This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group. It introduces five papers published from March 16 to March 31 on various topics, including…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

Zimbabwe is on a path to strengthening transparency in how it manages public finances and delivers results for citizens

Adrienne Shall, Edwin Farai Vela-Moyo, Stella Ilieva, Marko Kwaramba, Cheryl Khuphe |

Southern African countries had a tough 2019. The Government of Lesotho declared a national disaster as a result of the drought which left a fourth of its population facing severe food insecurity…

Barry Maher, Gracelin Baskaran |

Photo: shplendid | Flickr Creative Commons Talk of trade tariffs and heightened geopolitical tensions are dominating news headlines recently. As developed economies consider escalating…

Mark Moseley |

Natural resources management, particularly in the extractives industry, can make a meaningful contribution to a country’s economic growth when it leads to linkages to the broader economy. To…

Gözde Isik |

Estimating national-level growth levels and rates is fraught with challenges. Doing so at subnational levels even more so – because of data challenges, and difficulties in attributing economic…

Apurva Sanghi, Tom Bundervoet, Laban Maiyo |

Also available in: Français | العربية   A boat trip from Port Elizabeth to Kingstown, in the Caribbean country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is a one-hour trip that locals take several…

Valerie Lorena |