The resilience of global value chains has been put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, and trade tensions spurred by growing economic nationalism and protectionism. Shocks in production and trade can be transmitted from one country to another by global value chains,...

This paper presents new evidence on the growth of digital technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It uses the largest and most comprehensive database available to analyze website birth dynamics and the uptake of website technologies. The database comprises 150 million active websites...

Turkey saw phenomenal growth in the 2000s as economic reforms ushered in FDI, GVCs expanded, and productivity increased. The early 2000s saw Turkey exit from major economic crisis with a strengthened fiscal framework, a strengthened, inflation-targeting mandate for the Central Bank, the...

This policy note highlights the important benefits that digital government can bring to a country's government and people. Specifically, it states the rationale for digital government transformation in Vietnam and lays out the what and how of a prioritization and sequencing strategy that can...

The war in Ukraine is a human tragedy for the people of Ukraine, but its economic implications are global. This instant report focuses on the direct impact of the war on world trade and investment. It identifies five trade and investment channels through which countries will be affected by the...

Nepal continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, but the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive has helped to reduce the fatality rate. The country experienced a first wave in March 2020, a second wave in mid-April 2021, and a third wave in January 2022. In response, social distancing...

This note provides an update of social protection responses to the food, fuel, fertilizer, and other price shocks sparked or accelerated by the Ukraine war. The vast majority of measures were introduced in early 2022 (February-April), although some specific interventions to mitigate prices were...

The war in Ukraine is causing an enormous humanitarian crisis. More than 12 million people are estimated to have been displaced and more than 13 million need urgent humanitarian assistance. Ukraine's economy is being devastated. Trauma suffered by the population will have enduring consequences....

The paper studies the dynamics of agricultural land use at the global scale as measured from space using satellite imagery between 2003 and 2018. It shows large global movements in and out of cropland and correlates these movements with biophysical, economic, and institutional variables. The...