In response to the Great Recession of
2008, many national governments implemented fiscal stimuli
packages in 2009 and 2010 to prevent further declines in
aggregate demand... Show More +
and to jump start their economic recovery.
Where subnational governments responded with fiscal
contraction, as in the United States, the impact was muted;
where states/provinces also expanded expenditures, as in
China and India, the impact was magnified. Increases in
recurrent expenditure, which were made in Brazil and India,
acted as short-term stimulants; additional public
investment, as in China, appears to have had a more lasting
impact on growth. Large developing countries typically
exhibit high interregional inequality in levels of
development and global integration, resulting in
differential magnitude and timing of the crisis impact. For
example, coastal states in India were affected more severely
and quickly than landlocked states; revenue moved in
opposite directions in the two types of state in 2009. Where
fiscal stress varies widely across subnational entities,
central transfers alone cannot prevent pro-cyclicality of
subnational fiscal response to a recession. There is need
for flexibility in subnational borrowing within a
sustainable fiscal framework. Many Indian states were able
to maintain or accelerate their spending thanks to the
additional borrowing permitted in 2009 and 2010. In
comparison, limited borrowing capacity and lack of
flexibility in federal grants restricted the contribution of
Brazilian states to fiscal stimulus. Legal prohibition of
subnational borrowing induced China's provinces to
finance additional investments through extra-budgetary
borrowing by nongovernment entities, with significant fiscal
risks on account of contingent liabilities. Show Less -
Type: Policy Research Working Paper
Report#: WPS6409
Date: April 1, 2013
Author:
Fardoust, Shahrokh ;
Ravishankar, V.J.
Efforts to make it easier for firms to
register formally are the most common form of business
regulatory reform over the past decade. While there is
evidence that large... Show More +
reforms have resulted in some increases
in registration rates, recent experimental evidence suggests
very few informal firms choose to register when given
information about how to do so. This raises the question of
whether it is productive for governments to continue to
extend simplification efforts to all firms, especially those
in more remote areas where many of the benefits of
registering may be reduced. This study uses administrative
data to evaluate the impact of Minas Facil Expresso, a
program in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which
attempted to expand a business start-up simplification
program to more remote municipalities. Using
difference-in-differences with 56 months of registration
data for 822 municipalities, the analysis finds introducing
these units actually led to a reduction in registration
rates, and no change in tax revenues. The paper uses this
evaluation to illustrate the design choices and issues
involved in using administrative data to evaluate reforms,
with the goal of also providing a template that can be used
for evaluating similar reforms elsewhere. Show Less -
Type: Policy Research Working Paper
Report#: WPS6368
Date: February 1, 2013
Author:
Bruhn, Miriam ;
McKenzie, David
This report analyzes the dynamics of
violent crime in Brazil. What factors are driving the
overall crime decline in Brazil? Why is violent crime
declining in some states... Show More +
while it is increasing in others?
What types of interventions could help to reduce youth
violence? These are the questions that motivate this report.
Understanding what has gone right to bring crime down during
the past 10 years is crucial to tackling the challenges
posed by the new decade. The purpose of this report is to
enhance that understanding. To do so, we examine the
determinants of the crime shift at the national level,
review the experience of the high-performing states, and
generate new evidence on the impact of education policies on
youth violence prevention. This report is organized in four
chapters. Chapter one sets the stage for the issues covered
in the report. Chapter two estimates the correlation of the
change in crime in Brazil and across regions and states.
Chapter three reviews the evidence on the policies
implemented to reduce crime and violence in Sao Paulo, Minas
Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro. Chapter four presents findings
on the impact of school enrollment on youth crime and
violence prevention. The last section summarizes key lessons. Show Less -
Type: Other Urban Study
Report#: 70764
Date: January 1, 2013
This case study summarizes the responses
to the questionnaire on The Nuts and Bolts of the Program
Expanding Health Coverage to the Poor, developed within the
framework... Show More +
of the World Bank's UNICO - Universal
Challenge Program. By so doing, it assesses the key
features and the achievements and challenges of Brazils
Primary Care Strategy (PCS) and analyzes the contribution of
this strategy to the establishment and implementation of
universal coverage. Section 2 provides context for the
discussion by summarizing key reforms and the impact of the
PCS and describes Brazils health care delivery and
financing system. The institutional architecture and
interaction of the health care program (HCP), in this case
the PCS, is discussed in section 3. Sections 4 through 8
outline the main features of the strategy, including the
identification and targeting of beneficiaries, management of
public funds, services covered, and the information
environment. The case study concludes with a discussion of
lessons learned (section 9) and the pending agenda (section 10). Show Less -
Type: Working Paper (Numbered Series)
Report#: 74957
Date: January 1, 2013
Author:
Couttolenc, Bernard ;
Dmytraczenko, Tania
For many years, Rio de Janeiro has held
the dubious distinction of being one of the worlds most
beautiful cities, and at the same time, one of the most
dangerous. This... Show More +
report is the story of Rios attempt to
break with history and establish a new kind of state
presence in its favelas. This report documents how life in
the favelas is changing as a result of the Police
Pacification Unit (UPP) pacification effort, as seen through
the eyes of favela residents themselves. This study used a
qualitative, case-study approach and consisted of
observations, focus groups, and key informant interviews in
four favelas. The study fits into the broader territorial
approach to urban and social development that the World Bank
has been supporting in both the state and city of Rio de
Janeiro, and for which the historical alliance between
federal, state and municipal governments in Rio has been
crucial. These projects have focused on strengthening
planning and management of urban growth in the metropolitan
region, promoting the provision of affordable housing with
access to infrastructure and service, and supporting the
implementation of a targeted, comprehensive social
development program for the urban poor. Under the social
development agenda, the Bank has been providing support to
Social UPP since its design stage, in 2010, through
technical assistance services to strengthen social
governance and territorially-based monitoring and evaluation. Show Less -
Type: Social Analysis
Report#: 76011
Date: October 1, 2012
Executive Directors approved a Fiscal
Efficiency for Quality of Public Service Delivery
Development Policy Loan Project to the State of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil in the... Show More +
amount of US$300 million, on the
payment terms and conditions set out in the President's
Memorandum. Directors expressed support for the operation,
which will improve fiscal management, social service
delivery in health and education, and public financial
management. Directors commended the government for sound
macroeconomic management, a prudent fiscal policy stance,
and a solid financial system. Directors stressed the
importance of ensuring that the benefits of the operation
reach the poorest regions of the State, and underscored the
importance of gender in the operation. They noted the
assessment of fiscal risks and urged maintaining close
dialogue with the authorities on the fiscal outturn.
Directors also encouraged the dissemination of the reforms
supported in Rio de Janeiro to other client governments,
within and outside Brazil. Finally, Directors urged strong
coordination with state agencies and donors. Show Less -
Type: Summary of Discussion
Report#: 72356
Date: August 30, 2012
The Executive Directors approved the
Brazil - Third Minas Gerais Development Partnership
Development Policy Loan, or DPL Project to the State of
Minas Gerais, Brazil... Show More +
in the amount of US$450 million on the
payment terms and conditions set out in the President's
memorandum. Directors expressed broad support for the
Development Policy Loan, which is aligned with and closely
linked to the objectives of the Brazil Country Partnership
Strategy, or CPS, 2012-2015. Directors highlighted the
importance of closely monitoring program results and the
State's fiscal situation, given its high vulnerability
to reductions in commodity prices. Staffs were urged to
ensure that the operation will benefit the poorest regions
of the State and foster more jobs for youth. Directors also
called for dissemination of the lessons learned from its
successful reform to other client governments, both inside
and outside Brazil. Directors noted staff efforts to provide
support to Brazil through a large number of sub-national
DPLs, and in this regard called for an assessment of lessons
learned. Directors also noted efforts to support
improvements in environmental management and climate change
mitigation policies. Show Less -
Type: Summary of Discussion
Report#: 71501
Date: July 26, 2012
Executive Directors approved the
Expanding Opportunities, Enhancing Equity in the State of
Pernambuco Development Policy Loan Project with the
guarantee of the Federative... Show More +
Republic of Brazil in the amount
of US$ 500 million on the payment terms and conditions set
out in the President's Memorandum. Directors expressed
support for this operation, citing its consistency with the
priority of the Brazil country partnership strategy for
2012-2015 to increase support to the poorer states of the
Northeast region of Brazil. The Directors noted the
importance of promoting equity and social inclusion, as well
as welcoming the strong focus on gender issues into the
State's development strategy. Directors encouraged
continued attention by Staff to policy implementation and
strengthening of the State's institutional capacity
with a view to further enhancing the loan's development impact. Show Less -
Type: Summary of Discussion
Report#: 67725
Date: March 22, 2012
Despite Rio de Janeiro's privileged
position as Brazil's historical capital (from the
eighteenth century until 1960) and as a major center for
tourism, culture, and... Show More +
education, the city and its region
(collectively known as the metropolitan region of Rio de
Janeiro) confronted significant challenges during the final
decades of the twentieth century. Since the relocation of
the national capital to Brasilia, ongoing industrial
restructuring, and social inequality contributed to declines
in the region's share of Brazil's population and
gross domestic product (GDP). However, since 2001, the
region has entered a new period of expansion, based on the
surging petrochemical and metallurgical industries, and port
and logistics services. Also promising for development over
the coming years, the city will host the 2014 World cup
final game and the 2016 summer Olympics. With this in mind,
the World Bank, with a guarantee from Brazil's federal
government, is funding the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan urban
and housing Development Policy Loan (DPL). Show Less -
Type: Brief
Report#: 68265
Date: December 1, 2011
Author:
Palladini, Eric
Type: Summing Up
Report#: 65560
Date: November 1, 2011
The landscape of Brazil is changing. The
country is consolidating its urbanization and its historic
hinterlands are becoming better integrated with the domestic
and... Show More +
global economy. With growth strong, a favorable economic
forecast and poverty levels declining, the country is
turning increasing public policy attention to addressing its
housing problem, to planning for future growth in cities,
and to converting the Amazon into an engine of green growth
through agriculture and environmental services. But the
legacy of accumulated problems in housing supply, urban
planning, land governance and management of the Amazon
region are daunting overhangs which the society has only
begun to address. This report assesses progress in
addressing these challenges from the perspective of land
governance. Land governance plays a fundamental role in
housing creation, urban management, agricultural
productivity and environmental outcomes. The report is
organized in four chapters. Chapter 1 examines three areas
of the land governance framework that have been culpable in
creating and sustaining informality and outlines remedial
steps that have been taken in each case to date. The areas
of governance addressed are the legal framework; land
information systems; and the delivery mechanisms for land
use planning and management. Chapter 2 profiles informal
land settlement in six urban municipalities and reviews
their implementation experiences with regularization
programs. Chapter 3 focuses on the land regularization
program in Para and its close linkages to environmental
regulation enforcement. Chapter 4 discusses the future of
land governance. Show Less -
Type: Other Agricultural Study
Report#: 69708
Date: June 1, 2011
As a means to reduce delays in public
works implementation, a number of Brazilian states have
recently reformed their procurement rules allowing
contractor price proposals... Show More +
to be assessed before the
technical evaluation of submitted bids is undertaken (in a
procedure known as inversao das fases). In order to evaluate
the effects of such reform, this paper adopts a
difference-in-differences methodology to compare the
procurement performance of Sao Paulo state (a reformer
state) and Minas Gerais' (a non-reformer state) largest
water and sewage utility along three efficiency dimensions:
(i) procurement process duration; (ii) likelihood of
complaint resolution litigation; and (iii) prices paid to
contractors. The analysis finds that the reform is
associated with a 24 day reduction in the duration of
procurement processes for large projects and a 7 percentage
point drop in the likelihood of court challenges
irrespective of project size. Although both effects are
economically important, only the latter is statistical
significant. Finally, the paper finds no evidence of an
effect of the procurement reform on prices paid. Show Less -
Type: Policy Research Working Paper
Report#: WPS5528
Date: January 1, 2011
Author:
Vardy, Felix ;
Borges de Oliveira, Alexandre ;
Blancas, Luis ;
Chioda, Laura ;
Cordella, Tito
This report analyzes perceptions about
Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) as portrayed and debated
in free and independent press in Brazil. The motives behind
the study... Show More +
are to contribute to an understanding of the
public debate about this type of social policy instrument,
given its widespread popularity and potential to reduce
poverty and inequality and the replication of this type of
instrument in many countries around the world. It examines
the tenor of this public debate at two levels: (a) the macro
level, looking at overall press coverage and the tone of
media articles towards CCTs in Brazil; and (b) the micro
level, digging deeper into the media treatment of technical
design and implementation features. Show Less -
Type: Working Paper (Numbered Series)
Report#: 70613
Date: December 1, 2010
Author:
Vincensini, Vanina ;
Lindert, Kathy
This report summarizes the past 10 years
(1998-2008) of World Bank engagement at the state level in
four selected large federal countries: Brazil, India,
Nigeria, and... Show More +
the Russian Federation. The report identifies
lessons and good practice examples that warrant further
examination and wider dissemination. First, the study
confirms the desirability of continued selective lending in
a few focus states. The Bank's engagement with
progressive, reformist states has added value and has been
highly appreciated, but to enhance the poverty impact of
state-level interventions, greater weight should be given to
the needs of the poorest states by balancing states'
propensity to reform and the concentration of poverty within
them. Experience shows that it has been possible to achieve
results in some of the poorer, low-capacity states through
persistent work with committed state counterparts and
partnerships with other donors. Second, continued focus on
public finance management appears sound, irrespective of
whether engagement is confined to this area or serves as an
entry point for broader engagement. Third, there is
considerable scope for greater impact from knowledge
transfer and expanded knowledge services. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 54435
Date: April 21, 2010
The Executive Directors approved a
two-tranche Development Policy Loan (DPL) to the State of
Rio de Janerio in the amount of US$485 million with a
sovereign guarantee... Show More +
from the Federative Republic of Brazil
for the Rio de Janerio metropolitan urban and housing DPL on
the payment terms and conditions set out in the
President's Memorandum (R2011-0041). Show Less -
Type: Summary of Discussion
Report#: 60240
Date: March 15, 2010
The book analyzes the success of
Brazil's public debt management practices. Over the
past 10 years, Brazil has strengthened these practices so
impressively that in early... Show More +
2008, with the threat of a strong
financial crisis in the world ahead, the main rating
agencies assigned Brazil the investment grade. Despite the
serious financial crisis that actually erupted in 2008,
Brazil's credibility with domestic and international
investors remains high. This book is organized into three
parts: Part I, Understanding the Brazilian Public Debt;
Origin and history of Brazil's public debt up to 1963,
provides an historical and conceptual analysis of
Brazil's public debt, exploring its main concepts and
sustainability, and offering a view of its progress from its
inception to the present. Part II, Managing the Brazilian
Public Debt, describes all aspects of FPD management. Part
III, The Public Debt Market in Brazil, describes how the
public debt market operates in Brazil. It reviews recent
developments and follows with the characteristics of public
securities traditionally used to finance debt, along with
their pricing schemes. Next, it describes the organization
of Brazil's financial markets, the operation of primary
and secondary debt markets, the expansion of the investor
base over time and the main holders of government securities. Show Less -
Type: Debt and Creditworthiness Study
Report#: 70081
Date: January 1, 2010
Author:
Oliveira de Carvalho,Lena ;
Ladeira de Medeiros,Otavio ;
Silva,Anderson Caputo
The city of Sao Paulo is the capital of
the state of Sao Paulo and the seat of metropolitan Sao
Paulo, which in turn is composed of 39 municipalities. It is
Brazil's... Show More +
most populous city; the 10,879,619 residents
represent 6 percent of the country's total population.
It is also the most significant city in terms of the
production of wealth; Sao Paulo alone is responsible for
about 9 percent of Brazil's national gross domestic
product (GDP). The economic dynamism of the city is
reflected in a landscape that is in a state of constant
transformation. The main housing option for this population
proved to be the purchase of a lot in the informal land
subdivisions that were opening up on the fringes of the
consolidated urban fabric, leading to consolidation with
neighboring municipalities in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan
Region (MRSP). The problems in transportation, housing, and
sanitation that resulted from this extensive urbanization
assumed metropolitan dimensions, which led to the creation
of the MRSP and the related government agencies responsible
for integrated management of these problems in the late
1960s. In the past 30 years, the services sector has assumed
leadership of the city's economic production,
overtaking the historic primacy of the industrial sector.
Growth is most significant in fields associated with
information technology, the production of knowledge, and
culture. These economic transformations have repercussions
for the urban landscape and land use. Show Less -
Type: Working Paper
Report#: 73455
Date: June 1, 2009
Author:
Massad, Anselmo ;
Franca, Elisabete ;
Herling, Tereza
This executive summary presents
information on: (i) the safeguards policies triggered by the
Santos Novos Tempos Project; (ii) environmental and social
safeguard-related... Show More +
risks and/or impacts identified through
studies and assessments; (iii) the measures to be taken to
address these risks; and (iv) procedures to ensure that the
policies are carried out during project implementation.
Based on these analyses and finding, the project was
designed to be in full compliance with the World Bank's
safeguards policy. Show Less -
Type: Board Report
Report#: 49485
Date: April 1, 2009
Setting up a modern macroeconomic policy
framework in Brazil, 1993-2004
Type: Working Paper (Numbered Series)
Report#: 57744
Date: January 1, 2009
Author:
Werneck, Rogerio L. F.
This publication reflects the tremendous
progress that Sao Paulo has made in becoming a city that
serves all its citizens. Assisted by outstanding
coordination from... Show More +
the World Bank, the city governments of
Sao Paulo and the cities alliance have had the privilege of
sharing mutual technical support, with favorable results for
everyone. However, it is important to emphasize that this
partnership has had a significant impact on the cities
alliance itself. Prominent among the various lessons learned
is the importance of taking the long view. Doing so has
ensured that this partnership could survive different city
government administrations, as well as changes in leadership
at the cities alliance. The cooperation begun in 2001 has
remained stable and consistent through different city
administrations and changes at the cities alliance. Sao
Paulo has become an important model for the cities alliance
in its support for cities around the world. The city
government affirmed the crucial importance of working with
reliable data, supported by the kind of comprehensive system
of managerial information that most cities do not yet have.
Sao Paulo also recognized the importance of investing in a
slum upgrading program and legitimizing land tenure in
subdivisions on a city-wide scale by appropriating
substantial budgeted funds, a key component of municipal
administration, year after year. Continuous support and
funding from all three levels of government local, state,
and federal demonstrate the priority given to combating
urban poverty and promoting economic growth. Show Less -
Type: Publication
Report#: 62484
Date: January 1, 2009
Author:
Franca, Elisabete ;
Herling, Tereza
