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According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the private sector plays a key role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After all, sustainable and inclusive economic growth is essential to enable more people to participate in global prosperity. Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation are key to SDG 8, as are effective measures to eradicate forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking. Since more than 90 percent of jobs are created by the private sector, more attention must be paid to entrepreneurs that help create dynamic and responsible enterprises that often generate positive externalities for society and the environment through investments in scalable innovations and a commitment to local embeddedness. As such, they help lift people out of poverty through new and relatively well-paid jobs and enable local economies to become more sustainable through global value chain integration. Transitioning to Decent Work and Economic Growth explores the prospects for SDG 8 in the Global South as well as the Global North. It especially considers the positive role the private sector may play as an enabler of human rights, creator of decent work and engine for inclusive development in different contexts. Further, it examines how the institutional environment can facilitate economic change, which may lead to social empowerment and enhanced economic opportunities. A key question the volume explores, is how—in an entrepreneurial context—innovation and scientific knowledge contribute to the creation of scalable innovation that help to de-couple economic growth from the use of natural resources. Transitioning to Decent Work and Economic Growth is part of MDPI's new Open Access book series Transitioning to Sustainability. With this series, MDPI pursues environmentally and socially relevant research which contributes to efforts toward a sustainable world. Transitioning to Sustainability aims to add to the conversation about regional and global sustainable development according to the 17 SDGs. Set to be published in 2020/2021, the book series is intended to reach beyond disciplinary, even academic boundaries. For use of the SDG logos and design, please see the according Guidelines for the use of the SDG logo, color wheel, and 17 icons.
sustainable economy --- economic growth --- work --- decent work
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Armenia has made significant progress in improving population health outcomes over the past two decades. However, essential health care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is underutilized in part due to the cost of access. Armenia has also committed as a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals, to making progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This commitment involves guaranteeing access to essential health care for all its citizens. The Ministry of Health (MoH) has developed a concept note for the introduction for Universal Health Insurance that proposes to mobilize additional revenue through payroll taxes or higher budgetary allocations to the sector. However, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has noted that revenue mobilization options should ideally demonstrate positive returns in terms of economic growth and employment. Therefore, at the request of the MoH, the World Bank has modeled the macroeconomic impacts of options to increase domestic resource mobilization to finance universal access to essential health services in the basic benefits package. The analysis assumes that through UHC reforms that mobilize additional public spending, the government would cover the cost of ninety-five percent of household needs for health care from 2021 to 2050, and that the increase in the demand for care will be supported by improvements in supply-side efficiency. The results suggest that increasing direct taxes is better than increasing indirect taxes as the former are less distortionary and cause smaller allocative inefficiencies.
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This background note analyzes the economic geography of the Horn of Africa using the framework of the 2009 Word Development Report. For the purpose of this report, the Horn of Africa (henceforth HoA) comprises of five countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. This note first seeks to provide a descriptive snapshot of recent socio-economic trends in the HoA countries vis-a-vis the regional trends in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) as a whole. Second, it sheds light on the economic geography of the HoA region with a particular focus on 3D (density, distance, and division). Inparticular, this note highlights that borderlands of the HoA countries suffer from a combination of low density and high distance that hinders theborderlands from tapping their full economic potential. It finally concludes with a set of policy recommendations for removing barriers to sustainable growth in the region.
Economic Geography --- Living Standards --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth
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Despite decades of impressive economic growth, tax revenues in the Dominican Republic (DR) remain well below the regional average. The DR's tax base is extremely narrow, with extensive exemptions, deductions, zero-ratings, and allowances across all major tax categories. Tax expenditures amounted to an estimated 4.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, of which value-added tax (VAT) exemptions alone accounted for 2.5 percentage points. High levels of tax noncompliance and low tax morale further diminish revenue collection. An excessively complex and overly generous array of tax incentives weakens the performance of corporate income tax (CIT) while doing little to advance the government's economic development objectives. A high eligibility threshold and various exemptions narrow the personal income tax (PIT) tax base. Tax reforms should be phased in over time with broad public support. In the current macroeconomic climate, the sudden withdrawal of the debt-financed fiscal stimulus will have deeply negative repercussions. Tax reform is subject to a variety of political, economic, and administrative challenges that must be addressed as part of a broader fiscal strategy that provides predictability to the private sector and enjoys substantial public support. In parallel, the government must ensure that it has adequate administrative capacity to offset the impact of measures that may adversely affect poor and vulnerable households. The government's fiscal strategy should reflect the lessons of the international experience, and it should be informed by a thorough and detailed analysis of the economic and distributional implications of tax reform.
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In the years leading to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Liberia's economic performance was already weak. Since 2014 a series of severe shocks stopped in its track the growth momentum that had been spurred by the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2003. The economy was buffeted by the devastating Ebola outbreak, a collapse in iron ore and rubber prices, and the drawdown of United Nations peacekeeping forces. Monetary and exchange rate policy remained tight in 2020, with the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) exercising caution in view of uncertainties about the economic impact from Coronavirus (COVID-19). The cash shortages have made headlines and prompted the CBL to provide explanations. Fiscal space can be increased by improving the efficiency of current expenditure. The government needs first and foremost to reduce the very high level of current spending and strengthen domestic revenue mobilization to generate savings for public investments financing. Liberia should remain prudent on external borrowing in its quest to meet the large investment required by the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD). Finally, Liberia should improve the efficiency of its public investment through better planning, project preparation and management, and better alignment with PAPD priorities.
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Since the 2015 SCD, some economic progress had been shared and progress in poverty reduction was achieved, but the COVID-19 crisis has in part reversed these developments. Uganda's broad development narrative has not changed significantly since the 2015 SCD, with the COVID-19 crisis further aggravating the existing challenges. Improvements in economic developments have slowed over the past five years compared to peers, with a particularly sharp deceleration in real per capita GDP growth. Addressing the inequality of opportunities, which is pervasive in Uganda, is key for the postCOVID recovery. The SCD Update revisits the priority areas and actions for Uganda today, based on the latest developments and analysis of constraints.
Agricultural Productivity --- Economic Growth --- Environment --- Human Capital --- Inequality --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Natural Resources Management --- Poverty --- Poverty Reduction --- Sustainability
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Since 2014, the armed conflict in Ukraine's eastern provinces (oblasts) of Donetsk and Luhansk has dealt a heavy blow to people's lives. The conflict has magnified the long-standing problems and created new ones. This study shows that scaling up efforts in the government-controlled areas (GCAs) of Donbas is desirable despite the subdued productivity in the region. This study recommends a decision tree approach to programming recovery in Donbas. Given the looming uncertainties and scenario-sensitivity of optimal policies, the recovery strategy should distinguish contingent policies from no-regret policies. Contingent policies change between the status quo and the reintegration scenarios, and they include interventions to mitigate conflict-related risks, risk-related transfers to address skill-shortages in GCAs, and investments for a contingent infrastructure strategy. By comparison, no-regret policies are desirable regardless of the conflict dynamics. They include the reforms to eliminate regulatory burdens and corruption; policies to open up the housing market; investments to modernize education for jobs and target low-hanging fruits in infrastructure; and efforts to produce better data to address knowledge gaps.
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