Transforming Education into Better Jobs and Better Lives

Reblogged from NORRAG NEWSBite:

Andreas Schleicher, OECD.

Everywhere skills transform lives and drive economies; and without the right skills, people are kept on the margins of society, technological progress does not translate into economic growth, and countries can’t compete in today’s economies. But the toxic co-existence of unemployed graduates on the street, while employers tell us that they cannot find the people with the skills they need, shows that more education does not automatically translate into better economic and social outcomes.

Read more… 760 more words

This blog post also appears in NORRAG NEWS 48, 2012: The Year of Global Reports on TVET, Skills & Jobs Consensus or diversity? (April 2013), available free online at www.norrag.org

Filed under: Development, Economy, Employment, OECD, Poverty, Research

Increased Policy Space under Globalization – networkideas.org

A severe blow to active Keynesian policy intervention occurred as a result of the New Classical resurgence in macroeconomics. With a vertical aggregate supply curve in the short and the long runs (New Classicals) or at least in the long run (New Keynesians), it has been argued that the economy settles down at a unique non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) without any government intervention. Implicit in the NAIRU theory is that the prices can decrease just as they can increase. However, if the prices cannot decrease, the aggregate supply curve would be an inverse-L shaped curve, both in the short and the long runs. Furthermore, with globalization, the expectations-augmented Phillips curve becomes horizontal because of an absolute decline in the bargaining power of the working class in the advanced countries. This means that not only would the economy settle at less than ‘full employment’, but the only way it could be brought closer to that is through active policy intervention. In the present case, manoeuvrability of fiscal policy increases since the threat of accelerating inflation practically disappears.

via networkideas.org – Increased Policy Space under Globalization, by Rohit Azad and Anupam Das
September 19, 2012..

Filed under: Development, Economy, Governance, Publications, Research

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Mobilizing scientific and technical expertise for local, national, and global problem solving

The SDSN will work together with United Nations agencies, other international organizations, and the multilateral funding institutions including the World Bank and regional development banks, to mobilize scientific and technical expertise to scale up the magnitude and quality of local, national and global problem solving, helping to identify solutions and highlighting best practices in the design of long-term development pathways.

The global network will accelerate joint learning and help to overcome the compartmentalization of technical and policy work by promoting integrated approaches to the interconnected economic, social, and environmental challenges confronting the world.

The network should therefore spawn a new kind of sustained problem solving, in which experts, leaders, and citizens in all parts of the world work together to identify, demonstrate, and implement the most promising paths to sustainable development.

Filed under: Development, MDGs, News, Research, united nations, unsdsn

The geography of poverty | The Economist

Working out how to help the world’s poorest depends on where they live

WHERE do the world’s poor live? The obvious answer: in poor countries. But in a recent series of articles Andy Sumner of Britain’s Institute of Development Studies showed that the obvious answer is wrong*. Four-fifths of those surviving on less than $2 a day, he found, live in middle-income countries with a gross national income per head of between $1,000 and $12,500, not poor ones. His finding reflects the fact that a long but inequitable period of economic growth has lifted many developing countries into middle-income status but left a minority of their populations mired in poverty. Since the countries involved include giants like China and India, even a minority amounts to a very large number of people. That matters because middle-income countries can afford to help their own poor. If most of the poverty problem lies within their borders, then foreign aid is less relevant to poverty reduction. A better way to help would be to make middle-income countries’ domestic policies more “pro-poor”.

Now Mr Sumner’s argument faces a challenge. According to Homi Kharas of the Brookings Institution and Andrew Rogerson of Britain’s Overseas Development Institute, “by 2025 most absolute poverty will once again be concentrated in low-income countries.” They argue that as middle-income countries continue to make progress against poverty, its incidence there will fall. However, the number of poor people is growing in “fragile” states, which the authors define as countries which cannot meet their populations’ expectations or manage these through the political process (sounds like some European nations, too). The pattern that Mr Sumner describes, they say, is a passing phase.

Messrs Kharas and Rogerson calculate that the number of poor in “non-fragile” states has fallen from almost 2 billion in 1990 to around 500m now; they think it will go on declining to around 200m by 2025. But the number of poor in fragile states is not falling—a testament both to the growing number of poor, unstable places and to their fast population growth. This total has stayed flat at about 500m since 1990 and, the authors think, will barely shift until 2025. As early as next year, the number of poor in what are sometimes called FRACAS (fragile and conflict-affected states) could be greater than the number in stable ones. That would imply something different to Mr Sumner’s view: instead of being irrelevant to poverty reduction, foreign aid will continue to be vital, since fragile states (unlike middle-income ones) cannot afford to help the poor but instead need help themselves.

via Free exchange: The geography of poverty | The Economist.

Filed under: Development, Economy, MDGs, Poverty, Research, fragile states

German Aid Allocation and Partner Country Selection. Development-orientation, Self-interests and Path Dependency

The GDI paper examines official country selection and resource allocation of German aid after the end of the Cold War and embeds the analysis into the broader debate about German foreign policy. Overall, the authors find that neediness and democracy levels of recipients have been guiding principles in both country selection and resource allocation.

Nevertheless, geostrategic considerations and the avoidance of conflict-affected countries have also impacted on country selection but less on resource allocation. Moreover, non-linear estimation techniques identify a relatively high threshold of income levels, below which the poverty orientation disappears – a finding that refines previous studies identifying a middle income-country bias of German aid allocation. Finally, official selection decisions to concentrate aid on a reduced number of countries did not have the intended concentration effect.

2012/07 – German Development Institute/ Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE); Authors: Jörg Faust and Sebastian Ziaja

Filed under: Development, Germany, Poverty, Publications, Research, aid allocation, bmz, country selection, gdi

Karsten Weitzenegger joined the International Public Management Network (IPMN)

Today I joined the International Public Management Network (IPMN – http://www.ipmn.net). The purpose of the IPMN is to create and sustain a dialogue on emerging management concepts, methods and technology so that members and I can learn about innovation and change in public sector organizations throughout the world.

The network’s mission is to further the international and interdisciplinary discourse about public management issues. To satisfy this mission, IPMN convenes its members in annual conferences and workshops and publishes selected papers presented at these events in a book series, the International Public Management Journal, and the International Public Management Review online.

IPMN also provides a website that includes the membership directory and a number of services to members, and a list server to permit rapid information flow among members. IPMN seeks to facilitate exchange and cooperative work among its members. Opportunities include visiting lectureships and other speaking opportunities, scholarly visits to members’ institutions, joint research and consulting projects, pooled funding for research. The hub is based at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Filed under: Development, Networks, Research, Governance

UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty — the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The Kyoto Protocol is an international and legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide entered into force on 16 February 2005.

The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP (Conference of the Parties), the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau. To help countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, negotiators of the Protocol included three market-based mechanisms – Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation.

Related Weblinks:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC: http://www.unfccc.int
Denmark’s COP15 website: http://en.cop15.dk
General press info: http://www.pressinfo.cop15.dk
COP15 calendar: http://www.calendar.cop15.dk
Official Tweets: http://twitter.com/cop15

Climate change in Google Earth: http://www.google.com/landing/cop15/
YouTube – Cop15′s Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Cop15
SID Forum Update: http://www.sidint.net/intl-agenda/climate-change/

TckTckTck | The World is Ready: http://tcktcktck.org
TckTckTck is the hub for stories on how hundreds of millions of people around the world are coming together to show world leaders we are ready for a new climate deal.

Interactive map and reporting system for the CDM

http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/MapApp
The CDM project map shows the location of CDM activities worldwide. Visitors can travel around the globe and learn about the location and many details of each project. In addition to this, a series of new graphs provide detailed breakdowns about the range, distribution of such projects that highlight national participation, project impacts and the status of project registration.

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Environment, Networks, News, Research

EIT needs experts for the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched a call addressed to individuals for the establishment of a database of independent experts to assist the EIT in the process of the evaluation and implementation of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The database will include profiles from the following areas: Sustainable energy, Climate change adoption and mitigation, Future information and communication society, Business creation and venture capital, Innovation in existing business, Entrepreneurial education, Research and product development. The list drawn up from the date of publication of this call will be valid until the end of 2013. Applications may be submitted at any time, up to the last 3 months of validity of the list. To register as an independent expert, see http://eit.europa.eu/experts.html

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, European Union, OECD, Research, Standardisation, Technology

CfP: The Microinsurance Innovation Facility

The Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the European Development Research Network (EUDN) invite academic researchers to submit proposals for research that will contribute new knowledge to support microinsurance development in developing countries. Deadline: 30 October 2009. http://www.eudnet.net/microinsurance.html

Filed under: Banking, Development, Microfinance, Research

Bleak outlook for developing Asia, but region can cope with crisis, says ADB

Developing Asia’s economic growth will slow in 2009 to its most sluggish pace since the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says in a new major report. The Asian Development Outlook 2009 forecasts economic growth in developing Asia will slide to just 3.4% in 2009, down from 6.3% last year and 9.5% in 2007. If the global economy experiences a mild recovery next year, the outlook for the region will improve to 6% in 2010. Deteriorating economic prospects will hinder the efforts to reduce poverty. With the slow growth, more than 60 million people in 2009, and close to 100 million people in 2010, will remain trapped in poverty – living on less than US$1.25 a day – than would have been if growth had continued at its earlier pace. Despite the dismal outlook, the report says that the region is in a much better position to cope with this crisis than it was in 1997/98. http://www.adb.org/projects/project.asp?id=39264

Filed under: Asia, Crisis, Economy, Research

PIA improves decision making for development results

How can donors and partner countries assess the intended and unintended consequences of donor interventions? The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) explores ex ante Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA), which can assist in modifying the design of interventions to improve pro-poor impacts by identifying key areas for monitoring and evaluation (M&E). It can be applied to most modalities of donor support.

PIA is a process which helps policy-makers to understand the intended and unintended consequences of their interventions. This approach considers that good design of an intervention requires governments and their partners to understand the effect of their policies on diverse social groups, actors and institutions, including those not targeted by the policy.

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness stresses the importance of results-oriented frameworks, harmonisation and alignment to improve aid effectiveness and to assure better pro-poor outcomes. Yet, prior analysis of the impacts of policy and investment decisions on poverty reduction is a complex task. It is often built on contentious assumptions and is dependent on data availability. Ex ante PIA helps donors and their partners understand and maximise the poverty reducing impacts of their interventions. It responds both to the need for accountability to partners’ constituencies and to the importance of transparent evidence-based decision-making. It can identify interventions with high impact on poverty reduction and pro-poor growth as well as mitigating measures to protect the poor. A broad application of ex ante PIA could also provide a basis for a harmonised reporting system on poverty impacts.

Poverty Impact Assessment helps decision makers determine strategic choices for public actions so as to have the greatest impact on reducing poverty and achieving pro-poor growth. PIA provides a better understanding about potential winners and losers of an intervention and thus strengthens a results-oriented approach. PIA helps to understand stakeholders and institutions that influence and are influenced by an intervention understand the importance and inter-relationship of specific transmission channels through which changes are transmitted to the stakeholders assess the likely positive and negative outcomes for stakeholders taking into account multi-dimensionality of poverty assess the reliability of data/information and knowledge gaps.

Using PIA, policy-makers can estimate the likely quantitative and qualitative outcomes of the policy for poor groups, identify potential risks and assess the reliability of available data. Through involving people with different interests and approaches, ex-ante Impact Assessment helps to save resources, and design interventions to be better targeted to achieve their goals and avoid unintended harmful consequences. Thus it also contributes to strengthening the transparency and accountability of democratically elected governments, and encourages consistency of policy-making across policy areas.

PIA is not just another new approach to assess the distributional impacts of interventions. It deliberately draws on existing approaches and their terminology, in particular on the Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA). While PSIA is more suitable for structural policy reforms, PIA is more a stand-alone approach to assess the poverty outcome at project and programme levels. But it can also help at the initial phase of sector or policy reforms to identify requirements for a full-fledged PSIA. PIA is thus less resource demanding. While a complete PSIA requires more than 100 000 Euro, the estimated cost of PIA is less than 20 000 Euro.

See the PIA Concept Note: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/13/9/38878575.pdf
For more information on Poverty Impact Assessment and POVNET’s work:
http://www.oecd.org/dac/poverty

Filed under: Methods, OECD, Poverty, Research

Key reading on ex-ante Poverty Impact Assessment

Promoting Pro-Poor growth: A Practical Guide to ex-ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.oecd.org/document/…

This practical guide, developed by the DAC Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET), is designed to help staff in developing countries and in aid agencies to plan and execute PIAs and to interpret their findings, the ultimate goal being to design and implement more effective poverty reduction policies and programmes. Download: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/39/38978856.pdf

Ex ante appraisal of the impacts on poverty of the project ”Plateforme du Millénaire de Diamniadio”
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/32/39206523.pdf
Process documentation of the first Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA) in the Republic of Senegal, by Kerstin Meyer, Andrea Warner, Roland Hackenberg, Nathalie Manga Badji, GTZ, Dakar, June 2007

Sample Mission Report
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/53/38609100.pdf
Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment for Regional Economic Development: Green Belt Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Sample Mission Report

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/31/27/41768805.pdf
Financial Cooperation with Cambodia. Poverty Impact Assessment for Rural Electrification II

Managing for Development Results and Mutual Accountability
The value of evidence based decision-making for advancing cross cutting issues
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/40/38607559.pdf
Workshop on Development Effectiveness in Practice, Dublin, Ireland, 26-27 April 2007

Using Poverty and Social Impact Analysis to design more effective poverty reduction measures
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus14.pdf
This IPC Focus issue examines the usefulness of two recently developed analytical tools: Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA). Both approaches provide a framework to analyse the distributional impact of policies, programmes and projects. PSIA involves in-depth analysis of complex policy reform processes and offers evidence-based policy choices. PIA focuses on decisions concerning development projects and programmes. To explore PSIA’s and PIA’s potential contribution to more effective poverty reduction policies, individual articles in this volume.

Lessons learned in conducting Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.mfdr.org/rt3/Glance/Day3/Sen.ppt
Lessons learned in conducting Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment for a Natural Resource Management Programme in India Third Round Table MfDR – Hanoi 2007.

Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.mfdr.org/RT3/Glance/Day3/Dio.ppt
Presentation by Wolf M. Dio, GTZ, POVNET Task Team Leader, Third International Round Table MfDR, Hanoi 2007

Poverty (and social) impact analysis compared
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus14.pdf
PSIA is an approach developed in 2001 by the World Bank and other donors, while the PIA came about in 2006 as a result of discussions within the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). The main difference between both tools is that the PIA is designed to focus on project, programmes or specific policy reforms, while the PSIA approach is better for macroeconomic and structural policy reforms. Since PSIA was introduced, approximately 150 assessments have been conducted and the International Poverty Centre (IPC) show that it has been applied with a different degree of success in different occasions. Most of the articles in the journal agree that further progress needs to be made in order to unleash PSIA’s full potential.

As well as the PIA approach, POVNET has recently developed and is actively disseminating guidance for donors on promoting pro-poor growth , including in relation to:
Agriculture:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…
Employment:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…
Infrastructure:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…

Private sector development:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…
Social protection:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…

Poverty and Social Impact Analysis
http://www.worldbank.org/psia
This World Bank website was conceived as a forum for interaction and a tool for disseminating experience.

Sourcebook on Emerging Good Practice in Managing for Development Results (MfDR)
http://www.mfdr.org/Sourcebook.html
The Sourcebook is a valuable resource which provides solution-oriented examples of MfDR in action for practitioners at many levels and in many contexts. By focusing on observable and replicable interventions, the Sourcebook aims to increase the understanding of MfDR and illustrate how many stakeholders are effectively implementing MfDR principles for greater development effectiveness.

Filed under: ILO, Links, Methods, OECD, Poverty, Publications, Research

Websites you can use for poverty impact assessment

BRIDGE – Gender and Poverty
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports_gend_pov.htm
BRIDGE Gender and Poverty publications include summaries of key materials, good practice cases, lists of tools and checklists and key online resources.

British Library for Development Studies Subject Guide on Poverty
http://blds.ids.ac.uk/guides/pov.html
This Guide provides quick access to BLDS resources through pre-designed searches of the catalogue’s 150 000 plus records.

CROP Comparative Research Programme on Poverty
http://www.crop.org
CROP is an international research programme initiated in 1992 by the International Social Science Council. It is now one of the major programmes of the Council. Hosting CROPnet as open network.

Development Gateway – Poverty
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty
Development Gateway topic pages are e-communities led by experts in the development field. They connect partners, members, organizations and other stakeholders by providing opportunities to exchange knowledge, know-how and opinions.

Eldis Resource Guide on Poverty
http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/poverty
Eldis Resource Guides provide easy structured access to our extensive collection of research and policy documents. All are editorially selected, summarised and available free to download in full text. Resource guides are intended to help you keep up to date with the latest in development research, policy and practice.

Evaluation Portal by Lars Balzer
http://www.evaluation.lars-balzer.name
At this Evaluation Portal you find hand-picked, human-edited, categorized information about the topic ”evaluation” (and a bit about social science methods).

Focuss.Info Initiative
http://www.focuss.info
Focuss.info provides a high quality search engine for practitioners, researchers and students in the area of global development studies. When these websites are available on the Internet, the Focuss.Info search engine indexes the hand-picked websites, with a focus on global development cooperation, and make these websites full text retrievable. In other words: start saving and sharing your favorite websites via social bookmarks spaces, such as Delicious or CiteULike, and report your social bookmark account to the Focuss.Info Initiative.

Free evaluation resources for developing countries.
http://earth.prohosting.com/elecon/evaldevel/evaldevelopment.html
Gene Shackman created this site to work with a coalition of evaluators and evaluation organizations to provide evaluation, consulting or training resources to organizations and evaluators in developing countries.

Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
http://www.donorplatform.org
Since the creation of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development in 2004, major bilateral and multilateral development agencies are united in a coordinated endeavour to get the rural development agenda right. Donors are committed to achieving increased development assistance impact and more effective investment in rural development and agriculture.

Global Poverty Research Group – GPRG
http://www.gprg.org
ESRC-funded multidisciplinary research group providing a framework for collaboration between the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at Oxford University, and IDPM and CPRC at Manchester University.

Governance and Social Development Resource Centre
http://www.gsdrc.org
Funded by the UK Department for International Development, the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) aims to help reduce poverty by informing policymaking and enhancing professional knowledge in relation to governance, conflict and social development.

GTZ’s Poverty-related activities´
http://www.gtz.de/en/themen/uebergreifende-themen/902.htm
GTZ supports partners in developing countries as well as BMZ, other ministries and international organisations. This support is focussing on strategies for broad-based growth, the implementation of national poverty reduction strategies, poverty-oriented results monitoring and policy monitoring.

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), UNDP
http://www.undp.org/povertycentre/index.htm

Based in Brazil, IPC serves as the nexus for promoting, learning and knowledge sharing on key poverty concerns among developing countries to improve the living conditions of the world’s poorest citizens. The Centre’s mission is to facilitate South-South learning in development solutions by fostering policy dialogue; carrying out policy-oriented research; as well as conducting training and evaluation. Its vision is the attainment of high inclusive growth. See in particular research and publications on social protection and cash transfers.

Methods for Social Research in Developing Countries
http://srmdc.net
Website to make the contents of Methods for Social Researchers in Developing Countries available free to researchers in developing countries, where books are too expensive for faculty, students, or even for libraries to buy.

Poverty Assessment Tools
http://www.povertytools.org
This IRIS Center Website hosts updates and reports and discussions around developing and recommending poverty assessment tools. It also hosts a Poverty Assessment Tools listserv, where discussions are moderated and conducted with bounded timelines. Summaries of previous listserv discussions are also available.

PovertyFrontiers
http://www.povertyfrontiers.org

PovertyFrontiers is a USAID-supported Website dedicated to sharing knowledge and resources on poverty reduction, pro-poor growth, asset-based approaches to development, and poverty-related issues. PovertyFrontiers is also a forum for those involved in poverty reduction to exchange ideas and best practices.

Q-Squared: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches in Poverty Analysis
http://www.q-squared.ca
This Website is a great resource for those seeking information on poverty research, measurement and analysis. Q-Squared aims to promote better integration of qualitative and quantitative poverty research methods. The site links to a variety of commissioned publications presenting good practice in accurate poverty research, as well as information about training, news and events.

Research Methods Knowledge Base
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.htm
This site is the home page for a number of additional Webpages, each of which provides brief, easily understood descriptions and illustrations of virtually any social research method you might want to use; covers the foundations of research, sampling, measurement, design, analysis, and the process of writing up a research report.

Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG)

http://sosig.ac.uk
Provides selected, high quality information for students and researchers in the social sciences, business, and law; also provides links to over 50,000 social science Webpages.

Statistical Databases
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/databases.htm
Provides brief descriptions of and links to a wide variety of databases produced by Statistics Division, UN, and that are available with unrestricted access.

Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web, U.S. Department of Labor
http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm
Provides links for online access to statistical and other information from more than 70 agencies of the U.S. government and statistical offices of most countries throughout the world.

The Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC)

http://www.chronicpoverty.org
This international partnership of universities, research institutes and NGOs was established in 2000 with initial funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).

UN Secretariat’s Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD)
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/poverty/
The Division seeks to strengthen international cooperation for social development, particularly in the areas of poverty eradication, productive employment and decent work and the social inclusion of older persons, youth, family, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, persons in situations of conflict and other groups or persons marginalized from society and development.

UNEG United Nations Evaluation Group
http://www.unevaluation.org
This site hosts the Country Level Evaluation Database and the UNDP Evaluation Resource Center (ERC). UNEG has many links to external evaluation resources including evaluation associations and societies, international organisations, training resources and governments.

Virtual Resource Centre on ex-ante Impact Assessment

http://europeandcis.undp.org/pia
This UNDP website has been launched and is being maintained as one of the components of the regional project on ex-ante Impact Assessment funded by UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Local Government and Public Service Support Initiative of Open Society Institute, Budapest. Under the ”best practices” heading, the Virtual Resource Centre aims to show a selection of key steps and ideas in the ex-ante impact assessment process, drawn from the work of key institutions or recorded in countries implementing the ex-ante impact assessment process in their policy formulation.

Web Pages that Perform Statistical Calculations
http://statpages.org
Provides over 600 links, including nearly 400 pages that perform calculations, and growing; a source of information on almost anything you might need in conducting analyses and calculations, including links to interactive statistics, free software, books and manuals, and demonstrations and tutorials.

… more Web Links: http://delicious.com/weitzenegger

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Employment, Links, Methods, Poverty, Research

Upcoming Training and Event

3rd Latin American Cluster Conference (3CLAC)
www.clusterslatinoamerica2008.com
Chihuahua, Mexico, 27 May 2008

Internationalization of the Competitive Clusters: Which Strategies, Which Tools? Which Methodes?
http://tinyurl.com/6nhqp7
In cooperation with the German Kompetentznetze and under the high patronage of the French Secretary of State for Trade and SMEs, Europa InterCluster is co-organising on 24 June in Limoges a conference on the internationalisation of clusters. This will be an opportunity for cluster managers from all over Europe to relate their cooperation practices.

5th Microfinance Training of Trainers: A Blended Distance Learning Course

http://www.adbi.org/event/2532.5th.microfinance.distance.learning.course/
The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and the Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) of the World Bank are pleased to offer the fifth Microfinance Training of Trainers (MFTOT) Course from 16 July to 30 October 2008. MFTOT is a unique blended distance learning course which aims to enhance the knowledge of microfinance practitioners and strengthen the institutional capacity of microfinance in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Housing Finance Summer Academy
http://www.frankfurt-school.de/housing-finance
20-25 July 2008 in cooperation with Housing Development Finance Corporation, India.
The Housing Finance Summer Academy focuses on providing practical knowledge and tools in housing finance for successfully managing lending operations while picking up on the newest development and best practices on the market.

Making Markets Work – a two-week training programme
http://www.springfieldcentre.com/index.php
Glasgow, UK, 13 – 23 Aug 2008, Springfield Centre

This unique programme focuses directly on a key challenge facing governments and development agencies: how to make markets function more effectively for business and for poor people? The programme builds on the Springfield Centre’s successful record in offering training on the market development approach to more than 700 people over the last nine years. Closing date for applications is Wednesday 21st May 2008.

The Micro Banking Summer Academy
http://www.frankfurt-school.de/summer_academy
Preparation Course ”Microfinance Principles” (22-24 August 2008)
Week 1 ”MFI Management in a Changing Environment” (24-29 August 2008)
Week 2 ” Commercial Microfinance in a Competitive Environment”(31 Aug– 5 Sep 2008)

Building Inclusive Financial Systems: How Can Funders Make a Difference?
http://cgap.org/direct/training/training.php
Dubrovnik, Croatia, 8-12 September 2008

Kigali, Rwanda, 10-14 November 2008 en français
This CGAP/MFMI course is tailored specifically to donors, investors, and policymakers interested in keeping up with the rapidly evolving world of microfinance while gaining practical skills in microfinance appraisal and performance-based management.

The 2008 WTO Public Forum ”Trading into the Future”
Geneva, Switzerland, 24 – 25 September 2008, WTO headquarters
http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/ngo_e/forum08_background_e.htm
Civil society representatives interested in organizing a session during this year’s Forum should fill out the Call for Proposals Form (available on the NGO page of the WTO website).

Microinsurance Conference 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5ugvj3

Cartagena, Colombia, 5-7 November 2008
There are many challenges in providing microinsurance. Low-income persons are vulnerable to risks, but so far insurance has been accessible only to a few, often through informal or mutual schemes. In most countries, commercial insurers have largely stayed away from the low-income market, mainly because of high costs and small premiums. Yet that is beginning to change, as new cost-effective models are emerging to extend insurance to the poor.

Filed under: Development, Economy, Research, Events, Training

World Social and Economic Survey 2007

Greater longevity is an indicator of human progress in general. Increased life expectancy and lower fertility rates are changing the population structure worldwide in a major way: the proportion of older persons is rapidly increasing, a process known as population ageing. The process is inevitable and is already advanced in developed countries and progressing quite rapidly in developing ones.

The 2007 Survey analyzes the implications of population aging for social and economic development around the world, while recognizing that it offers both challenges and opportunities. Among the most pressing issues is that arising from the prospect of a smaller labor force having to support an increasingly larger older population. Paralleling increased longevity are the changes in intergenerational relationships that may affect the provision of care and income security for older persons, particularly in developing countries where family transfers play a major role.

At the same time, it is also necessary for societies to fully recognize and better harness the productive and social contributions that older persons can make but are in many instances prevented from making. The Survey argues that the challenges are not insurmountable, but that societies everywhere need to put in place the policies required to confront those challenges effectively and to ensure an adequate standard of living for each of their members, while respecting and promoting the contribution and participation of all.” United Nations Development Policy and Analysis Division. The website allows one to download the book itself, and to download the background papers that were prepared for its authors.

Source: United Nations Development Policy and Analysis Division, http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/

Filed under: Development, Publications, Research

Poverty (and social) impact analysis compared

PSIA is an approach developed in 2001 by the World Bank and other donors, while the PIA came about in 2006 as a result of discussions within the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). The main difference between both tools is that the PIA is designed to focus on project, programmes or specific policy reforms, while the PSIA approach is better for macroeconomic and structural policy reforms.

The International Poverty Centre (IPC) has recently released the last number of its journal Poverty in Focus. This issue focuses on Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA), a field in which the IPC is currently administering a joint UNDP-World Bank Project.

Since PSIA was introduced, approximately 150 assessments have been conducted and the IPC show that it has been applied with a different degree of success in different occasions. Most of the articles in the journal agree that further progress needs to be made in order to unleash PSIA’s full potential.

(Source: EURODAD) http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus14.pdf

Filed under: Development, Research

Training and Events

Europe Africa Business Summit (EABS)
http://www.europeafricabusinesssummit.org
Hamburg, 28-30 April 2008, CCH
Europe-Africa Business Summit 2008 is the first biennial Europe-Africa Business Summit to take place in Europe, organised by private non-governmental bodies and strives to increase European private sector awareness of the many commercial opportunities in Africa. The major theme of the summit is ”The State and the Future of the European-African Economic Relationships”.

Economics of Innovation and Patenting
http://www.zew.de/en/veranstaltungen/details.php?LFDNR=795
The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim is pleased to announce its 3rd conference on the economics of innovation and patenting. The aim is to stimulate the discussion between international researchers conducting related empirical and theoretical analysis. In addition, the conference will focus on policy implications of recent research. The event will be held June 13-14, 2008. Registration deadline: May 9, 2008.

Producing policy change: Innovation in the agriculture sector
http://www.odi.org.uk/events/2008/05/agriculture/index.html
London, Friday 9 May, 12:30-2:30pm
Seminar of the EADI Working Groups on Multidimensional Poverty and Knowledge, Policy and Power, co-hosted by ODI; RIU and held in conjunction with DSA and IDS.

e-Learning Course on Fundamentals of Risk Management
http://www.unitar.org/pft/elearning
May 12 to June 20, 2008 United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
This UNITAR online course is designed for participants from both public and private sectors who need a practical introduction to risk management principles, methods and techniques.

International Conference on African Studies

Grenzen und Übergänge Frontières et Passages Frontiers and Passages
http://www.vad-ev.de/cms
Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland) 14-17 May 2008
For the first time the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD) and the Swiss Society for African Studies (SGAS) co-organise a conference, which is to discuss the current developments in Africa and the state of research on the continent. Registration until May 7, 2008.

The International Economy in the 21th Century
http://www.idec.gr/iier/
Athens, Greece, 16 – 18 May 2008
Towards Globalization or Regionalization? Organizers: Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER)

Workshop with C K Prahalad (Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, etc.)

http://www.msm.nl/prahalad
Maastricht, 20 May and a one-day Africa Round Table 21 May, The Maastricht School of Management (MSM)

Conference: Latin America meets Europe
http://www.nimd.org/default.aspx?menuid=88&type=eventitem&contentid=23
The Hague, 26 May 2008, Organisation: Socires, NIMD, SID and others
At the conference political, social and economic developments in Latin America will be addressed with special attention to the issue of energy supply and food security.

Conference on global competition and European companies’ location decisions, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/events/2008/confpoznan/index.htm

Pozna?, Poland, 3–5 June 2008, IBB Andersia Hotel, Plac Andersa 3
Globalisation brings new opportunities and markets for business and companies. It also brings more choice and lower prices for customers. But for workers it can mean the loss of jobs and the erosion of incomes, living standards and the European social model. So what makes companies decide to locate their business in the EU? Is it inevitable that they abandon European countries for low-cost, poorly-regulated locations elsewhere? Can policymakers influence that decision? And what does it mean for European integration if production and jobs move from one Member State to another? The conference is aimed at the key players in the debate – companies, employers, workers, politicians, and public authorities at local and national levels.

Tools of the Trade for Development Practitioners
http://www.mdi-nh.org
Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, 08 – 21 June 2008

e-Learning course: Intellectual Property Policy and Development
http://www.unitar.org/pft/ipdev
9 June to 25 July 2008 (six weeks).

Designed for officials and professionals in full-time work, this instructor-led online course, which has been reviewed by leading academics and policy makers, will provide participants with the necessary background knowledge to conduct strong analysis and research on IP policy issues, to effectively participate in policy discussions and multilateral negotiations, and to address IP issues in legislation, regulations and guidelines. This course, which has been developed by United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) jointly with South Centre, an Intergovernmental Organization of developing countries, is intended to educate and enable government delegates, public and private sector officials in charge of IP related issues, and other stakeholders to further understand the linkages between IP and development.

Forum on Growing Inclusive Markets
http://www.gim2008.ca
Halifax, Canada, 20-21 June
The International Council for Small Business holds a World Conference in Canada, 22-25 June. IDRC, CIDA, UNDP and others are holding a pre-conference Forum on Growing Inclusive Markets.

Regulatory Impact Analysis Training Courses
http://www.coleurop.be/ria2008
Belgium, 23-27 June and 6-10 October 2008; The College of Europe and Jacobs and Associates

2nd ValueLinks Introductory Training Seminar

http://www.idc-aachen.de/english/2_4.html
Oestrich-Winkel, Germany, 8-12 September 2008

Seminar on child labour, education and youth employment: a challenge for economic growth and social progress
http://tinyurl.com/5oswcb
Madrid, Spaijn, 11 – 12 September 2008, UCW Seminar III
UCW Project and the Instituto Figuerola of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid are organizing a two-day seminar to present recent research on child labour and its linkages with educational and youth employment outcomes. The seminar will also aim at identifying key information gaps relating to these themes, thereby helping to guide furture research efforts. We are calling for papers to be presented at the seminar.

Regional Comparative Advantage and Knowledge?Based Entrepreneurship
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/RICAFE/newsAndEvents.htm
The RICAFE2 third Conference will be held on 9 & 10 October 2008 at the University of Amsterdam Business School. The organizers invite submissions for empirical and theoretical papers on the financing of knowledge-based entrepreneurial firms, on the influence of venture capital on firms’ ability to translate technological advances into successful products, and on the contribution of knowledge-based entrepreneurship to regional dynamics.

Knowledge creation & Optimal Teaching and Learning Environments: What Works?
http://www.earli-pbpr.org
Bergen, Norway, 26-28 November 2008
3rd European Conference on Practice-based and Practitioner Research on Learning and Instruction

What Can Microfinance Contribute to Agriculture in Developing Countries?
http://www.fondation-farm.org/IMG/pdf/Farm_microfinance_conf_eng.pdf
Proceedings from the International Conference held in
Paris, 4-6 December 2007

Donor Committee for Enterprise Development
http://www.enterprise-development.org
Oslo, 10 – 11 December 2008
The 30th Annual Meeting for members of the Committee will be hosted by Norad

Global Directory of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Programs
http://www.peacejusticestudies.org/globaldirectory/
This is a comprehensive, annotated guide to peace studies and conflict resolution programs at colleges and universities worldwide. This edition profiles over 450 undergraduate, Master’s and Doctoral programs and concentrations in 40 countries and 38 U.S. states. Entries describe the program’s philosophy and goals, examples of course offerings and requirements, degrees and certificates offered, and complete contact information, including links to email and websites.

Filed under: Research, Training

Publications

A Billion to Gain?
http://tinyurl.com/68lmym
The reports of ING Microfinance Support systematically chart large global financial institutions’ activities and future plans in microfinance. This third edition in the ‘A Billion to Gain?’ series provides an update of the latest report and serves three main objectives: To update global financial institutions’ activities and future plans regarding microfinance; to discover recent major developments and trends in global financial institutions’ involvement in the microfinance sector; and to reveal the impact of global banks’ involvement in the development of the microfinance sector.

An Investigation of the Competitiveness Hypothesis of the Resource Curse
http://biblio.iss.nl/opac/uploads/wp/wp455.pdf
Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Working Paper no. 455, Author: L. Serino

CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement : An Overview
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2008/april/tradoc_138569.pdf

Information paper by DG Trade, European Commission, gives an overview of the content of the agreement, outlining the provisions with respect to various subject areas.

CGAP Good Practice Guidelines for Funders
http://tinyurl.com/5euxvx
Good Practice Guidelines for Funders of Microfinance provides operational guidance for staff of donors and investors in the field and at headquarters who conceptualize, design, implement, and monitor programs related to improving poor people’s access to financial services.

Clusters, Functional Regions and Cluster Policies
http://www.insme.info/documenti/Cluster&Cluster_Policies.pdf
This INSME paper by Charlie Karlssongives an overview of research on economic clusters and clustering and is motivated by the growing intellectual and political interest for the subject. Functional regions have the features that agglomeration of economic activities i.e. clusters, benefit from. Functional regions have low intra-regional transaction and transportation cost and has access to the local labour market. The features of spatial economic concentration were for a long time disregarded. The scientific interests of cluster and clustering phenomenon have after the ”new” introduction rapidly increased in the last decade. Hence, the subject is being thought at various education levels. The importance of cluster and clustering has also been recognized at a national, regional and local level and cluster policies are becoming a major part of political thinking. These policies are however often based on a scarce analysis where no strict criterions are statet.

Country-Level Savings Assessment Tool

http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/45915_file_CLSA_Tool.pdf
CGAP produced this Draft Country-Level Savings Assessment (CLSA) Tool to help guide analysts and researchers who wish to undertake CLSAs and to guide governments and donors who wish to commission CLSAs. It explains the areas of analysis covered, the methodology, and how it can be tailored to the needs of the agency commissioning the CLSA. This draft tool is a work in progress.”

Delivering Microfinance and Social Services in Conditions of Fragility in Nepal
http://www.microlinks.org/ev_en.php?ID=19700_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC
USAid, Field Report no 3. Natural disasters, civil conflicts and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are forcing an increasing number of people to live in conditions of fragility, complicating the delivery of basic public services. Despite the obstacles posed by these fragile conditions, relief and development organizations as well as national governments have been able to increase their outreach to affected populations by developing new approaches and strategies. This case study documents the strategies used by microfinance institutions (MFI), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private businesses to deliver financial and non-financial goods and services (e.g., business development services; health and education services; basic consumer goods; sanitation services) to populations affected by the Maoist insurgency in Nepal.

Developing women’s entrepreneurship
http://www.unescap.org/icstd/pubs/st_escap_2468.pdf

This UN document explores the potential for women in entrepreneurship and e-business in the niche area of green or ”organic” cooperatives. It seeks to promote women’s entrepreneurship and e-business development by providing policymakers and entrepreneurs with background on this niche area, potential entrepreneurship and e-business development opportunities, and a discussion of its implications for rural development.

Développement Economique Local et Régional
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/LRED_framework_fr.pdf
Ce manuel de la GTZ des praticiens du LRED est basé sur l’expérience récente de la GTZ dans l’appui au Développement Économique Local et Régional (LRED) en Afrique du Sud.

Explaining Success and Failure in Development
http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2008/wp2008-013.pdf
United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Working Paper No. 13, Author: A. Szirmai

Financial literacy – a comparative study in selected countries

http://www.sparkassenstiftung.de/uploads/media/Financial_Literacy_Study.pdf
Financial literacy is not only an issue for industrialised nations; it is even more important for developing and transformation countries. When combined with other measures of development cooperation, financial literacy can essentially contribute to combating poverty. By Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation, Bonn, Germany.

Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Developing Countries
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?sf1=identifiers&st1=432008073P1
Disbursements, Commitments, Country Indicators, 2002-2006: 2008 Edition

German BMZ: Development Partnerships with the private sector
http://tinyurl.com/5mowgd
The creation of global development partner-ships is one of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals. Our PPP programme is one way we contribute to the achievement of this goal. In this programme we join together with partners from the private sector to seek – and often to find! – sustainable solutions for the development policy challenges facing our part-ner countries. In 2006, nearly 400 new partnerships were formed.

Global employment trends for women
http://tinyurl.com/5mowgd
The ILO report shows clearly that most regions are making progress in increasing the number of women in decent employment, but that full gender equality in terms of labour market access and conditions of employment has not yet been attained.

Individual Entrepreneurship Capacity and Performance of SMEs
http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8179/1/MPRA_paper_8179.pdf
This paper analyses the importance of human capital and organizational capital on the determination of SME’s performance, by proposing and testing a conceptual model about Individual Entrepreneurship Capacity, and its impact both on non-economic and economic performance.

Innovation and Export of Vietnam’s SME Sector
http://tinyurl.com/6x59sx
In this paper, the authors investigate how the firms’ export behavior depends on their innovation activities, or whether the more innovative firms are more likely to export. The authors find that innovation as measured directly by ‘new products’, ‘new production process’ and ‘improvement of existing products’ are important determinants of exports by Vietnamese SMEs.

Local Economic Development Strategic Planning and Practice Casebook
http://tinyurl.com/6n25wc
In 1999 World Bank and Bertelsmann Foundation started a Cities of Change program in Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics and Balkans to reduce unemployment and poverty. As a result the local economic development cluster emerged. The Cities of Change program aimed to help the LED cluster cities to design and implement their own LED strategies. A core task of the program was to develop practical knowledge products that could be used by municipal governments and communities to understand, design and implement integrated LED strategic planning. As a practical product of the program, this LED Strategic Planning and Practice Casebook seeks to help the reader understand municipal approaches to LED strategic planning by identifying good practice in strategic planning methodology. The Casebook serves as a collection of six local economic development strategies that provide examples of good practice from across Europe and from the Cities of Change network. The Casebook also contains good practice notes and comments.

Mobile Banking: DFID Knowledge map & possible donor support strategies
http://tinyurl.com/5p24xc
Mobile banking (m-banking) involves the use of a mobile phone or another mobile device to undertake financial transactions linked to a client’s account. M-banking is one of the newest approaches to the provision of financial services through ICT, made possible by the widespread adoption of mobile phones even in low income countries. The roll out of mobile telephony has been rapid, and has extended access well beyond already connected customers in developing countries. There is mounting evidence of positive social impact on poorer people and communities as a result. There are sound reasons for the hope that m-banking could have similar impact.

Moving Toward Competitiveness: A Value-Chain Approach
http://tinyurl.com/6keu8z

A strong business environment based on sound institutions and policies is a necessary basis for enhanced competitiveness of private firms that produce and deliver goods and services. When business environment constraints—inefficiencies and cost disadvantages—can be identified, policy makers have the opportunity to jumpstart economic reform processes that target priority areas along the product/service life cycle known as the value chain. This technical report outlines a pragmatic approach for analyzing value chain performance as the basis for identifying binding constraints to growth and competitiveness. This approach is intended to facilitate formulating a targeted reform agenda. The World Bank Group (WBG) uses a myriad of policy tools to support its ongoing private sector development work.

OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit
http://tinyurl.com/5glxzk
Governments can reduce unnecessary restrictions by considering the use of methods in the OECD’s new ”Competition Assessment Toolkit”. The Toolkit provides a general methodology for identifying unnecessary restraints and developing alternative, less restrictive policies that still achieve government objectives. One of the main elements of the Toolkit is a Competition Checklist that asks a series of simple questions to screen for laws and regulations that have the potential to unnecessarily restrain competition. The Toolkit is available in: Chinese, English, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

Organisational learning for aid, and learning aid organisations
http://www.capacity.org/en/content/view/full/219/(issue)/15869
Although many aid agencies claim to be learning organisations, a recent review found that they still need to address some major challenges, especially at field level. Ben Ramalingam asks why this is the case, and what aid agencies can do to learn more effectively.

Publication: The strategic partnership between the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean: a joint commitment

http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/library/publications/lima_en.pdf
This brochure sets out the framework of the strategic partnership, presenting the background and the most recent developments. The chapters are divided by theme and geographical entity, focusing on the most important elements of the partnership and its evolution. They illustrate the political, trade and cooperation re lations between the EU and each subregion.

Raw Deal: Europe’s damaging corporate trade agenda – impacts and new threats
http://www.wdm.org.uk/rawdeal – English
http://www.wdm.org.uk/desaccordsinjuste – Francais
http://www.wdm.org.uk/tratoinjusto – Espanol

This new Third World Network report presents evidence from existing European trade deals with South Africa and Mexico showing how they have hindered rather than helped development. Looking at examples in agriculture, industrial products and services, the report shows how the reality of these bilateral deals is far removed from the ‘win-win’ rhetoric.

Removing Barriers to SME Access to International Markets:
http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?sf1=identifiers&st1=852008021P1
This book sheds light on facilitating SME internationalisation and also presents a synthesis of the Conference discussions and the main outcome of the Conference: the ”Athens Action Plan for Removing Barriers to SME Access to International Markets”.

Social innovation: Good for you, good for me
http://www.wbcsd.org/includes/getTarget.asp?type=DocDet&id=Mjk1MTI
Big firms are joining the queue to follow in Muhammad Yunus’s footsteps by developing businesses designed to fix social ills.

Supporting pro-poor growth processes: Implications for donors

http://tinyurl.com/5jjj6c
Eva Ludi and Kate Bird of Overseas Development Institute discuss policies and programmes to strengthen the productive capacities of poor people.

The new EPAs: comparative ananlysis of their content and the challenges for 2008
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=36293
This report, prepared by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) addresses questions around national level impacts of interim EPAs, individual level agreements in relation to future regional integration initiatives and details of agreed opt out options and time schedules. It also examines how far the agreed texts are similar to each other and how development friendly are they?

Turning the Tables: Aid and accountability under the Paris framework
http://www.eurodad.org/whatsnew/reports.aspx?id=2166
A major new civil society report has been launched which reveals that the world’s rich countries have only made patchy progress in making aid more effective for helping the poor, despite high-profile commitments to reform aid.

UNRISD: Poverty and Inequality in China

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/rode/12/2
A special of the Journal ”Review of Development Economics” includes papers emerging from UNU-WIDER’s 2004/2005 research project on poverty and inequality in China and is free online.

Vocational education and training in Germany
http://tinyurl.com/5mowgd
This Cedfop overview of vocational education and training in Germany has been produced to mark Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU. It forms part of the series of short descriptions regularly published by Cedefop on national VET systems.

What Makes an Entrepreneur?
http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/What_Makes_an_Entrepreneur.pdf
The World Bank authors tests two competing hypotheses on what makes an entrepreneur: nature – attitude towards risk, I.Q., and self-confidence; or nurture – family background and social networks. The results are based on data from a new survey on entrepreneurship in Brazil, of 400 entrepreneurs and 540 non-entrepreneurs of the same age, gender, education and location in 7 Brazilian cities. We find that family characteristics have the strongest influence on becoming an entrepreneur. In contrast, success as an entrepreneur is primarily determined by the individual’s smartness and higher education in the family. Entrepreneurs are not more self-confident than non-entrepreneurs; and overconfidence is bad for business success.

World Bank Research Highlights 2007
http://econ.worldbank.org/research/highlights2007. This is the annual report of the World Bank’s principal research unit, the Development Research Group (DECRG). The report describes the major research themes and highlights of 2007 for DECRG’s six research teams: Finance and Private Sector Development; Human Development and Public Services; Macroeconomics and Growth; Poverty and Inequality; Sustainable Rural and Urban Development; and Trade and International Integration. The on-line version also provides a complete list of the unit’s published output in 2007, comprising 25 books, 175 journal articles, 90 book chapters, 180 working papers, and 12 new public-access datasets.

Filed under: Development, Publications, Research

UNEP calls for end to barriers on fast-growing green economy

A global ”green economy” is now emerging but governments must move fast to scrap the many barriers and fossil-fuel subsidies that hamper it, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Presenting an annual report, Year Book 2008, the Nairobi-based agency said investment in environmentally-friendly projects was rising fast and more and more corporations were driving to save energy, thus helping to combat carbon emissions. Power companies in North America, international car manufacturers, metals and mining companies are praised for making inroads into their greenhouse-gas pollution. But oil, gas and chemicals are among the industries doing little or nothing to cut their contribution to the greenhouse-gas problem, the agency said, presenting the report at a conference in Monaco gathering environment ministers and the UNEP governing council. http://tinyurl.com/38nqx3

Filed under: Environment, Research, Technology

Cluster Management: A Practical Guide, by GTZ

This GTZ-manual provides an encompassing and concise overview of methods and instruments of cluster management. It was developed in Croatia commissioned by the GTZ and financed by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is, however, not only applicable to Croatia and to other transformation countries, but by all means suitable for a worldwide use. In addition to being useful for cluster management as such, it can also be applied to other forms of enterprise cooperation which go beyond pure supplier-buyer-relationships.

Part A: Overview.
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-1496.pdf
Cluster Management – A Practical Guide. Part B: Tools
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-1498.pdf
German version: Überblick: http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-1492.pdf, Tools: http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-1494.pdf

Filed under: Clusters, Development, Publications, Research, Rural Economies

Banking on Development : private banks and aid donors in developing countries

The aim of this ECD Working Paper No. 263 is precisely to contribute to this debate and process. It highlights how private banks and other private financial operators like private equity firms and investments funds, can play a pivotal role in economic development. All in all, they are interesting potential partners for public aid donors willing to deepen impacts on developing countries. As documented, some of the private banking firms are more active in specific regions. UK and French banks seem, for example, to be potential interesting partners for aid donors in Africa while Spanish banks or US counterparts are more relevant for Latin America and German, Swiss and Italian banks for Eastern Europe. Beyond international banks, local private banks in Brazil, India, South Africa, Morocco and other developing countries are becoming increasingly aware and sensitive to economic, social and environmental impacts.
http://lysander.sourceoecd.org/vl=1107072/cl=11/nw=1/rpsv/cgi-bin/wppdf?file=5l4bhbfrf037.pdf

Filed under: Development, Publications, Research

Remittances from Germany and their Routes to Migrants’ Origin Countries

Germany is one of the most important countries of origin for remittances— money transfers from migrants. In 2006 they amounted to approximately ten billion euros. However, as this study shows, migrants face considerable difficulties with the transfer process. Despite its large volume, the market for money transfers is extremely intransparent. Intensive research is needed to discover which financial institutions offer what kind of services, and at what cost. In some cases the cost of these services is extremely high. The result is that transfers are frequently made through informal channels. http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-1374.pdf

Filed under: Development, Germany, Migration, Remittances, Research

Directory of Research Centres at International Poverty Centre

The Directory currently covers 540 institutions doing research on poverty, inequality and development in 27 countries in Latin America and 200 institutions in 38 sub-Saharan African countries. This directory is an effort to strengthen links among research centres in developing countries and foster South-South Cooperation on poverty research and training. http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/site/CentreSearch.do

Filed under: Directories, Links, Research