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In recent years, the number of surveys of access to and use of financial services has multiplied, but little is known about whether the data generated are comparable across countries, or within the same country over time. This paper reports results from a randomized experiment in Ghana to test whether the identity of the respondent and the inclusion of product-specific cues in questions affect the reported rates of household usage of financial services. The analysis shows that rates of household usage are almost identical when the head reports on behalf of the household and when the rate is tabulated from a full enumeration of household use. Randomly selected informants (i.e., non-heads of the household) provide a less complete summary of household use of financial services than the other two methods. The findings also show that for credit from formal institutions, informal sources of savings, and insurance, usage rates are higher when questions are asked about specific financial products rather than about the respondent's dealings with types of financial institutions. In short, who is asked the questions and the form in which they are asked both matter.

Access to Finance --- Access to financial services --- Banks --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Collateral --- Debt --- Deposit --- Depositors --- Deposits --- Economic growth --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial depth --- Financial institutions --- Financial products --- Financial services --- Financial system --- Household access --- Inequality --- International bank --- Loan --- Outreach --- Savings --- Transactions costs

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As early as 2000, development partners embarked on a decade-long search for "innovative" or alternative sources of Official Development Assistance to help finance achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. For their part, developing countries have sought not only more financial flows but better financial solutions, for example, through partnerships that mobilize private finance for public service delivery, risk mitigation efforts that promote private entry in the productive sectors, and support for carbon trading. This paper offers a framework to organize and understand this heterogeneous mix of innovations in fund-raising and financial solutions for development. It also provides, for the first time, a stocktaking of actual innovations that make up the international landscape and highlights the World Bank Group's role to date. The stocktaking shows that innovative finance mechanisms have played a more significant role in supporting financial solutions on the ground than in identifying and exploiting "alternative sources of ODA." Innovative fund-raising therefore should be viewed as a complement to - rather than a substitute for - traditional efforts to mobilize official flows, in particular concessional flows. Going forward, innovations need to be tested and evaluated to determine value-added.

Access to Finance --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Capital Markets --- Debt --- Debt Management --- Debt Markets --- Developing countries --- Development Bank --- Development Finance --- Emerging Markets --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial flows --- Financial Risk --- Foreign Direct Investment --- Human Development --- International Bank --- International Development --- International Finance --- Investment Bank --- Investment Finance --- Private finance --- Private Sector Development --- Risk Management --- Trading --- Treasury --- Trust Fund

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The paper assesses the costs and household level benefits of migrating overseas from Bangladesh. The authors survey households who have had overseas migrants to assess their characteristics compared to non-migrants. They also compute various types of migration and remittance related transaction costs and discuss the channels by which overseas migration is financed, remittances sent and the constraints faced by the poorest. Using the Propensity Score Matching method, the paper finds that overseas migration conveys substantial benefits to families as measured by household consumption, use of modern agricultural inputs, and level of household savings. The authors also offer some possible policy directions to strengthen the returns from migration as well as reduce some of the costs.

Access to Finance --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Debt Markets --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Household income --- Household level --- Household surveys --- Impact of migration --- International food policy research institute --- International migration --- Labor market --- Labor markets --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Migrant --- Migrants --- Migration --- Migration process --- Policy implications --- Policy research --- Policy research working paper --- Population Policies --- Potential migrants --- Progress --- Remittance --- Remittances --- Returnee

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This paper briefly reviews the main theories of state versus private ownership and empirical evidence on the impact of privatization in developing countries (including transition economies). The paper draws some lessons for policy and offers some suggestions on how to assess privatization, at least in countries where there is still scope for it. The paper suggests that although understanding of the efficiency gains of privatization has increased significantly in recent years, there is an important area about which little is known: the distributional effects of privatization. Whether arguing from the standpoint of welfare economics or political economy, distributional effects are critical to the outcome, or the perceived outcome, of privatization. Thus, there is a need to fully evaluate the ex ante and ex post impacts of privatization, the most effective types of regulation and ownership regimes, and the way in which losers, when there are any, can be compensated. This is a need that must be met by academics and development agencies, including the World Bank and regional development banks.

Bank Privatization --- Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Budget constraints --- Capitalization --- Economics --- Economies in transition --- Emerging Markets --- Employment --- Externalities --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial performance --- Fixed costs --- Infrastructure Economics and Finance --- Infrastructure Regulation --- Investment spending --- Laws --- Local governments --- Municipalities --- Operating efficiency --- Private Sector Development --- Privatization --- Productivity --- Profitability --- Public enterprises --- Regional development banks --- Transition economies

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The current global crisis may change globalization itself, as both developed and developing countries adjust to global imbalances that contributed to the crisis. Will these changes help or hinder economic recovery and growth in South Asia? This is the focus of this paper. The three models of globalization - trade, capital, and economic management - may not be the same in the future. Changes in globalization could change the composition of trade flows, capital flows, and economic management, which in turn, could accelerate or restrain growth. South Asia is somewhat peculiar and different from other regions in how it has globalized, although there is a lot of diversity within the region. Its trade characteristics are different. India's growth has been spearheaded by exports of modern services and less by goods exports. Modern service trade tends to be more resilient compared with goods trade. Globalization of services is still at an early stage. So, as consumers pull back in the United States, service trade is likely to be less impacted compared to goods trade. Trade also contributes to growth through knowledge spillovers, externalities, and learning. The global crisis has not reduced the stock of global knowledge. Changes in capital flows are also not likely to have a big impact on growth in South Asia, as South Asia's investments are largely driven by domestic savings. Its dependence on foreign capital is low. South Asia has attracted capital flows that are less volatile. Remittances, which are more resilient, have been the dominant form of capital inflows, exceeding foreign direct investment and other inflows.This global downturn calls for counter-cyclical economic management. But South Asia has limited room for fiscal stimulus, given high debt-to-gross domestic product ratios. Nevertheless, reduced commodity prices have created some fiscal space that can be used for growth enabling infrastructure and safety nets. As South Asia undergoes structural transformation, the region is well positioned to bounce back with global economic recovery.

Access to Finance --- Agriculture --- Bank lending --- Banks and Banking Reform --- Bilateral Trade --- Competitive advantages --- Consumers --- Debt --- Debt Markets --- Economic growth --- Economic Outlook --- Economic Theory and Research --- Emerging Markets --- Export Growth --- Exports --- Externalities --- GDP --- Gross domestic product --- Growth rate --- Income --- International Economics & Trade --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Productivity --- Safety nets --- Savings --- Telecommunications --- Value added