Claiming the Future: Choosing Prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa, by The World Bank. 119 pages, illustrations, tables, graphs, bibliography. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1995. $7.95 (Paper) isbn 0-8213-3474-3

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massoud Karshenas
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-108
Author(s):  
Vladimir Bartenev ◽  
◽  
Alexey Solomatin ◽  

In recent years there has been a steady growth of “multi-bilateral aid,” or voluntary earmarked contributions transferred by international donors through multilateral organizations. The World Bank Group’s financial intermediary funds (FIFs) and trust funds have gained an especially wide recognition and have been particularly instrumental in channelling aid to fragile states — a priority group of partners for achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. But researchers have paid much less attention to FIFs than to trust funds.This article identifies characteristic features of World Bank IFIs as a multilateral mechanism to channel aid to politically unstable regions, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa Transition Fund (MENA TF) established in 2012 to support Arab countries undergoing political transitions as a result of the Arab Awakening. The introductory section examines the particularities, benefits and risks of establishing FIFs as multilateral mechanisms to transfer development assistance. These parameters are illustrated in subsequent sections which discuss the MENA TF’s establishment procedures, governance structure, and mobilization and allocation of funds.The article concludes that for each of the parties involved, hypothetically, World Bank FIFs are a quite convenient mechanism for supporting fragile states. However, the example of the MENA TF conclusively shows that everything depends on the concrete political context of their establishment and operation. In terms of some key parameters (establishment procedure, governance structure) the MENA TF mechanism is very similar to other funds of the same type, but its operation is strongly affected by challenges uncommon to the majority of FIFs, which are focused on more politically neutral sectors. These challenges stem from several factors, including the predominance of political decisions within the Deauville Partnership, a unique list of contributors, and a severity of discord among them given the drastic deterioration of the political climate in the Arab world and beyond in 2014. This not only disrupted plans to engage more donors and mobilize the planned amount of funds, but it also stipulated a visible politicization of aid allocation. Political risks which materialized in the MENA TF operations might occur in other FIFs focused on fragile states and situations. The establishment of additional multilateral mechanisms, thus, requires learning from experience and prioritizing risk assessment and mitigation.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Manh Hung

Trong khoảng 10 - 15 năm gần đây, ở Việt Nam đã nổi lên luận điểm rằng: cải cách thể chế kinh tế ngày càng đóng vai trò quan trọng hơn trong tiến trình đổi mới. Khi các nguồn lực như tài nguyên thiên nhiên, lao động giá rẻ và vốn...đã đến giới hạn thì cải cách thể chế trở thành đòi hỏi tất yếu đối với nền kinh tế. Tuy nhiên, đây cũng là thử thách khó khăn của quá trình phát triển. Trên thế giới, nhiều quốc gia chỉ đạt được một phần mục tiêu của cải cách, thậm chí ở một số quốc gia nỗ lực cải cách thể chế lại đẩy nền kinh tế vào những bất ổn không ngừng.  Tiến trình cải cách thể chế kinh tế sẽ khó thể thành công nếu không đi kèm với nỗ lực thiết lập một nền tảng quản trị quốc gia vững mạnh. Từ khóa Quản trị, thể chế, kinh tế thị trường, cải cách References [1] Acemoglu, Daron and James Robinson (2012). Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. Random House[2] Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson (2001), “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation” The American Economic Review Vol. 91, No. 5 (Dec., 2001)[3] Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson and James Robinson (2005). “Institutions as Fundamental Cause of Long run Growth”, Handbook ofEconomic Growth, Volume IA. Edited by Philippe Aghion and Steven N. Durlauf. 2005 Elsevier B.V[4] Asian Development Bank (1995). Governance: Sound Development Management, October 1995;[5] Diễn đàn kinh tế tư nhân Việt Nam 2016: Cơ hội, thách thức và giải pháp. Hà nội,[6] Heritage Foundation (2017). 2017 Index of Economic Freedom,[7] [http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking][8] International Development Association (1998). Additions to IDA Resources: Twelfth Replenishment (IDA12). 23 December 1998; [9] Kasper, Wolfgang and Manfred E Streit (1999). Institutional Economics: Social Order and Public Policy, Edward Elgar. Tr. 41[10] Kaufmann, Daniel; Aart Kraay, Massimo Mastruzzi (2010), The Worldwide Governance Indicators Methodology and Analytical Issues, the World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5430, September 2010[11] Nguyễn Quang Thuấn (2017). “Cải thiện nền quản trị quốc gia, tạo môi trường thuận lợi thúc đẩy tăng trưởng kinh tế trong giai đoạn tới”, tham luận tại Diễn đàn Kinh tế Việt Nam 2017: Phát huy nội lực, tăng trưởng bền vững, Ban kinh tế trung ương ngày 27/06/2017[12] North, D.C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.[13] Osborne, S. P. (2006), “The New Public Governance?” Public Management Review, vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 377-388.[14] UNDP (1997). “Governance for Sustainable Human Development” New York; WB (1994). Governance: The World Bank’s Experience. Washington DC; [15] VCCI & USAID (2015). Báo cáo năng lực cạnh tranh cấp tỉnh năm 2015. Hà Nội: Phòng Thương mại và Công nghiệp Việt Nam và Cơ quan Phát triển Quốc tế Hoa Kỳ [16] Wolfensohn, James D. (1999), Address to the Board of Governors (September 28, 1999), the World Bank[17] WB (1992). World Development Report: Governance and Development, Washington DC. [18] WB (1989). Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth, Washington DC[19] WB (2016). Ease of Doing Business 2016. Washington DC [20] http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/vietnam[21] WB (1997). World Development Report 1997. Washington DC. [22] WB (2017). Worldwide Governance Indicator, [23] http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#reports[24] World Economic Forum (2016). Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017, Geneva.


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