The electricity sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is in the grip of an apparent paradox. The region holds the world’s largest oil and gas reserves and has been able to universalize acc
Since 2010, the number and intensity of violent conflicts have increased rapidly. The human and economic costs associated with violent conflict are massive, affecting long-term stability and prospects
Despite decades of development efforts supported by significant amounts of foreign aid, Malawi has experienced weak and volatile economic growth performance over a sustained period. The nation's growt
Developing East Asia has led the way in showing how rapid and broadly shared growth can lift millions out of poverty. And, as this report shows, the region has achieved even more: the wave of prosperi
Successful international integration has underpinned most experiences of rapid growth, shared prosperity, and reduced poverty. Perhaps no sector of the economy better illustrates the potential benefit
The Arab Spring protests caught most of the world by surprise and precipitated a chain of events that changed the course of history in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), ushering in a period of
Globalization and new technologies are impacting the desirability and feasibility of what has historically been the most successful development strategy. Manufacturing has been seen as special, promis
The Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2017/2018 is a biannual publication that provides new research, empirical evidence, and perspectives on the key dimensions of countries' investment climate
'Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Protection: Concepts and Applications' provides the conceptual and analytical framework for assessing social protection (SP) programs, as well as provides a prac
In 2009, Sri Lanka emerged from nearly 30 years of armed conflict with more than 450,000 Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs), a North and East in need of reconstruction and rehabilitation, and a dislo
South Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change. Given that many of the poor live in areas prone to climactic shifts and in occupations that are highly climate-sensitive, such as agriculture and fis
National income is underpinned by a country's wealth--measured comprehensively to include all assets, produced capital, human capital, natural capital and net financial assets--and sustained economic
Economists have long argued that developing countries have the potential for high productivity growth if they adopt existing technologies and apply them to the local context. This report brings to bea
High levels of trade costs persist in the world trading system, despite recent progress in tariff reduction, trade facilitation, and logistics. At least some of these costs can be attributed to non-t
Despite a period of strong economic growth and improvements in many dimensions of welfare, extreme poverty remains a pervasive and complex phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa (referred to as Africa in th
Most of the people in low and middle-income countries covered by social protection receive assistance in the form of in-kind food. The origin of such support is rooted in countries’ historical pursuit
Data is an important ingredient in any successful education system. Building and sustaining a data system are challenging tasks. Many countries around the world have spent significant resources but st
Government strategies for setting energy prices are not uniform across the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region or even across fuels. Instead, they spread across a full spectrum, ranging from disc
Water has always been a source of risks and opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet rapidly changing socioeconomic, political, and environmental conditions make water security a differe
Despite the spread of automation and new supply chain management paradigms, logistics remains dependent on a rather specific set of skills and competences, whether for managerial, administrative or bl
Stylized facts set agendas and shape debates. In rapidly changing and data scarce environments, they also risk being ill-informed, outdated and misleading. So, following higher food prices since the 2
Moving Beyond Zero addresses the challenge of enabling the development of viable, resilient, and fiscally sustainable health system in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Initiated while Ebola was stil
Morocco 2040: Emerging by Investing in Intangible Capital documents the major economic and social strides made by Morocco over the past 15 years and analyzes the economic conditions for accelerating t
China is aging at an unprecedented rate. Improvements in life expectancy and the consequences of the decades-old family planning policy have led to a rapid increase in the elderly population. Accordin
Despite a spectacular expansion of the higher education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, the supply of tertiary education has generally failed to keep pace with demand and the region continues to lag all
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) does not have the infrastructure it needs, or deserves, given its income. Many argue that the solution is to spend more; by contrast, this report has one main mes
The Skills Toward Employment and Productivity (STEP) Survey is an initiative of the World Bank in cooperation with other development partners and nongovernmental agencies and carried out in more than
Urbanization in East Asia and the Pacific has created enormous opportunity for many. Yet the rapid growth of cities can also create challenges as national and local governments try to keep up with the
The Little Green Data Book 2017 is based on World Development Indicators 2017 and its online database. Defining, gathering, and disseminating international statistics is a collective effort of many pe
This report seeks to explain the over-time trends in wage inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) since the mid-1990s. It explains how wage inequality has been associated with household-in
Is your organization missing important lessons from its operational experiences? This step-by-step guide shows you how to systematically capture such knowledge and use it to inform decision making, su
Global activity is firming broadly as expected. Manufacturing andtrade are picking up, confidence is improving, international financingconditions remain benign, and commodity prices are stabilizing.Gr
The need for evidence-based decision making at all levels of government is perhaps greatest in fragilesettings. Data deficiencies contribute to state fragility and exacerbate constraints on the capaci
A country’s education system plays a pivotal role in promoting economic growth and shared prosperity.Sri Lanka has enjoyed high school-attainment and enrollment rates for several decades. However, it
Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs h
Central America has come a long way both in terms of economic and political stability. Increasingly the region is focusing on implementing productivity-enhancing reforms as well as supporting reductio
The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2017 uses maps, charts and analysis to illustrate, trends, challenges andmeasurement issues related to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Atla
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have always mattered in agriculture. Ever since people have grown crops, raised livestock, and caught fish, they have sought information from one anot
From East to West, the economies of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are not taking full advantage of the internet to foster economic growth and job creation. The residents of Central Asia and the South
This volume proposes a simple framework to understand the political economy of subsidy reform and applies it to four in-depth country studies covering more than 30 distinct episodes of reform. Five ke
