The Financial Institutions Internet Sourcebook discusses the strategic possibilities of today's Internet in easy-to-understand language that shows you the necessity of learning more about the Web today. The case study of La Jolla Bank FSB, one of the first financial institutions to get on the Web, lets you learn from La Jolla's successes and helps you avoid their costly mistakes.

Provides a first port of call for those seeking information sources in a sector that has undergone tremendous change in recent years. Includes information on banks and building societies, insurance companies, investment funds and pension funds. Highlights essential reference works, consumer information, career guides, technical reports, official publications, market and company research, product information and electronic resources. Identifies the most appropriate sources and provides assistance in choosing between competing items and provides an overview of significant international sources

Managing the ability of agriculture to meet rising global demand and to respond to the changes and opportunities will require good policy, sustained investments, and innovation - not business as usual. Investments in public Research and Development, extension, education, and their links with one another have elicited high returns and pro-poor growth, but these investments alone will not elicit innovation at the pace or on the scale required by the intensifying and proliferating challenges confronting agriculture. Experience indicates that aside from a strong capacity in Research and Development, the ability to innovate is often related to collective action, coordination, the exchange of knowledge among diverse actors, the incentives and resources available to form partnerships and develop businesses, and conditions that make it possible for farmers or entrepreneurs to use the innovations. While consensus is developing about what is meant by 'innovation' and 'innovation system', no detailed blueprint exists for making agricultural innovation happen at a given time, in a given place, for a given result. The AIS approach that looks at these multiple conditions and relationships that promote innovation in agriculture, has however moved from a concept to a sub-discipline with principles of analysis and action. AIS investments must be specific to the context, responding to the stage of development in a particular country and agricultural sector, especially the AIS. This sourcebook contributes to identifying, designing, and implementing the investments, approaches, and complementary interventions that appear most likely to strengthen AIS and to promote agricultural innovation and equitable growth. It emphasizes the lessons learned, benefits and impacts, implementation issues, and prospects for replicating or expanding successful practices. The information in this sourcebook derives from approaches that have been tested at different scales in different contexts. It reflects the experiences and evolving understanding of numerous individuals and organizations concerned with agricultural innovation, including the World Bank. This information is targeted to the key operational staff in international and regional development agencies and national governments who design and implement lending projects and to the practitioners who design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. The sourcebook can also be an important resource for the research community and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Online Business Sourcebook is the only evaluative guide to electronic business database products and services. The arrangement of products and services within the Sourcebook is by thematic chapter, to make it easy to review all products on a specific topic: Online hosts and aggregators; The Internet; Company directories; Company financials; Investment analysis; Shareholder analysis; Credit; Mergers and acquisitions; Business and financial news; Business opportunities; Grants, advice and source of finance; Legislation and regulations; Prices; Market data; Industries; Economics and finance; International trade; Business management literature; Trademarks, trade names and brands; Recent highlights. Within most chapters, products are arranged by geographic coverage. Incorporated are three indexes: names; country/regions and subjects.

The Sourcebook on the Foundations of Social Protection Delivery Systems synthesizes real-world experiences and lessons learned of social protection delivery systems from around the globe. It takes a broad view of social protection, covering various intended populations such as poor or low-income families, unemployed workers, persons with disabilities, and individuals facing social risks. It discusses many types of interventions that governments provide to individuals, families, or households, including categorical programs, poverty-targeted programs, labor benefits and services, disability benefits and services, and social services. The Sourcebook seeks to address concrete “how-to†? questions, including: • How do countries deliver social protection benefits and services? • How do they do so effectively and efficiently? • How do they ensure dynamic inclusion, especially for the most vulnerable and needy? • How do they promote better coordination and integration—not only among social protection programs but also among programs in other parts of government? • How can they meet the needs of their intended populations and provide a better client experience? The delivery systems framework elaborates on the key elements of that operating environment. The framework is anchored in core implementation phases along the delivery chain. Key actors, including people and institutions, interact all along that delivery chain. Those interactions are facilitated by communications, information systems, and technology. This framework can apply to the delivery of one or many programs and to the delivery of adaptive social protection. The Sourcebook structures itself around eight key principles that can frame the delivery systems mind-set: 1. There is no single blueprint for delivery systems, but there are commonalities, and those common elements constitute the core of the delivery systems framework. 2. Quality of implementation matters, and weaknesses in any of the core elements will negatively affect the entire system, reducing the impacts of the program(s) they support. 3. Delivery systems evolve over time, in a nonlinear fashion, and their starting points matter. 4. Efforts should be made to “keep it simple†? and to “do simple well,†? from the start. 5. The “first mile†?—people’s direct interface with administrative functions—is often the weakest link in the delivery chain; improving it may take systemic change but will greatly improve overall efficiencies and mitigate the risk of failures on the frontlines. 6. Social protection programs do not operate in a vacuum, and thus their delivery systems should not be developed in silos; synergies across institutions and information systems are possible and can improve program outcomes. 7. Social protection delivery systems can contribute more broadly to government’s ability to serve other sectors, such as health insurance subsidies, scholarships, social energy tariffs, housing benefits, and legal services. 8. The dual challenges of inclusion and coordination are pervasive and perennial and encourage the continuous improvement of delivery systems, through a dynamic, integrated, and human-centered approach.

A Source Book for Mediæval History is a scholarly piece by Oliver J. Thatcher. It covers all major historical events and leaders from the Germania of Tacitus in the 1st century to the decrees of the Hanseatic League in the 13th century.

Apart from summarising the financial developments, reforms and policies over the past decades of the financial system in Singapore, this second edition of the Singapore Financial Sourcebook has been completely updated, revised and expanded.

The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook has been integrated with the award-winning and frequently visited Brookings website to provide a timely, interactive tool for policymakers, journalists, and scholars. Four of the country's leading experts on campaign finance reform have contributed original essays on important facets of finance law and administration. The essays are accompanied by a list of corresponding documents available on the website. The book offers a thorough overview and analysis of this highly controversial issue, including the history of campaign finance regulation and the current state of the law, current practices and trends in the flow of money, the constitutional debate, the use of political party money, issue advocacy, public financing of presidential elections, implementing and enforcing campaign finance laws, and campaigning on the internet. The authors conclude with a broad overview of alternative approaches to reform. The related website (www.brookings.edu/campaignfinance) features sidebars that correspond to the book's chapters as well as associated documents. The site is frequently updated with recent developments in campaign finance regulation and analyses of current court cases and administrative decisions. There are also links to advisory opinions from the Federal Elections Commission, nonprofit organizations that study reform, and related publications-.

The European Union has long sought to create a single financial area across Europe where consumers in one country benefit from financial markets and activities in other countries. With the emergence of the Internet as a platform for the provision of online banking services, the creation of a pan-European market for banking services appeared a realistic proposition. In practice, however, this has not happened. This book asks why and argues that the creation of banking markets via the Internet relies on both available technologies and appropriate laws and regulations. The institutional and legal framework for online banking services in the single European market are examined, as is the level of legal harmonization achieved in the UK, France and Germany under the influence of the EU Directives pertaining to online banking activities.