FPD Academy

The FPD Academy is a monthly seminar designed to share the findings of the best new analytical work from across the FPD Network. Submissions to the Academy are solicited 3-4 times per year and are reviewed by a rotating committee headed by FPD Chief Economist Asli Demirgüç-Kunt. The authors whose submissions make it past the scrutiny of the committee receive the coveted FPD Academy Award and are invited to present their findings to the Network and to discuss their findings on the All About Finance blog.

Submissions are judged based on the following criteria:

• The paper has highly relevant policy conclusions for World Bank Group clients;


• The paper is a self-contained analysis (i.e. 30-70 pages in length) that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the determinants and impact of finance and private sector development;


• The paper may focus on a specific region, but the conclusions of the paper should be of interest to staff from across the FPD Network;


• The paper should be of recent vintage, i.e. published as a working paper or similar within the last 12 months. 

 
First Round of 2012 (Fifth Round of FPD Academy)
Submissions for this round of the FPD Academy are particularly encouraged on FPD topics relating to this year's Economist's Forum, which will take place in Washington D.C. in May, 2012.

Topics: Accountability & Transparency; Gender; Risks & Vulnerability; Job Creation
Submit to: pjumpasut@worldbank.org
Deadline: Monday, February 27, 2012

The four key themes:

Accountability and Transparency:
How does greater transparency and accountability on the part of policy makers affect the priority and content of FPD related reforms?  Does greater transparency and accountability among financial and private sector actors impact their performance? 

Gender:
What affects gender sorting across types of firms and activities?  How can constraints to women's entrepreneurship and/or women's access to finance be addressed effectively?  What is the impact of undertaking gender disaggregated analyses or including a gender perspective in the design of an FPD project?

Risk & Vulnerability
What are the main sources and impact of risk and uncertainty for entrepreneurs, firms and financial institutions -- at the micro level or systemically;  what can be done by governments, communities, and individuals to manage them?

Job Creation
Who is creating the most jobs?  How are technology or globalization affecting the types of jobs being created?  What are the main obstacles to job creation and the impact of interventions aimed at lifting those obstacles?  What is the contribution of job creation to economic development more broadly. 

Members of the FPD Academy Committee-Fifth Round
Asli Demirgüç-Kunt (Chair), Inci Otker-Robe, Martin Kanz, Mary C. Hallward-Driemeier, Norman V. Loayza, Samuel Maimbo and Steen Byskov

Upcoming Events

The call for submissions for the fourth round of FPD Academy closed on September 29, 2011. Fifteen submissions were received from across the World Bank Group. The members of the FPD Academy committee, identified the following three papers as winners according to the criteria of the Academy. The authors of winning papers will present their work between November and February of FY12.

The Effects of Licensing Reform on Firm Innovation: Evidence from India
Murat Seker 
March 13, 2012
Download the paper

Past Events

Recent Developments in European Bank Competition
Yu Sun 
January 31, 2012
Download the paper
Download a copy of authors' presentation

Bank Ownership and Performance in the Middle East and North Africa Region
Subika Farazi, Erik Feyen and Roberto Rocha
November 16, 2011
Download the paper
Download a copy of authors' presentation
Download a copy of the discussant's presentation

Members of the FPD Academy Committee - Fourth Round
Asli Demirgüç-Kunt (Chair), Cesar Calderon, Deniz Anginer, Erik Feyen, Martin Cihak, Miriam Bruhn and Roberto Rocha.
 

Access materials from Round 1 of the FPD Academy (May 2010 - September 2010)
Access materials from Round 2 of the FPD Academy (November 2010 - January 2011)
Access materials from Round 3 of the FPD Academy (February 2011 - August 2011)