destitute and those in temporary distress. Because poorly designed safety nets squander funds and fail to reach the needy, a recent World Bank book offers lessons on good design.

 

April 1998

What Effect Will East Asia’s Crisis Have on Developing Countries?
PREM Note 1
East Asia’s currency crisis has already wreaked havoc on currencies and financial markets inside and outside the region. What lies ahead? This note answers that question using recent projections by the Development Prospects Group.

 

March 1998