The yawning divide between big city and countryside Tanzania
Achieving shared prosperity, one of the World Bank’s twin-goals, isn’t just a middle-income country’s preoccupation. It has a special resonance in Tanzania, a US$1,000 per capita economy in East...
View ArticleLarge scale mining in Africa is a mixed blessing for women
The African continent is rich in natural resources, like oil, gas and minerals that contribute to a large share of exports, and are now a major source of foreign direct investment. In our paper...
View ArticleGetting women to the top of the career ladder through education
In the face of significant social and cultural barriers, it is tempting to be cynical about a role for education in promoting women managers in developing economies. Consider the number of factors...
View ArticleNatural resource booms are a mixed blessing for local communities, too*
The impact of natural resource wealth on macroeconomic outcomes is well researched, with the debate centered on whether resources are bad for development (i.e., the phenomenon of the resource curse)....
View ArticleMore people in the developing world are eating out. Measuring this well could...
Most of you probably buy lunch during the week, but can you recall what you ate yesterday? How about last week, did you snack in the afternoon? How much did you spend? Answering these questions is not...
View ArticleShould the World Bank issue credit ratings?
In any country, election year is a time when incumbents and hopefuls steeped in the rough and tumble of vote-getting are in urgent need of sporting some successes. Economists often talk of ‘political...
View ArticleSave first, then spend: history’s lessons on the influence of low oil prices...
The impact of falling oil prices is becoming increasingly visible, but the global economy is yet to hit a nice stride - oil exporters face severe headwinds, oil-importing China continues to slow,...
View ArticleRise of informality in the tradable sector-- evidence from India
The slow growth of Indian manufacturing is a concern for many observers of the Indian economy, and India’s manufacturers have long performed below their potential. Although the country’s manufacturing...
View ArticleMultinationals indeed bring good jobs to host countries – here’s why
Policy makers across the globe court foreign firms with an aim to create new jobs in their economies. But are these jobs good? Some jobs do more than others to help reduce poverty, but perhaps more...
View ArticleHighway to Success
Infrastructure is an essential ingredient for economic development and growth. Transport infrastructure, for example, facilitates cheaper and more efficient movement of goods, people and ideas across...
View ArticleNot your Grandma's Cuba: A new day in the Caribbean
This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post on July 20. Today, July 20, 2015, Cuba and the United States reopened embassies in Washington and Havana for the first time in decades, marking a...
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Commodities (mostly) continue to tumble
We just published our Commodity Market Outlook for the third quarter of 2015, and report that most prices declined in the second quarter of 2015 due to ample supplies and weak demand, especially in...
View ArticleAre China’s rural children able to rise above their station in life?
Although China has experienced extraordinary economic growth and poverty reduction over the last few decades, growing inequality has become a key concern. Did economic reforms expand equality of...
View ArticleEquality of opportunity as an engine of prosperity
We have learned much over the past several decades about the connection between gender inequality and economic growth, particularly when we talk about inequalities in education and employment....
View ArticleOn booms and super-cycles: China and India's central role in global commodity...
Global commodity prices underwent an exceptionally strong and sustained boom beginning in 2000. Unlike a typical price cycle, this boom has been characterized as a “super cycle”, i.e., a demand-driven...
View ArticleWhat do we know (and what not) about safety nets in urban areas?
Cities are magnets of opportunity: they offer better standards of living than rural areas, and will soon house 75% of the global economy. But when demand for housing, jobs, and services outstrips...
View ArticleWhen China met Africa
China’s expanding presence in Sub-Saharan Africa has been a major catalyst for growth in the region. Contrary to widespread opinion, its engagement covers all aspects of development. Stronger domestic...
View ArticlePromoting Gender Equality—lessons from India
A central driver of economic growth is the increased role of women. This comes in many forms: increased female labor force participation, reduced discrimination and wage differentials that encourage...
View ArticleWhat drives local food prices? Is it world prices? Weather? Seasonality?...
The question has been asked often in the context of the post-2005 commodity price boom. In a recently published working paper, What drives local food prices? Evidence from the Tanzanian maize market,...
View ArticleDespite low commodity prices, growth prospects in low-income countries remain...
Large agricultural sectors, remittances, and public investment have cushioned the impact of sharply weaker terms of trade in commodity-exporting low-income countries (LICs). Growth in LICs was flat in...
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