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"The great Roman orator and statesman eloquently describes how you can make the second half of your life the best part of all--and why you might discover that reading and gardening are actually far more pleasurable than sex ever was."--Page 2 of cover

This publication helps guide investment planning and financing across key urban infrastructure sectors of Azerbaijan to improve the performance of cities—with a focus on economy, equity, and environment. The National Urban Assessment for Azerbaijan is among a series prepared by the Asian Development Bank for selected developing countries under its Urban Operational Plan 2012–2020.

This paper sets out to systematically assess urban citizens' tax attitudes in Myanmar. It focuses on three of the most important taxes in Myanmar: income tax, commercial tax, and property tax. Income and commercial taxes are the biggest sources of tax revenue, and property tax is widespread and salient. The study is restricted to citizens living in cities, where exposure to these taxes is greatest. The paper relies on data from the 2017 City Life Survey undertaken by The Asia Foundation in partnership with the Yangon School of Political Science as part of the Myanmar Strategic Support Program (MSSP). The City Life Survey is the first of its kind in Myanmar, tracking public perceptions and lived experiences of urban life.

At a time when migration policies are beleaguered with controversies brought to the fore by national security and economic concerns, the issue of labor migration has proven to be a polarizing subject that has fueled debates among policymakers and world leaders. Interminable discussions have run the gamut from impacts and challenges of migration to crafting policies that will guarantee equal opportunities for both migrants and the local workforce. While it remains unclear how migration policies will play out in the coming years, one of the challenges faced by states is how to move forward in an increasingly globalized and highly competitive era where states are grappling for scarce resources, including skilled people. In migration discourse, brain drain is considered a ubiquitous phenomenon. Brain drain refers to the international transfer of resources in the form of human capital, i.e., the migration of relatively highly educated individuals mostly from developing to developed countries. This phenomenon is deemed challenging as it leads to talent deficit in the countries of origin.

The MEM is the World Bank's biannual flagship publication on Malaysia. It provides analysis of recent economic developments and the near-term outlook for Malaysia. Each publication also focuses on a special topic related to Malaysia's transformation into a high-income economy. Malaysia is at the forefront of a "new generation" of trade agreements that will shape trade and investment over the next decade. The 14th MEM focuses on how Malaysia can use trade agreements to bring new opportunities to the Malaysian economy and accelerate its transition to high income status.

With growing population and greater demand for urban lifestyles the existence of huge megapolises is becoming prominent around the world. The Sri Lankan government has planned to develop the entire Western region spanning Colombo, Kalutara, and Gampaha into a Megapolis by 2030 under the Western Region Megapolis Project (Megapolis Project). This Policy Insight aims to analyze optional financing mechanisms available to meet the financial requirements of the Megapolis Project.

This paper examines the short- and long-run economic impact of Egypt's energy subsidy reform in July 2014 (without and without compensating transfers for the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution) and the decline in global energy prices, as well as the long-run impact of phasing out the energy subsidies over a 5 year period. The analysis uses a Computable General Equilibrium model with 56 productive sectors, including 11 energy subsectors. The short-run analysis employs a two-stage factor market adjustment, with wages first fixed and then flexible. The long-run analysis is run in a recursive dynamic mode, capturing the impact of improved productivity and increased investment resulting from more efficient allocation of resources and reduction in government deficits. In the short run, the 2014 reforms lead to slightly lower consumption while investment increases strongly and production shifts from highly subsidized energy-intensive sectors such as energy, water and sanitation, and transport to other sectors (notably construction). The impact on overall consumer prices is limited. In the longer run, real GDP growth increases by about one percentage point relative to the baseline before the 2014 reform.

Since the global financial crisis there have been diverging trends in labor market conditions in Europe. The unemployment rate in Southern Europe still remains at its record high, while Northern Europe maintains a relatively stable employment figure. Such diverging labor market conditions have been reflected on the labor movement within the EU. Countries such as Germany and the UK attract more immigrants to their job markets, while southern countries become 'net exporters' of their labor to other parts of Europe. For example, the outflow of migrants from Greece and Portugal increased three times between 2008 and 2012. The two countries lost almost 2% of their population during this period due to this migration. The outflow of migrants from Spain and Italy reached 300,000 during the same period. Spain used to be a migration destination for a long time, but its net migration has been negative since 2012.

As a small economy, Moldova's growth and development prospects are closely related to its performance in international and regional markets. In this report the authors have looked at the export performance and competitiveness of the Moldovan economy. This report provides an overview of Moldova's trade competitiveness. Its objectives are twofold: (i) to present a comprehensive analysis of Moldova's recent trade performance and (ii) to identify policy measures and interventions that can enhance the competitiveness of Moldova's export firms and the value added of their exports. The report is divided into two main parts. Part one contains an exports outcome analysis. It assesses export performance along four dimensions that contribute to form a comprehensive picture of the sustainable competitiveness of the export sector, including (i) the level, growth, and market share performance of existing exports (the "intensive margin"); (ii) diversification of products and markets (the "extensive margin"); (iii) the quality and sophistication of exports (the "quality" margin); and (iv) the survival of export flows (the "sustainability margin"). Part two investigates constraints on Moldova's competitiveness, focusing specifically on a series of supply-side factors, such as the role of backbone and input services and utilities, and access to finance; and the business environment, particularly government regulations affecting trade and governance and institutional quality. The rest of the report is structured as follows: Section two examines overall trends in trade flows, including the growth of exports and imports, the degree of trade openness, and the recent evolution in foreign direct investment flows. In Section three, the authors concentrate on export outcomes, analyzing the sectoral composition, the growth orientation, and degree of diversification of Moldovan exports. The authors also analyze the evolution in the quality and sophistication of exports and the survival of export relationships in different markets and sectors. In the second part of the report, the authors look at productivity dynamics of Moldovan firms in comparative perspective, and then investigate the impact of access to finance, backbone services, trade and customs regulations, and corruption on firm productivity. The authors conclude this report with policy recommendations to improve Moldova's export competitiveness and increase the product and market scope, quality, and sophistication of its export basket.

In the past decade, Turkey has experienced a notable level of poverty reduction at all levels (extreme poor, poor, and vulnerable). The steady decline in poverty was also resilient to the decline in gross domestic product per capita growth during the crisis. However, although poverty convergence was strong before the financial crisis, there was an absence of regional convergence afterward. This paper analyzes poverty trends, poverty convergence, economic mobility, and the determinants of poverty reduction at the regional level over the period 2006–13. The analysis finds that agricultural growth in the east was an important contributor to Turkey's regional poverty reduction. In additionally, employment growth in the services sectors boosted poverty reduction throughout the entire country. From a fiscal perspective, the amount of per capita central spending is also linked to poverty reduction, although more strongly for regions in the west.

Industry and financial profiles of MENA firms may underpin the observation that MENA country exports are below potential and skewed toward low value-added goods that are unable to spur rapid job creation and inclusive growth. To assess this link, the paper combines analysis highlighting external financing as a determinant of export performance, and analysis highlighting sector asset tangibility and governance. Why? Because high value-added sectors tend to have higher shares of intangible assets and to create innovative products requiring substantial research and development or investments, thereby making these sectors more dependent on external financing. Using sector- and firm-level export data with country-level indicators, the results indicate that countries with more developed financial sectors and stronger governance tend to have higher exports from sectors that are more reliant on finance external to the firm, and lower exports from sectors with higher shares of tangible assets. Interestingly, financial sector development boosts exports less in MENA than in non-MENA countries. To foster expansion of higher value exports, the results suggest a critical need for: (i) deeper financial sector development that strengthens market-based systems, such as asset registries and credit reporting agencies, and (ii) strengthening of legal and governance frameworks.

With the success of the World Trade Organization and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in reducing conventional tariff barriers, much of the recent focus of regional and multilateral trade agreements has switched to non-tariff measures, both border and behind-the-border policies. This paper considers the recent empirical and theoretical literature on non-tariff measures in the world trading system. It provides a set of stylized facts based on available data on non-tariff measures and reviews the key methods used to estimate their trade impact. It considers the theoretical treatment of these measures in the trade literature with a focus on the rules and institutions that govern non-tariff measures in the world trading system. It discusses some of the major issues regarding international cooperation in these policy areas, in particular whether such cooperation should entail deep integration (involving precise legally binding obligations) or shallow integration (which allows countries greater discretion in the setting of non-tariff measures). Finally, this paper reviews some of the specific features the World Trade Organization uses in dealing with non-tariff measures such as national treatment rules and non-violation complaints, and considers policy options beyond the WTO such as harmonization and mutual recognition of standards.

With growing population and greater demand for urban lifestyles the existence of huge megapolises is becoming prominent around the world. The Sri Lankan government has planned to develop the entire Western region spanning Colombo, Kalutara, and Gampaha into a Megapolis by 2030 under the Western Region Megapolis Project (Megapolis Project). This Policy Insight aims to analyze optional financing mechanisms available to meet the financial requirements of the Megapolis Project.

To discuss some of the key issues of interest to Bangladesh's migrant workers, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a dialogue titled Safeguarding Interests of Bangladesh Migrant Workers: Issues of Financial Inclusion and Social Protection on 21 October 2015 at Lakeshore Hotel, Dhaka jointly with the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE), Government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organization (ILO), Country Office in Bangladesh. The dialogue was an opportunity to raise awareness of the public in general, and policymakers in particular, as regards advancing the interests of Bangladesh's migrant workers in view of the emerging demands.

This paper uses a large national household panel from 1999/2000 and 2007/08 to analyze the short-term effects of India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme on wages, labor supply, agricultural labor use, and productivity. The scheme prompted a 10-point wage increase and higher labor supply to nonagricultural casual work and agricultural self-employment. Program-induced drops in hired labor demand were more than outweighed by more intensive use of family labor, machinery, fertilizer, and diversification to crops with higher risk-return profiles, especially by small farmers. Although the aggregate productivity effects were modest, total employment generated by the program (but not employment in irrigation-related activities) significantly increased productivity, suggesting alleviation of liquidity constraints and implicit insurance provision rather than quality of works undertaken as a main channel for program-induced productivity effects.