This paper uncovers new stylized facts on the emergence and diffusion of green technologies across countries, sectors, and firms. It draws on the textual analysis of patents and corporate earnings calls matched with multi-country, firm-level panel data for 2012-2021. The paper documents the...

Adoption of digital technologies is widely acknowledged to boost productivity and employment, stimulate investment, and promote growth and development. Africa has already benefited from a rapid diffusion of information and communications technology, characterized by the widespread adoption of...

An entrepreneurial ecosystem is characterized by the structure and interactions of organizations, firms, institutions, and individuals in a specific locale that is conducive to entrepreneurship. It can be defined as a set of interdependent actors and factors that are governed in such a way that...

This paper investigates the relationship between disruptive technologies and access to finance for digital tech firms in Africa. Through textual analysis of data from Crunchbase and Pitchbook, the study explores how firms across different age cohorts incorporate disruptive technologies into...

For many in Latin America, the increasing participation of China and India in international markets is seen as a looming shadow of two "mighty giants" on the region's manufacturing sector. Are they really mighty giants when it comes to their impact on manufacturing employment? The authors...

The Belt and Road Initiative seeks to deepen China's international integration by improving infrastructure and strengthening trade and investment linkages with countries along the old Silk Road, thereby linking it to Europe. This paper uses detailed bilateral trade data for 1995-2015 to assess...

This paper develops measures of the diffusion of a comprehensive range of low-carbon technologies in 35 countries from 2019 to 2022 using text analysis of job postings and earnings calls transcripts. It documents a rapid acceleration in the diffusion of low-carbon technologies in 2022, driven by...

This paper estimates the number of firms in Africa, considering their size and formal status. It relies on a novel methodology that combines multiple data sources. The results suggest that in 2020, there were 12.7 million firms with more than one worker, and more than 230 million own-account...

Relying on a novel dataset covering more than 120,000 firms in 60 countries, this paper contributes to the debate about policies to support businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. While governments around the world have implemented a wide range of policy support measures, evidence on the reach...

In the last decade Morocco undertook substantial, if gradual, trade liberalization by reducing tariffs, reforming trade regulations and signing free and preferential trade agreements with several regions and countries, including the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab countries....