The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) is the largest and most effective platform for fighting extreme poverty in the world’s lowest-income countries. As new IDA donors,…

Antonella Bassani, Akihiko Nishio |

Why are fertilizer prices so high, and what can countries in Central America do about this?

Luis Flores, Viviana Perego, Diego Arias |

Costa Rica lost the momentum for poverty reduction towards the end of the twentieth century. This makes Costa Rica an outlier in a region that conti…

Jacobus de Hoop, Agustin Arakaki |

Central America and the Dominican Republic have a good track record of economic growth. Between 1991 and 2019, Central America grew by an average of 4.5% per year, and the Dominican Republic by an…

Michel Kerf |

Although life expectancy has risen to 75 years over the past three decades, Armenians are not generally healthier today. Compared to countries with similar socio-demographic profiles, Armenia has…

Christina Meyer |

We know that fiscal policy can be harnessed to reduce inequality in low- and middle-income countries, but until now, we knew less about its ability to reduce poverty. Our recent volume looks at…

Gabriela Inchauste, Nora Lustig |

Better educated women secure brighter futures for themselves and lift entire households out of poverty. While Hillary Clinton is cracking the glass ceiling, if not yet shattering it entirely, in…

Keiko Inoue |

This refrain captures the common sentiment in Armenia, and is at the heart of the growing issue of sex imbalances in the country. Armenia today has one of the most imbalanced sex ratios at birth…

Giorgia DeMarchi, Nora Dudwick |

How can we better understand and reach Armenia’s poor? This is a question that my colleagues and I, along with Armenia’s National Statistical Service (NSS) are asking, as we ponder the experiences…

Nistha Sinha, Moritz Meyer |