"This book contributes to the emerging global discourse on sustainable entrepreneurship by highlighting its transformative potential to harmonize economic growth with environmental sustainability. It emphasizes the role of innovative, sustainability-driven entrepreneurs in reshaping production...

The study aims to examine how technological leapfrogging, as a smart and sustainable adaptation strategy, influences organizational resilience in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) of the developing economies. It also highlighted employees' digital capabilities as mediators...

Global development policy is a particularly revealing field in which the Trump administration combines crude transactionalism with a high level of ideological commitment, namely an authoritarian libertarianism oriented toward elite interests. This is coupled with, at times, a chaotic absence of...

Global public goods (GPGs) are goods that are produced locally but have global effects. GPGs are essential for securing global development. The climate and biodiversity crises, pandemics, as well as fragility, conflict and violence are threatening livelihoods and well-being around the world, and...

The note is divided into three parts. Part One provides a conceptual framework for understanding labor market dynamics and market failures typical of platform work. It then summarizes regulatory responses to these failures based on a review of regulations from middle- and high-income countries....

The world faces a pressing challenge to meet key development objectives amid slowing growth and rising macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. With the number of job seekers rising rapidly, infrastructure shortfalls continuing to be large, and climate costs mounting, the case for a significant...

Unreliable electricity supply in developing countries is a persistent problem with significant adverse consequences for economic growth. This paper uses a novel database on utilities, which provides systematic data on reliability, and links it to available data on country-level institutions to...

This paper presents a conceptual framework to guide the development of labor market delivery systems suitable for low- and middle income countries. Case studies show that in most countries labor market programs are characterized by high fragmentation (in financing, delivery agencies), poor or...

Following the 2020 Management Action Record (MAR) reforms, World Bank Group (WBG) Management prepares an annual self-assessment of its progress toward implementing the full range of outstanding Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) evaluation recommendations. The purpose of the Management Action...

This note synthesizes the World Bank’s approach to supporting the Philippines in addressing the plastic waste crisis. As one of the largest contributors to marine plastic pollution globally, the Philippines is estimated to leak more than 0,3 million metric tons of plastic waste into the ocean...

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) assesses the performance of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) assistance to the Republic of Kosovo from fiscal years (FY) 2012 to 2025, seeking to identify lessons to inform future WBG engagements in Kosovo, including the next CPF, which is expected in FY27....

Industrial policy has returned to centre stage after decades of neglect or worse, yet its revival is deeply ambivalent. This chapter argues that effective and desirable industrial policies rests on the alignment of three mutually reinforcing conditions, namely, first, public measures shaping the...

Large volumes of e-waste collected under formal schemes in high-income countries are still processed informally in developing ones, despite continuous policy efforts to reverse this trend. This paper shows that the persistence of informal e-waste processing is a consequence of how global waste...

The need for developing countries to increase their domestic revenue has always been relevant, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, which weakened their public finances. This paper analyses the dynamic treatment effects of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)...

This study provides sector-level insights to inform energy strategies consistent with SDG 7 and SDG 13. Drawing on a panel of 43 emerging and developing economies (1998-2020), we estimate a GMM panel vector autoregression (PVAR) linking foreign direct investment, sectoral GDP, energy demand, and...

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...

We show that mobile connectivity transforms household livelihoods in ways that foster food market integration in WAEMU countries. Using cross-sectional data on nearly 60,000 households and 146 food products traded across 5,000 enumeration areas in eight member states (2018-2019), we combine...

Emerging economies confront unprecedented challenges mobilizing finance for green industrial transitions while maintaining development trajectories. This paper examines implementation effectiveness across India, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia-major economies representing diverse political...

The continuous expansion of income disparities poses serious threats to sustainable socioeconomic development. Concurrently, as a key driver of technological advancement, the influence of innovation on shaping income inequality trends has been extensively debated. This study employs panel...

This paper calls for a comprehensive, development-focused review of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) under Article 71.1, a process that has been mandated but never carried out. It critiques the narrow, compliance-driven approach favored by...

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...

This study analyzes the empirical link between German bilateral development finance and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at the sub-national (ADM2) level. We construct a unique dataset by merging geo-referenced development aid projects - implemented by KfW Development Bank - over more than two...

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the global framework establishing 17 universal and interconnected goals to guide sustainable development efforts – was adopted in 2015 following a uniquely participative and ambitious process. A decade on, it is increasingly evident that most of...

Post-pandemic, cities face new challenges in adapting to global changes, while also addressing the needs, practices, and capabilities of diverse populations. Resilience, as a key factor, enables cities to adapt and transform in response to these challenges. Development driven by resilience is...

Carbon pricing is widely recognized as a key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, if implemented without compensatory measures, it can increase poverty and inequality. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of carbon pricing in generating fiscal space for expanding social...

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...

What are the key determinants of firm growth in developing countries? Using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) spanning 2010-2024, we examine the impact of three distinct categories of factors on firm growth dynamics: (1) firm-level characteristics, (2) contextual...