This paper investigates the relationship between (internal) armed conflict and sustainable development. Using annual panel data on 192 countries from 2000 to 2024, we employ a variety of econometric techniques to trace the impulse responses between conflict fatalities and Sustainable Development...

Although Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of economic activity and inclusive growth in Indonesia, and recent data from Jambi Province reveal a disconnect between robust post-pandemic recovery and meaningful poverty reduction. While regional GDP climbed from 0.99% to...

This paper examines the challenges that African governments are grappling with as part of a renewed international effort to expand electricity access. It shows how the crux of the challenge is twofold: one, to enable poor people to make productive use of electricity to raise their incomes and...

Amidst slower global growth, a shifting labor market, and rising protectionism, governments around the world are increasingly turning to a once controversial policy. Industrial policy—the range of policy tools governments use to shape what an economy produces, rather than leaving it to markets...

The influence of political stability on financial crime remains a subject of ongoing debate. While stability is often associated with policy continuity, regulatory credibility, and more effective enforcement, an alternative view suggests that unstable democracies may outperform stable...

The weaponization of agricultural trade has once again emerged as critical in the study of modern geopolitics due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although Russia has used its wheat exports as a means of enhancing its geopolitical influence over countries in the Global South, evidence...

This paper investigates the relationship between (internal) armed conflict and sustainable development. Using annual panel data on 192 countries from 2000 to 2024, we employ a variety of econometric techniques to trace the impulse responses between conflict fatalities and Sustainable Development...

This introduction grounds the middle-income (MI) trap by looking at the empirical realities of firms, sectors, national, and subnational institutions embedded in global value chains (GVCs). While MI-trap scholarship has shed light on macro-structural constraints, it often overlooks international...

The Global Gateway is considered a key instrument of EU development cooperation. Introduced in 2021, it was announced as a 'win-win' strategy for both, the EU's competitiveness agenda and developing countries' strive for sustainable development. The Global Gateway epitomises the current shifts...

This study analyzes how Entrepreneurship Education Programs (EEPs) are discussed in the scientific literature, focusing on their relationship with social entrepreneurship, socioeconomic inclusion, sustainable development, and economic growth. The study adopts a narrative literature review with...

Since the late 1980s, extreme poverty has declined sharply, life expectancy and schooling have increased, and electoral democracy has expanded. However poverty reduction has slowed in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, amid intensifying conflict, fragility, climate...

We provide new evidence on the effect of minority elected state representatives on economic development and schooling in India. Using data on candidates in all state assembly elections from 1974 to 2017, we exploit two discontinuities in the reservation of constituencies for Scheduled Castes...

This chapter presents a tractable framework for the study of technology adoption and diffusion in the context of economic development. Firms in countries behind the world technology frontier can rapidly adopt new techniques from the world frontier. Lower absorptive capacity (because of weak...

A new generation of policies can trace the path from wealth to inclusion. Building on its urban and youthful population, Equatorial Guinea can shift from a model of extraction to one of prosperity. This report—the World Bank's first Poverty and Equity Assessment for Equatorial...

The Strategic Roadmap for Carbon Market and Climate Finance in the Forest Sector, tailored for each of the Congo Basin countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo), provides a comprehensive, country-specific...

Understanding and accurately measuring societal progress is crucial for guiding policy and development efforts. This paper introduces a new method to measure societal progress that is comparable across different stages of development, time periods, and indicators. The paper utilizes this method...

Kenya’s justice sector has undergone a significant transformation following the 2010 Constitution, which strengthened judicial autonomy and independence. This report examines the state of the justice system in Kenya based on the JUPITER Methodology. JUPITER is a country‑based assessment...

Conflict has engulfed the MENAAP region, exacting a serious human and economic toll and heightening geopolitical uncertainty. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and damage to energy infrastructure have pushed up oil prices, increased financial volatility, and weakened the 2026 growth outlook. A...

The international order is undergoing profound change as rivalry among major powers realigns the global balance. This is also having an impact on European development policy. In many European Union (EU) member states, funding for official development assistance (ODA) is declining. At the same...

This paper studies the complementarities between energy and digital infrastructure in developing countries. Using geospatial data on power transmission lines, power plants, cell towers, and fiber-optic nodes matched to settlement-level wealth indicators across sub-Saharan Africa, and detailed...

Using data from 74 countries, we uncover important differences in the association between financial literacy and preferences by the level of economic development. Patience is salient and positively associated to financial literacy in wealthier countries, i.e., countries with GDP per capita above...

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held at a crucial juncture when the country is about to enter a period of laying a solid foundation and making comprehensive efforts to basically achieve socialist modernization. The session made...

Lipscomb, Mobarak, and Barham (2013) document large positive effects of electrification in Brazil due to broad-based improvements in labor productivity. They instrument electrification by simulating a hypothetical power grid roll-out driven solely by geographic factors. Their estimates are not...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become one of the most aggressive external actors in African conflicts, from Ethiopia, Libya and Somalia to Sudan. The leadership in Abu Dhabi obstinately denies its support for belligerents, yet it has maintained it even during the US-Israeli war against Iran...