The global crisis is now in the rear view mirror and world growth is being restored. In sharp contrast with past episodes of global turmoil, this time the recovery is led by the periphery, specifically by the larger and more dynamic emerging markets (Brazil, China, India, South Korea, Malaysia,...

Barber B. Conable, President of the World Bank, discussed how in Mexico, the decade of the Eighties began with a massive increase in the size of government, its ownership and interventions, and with an unmanageable debt. By the decade's end, Mexico had launched one of the most ambitious,...

The effect of structural reforms on growth in Europe and Central Asia is assessed by looking separately at each supply-side channel: capital, labor, and productivity, with the last estimated using the stochastic frontier approach. By controlling for the interaction with the economic cycle, the...

This paper assesses the effects of selected structural reforms on labor productivity growth for 37 developing countries over 2006-14. It combines newly constructed reform indexes using the International Monetary Fund's Monitoring of Fund Arrangements data set and firm-level productivity from the...

The current downturn in commodity prices provides an opportunity for Indonesia to shift away from its dependence on commodity-driven growth towards higher value-added activities in manufacturing and services. However, Indonesia faces both global and structural challenges in making this...

Before the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, Somalia's economy was on an upward trajectory, recovering from the 2016/17 drought. The economy grew at an estimated rate of 2.9 percent in 2019, on par with population growth, and was projected to grow at 3.2 percent in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has...

Despite an initial surge in COVID-19 cases, cross country data suggests that Turkey containedrelatively quickly the spread and worst health effects of the virus. As in other countries, however, continued vigilance is essential to sustain this fragile trend. Turkey's pandemic response may offer...

The policy note focuses on the well-established coastal- and marine-based sectors, such as recreational tourism and fisheries, that make a significant contribution to the economy of Krasnodar Krai and where challenges and unsustainable patterns could undermine their growth ambitions and...

This paper reviews the literature relevant to understanding political constraints to economic reforms. Reform refers to changes in government policies or institutional rules because status quo policies and institutions are not working well to achieve the goals of economic well-being and...