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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

Social Protections and Labor

Far from home in China: conversations with migrant workers searching for opportunities in urban centers

Submitted by Joe Qian on Fri, 2009-10-30 10:23
Quality Control Inspector Jiang Peng walks on scaffolding along the foundation of the water treatment facility.

While traveling through China recently, I had an opportunity to visit the Shanghai Urban Environment project in the emergent suburban district of Qingpu and spoke to a number of workers responsible for the implementation and completion of the project.

As with many infrastructure and urban development projects in China, the speed and magnitude can be astonishing, with hundreds of employees working around the clock to ensure timely completion. Work on the facility runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with construction workers from all over China contracted to work and live onsite until its completion in 2011. Once finished, it will improve water service, coverage, and waste water management in the region which will be essential for sustaining the increasing population and living standards.

Amid soccer celebrations, first MBA on carbon finance hints at a solid future for green businesses

Submitted by Florian Kitt on Thu, 2009-05-28 13:30

Display at Carbon Expo in Barcelona.

It was my best intention to write my blog posts in a somewhat chronological way, but events, as they often do, just surpassed me. FC Barcelona’s convincing and clear 2-0 win against Manchester United in the Champions League final yesterday completely overshadowed Carbon Expo this morning. Some participants clearly showed signs of having joined the many street parties that lasted until the early morning and the game dominated discussions on the morning of the expo’s second day. Join me in a quick O le le, Oh la la, Barca!!

But back to business. Yesterday the Carbon Expo truly started only in the afternoon and after the plenary sessions. Carbon Expo truly is a marketplace where participants are looking for financing, projects, and jobs. Discussions become very specific, and companies and intermediaries show great interest in the World Bank’s expertise and knowledge on developing countries. Networking is a must and that includes going from stand to stand to grab information and presents, talk to possible business partners or join one of the multiple “have a drink, a bite, and talk to us” receptions.

China and stimulus packages: the best way to respond to more bad news?

Submitted by Louis Kuijs on Tue, 2009-03-24 13:57

A few days ago, our country director David Dollar blogged about the two-sided picture we see when we look at China's economic growth. The economy saw very weak export demand, which partly carried over into weak investment in manufacturing and other "market-based" sectors. Continued growth in other parts of the domestic economy was supported by policy stimulus.

China has weathered the crisis better than many other countries because it does not rely on external financing, its banks have been largely unscathed by the international financial turmoil, and it has the fiscal and macroeconomic space to implement forceful stimulus measures. China’s government has made use of this policy space by pursuing pretty forceful fiscal and monetary stimulus. From early November last year onwards, the government's 10-point plan ("RMB 4 trillion package") is being implemented. This plan emphasizes infrastructure and other investment, financed in part by government budget spending, and in part by bank lending. And the government has taken some additional, more consumption-oriented measures.

Dreaming of sweatshops? Cambodia tries to find balance

Submitted by Stéphane Guimbert on Wed, 2009-02-04 20:40

Cambodia developed an interesting model that enabled it to develop its garments industry in the mid-1990s through a deal with the US.

Recently my colleague Ryan Hahn of the PSD blog wrote about an interesting story on sweatshops. This refers to an op-ed of Nicholas Kristof, a columnist for the New York Times, titled "Where Sweatshops Are a Dream". On his own blog, he clarifies: "My point is that bad as sweatshops are, the alternatives are worse. They are more dangerous, lower-paying and more degrading."

This is indeed part of a more general point about the so-called informal economy. Creating strict standards for the formal economy – to improve working conditions and living standards – often acts as a disincentive to become formal. These standards create a barrier that prevents many workers from having a job in the formal sector and leaves them without protection in the informal sector (or even worse, without job). This is something all countries, including developed countries, are struggling with: How to encourage the upgrading of standards without being counterproductive?

Programs offer children in poverty a headstart

Submitted by Ariel Fiszbein on Fri, 2008-12-12 11:55

In the last decade, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs are probably the key social policy innovation around the world and in the East Asia and Pacific region. The targeted programs offer money to poor households on the condition they make pre-specified investments in the human capital of children. Typically, this involves school enrollment and attendance, and basic preventive health activities such as periodic checkups, growth monitoring, and vaccinations for young children. Often, programs also involve some information campaigns targeting mothers.

Driven in great part by the fact that CCT programs have been rigorously evaluated and shown to have positive impacts, they have become extremely popular in the developing world. Ten years ago, CCTs were being implemented as pilots in a handful of countries. Today close to three dozen developing countries have either a well-established CCT or are in the process of starting one. In some countries, CCTs have become the largest social assistance program, covering millions of households, as is the case in Brazil and Mexico. Interest in CCT programs is also growing in East Asian countries, including Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines.

China ideas marketplace uses entrepreneurial spirit to tackle social issues

Submitted by David Dollar on Wed, 2008-10-22 10:51

A woman explains a project to restore education in the part of Gansu, China, hit by last May's earthquake. Grassroots civil society organizations proposed innovative project ideas this week addressing development issues at the China Development Marketplace.

I am glad that I did not have to be a juror in our second China Development Marketplace, which concluded with its award ceremony today. Grassroots civil society organizations (CSOs) from all over China proposed projects addressing environmental and social issues in innovative ways.

We received more than 500 proposals, and choosing 50 winners (download list in Excel) to receive funding was a very difficult task. Our expert panel of academics, civil society activists, and financial contributors chose 115 finalists, who came to Beijing for a colorful exhibition. One of our jurors, who was judging proposals for the second time, noted that the quality of proposals was much better than the last China Development Marketplace in 2006, indicating how quickly civil society groups here are strengthening.

Join live discussion on helping fragile states on Sept. 25

Submitted by Elisabeth Mealey on Tue, 2008-09-23 17:34

One billion people live in countries in which the state is breaking down or is overcome by conflict. These countries are often bridled with high rates of poverty and their governments are typically hampered in their efforts to provide basic services or security for people’s lives to improve. A live online discussion about support for "fragile states" will take place on September 25, 10 a.m. Washington time. Alastair McKechnie, Director of the World Bank's Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Group and former Country Director in Afghanistan, will answer questions on new efforts to help countries considered "fragile" to break out of a cycle of ineffective government, poverty and conflict. Join the discussion live or send questions in advance.

What can make rural-to-urban migration successful in China?

Submitted by Xiaoqing Yu on Sun, 2008-07-06 19:53

When we visited a poor village in Qingxing county of north Guangdong a few weeks ago to work on a study of inequality,  I was struck by the severity of poverty in places only a few hours away from the most dynamic and prosperous Pearl River Delta. One family that we visited had almost no furniture. Another only lived on 90 yuan (US$13) per month from the social assistance program.

The common features of those families that we visited seem to be that they do not have any family members who are physically able to work, or that they have family members who are chronically ill. The government hopes that the rural social assistance programs can help them survive.  For those who can work, the government thinks that encouraging them to migrate to urban areas would be the best bet for them to escape such sad state of deprivation.

What can make migration successful and more permanent? For those who attempted to migrate, many ultimately return.  The need to take care of their family and the cost to do so in urban areas is often a reason. Limited access to and inability to pay for services in urban areas is another critical factor.  A farmer from the same village that we visited told us that after spending more than 10 years working in Guangzhou as a migrant worker, he had to return home. He farms the plots of land allocated to his family to take care of his parents as well as his grandchildren, whose parents are now migrant workers in Guangzhou. “My son cannot afford to have their children living with them in Guangzhou. It is impossible with their low wage and housing situation”.

Plastic bags vs jobs -- there is really no dilemma for China

Submitted by David Dollar on Wed, 2008-04-02 22:32

Andrew  Leonard posts in his blog an interesting report from journalist Tony Cheng of Al-Jazeera:

China has banned, for environmental reasons, the free hand-out of plastic bags.  As a result, the country’s largest plastic bag factory has closed, throwing 20,000 workers out on the street.  Some see this as posing a dilemma between environment and economy, but I don’t agree that good environmental policies are bad for the economy, just the opposite.  What this case illustrates instead is the dilemma between doing something good for the whole people, but at the expense of adjustment costs borne by a small group – the 20,000 workers and the factory owner. 

Good environmental policies create jobs directly and indirectly. China is quickly emerging as the largest producer of photo-voltaic cells and of wind power equipment (both supported by World Bank projects, see here and here).  The clean-up of lakes and rivers and the expansion of sewerage and waste water treatment facilities (also a big area of ours) create huge numbers of jobs in construction and maintenance.  The health benefits of the clean-up reduce illness and prolong life expectancy, both of which are good for long-run economic development.