A recent World Bank note sheds light on property ownership and taxation patterns in São Paulo, Brazil, and provides valuable evidence of the persistent disparities that women face in owning…

Thiago Scot, Tatiana Flores, Davi Moura, Javier Feinmann, Roberto Hsu Rocha |

As urban residents and transport planners around the world enter into a post-pandemic phase, it is useful to take stock of the lasting impacts. A thorough analysis conducted in Bogota and Buenos…

Aiga Stokenberga, Ellin Ivarsson |

This working paper investigates the role that early education plays in children’s economic preferences and decision-making abilities. The research surveyed about 2,100 applicant children of public…

Joana Cardim Dias, Pedro Carneiro, Leandro Carvalho, Damien de Walque |

This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group that were published in the World Bank’s Policy Research Working Paper Series. This entry…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

Detailed data on the spatial distribution of jobs is crucial, but such data are rarely available. This study develops a machine learning algorithm that relies on widely available public data to…

Paolo Avner, Jun Rentschler, Samira Barzin, Neave O'Clery |

Seroprevalence surveys provide a much more accurate picture of true infections. They involve testing sample populations for antibodies to COVID-19 so that previous infections can be more…

Gabriel Demombynes, Damien de Walque, Paul Gubbins, Jeremy Veillard |

Poverty in Brazil is disproportionately concentrated in rural areas.  Although rural households account for only 15% of the population, 45% of them fall within the nation’s poorest quartile.  A…

Caio Piza, Astrid Zwager, Isabela Furtado |

Long one of the world’s most unequal countries, Brazil surprised pundits by recording a massive reduction in household income inequality in the last couple of decades. Between 1995 and 2012, the…

Francisco Ferreira, Sergio Firpo, Julián Messina |

Red tape can be a significant barrier to having informal firms formalize and eventually benefit from any business support programs provided by governmental agencies. While the relationship between…

Caio Piza |