How Competitive is EBRD Region?
The World Economic Forum released its annual Global Competitiveness Report, which contains Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)—an assessment of competitiveness of 142 countries world-wide based on their macroeconomic situation, business environment, infrastructure and other relevant indicators. All EBRD and SEMED countries are covered, except for Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Make a movie, inspire change
It may be essential for life and a resource many of us take for granted, but clean, running water is something that many in the world do not have. EBRD projects past and present have done a lot to address that shortcoming; in some of the Bank’s countries of operations, particularly those in Central Asia, our investments in infrastructure have improved the quality and security of water supplies for thousands of people.
But access to water remains a big issue. That’s why we’re focusing on water in a new film-making competition being run by TVE and part-sponsored by the EBRD. The Biomovies competition, now in its second year, invites proposals for short films. Shortlisted finalists receive a US$300 budget to produce a finished film and the overall winners get a larger cash prize. Winners may also see their work screened at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban in December 2011.
Financial market stress and implications for the EBRD region
A combination of severe financial market stress, anaemic second quarter growth in key advanced countries and the deepening euro zone crisis is materially impacting the EBRD region.
Employment concentration and resource allocation: one-company towns in Russia
One-company towns, towns where a single company accounts for a significant share of total employment and shapes the livelihoods of the people, are often associated with centrally planned economies.
But in fact they were common elsewhere. One-company towns had grown up in the USA towards the end of the 19th century, particularly in the industrial areas of the Mid-West, and at their peak were over 2,500 in number, accounting for up to 3% of the US population.
In the UK, the Cadbury company town of Bourneville and Lord Lever’s Port Sunlight were the best known examples.
A recent EBRD working paper takes a closer look at the phenomenon of one-company towns in Russia and comparative performance of enterprises located there by matching data on performance of Russian firms with the latest Census data on distribution of population.
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