This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group. It introduces five papers published in August 2022 on various topics, including COVID-19…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

A new WIDER and World Bank working paper draws on findings from both tax administrative and survey data providing insights on how formal firms in Zambia recovered from COVID-19 after the…

Aliisa Koivisto, Christopher Hoy, Laban Simbeye, Muhammad Malik, Mashekwa Maboshe |

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 |

Public procurement can be used as a public administration tool not only to purchase the needed goods and services, but also, and in a more broader angle, as a vehicle for poverty alleviation and…

Nazaneen Ismail Ali |

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 |

Developing countries made considerable gains during the 2000s, resulting in a large reduction in extreme poverty and a significant expansion of the middle class. More recently that progress has…

Margaret McMillan, Dani Rodrik, Claudia Sepúlveda |

Translations available in Chinese and Spanish. Many of you are already familiar with the PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) Group’s Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) Database. As a…

Clive Harris, Jenny Chao |

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 |