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This note presents the results of an empirical analysis of firm-level productivity growth in Russia's manufacturing sector during the period 2003-08 using a rich Amadeus database as well as the recent EBRD/World Bank Business Enterprise and Performance surveys (BEEPs). The results show that productivity grew steadily between 2003 and 2008, with an annual growth rate averaging 4 percent over the period, showing no signs of a slowdown from the previous period after the 1998 crisis. Firm characteristics such as size, location, age, and the structure of firm ownership are important determinants of productivity, as evidenced by positive effects of scale economies (large firm effect), agglomeration (Moscow-city effect), private ownership, and a firm's industry dominance. Supplemental analysis of the quality of infrastructure-water, electricity, transport, and the internet-using BEEPS data show that infrastructure quality gaps reduce firm productivity with water supply gaps having the largest impact.

E-Business --- Economic Theory & Research --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Microfinance --- Municipal Financial Management --- Poverty Reduction --- Productivity --- Transport Economics Policy & Planning --- Russia

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In 2013, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group endorsed two ambitious goals: eliminating extreme poverty in the world by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity. The latter is defined as fostering the growth in the income of the poorest 40 percent of the population in each country. In 2016-17, the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group conducted an evaluation on how well the World Bank Group has been pursuing the shared prosperity goal in its strategies, projects, and key knowledge products, and what lessons can be learned from the early implementation experience with the new goal of shared prosperity. To inform that evaluation, a comprehensive survey among World Bank Group staff graded F and above was set up to elicit staff views and understanding of the goal and gauge how World Bank Group staff have operationalized the objective in their day-to-day work. The survey builds on good practice design in the literature as well as actions to strengthen the response rate. This paper reports on the design, methodology (including issues of sampling, questionnaire testing, data collection, and response rate), implementation, and results from that web-based survey. The results imply potential institutional actions to strengthen the World Bank Group's effectiveness in implementing the goal in the future.

Equity and Development --- Governance --- Inequality --- Knowledge Products --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Operations --- Poverty Reduction --- Pro-Poor Growth --- Shared Prosperity --- Survey --- Technology Industry --- Technology Innovation --- World Bank Goals

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February 1995 More efficient use of school classrooms in Bulgaria's sparsely populated rural areas could free up funds to spend on other educational essentials. In Eastern European countries in large social sectors such as education, inefficiency and technical deficiencies are the legacy of the old command economy. Bogetic and Chattophadyay examine the technical efficiency of classroom use (defined as the number of classes per classroom) in one transitional economy: Bulgaria. They examine that concept of efficiency in 199 urban and rural municipalities, using data envelopment analysis to generate efficiency scores. Those scores -- discussed in terms of frequency and regional distribution -- are then regressed on several socioeconomic variables. The researchers find significant relationships between the efficiency scores, on the one hand, and, on the other, the proportion of students in the population under age 20 (demand indicator), the number of teachers (variable input), the percentage of the municipal budget spent on education, and the degree of urbanization. Efficiency in the use of classrooms (in terms of classes) varies considerably among municipalities, and efficiency is highest in the capital city of Sofia. To the extent that some variation in efficiency reflects demand or demographic factors, there is little that policy can do to change the pattern. But some changes in municipal policy could increase the efficiency of classroom use without jeopardizing the fundamental learning objective. In some rural areas, for example, where there are few students and classroom utilization is low, it may be possible to consolidate several grades into multigrade classes and reduce the size of the teaching (and nonteaching) staff, while maintaining the quality of learning and maximizing the use of such fixed inputs as classrooms. To the extent that it is possible to use such classrooms more efficiently, savings could be generated in the municipalities that need them most: in demographically sparse, poor municipalities with a weak economic base. Those savings could then be reallocated to other educational essentials, such as equipment and materials. This paper -- a product of the Country Operations Division, Europe and Central Asia, Country Department I -- is part of a larger effort in the region to study social issues during the transition in South-Eastern European countries.

Education --- Economic aspects.

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Taxes --- Bulgaria

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Zonder onderwerpscode: wereldeconomie, ontwikkelingsproblematiek