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This paper discusses competitiveness-related issues surrounding the design and administration of corporate and value added/sales taxes in four South Asian countries - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The paper is based largely on analysis of tax legislation; in addition, data from the World Banks enterprise surveys, the Doing Business report, as well as industry studies are used for evidence on tax compliance costs for business. The review of tax regulations in the region shows several commonalities: (1) widespread use of tax incentives to support selected industries, types of firms, and industrial locations; (2) many exemptions from value-added taxes as well as the practice of levying multiple indirect taxes on the same base; and (3) high costs of tax compliance for businesses. The paper discusses the consequences of tax policies for the competitiveness of South Asian producers, describes the main problems in tax administration, and outlines key directions for reforms.

Business taxation --- Competitiveness --- Debt markets --- Emerging markets --- Finance and financial sector development --- Law and development --- Macroeconomics and economic growth --- Private sector development --- Tax administration --- Tax incentives --- Tax law --- Tax policy --- Taxation & subsidies

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This paper presents a broad overview of labor market indicators for men and women in Serbia with a focus on employment patterns, entrepreneurship and career advancement as well as earnings differentials. The analysis relies primarily on the results of the Labor Force Surveys conducted in Serbia in April 2008 and October 2009. The findings show that although the overall labor market situation in Serbia is difficult, women are in a much more disadvantageous position than men. Women are much less likely to be employed, start a business or advance in the political arena. Furthermore, there is a significant wage gap between men and women in a number of sectors and occupational groups with low educated women being particularly disadvantaged. The results of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition demonstrate that the wage gap is indicative of discrimination of women in the labor market as earnings differentials cannot be explained by differences in observed characteristics of male and female employees. Based on the obtained results, the paper outlines four broad areas that require the attention of policy-makers: employment generation; enhancement of education outcomes; improvement of the regulatory environment and support to women's business and political careers; and promotion of transparent performance setting mechanisms.

Gender --- Gender and Development --- Gender and Law --- Labor Markets --- Labor markets --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Population & Development --- Population Policies --- Poverty Reduction --- Social Protections and Labor --- Wage gap

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How should Tajikistan adapt to ongoing and future climate change, in particular given the many pressing development challenges it currently faces? The paper argues that for developing countries like Tajikistan, faster economic and social development is the best possible defense against climate change. It presents some key findings from a recent nationally representative household survey to illustrate the strong public support for more climate change related spending on better management of water resources, disaster management, agriculture, and public health-four key sectors that the government's latest poverty reduction strategy identifies as being especially important from a climate change perspective. Finally, the paper argues that, as important as project-based adaptation measures may be, it is imperative that they be supported by an overall policy framework that provides a truly enabling environment to facilitate faster climate change adaptation.

Climate Change --- Climate Change Adaptation --- Climate Change Economics --- Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases --- Developing Countries --- Disaster Prevention --- Environment --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Household Surveys --- Income --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Management of Water --- Migration --- Population Policies --- Public Health --- Public Support --- Science and Technology Development --- Science of Climate Change --- Water Supply and Sanitation --- Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

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What did the global food, fuel, and financial crises of 2008-11 mean to people living in the developing world? How did people cope with the crisis and how effective were they at averting major impacts? These are the questions addressed by this book, which emerged out of qualitative crisis monitoring initiatives carried out by IDS and the World Bank. As such, this is not a book about the causes of the crisis or how to prevent future crises. Instead, this book is about how people lived through the severe economic turmoil of recent years, how they were affected, and what they did to cope, present

Financial crises -- Social aspects. --- Poor --- Cost and standard of living --- Financial crises --- Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009 --- Business & Economics --- Economic History --- Social aspects --- Poor. --- Cost and standard of living. --- Social aspects. --- Global Economic Crisis, 2008-2009 --- Subprime Mortgage Crisis, 2008-2009 --- Crashes, Financial --- Crises, Financial --- Financial crashes --- Financial panics --- Panics (Finance) --- Stock exchange crashes --- Stock market panics --- Comfort, Standard of --- Cost of living --- Food, Cost of --- Household expenses --- Living, Cost of --- Living, Standard of --- Standard of living --- Disadvantaged, Economically --- Economically disadvantaged --- Impoverished people --- Low-income people --- Pauperism --- Poor, The --- Poor people --- Economic conditions --- Crises --- Consumption (Economics) --- Home economics --- Households --- Quality of life --- Wealth --- Luxury --- Prices --- Purchasing power --- Wages --- Persons --- Social classes --- Poverty --- Surveys

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This paper surveys qualitative crisis monitoring data from sites in 17 developing and transition countries to describe crisis impacts and analyze the responses and sources of support used by people to cope. These crises included shocks to export sectors as a result of the global financial crisis, as well as food and fuel price volatility, in the period from 2008 to early 2011. Respondents reported the crisis had resulted in significant hardships in the form of foregone meals, education, and health care, food insecurity, asset losses, stress, and worsening crime and community cohesion. Although the export-oriented formal sector was most exposed to the global economic downturn, the crises impacts were more damaging for informal sector workers, and some of the adverse impacts will be long-lasting and possibly irreversible. There were important gender and age differences in the distribution of impacts and coping responses, some of which diverged from what has been seen in previous crisis coping responses. The more common sources of assistance were family, friends, and community-based and religious organizations; formal social protection and finance were not widely cited as sources of support in most study countries. However, as the crisis deepened, the traditional informal safety nets of the poor became depleted because of the large and long-lasting shocks that ensued, pointing to the need for better formal social protection systems for coping with future shocks.

Agriculture --- Coping --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial crisis --- Food crisis --- Qualitative research --- Social Development --- Vulnerability