International Development

Jakarta’s Transportation Problems

Publication Date: December 7, 2012

In January 2011 senior Indonesian officials were contemplating the results of a new travel survey that showed that the number of trips in the Jakarta metropolitan area was growing steadily while the share of trips made on public transportation...

An Inspired Model...or a Misguided One? Oprah Winfrey's Dream School for Impoverished South African Girls

Publication Date: July 29, 2010

In 2000, media superstar Oprah Winfrey promised the recently-retired Nelson Mandela, first president of post-Apartheid South Africa, that she would build his country a top-notch boarding school for disadvantaged girls. Her twin purpose was to...

Scale without Growth: INFONAVIT's Expansion in the Mexican Mortgage Market

Publication Date: April 24, 2007

According to a World Bank report written in 2001, "in a modern, globally integrated Mexican economy, it is hard to argue for the continued existence of an institution such as INFONAVIT." The report went on to argue that the first-best option was...

Mr. Nam's Dilemma

Publication Date: September 30, 2005

In 2000, Vietnam passed the Enterprise Law to spur private sector development and facilitate its transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy. The Enterprise Law changed the paradigm for private business in Vietnam by making business...

Women's Thrift Cooperatives in Andhra Pradesh

Publication Date: July 01, 2002

After more than 10 years of operation, the Women's Thrift Cooperatives (WTCs) in the impoverished Karimnagar and Warangal districts of Andhra Pradesh are an established part of the lives of their women members. As such they represent...

The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (B)

Publication Date: October 01, 2001

In the late 1990s, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, under heavy pressure to find ways to relieve developing countries of large volumes of accumulated public debt, devise a way they believe offers a way to link such debt relief...

The Challenge of Participation: Drafting Mauritania's PRSP (A)

Publication Date: October 01, 2001

In the late 1990s, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, under heavy pressure to find ways to relieve developing countries of large volumes of accumulated public debt, devise a way they believe offers a way to link such debt relief...

ANDA: Transforming El Salvador's Water Company

Publication Date: September 01, 1998

In 1998, most officials in El Salvador recognize that the water infrastructure and the institutions responsible for managing that infrastructure are in disrepair. Without reforms, the country would be unable to provide water and sewerage...

Aguas de Cartagena: The Privatization of Water in Cartagena, Colombia (Sequel)

Publication Date: July 01, 1998

In 1992, Mayor Gabriel Garcia Romero confronted a situation all too familiar in developing countries--an inadequate and under capitalized water system. Only 28 percent of Cartagena's households had reliable drinking water. Thirty percent were...

Aguas de Cartagena: The Privatization of Water in Cartagena, Colombia

Publication Date: July 01, 1998

In 1992, Mayor Gabriel Garcia Romero confronted a situation all too familiar in developing countries--an inadequate and under-capitalized water system. Only 28 percent of Cartagena's households had reliable drinking water. Thirty percent were...

Capitalization: The Politics of Privatization in Bolivia

Publication Date: January 01, 1998

In this case, the president of Bolivia and a team of officials grapple with questions of how to set up a model for privatizing a number of state-owned enterprises. In the 1980s, Bolivia, like most other Latin American countries, embraced a more...

Romani Politics in the Czech Republic

Publication Date: January 01, 1995

The fall of Communism in Eastern Europe ushered in a new era of political freedom. At the same time, it opened an old Pandora's box of ethnic tensions and hatreds, suppressed in the ostensibly universalist Marxist regimes. Among the most...