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This report discusses several different approaches that support reforming health care services in developing countries. For some time now, health care services have been supported by government funds. As demands for improving health care services continue to increase additional demands will be placed on governments to respond. This, however, will not be easy. Slow economic growth and record budget deficits in the 1980's have forced reductions in public spending. Alternative approaches to finance health care services are needed. Such possible changes could involve: decentralization of federal government involvement; the promotion of nongovernment involvement; the imposition of user fees; and, establishing health insurance. Finally, the role of the Bank in pursuing new financing strategies is discussed.
In recent years, the developing world has seen a burst of efforts to reduce corruption, increase transparency and accountability, and improve governance. Needless to say, this is an important and encouraging development. However, the lack of a reliable compass to describe where a country is at a given moment—and where it could be heading in the absence or acceptance of proposed reforms—can result in disastrous missteps. The unfortunate absence of such a guide has helped lead to innumerable failed governments or ineffective regimes. This important book aims to fill that void. How to Improve Governance emphasizes the need for an overall analytical framework that can be applied to different...
The fundamental elements to unlocking the potential of technology to speed up economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are investing in education, opening up new technologies through foreign trade and investment, and encouraging private sector research and development. 'Closing the Gap in Education and Technology' advises Latin American and Caribbean governments to address the region's deficits in skills and technology, and thereby boost productivity, ultimately improving growth prospects. To close this 'productivity gap' in the region, the report calls for a range of policy approaches and strategies, depending on a country's level of development. It identifies three progress...
Traces the fast-rising prices of health care and education in the United States and other major industrial nations, examining the underlying causes which have to do with the nature of providing labor-intensive services.
The study questions whether, after a decade of remarkable progress in trade reform, Latin America and the Caribbean really integrates into the global market, offering a promising rapid growth, and good jobs for its workers. For despite the incidence of the loosely called "knowledge economy", the concern prevails that most countries' rich natural resources, still are the determining factor for exports. Policy recommendations include fostering openness to trade, market access, and foreign direct investment flows, in addition to building human capital, institutions, and public infrastructure, without disregarding the natural advantages. To this end, policymakers should aim at developing educati...
Private sector activity is crucial for development. It shapes the investment climate, mobilizes innovation and financing in areas such as global health, and can either cause or mitigate social and environmental harm. Yet so far, the international development debate has not focused on the role of the private sector. This volume—written by members of the private sector, philanthropic organizations, and academia—investigates ways to galvanize the private sector in the fight against global poverty. Using a bottom-up approach, they describe how the private sector affects growth and poverty alleviation. They also review the impediments to private capital investment, and discuss various approac...
Brian Abel-Smith was one of the most influential figures in the shaping of social welfare in the twentieth century. A modern day Thomas Paine, the British economist and expert advisor was driven to improve the lives of the poor, working with groups like the World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, and the World Bank to help bring health and social welfare services to millions across the globe. The Passionate Economist is the first biography to chronicle his life and the many programs he helped create. Sally Sheard details Abel-Smith's work as an economist and advocate, setting it against the backdrop of the larger history of health and social welfare development since the 1950s. She analyzes these developments and the effects that long-running welfare debates have had on both poverty and state responses to it. She compares welfare implementation in different developing countries and examines how it was administered by the agencies for which Abel-Smith worked. The result is an accessible book on a leading humanitarian and, through him, a history of exactly how we have cared for each other in the globalized era.
First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.