Honduras

One of the major constraints for the improvement of agricultural risk management in Central America, and in particular to the development of weather index-based insurance,... Show More + is the availability of complete meteorological data. Limitations with the data are related to restrictions in weather station coverage (density), and problems with the quality (errors and gaps in the information) and availability of historical records. This paper evaluates the reconstruction of historical meteorological records with gridded datasets for Honduras and Guatemala1 using the methodology in Uribe Alcantara et al. (2009).The reconstruction with synthetic series is implemented by replacing missing observations with estimations from regular grids (or gridded analyses). The development of synthetic series proposed here will facilitate, among other potential uses, the implementation of risk analysis in insurance contracts where meteorological information is limited or incomplete. This paper is organized in four sections. Section one describes the conceptual approach and methods implemented for the evaluation of the data and the development of the gridded analysis. Section two describes the results of the implementation of the gridded analysis for Honduras and Guatemala. Section three provides a brief description of possible applications of the regular grids for the development of weather insurance contracts. Section four summarizes the main conclusions. Show Less -

The health equity and financial protection datasheets provide a picture of equity and financial protection in the health sectors of low-and middle-income countries.... Show More + Topics covered include: inequalities in health outcomes, health behavior and health care utilization; benefit incidence analysis; financial protection; and the progressivity of health care financing. The tables in this report show how health outcomes, risky behaviors and health care utilization vary across asset (wealth) quintiles and periods. The quintiles are based on an asset index constructed using principal components analysis. Benefit-Incidence Analysis (BIA) shows whether, and by how much, government health expenditure disproportionately benefits the poor. The distribution of subsidies depends on the assumptions made to allocate subsidies to households. Under the constant unit cost assumption, each unit of utilization is assumed to cost the same and is equal to total costs incurred in delivering this type of service divided by the number of units of utilization. Show Less -

Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations.... Show More + It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for Honduras. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January-December 2010). Show Less -

The World Bank is currently supporting the US$20 million Nutrition and Social Protection Project with more than half of financing supporting the Community Based Nutrition... Show More + Program. It aims to prevent chronic early childhood malnutrition by expanding coverage of a community-based program of growth promotion and basic health activities. In 2010 the new government announced the implementation of a large-scale conditional cash transfer program that will give cash to families that make efforts to improve children's school attendance and their use of the nutrition and preventive health care services. The program will cover about 600,000 families or 30 percent of the population, the equivalent of the extreme poverty rate. Similar programs in the region proved effective in improving the nutrition status of young children. Show Less -

This report aims at providing the Government of Honduras (GOH) with a tool to improve efficiency in the management of existing public resources in the education and... Show More + health sectors, in order to increase access and provide better education and health services to the poor. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to: i) identify how resources are allocated and used in the education and health sectors; ii) identify leakages and inefficiencies in the system; iii) analyze how existing management models perform and how different public management instruments are applied in each sector; and iv) issue recommendations for improving the management of resources in the education and health sectors. The education and health sectors account for 46.2 percent of Central Government expenditures and have been highlighted as major drivers of growth. The main focus of the analysis in the education sector are the funds allocated to human resources given that it accounts for more than 80 per cent of the budget. The report presents the methodology and main findings from the survey that was carried out between November 2008 and October 2009. The main recommendation of the report is that an effort should be made in order to improve the scope, quality and transparency of the information collected on the provision of education and health services. Show Less -

This study uses data from health facility and patient exit surveys carried out in 2006 in Honduras to examine the characteristics of two basic health care provision... Show More + models: a traditional Ministry of Health (MOH) public health care one versus a community based one also known as 'alternative' or 'public-social'. The author compare these models based on access, quality, costs, productivity, and management autonomy. While the alternative model has higher unit costs for drugs, it also has higher labor productivity. The fact that alternative providers are held accountable through performance-based contracts and that their personnel are hired on a contractual basis and can be demoted or even fired may account for their stronger performance relative to traditional providers whose personnel are centrally hired civil service staff. The findings support the alternative model as a viable option to expand services to other areas of Honduras that lack health services, compensating for the MOH's insufficient capacity to deliver and manage health care services in poor and remote areas. Some elements of this model such as performance-based agreements and other incentives can be also incorporated in the management and implementation of the traditional MOH health units in order to improve their performance. As the alternative models increase in number, it will be important to continue to evaluate their performance and to also analyze whether facility performance differs based on type of management (for example, whether the facility is managed by a municipality or an association of municipalities, a non-government organization, or community based organization). Show Less -

This report on the U.S.- Honduras remittance corridor describes the remittance regulatory and market environment, financial inclusion strategies by financial institutions,... Show More + transnational economic activities, and the impacts of remittances on the Honduran economy. Six areas provide the focus of this report: (i) regulatory reforms for the remittance market are urgent in order to improve clarity in regulations as well as to include money transfer companies in the regulatory framework; (ii) money service businesses will benefit from an examination of state regulation and their subsequent harmonization and coordination; (iii) rural areas need to improve distributive infrastructure to better reap the benefits of the remittance flows; (iv) financial education and awareness for Honduran migrant communities are critical components with the overall remittance flow equation; (v) the regulatory environment of remittance flows would be greatly enhanced through the promotion, inclusion, and expansion of proper identification; and (vi) public policies can be directed to building an environment for diaspora investments in the community and local business developments for exports to Honduran communities abroad. Show Less -

Doing Business 2011: making a difference for entrepreneurs is the eighth in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those... Show More + that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. A set of regulations affecting 9 stages of a business's life are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Data in Doing Business 2011 are current as of June 1, 2010. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The paper includes the following headings: overview, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. Show Less -

This country level trade brief summarizes insights from the world trade indicators database as well as analyzes national impacts and responses to the food crisis and... Show More + global recession. The trade at a glance tables for Honduras provide a snapshot of key aspects of trade policy and performance. Show Less -