This paper is a contribution to the draft rural development strategy for the World Bank, which is currently pending approval by the Board of Executive Directors. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are the author's own and should not be attributed to the World Bank, its management, its Board of Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Some of the numbers quoted are estim...

Pooling resources, knowledge and technologies is a necessity in the health sector. Many hospitals do so through alliances with compatible establishments, which have been studied from the organizational perspective for many years. However, many alliances are reported to fail and the conditions which could foster their success are still not well known. The aim of this exploratory study was to ide...

Improving the regulation of banks has been at the centre of economic policy actions since the outbreak of the global fi nancial crisis. One of the many and conceptually very diff erent measures proposed is to improve the corporate governance of banks by setting qualifi cation standards for banks’ non-executive directors. To explore the rationale of such a regulation implemented in Germany, we c...

During the past decade, infection prevention programs have been presented with an unending series of challenges and expectations. The challenges, more often than not, have resulted in additional responsibilities, functions, and workload for infection control professionals (ICPs) and healthcare epidemiologists. These additional responsibilities have not been accompanied by proportional increases...

In response to a growing need for assistance among our aging population, assisted-living facilities have been designed to fill the widening chasm between community living and nursing care. Although sedentary behavior has been linked to functional limitations and disability, no comprehensive information exists about the social and physical environments and the programming available to promote ph...

The development of an educational program and credentialing structure to support and recognize an advanced level of the practice of nuclear medicine technology is now underway. This work parallels the efforts in many, if not most, health care disciplines as they seek to achieve the twin goals of developing enhanced career paths and providing the best possible patient care in an environment wher...

The Independent Evaluation Group is an independent unit within the World Bank Group; it reports directly to the Bank's Board of Executive Directors. IEG assesses what works, and what does not; how a borrower plans to run and maintain a project; and the lasting contribution of the Bank to a country's overall development. The goals of evaluation are to learn from experience, to provide an objecti...