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The Private Sector and Development
IFC Results on the Ground No. 2. A poultry farm in Tanzania, gold and silver mines in Bolivia, and a Conrad Hilton in Turkey constitute some of the projects for which the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided investment capital and t
A Market-oriented Strategy for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises
This paper investigates the economic rationale for intervention in support of small and medium scale enterprises, on both theoretical and empirical grounds. It argues that the justification for SME interventions lies in market and institutional failures that bias the size distribution of firms, rather than on any inherent economic benefits provided by small firms. The role of the state is mainly to provide an enabling business environment that opens access to markets and reduces policy-induced biases against small firms. Governments can accelerate the development of markets for financial and non-financial services suited to SMEs by promoting innovation in products and delivery mechanisms, and by building institutional capacity. Improving the development impact of SME strategies will require much more attention to the monitoring and evaluation of intervention outcomes.
The Business of Education
This case study surveys the educational services provided by the private sector in Kenya, identifies the major issues and discusses a possible role for the World Bank Group, especially IFC (International Finance Corporation). The demand for all types of education at all levels has greatly outpaced the capacity of the public school system. This has allowed "edupreneurs" to provide academic and vocational education, catering to many socioeconomic segments of the population. Although enrollment in private schools has been increasing rapidly, the supply-demand gap continues to grow. Many private schools wish to expand, but face prohibitive constraints, primarily related to scarcity of financial resources and inadequate management skills. Development institutions, including IFC, can help alleviate these constraints, provided that they are ready to comprehensively address the particular issues faced by private educational institutions. Appended are five tables presenting the data. (RJM)
Time to Rethink Privatization in Transition Economies?
IFC Discussion Paper No. 38.QUOTEIt is now universally acknowledged that ownership matters; that private ownership in and of itself is a major determinant of good performance in firms... Decent economic policy and well-functioning legal and administrative institutions... matter greatly as well.QUOTEThis paper looks at what happens when the shift to private ownership gets far out in front of the effort to build the institutional underpinnings of a capitalist economy. The emphasis is on what went wrong and why and what, if anything, can be done to be correct it. Proposals include renationalization and/or postponement of further privatization, both to be accompanied by measures to strengthen th...
An Introduction to the Microstructure of Emerging Markets
IFC Discusssion Paper No. 24. Investors' interest in emerging markets has grown significantly in recent years because of potential high returns and the benefits of diversification. Despite this increased activity, there remains little information o
Leapfrogging?
IT and the Internet have been seen as a way to enable developing countries to leapfrog over the development path and increase their rate of growth. This paper reviews the situation in India, where the government has strongly encouraged the development of information technology. Although the software sector has become a large and growing export industry there are still the general problems of poor infrastructure and low public investment alongside regulations and controls that can stifle growth. These factors will limit any leapfrogging as economic growth depends on complementary and complicated interactions.
Firm Size and the Business Environment
The development of the small and medium enterprise sector is deemed crucial for economic growth and poverty alleviation. Such firms are often though to be at a disadvantage when compared with larger enterprises, but the reverse can apply, for example in the more flexible approach of the smaller firm. This paper draws on a private sector survey in 80 countries examining whether business obstacles are related to firm size. It finds a bias against small firms, which experience significantly greater problems than large firms with financing, taxes and regulations, inflation, corruption and street crime. These problems should be the prime targets of policies aimed at reducing inequity.
Trends in Private Investment in Developing Countries
Private investment in developing countries continued its upward trend in 1996, the most recent year for which data exist, on an unweighted average basis. Public investment rates continued a decline that began in the early 1980s. The largest increases in private investment between 1995 and 1996 occurred in Malawi, Mauritania, Benin, Papua New Guinea, and Bolivia, suggesting that the private firms in some of the world's poorest countries are showing a strong supply response. This year's edition includes statistics for four major Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) countries for comparison with developing country trends. It also includes a discussion of domestic capital markets in financing private investment; even though stock and bond markets have grown at a rapid rate, they play only a minor role in financing investment in the developing countries where banks are a more important source of financing.
Cost Benefit Analysis of Private Sector Environmental Investments
IFC Lessons of Experience Paper No. 2. Describes the International Finance Corporation's experience with various funds in emerging markets and the effects of these financial instruments on development. The instruments include country funds, debt-equity funds, index funds, venture capital funds, private equity funds, local mutual funds, and private pension funds.
Privatization and Deregulation in the Gulf Energy Sector
The papers contained in this volume were among those presented at ECSSR's Third Annual Energy Conference, entitled "Privatization and Deregulation in the Gulf Energy Sector," held in Abu Dhabi, October 25-26, 1997. This conference united leading practitioners and scholars in an effort to explore the important micro and macro issues related to the privatization and deregulation of energy sector. Topics related to oil production and refining, gas and electricity production, and their transmission and distribution were discussed. This volume assesses the arguments for and against deregulation of the energy sector and highlights the political, legal, institutional, and resource requirements for ...
