Looking for accurate, up-to-date data on development issues? 'World Development Indicators' is the World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about development. This indispensable statistical reference allows you to consult over 800 indicators for more than 150 economies and 14 country groups in more than 90 tables. It provides a current overview of the most recent data available as well as important regional data and income group analysis in six thematic sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links. 'World Development Indicators 2010' presents the most current and accurate development data on both a national level and aggregated globally. It allows you to monitor the progress made toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals endorsed by the United Nations and its member countries, the World Bank, and a host of partner organizations. These goals, which focus on development and the elimination of poverty, serve as the agenda for international development efforts.

Reliable quantitative data are essential for understanding economic, social and governance development because it provides evidence, and evidence are crucial to set policies, monitor progress and evaluate results. 'Africa Development Indicators 2010' (ADI) provides the most detailed collection of data on Africa available. It puts together data from different sources, and is an essential tool for policy makers, researchers, and other people interested in Africa. The opening articles of the 'ADI 2010' print edition focus on behaviors that are difficult to observe and quantify, but whose impact on service delivery and regulation has adverse long-term effects on households. The term 'quiet corruption' is introduced to indicate various types of malpractice of frontline providers (teachers, doctors, and other government officials at the front lines of service provision) that do not involve monetary exchange. The prevalence of quiet corruption and its long-term consequences might be even more harmful for developing countries, and for the poor in particular who are more exposed to adverse shocks to their income and are more reliant on government services to satisfy their most basic needs.

'World Development Indicators' (WDI) is the World Bank's annual compilation of data about development. This statistical work allows readers to consult over 800 indicators for more than 150 economies and 14 country groups in more than 90 tables. It provides a current overview of regional data and income group analysis in six thematic sections - World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links. This book presents current and accurate development data on both a national level and aggregated globally. It allows readers to monitor the progress made toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals endorsed by the United Nations and its member countries, the World Bank, and a host of partner organizations. These goals, which focus on development and the elimination of poverty, serve as the agenda for international development efforts. The CD-ROM contains time series data for more than 200 economies from 1960-2009, single-year observations, and spreadsheets on many topics. It contains more than 1,000 country tables and the text from the 'WDI 2010' print edition. The Windows based format permits users to search for and retrieve data in spreadsheet form, create maps and charts, and fully download them into other software programs for study or presentation purposes.

World Development Indicators 2012 is a compilation of relevant, high-quality, and internationally comparable statistics about development and the quality of people's lives. Organized around six themes, world view, people, the environment, the economy, states and markets, and global links, it aims to put data into the hands of policy makers, development specialists, students, and the public. The full dataset used to produce World Development Indicators contains more than 1,000 indicators for 216 economies, with many time series extending back to 1960. And, as a major part of the World Bank's open data initiative, the data are freely available for use and reuse under an open license. A companion printed volume, the little data book 2012, presents a selection of indicators for each economy, and the biennial statistics for small states presents data for less-populated developing countries. Any assessment of the Millennium Development Goals must acknowledge that amid all the signs of progress, there are gaps. Some targets will not be reached in this decade or the next. Likewise the statistical record is still incomplete; Continuing progress will require renewed commitment and careful monitoring.

Rapporten undersøger forandringen i voldelige konflikter i det 21. århundrede og fremhæver de negative påvirkninger, som gentagne voldshandlinger har haft på lande og regioners udviklingsmuligheder.

Economic growth, reflected in increases in national output per capita, makes possible an improved material standard of living. Sustainable development, popularly and concisely defined as ‘meeting the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs,' directly addresses the utilization of natural resources, the state of the environment, and intergenerational equity. Fundamental questions addressed in this textbook include: What causes economic growth? Why do some countries grow faster than others? What accounts for the extraordinary growth in the world’s population over the past two centuries? What are the current trends in population and will these trends continue? Are there limits to economic growth and population growth due to resource constraints and environmental thresholds? Is sustainable development compatible with economic growth? Can sustainable development be attained without addressing the extreme poverty that afflicts over a billion of the world’s population? This interdisciplinary textbook uses a blend of formal models, empirical evidence, history and policy to provide a coherent and comprehensive treatment of economic growth and sustainable development.

With its emphasis on the primacy of change, this study arrives at a particularly auspicious moment, as the Middle East continues to be convulsed by the greatest upheavals in generations, which have come to be known as the Arab Spring. Originally prepared as the tenth-anniversary volume of the UNDP's Arab Human Development Report, Arab Human Development in the Twenty-first Century places empowerment at the center of human development in the Arab world, viewing it not only from the vantage point of a more equitable distribution of economic resources but also of fundamental legal, educational, and political reform. The ten chapters in this book follow closely this political economy framework. They look back at what Arab countries have achieved since the early 2000s and forward to what remains to be done to reach full development. Supported by a wealth of statistical material, they cover the rule of law, the evolution of media, the persistence of corruption, the draining of resources through armed conflict, the dominance and increase of poverty, the environment, and religious education. The concluding chapter attempts an inventory of the world literature and different experiences on democratic transition to explore where the region could be heading. This critical and timely study is indispensable reading to development specialists and to Middle East scholars and students alike, as well as to anyone with an interest in the future trajectory of the region.

The aim of the Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research is to create an overview of the field of Quality of Life (QOL) studies in the early years of the 21st century that can be updated and improved upon as the field evolves and the century unfolds. Social indicators are statistical time series “...used to monitor the social system, helping to identify changes and to guide intervention to alter the course of social change”. Examples include unemployment rates, crime rates, estimates of life expectancy, health status indices, school enrollment rates, average achievement scores, election voting rates, and measures of subjective well-being such as satisfaction with life-as-a-whole and with specific domains or aspects of life. This book provides a review of the historical development of the field including the history of QOL in medicine and mental health as well as the research related to quality-of-work-life (QWL) programs. It discusses several of QOL main concepts: happiness, positive psychology, and subjective wellbeing. Relations between spirituality and religiousness and QOL are examined as are the effects of educational attainment on QOL and marketing, and the associations with economic growth. The book goes on to investigate methodological approaches and issues that should be considered in measuring and analysing quality of life from a quantitative perspective. The final chapters are dedicated to research on elements of QOL in a broad range of countries and populations.

"This Report aims to inspire and guide the researchers and practitioners who can help advance a new set of development approaches based on a fuller consideration of psychological and social influences." - p. 2

“This is not only the best environmental sociology text I’ve used, but it is the best text of any type I’ve used in college-level teaching.” –Dr. Cliff Brown, University of New Hampshire Join author Mike Bell and new co-author Loka Ashwood as they explore “the biggest community of all” and bring out the sociology of environmental possibility. The highly-anticipated Fifth Edition of An Invitation to Environmental Sociology delves into this rapidly changing and growing field in a clear and artful manner. Written in a lively, engaging style, this book explores the broad range of topics in environmental sociology with a personal passion rarely seen in sociology books. The Fifth Edition contains new chapters entitled “Money and Markets,” “Technology and Science,” and “Living in An Ecological Society.” In addition, this edition brings in fresh material on extraction between core and periphery countries, the industrialization of agriculture, the hazards of fossil fuel production, environmental security, and making environmentalism normal.