"China has emerged as one of the top recipients of foreign direct investment in the world. Meanwhile, the successful transition experience of many Central and Eastern European countries has also allowed them to attract an increasing share of global foreign direct investment. In this paper, the...

How can the world grow more food, increase incomes, reduce poverty, and protect the environment with growing numbers of mouths to feed and increasingly constrained resources? A big part of the answer lies in better management of agricultural water. Agricultural water management (AWM) encompasses...

This paper explores the extent to which formal, regulated financial institutions such as banks have been able to partner with "correspondents"- commercial entities whose primary objective and business is other than the provision of financial services. The paper illustrates the case of Brazil,...

The research conducted in Dormaa Central and Hohoe districts in Ghana provided several key findings regarding the Networks of Practice (NoP) program. The study included Patient Pathway Analysis (PPA) and Summative Network Analysis (SNA) to understand and compare patient journeys and network...

This brief presents insights and lessons for the Networks of Practice (NoP) program in urban Ghana, based on formative research conducted in Ayawaso Central, Greater Accra Region and Atwima Nwabiagya Municipal, Ashanti Region. The research used Patient Pathway Analysis (PPA) and Summative...

This report evaluates the role, operational models and identifies good practices of programs that seek to accelerate innovative entrepreneurship by managing, nurturing and leveraging social and business networks. The report discusses the role of venture acceleration networks, using networks to...

"This paper examines the role of private support institutions in determining small and medium enterprise (SME) growth and performance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It finds that SMEs in SSA get around market failures and lack of formal institutions by creating private governance systems in the...

"This paper explores various strategic options available to Japanese firms faced with the increasing market pressures in the global economy. Whether Japanese firms are able to retain the competitive edge will depend on the continuing gains in their manufacturing capability, their capacity to...

This report aims to provide an overview of potential opportunities to participate in clean tech value chains, using new and evolving analytical tools from the World Bank Group that may help inform national policymaking around the EU's targets for clean-tech manufacturing. The focus is on four...

The purpose of this study was to assess the current state of existing traceability systems in Vietnam's fruit and vegetable (F&V) value chains, examine pertinent policies and regulations, share international good practices and explore their potential applicability to Vietnam, and examine the...