scholarly journals Who is More Accountable? Federal or State Malaysian Statutory Bodies

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Nurhidayah Yahya ◽  
Jamaliah Said ◽  
Nor Balkish Zakaria
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Country Risk ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
High Level

The World Bank on Governance Indicators in the aspect of ‘Voice and Accountability’ reported accountability for Malaysia had declined to 34% in 2017 from 37% in 2013. Data from the International Country Risk Guide showed a decrease in accountability since 2011 from 4.46 to 4 points out of 6 points in the year 2012. Public sector organisations like statutory bodies might also face issues of accountability. This study aims to evaluate and compare the accountability outcomes of federal and state statutory bodies through a questionnaire. The measurement for accountability based on four dimensions, namely transparency, evaluation, stakeholders' participation and complaint and response. Based on 194 responses received from top management of Malaysian statutory bodies, the overall accountability outcome has shown an above-average score of 5.97 for both federal and state statutory bodies. This shows that Malaysian statutory bodies have delivered a high level of accountability. The test for the difference between the means scores of independent T-tests also shows that there is no significant difference between the accountability level of federal and state statutory bodies. Despite the different level of obligation and legislation, both types of statutory bodies seem to deliver an equally high level of accountability outcomes.

scholarly journals Measuring Literacy Gap in the World for Economic and Social Development: Evidence from Selected Countries and the Lessons Learned

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6A) ◽  
pp. 123-130
Author(s):  
Gbolahan S. Osho ◽  
Arinola C. Ebalunode
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Literacy Rate ◽  
Literacy Gap ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The World ◽  
Female Literacy

Literacy rate is a major indicator of economic and social development, the campaign for growth and improvement in this area by several international organizations have caused significant growth in all major regions of the world. The persistent theme to these various programs is that illiteracy is nonetheless prevalent in the world and more study needed to eradicate it, thus generates a significant interest in this issue. Therefore, the primary goal of this current study is to compare five major regions in the world as classified by the World Bank in regards to the differences which exist in literacy. The study concludes that literacy rates of male and female across the regions are different for Youth literacy between the age of 15 and 24. The vast conclusion is that that there is a no significant difference in male literacy among the regions in the world except for Africa. While no significant difference in female literacy among the regions in the world.

scholarly journals The predictive role f country-level ESG indicators

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-453
Author(s):  
Fanni Dudás ◽  
Helena Naffa
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Risk Premiums ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Neural Networks ◽  
Predictive Role

Environmental, social and governance aspects, collectively known as ESG fac-tors, have gained significant importance in finance recently. This paper focuses on uncovering the importance of the predictive power of country-level ESG indica-tors in estimating risk premiums. We use the Worldwide Governance Indicators and the database of global ESG indicators provided by the World Bank, while we apply the neural networks methodology. A constant relationship between ESG factors and risk premiums would result in obvious implications for policymakers, as well as for investors. We seek empirical evidence to leverage ESG considera-tions in investment decisions and policymaking to ensure sustainable economic development.

scholarly journals Nepal “Ask me anything” Session: Responses to audience questions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Kaye ◽  
Caspar Groeneveld ◽  
Caitlin Moss ◽  
Björn Haßler ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level ◽  
International Good ◽  
Education Science

On Thursday, 30 April 2020, the EdTech Hub participated in an “Ask me anything” session for policy-makers and funders in Nepal. The session focused on designing high-quality, effective, distance education programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included high-level officials from the Nepalese government (e.g., the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Curriculum Development Office and the Education Review Office), representatives from development partners (e.g., the World Bank, UNICEF and USAID) and other education organisations (e.g., OLE Nepal).  The session was convened for two purposes. First, to consider international good practice and current trends in distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic, presented by the World Bank EduTech team and the EdTech Hub. Second, for the EdTech Hub team to gather questions from participants, to be able to target guidance specifically to the situation in Nepal.  This document provides answers to a consolidated list of 10 questions received from stakeholders during the session. To consolidate any overlap, we have occasionally combined multiple questions into one. In other cases, where multiple important issues required a focused response, we split apart questions.

scholarly journals Multilateral aid to the rescue? Sectoral fragmentation of bilateral development aid and the role of the World Bank

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin C. Steinwand ◽  
Bernhard Reinsberg
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Allocative Efficiency ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Bilateral Aid ◽  
Donor Behavior ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level

Bilateral aid projects continue to proliferate in an uncoordinated fashion, leading to fragmented aid delivery, despite high-level political promises to reign in the practice. Frequently absent in the academic and policy debates is an exploration of which policy venues can be effective in changing donor behavior. In this paper, we explore the role of the World Bank in promulgating best practices and enhancing sectoral coordination among bilateral donors. The World Bank's size, policy clout, and its own publicly stated commitments should make it a prime candidate for enacting measures that can help reduce bilateral aid proliferation and fragmentation. We concentrate on sectoral aid allocations and identify possible venues through which the World Bank can affect bilateral donor behavior and increase allocative efficiency, including as Lead Partner, Balancer, and by leading by example through Best Practices. Based on project-level data from 1998 to 2013, we find that bilateral donors and the World Bank allocate projects in a complementary fashion into the same sectors. Furthermore, World Bank and bilateral project numbers move together, and there is some evidence that bilateral donors emulate World Bank behavior. There is no evidence that World Bank activities help to reduce bilateral aid fragmentation.

scholarly journals A Retrospective: Michael M. Cernea (1934–)

2021 ◽  
pp. 347-354
Author(s):  
Anthony Bebbington
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
House Staff ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Contact Sport ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Junior Researcher ◽  
The World ◽  
Romanian Academy ◽  
High Level ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

Abstract‘Development anthropology is a contact sport,’ Michael Cernea likes to tell his students. His career, from junior researcher in the Romanian Academy of Sciences in the early 1960s to joining the World Bank in Washington D.C. in 1974 as its first-ever in house staff sociologist, and then advancing there successfully to the high level position of the World Bank’s Senior Advisor for Social Policies and Sociology is testament to this observation.

Public Opinion on Dimensions of Governance in East Asia: An Analysis of Citizen and Expert Evaluations

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-303
Author(s):  
MATTHEW CARLSON
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Multivariate Test ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Expert Assessments ◽  
World Governance Indicators ◽  
Cross National

In recent years, institutional financial institutions such as the World Bank have taken a keen interest in the links between governance and economic development in East Asia and in other regions of the world. However, the concept of governance has proven difficult to measure in cross-national studies and its meaning in the minds of citizens and experts may differ noticeably. This article examines elite and mass perceptions of governance using the World Governance Indicators developed by scholars affiliated with the World Bank and survey data derived from the 2006 wave of the AsiaBarometer Survey conducted in seven ‘Confucian’ societies. The results of the analysis capture considerable variation at the country and individual levels for how citizens and experts perceive governance in this region of the world. In addition, a multivariate test uncovered some convergence between citizen and expert assessments but only for some of the various governance components.

scholarly journals Friends or foes? Brazil, the IMF and the World Bank, 1961–1967

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Carlo Edoardo Altamura ◽  
Claudia Kedar
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Military ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
The Imf

Between June 1959 and March 1964, the democratic governments of Brazilian presidents Juscelino Kubitschek (January 1956 – January 1961), Janio Quadros (January–August 1961), Ranieri Mazzilli (August–September 1961) and João ‘Jango’ Goulart (September 1961 – April 1964) received no support from the World Bank (WB), which refused to fund even a single new project during this period. During this same period, and, more specifically, between July 1958 and January 1965, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the WB's twin institution, granted financial assistance to Brazil only twice: a controversial and highly conditional Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) signed in May 1961; and a non-conditional and automatically approved Compensatory Financial Facility (CFF), granted in May 1963 to compensate Brazil for the decrease in coffee prices on the international market. This attitude towards Brazil changed significantly following the military coup of March 1964. Money flowed into the country and by 1970 Brazil had become the largest receiver of WB funds and a chronic borrower from the IMF, signing two SBAs in 1965, and one per year between 1966 and 1972. We use recently disclosed material from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank archives to analyse the relationship of these two institutions with Brazil and to foster the debate on their political neutrality, arguing that the difference in the IMF's and especially the WB's relations with the military regime reflected, more than anything else, the existence of an ideological affinity between the parties with regards to the ‘right’ economic policy.

Global cardiovascular care: an overview of high-level political commitment

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 258-265
Author(s):  
Dominique Vervoort ◽  
Umang M Parikh ◽  
Ankit Raj ◽  
JaBaris D Swain
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Diseases ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Heart Diseases ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Governing Body ◽  
Surgical Services ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level ◽  
Cardiovascular Care

Background Six billion people worldwide lack access to safe, timely, and affordable cardiac surgical and interventional care when needed. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity around the world, and include a significant surgical backlog of rheumatic and congenital heart diseases. Here, we review the political commitment by the WHO, the UN, and the World Bank to build and strengthen healthcare services for cardiovascular diseases, with a particular focus on cardiac surgical and interventional cardiology services around the world. Methods A literature search was performed in the WHO, UN, and World Bank Governing Body databases to identify policy documents mentioning curative cardiovascular disease care. The Governing Body documentation, the Institutional Repository for Information Sharing database of the WHO, and the Official Document System of the UN were used. Documents only discussing prevention of cardiovascular diseases were excluded. Results Fifty-nine unique documents were identified, including 56 from the WHO, 3 from the World Bank, and none from the UN; 12 (20.4%) documents mentioned cardiac surgery, and 6 (10.2%) contained some actionable language to incorporate cardiac surgical services, but none was explicitly dedicated to cardiac surgical services. Conclusion Although growing, high-level political commitment for curative cardiovascular health services remains minimal. Increased awareness is needed to develop comprehensive cardiovascular care that is necessary to mitigate the increasing burden of premature morbidity and mortality from cardiac disease, and to work towards the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage.

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