Across the MENA region, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) play a major role in countries’ economies and in the delivery of essential services to the public. As a result of a comprehensive desk review…

Nazaneen Ismail Ali, Jocelyne Jabbour, Simeon Sahaydachny |

Most workers in developing countries are in informal employment-- that is, a job that does not come with social security benefits and leaving them with limited means to manage risks to their…

Nadir Mohammed, Roberta Gatti, Marco Ranzani, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo, Nistha Sinha, Adam Elsheikhi |

Of the region’s 450 million people, nearly two-thirds, almost 300 million people, are under the age of 35. Unfortunately, this vast human resource is highly “untapped,” and nearly 80 percent of…

Anna Bjerde |

© ThickStock.com/Getty Images The first green bond issued by the World Bank 10 years ago created the blueprint for today’s US$500+ billion labeled bond market. This blog post looks at how green…

Heike Reichelt |

It is an unfortunate but fact of life that Indonesia often deals with the impacts of natural disasters. It was sadly evident again this week when I arrived in Jakarta to the unfolding disaster…

Philippe H. Le Houérou |

People in Saint-Louis, Senegal. © Ibrahima BA Sané/World Bank [[tweetable]]Massive investment is needed to meet the ambitious goal of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity by 2030…

Hartwig Schafer |

Understanding macroeconomic volatility part 3Read parts 1 & 2
There’s good evidence that a country’s level of financial development affects the impact of volatility on economic growth,…

Francisco G. Carneiro, Ha Minh Nguyen, Rei Odawara |

Understanding Macroeconomic Volatility: Part 2 The fact is that a government can soften a recession by increasing spending (the counter-cyclical approach) to raise demand and output. If government…

Francisco G. Carneiro, Ha Minh Nguyen, Rei Odawara |

Volatility in financial markets gets wide attention in the public eye. Less noticed is what we in the development world call macroeconomic volatility—faster-than-desired swings in the broad forces…

Francisco G. Carneiro, Ha Minh Nguyen, Rei Odawara |