This article examines the relation between poor women and men and common property resources (cprs). It locates poor people's use of cprs within a wider focus on sustainable livelihoods, which argues that development initiatives need to build on people's assets and strengths, and identifies cprs as a crucial element of poor people's coping and adaptive strategies.
This paper analyzes the implications community participation has on education and examines World Bank practices related to community participation in education.
Part of the Consultations with the Poor. Background research to inform 'Voices of the Poor' and the 'World Development Report 2000/1: Attacking Poverty.'
This paper will address how political institutions influence the incentives for politicians to reach out to rural voters, as well as their capabilities to implement poverty alleviation programs. Specifically, it examines the role of the party system in determining whether politicians initiated targeted social spending policies during economic adjustment. The paper is presented in three parts. Part I will review briefly the larger dissertation research, including the main argument regarding how party systems affect whether politicians make credible commitments to targeted social policy. Part II is an empirical assessment of the party system argument applied to one type of system, elected authoritarian regimes. The experiences of the following countries are evaluated in this section: Mexico, Indonesia, and Ghana. Part III will tackle the thorny question of how to generate policy recommendations if one takes seriously the finding that internal political dynamics are a powerful predictor of social policy patterns.
A World Bank survey reveals Ghana firms lack contract discipline that leads to regular delivery and poignant delays. Ghanaian business firms apparently earn their reputation for undisciplined contracted behavior. However, the cause of their contract failure is probably their poverty rather than their culture. Most firms recognize that failure to meet contracted obligation increased transactions costs. But the prevalence of exogenous shocks and low income levels often prevented Ghana firms from fulfilling their obligations.
Entrepreneurial networks effect on enterprise performance is investigated. Evidence from the Ghanaian manufacturing sector is presented. As evidence from the Ghanaian manufacturing sector suggests, the structure of networks and their effectiveness in enhancing enterprise performance are tied to the objectives of the entrepreneur. Larger enterprises reaped productivity gains while smaller enterprises did not. The networks developed by each had different structures and functions. Entrepreneurs with smaller firms tended to create networks that reduce uncertainty rather than enhance productivity.
