In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, air pollution levels exceed international standards, significantly surpassing other cities in the region. An innovative study conducted by the World Bank…

Sebastian Molineus, Alan Fuchs Tarlovsky, Sandra Baquie, Patrick Behrer, Natsuko Kiso Nozaki |

For millennia, the Black Sea has supported economic and human development in the region, and today more than 160 million people living in Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Türkiye, and Ukraine…

Paola Agostini, Eolina Petrova Milova, Sameer Akbar |

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 |

While PPPs provide an important tool for governments, they are sensitive to economic ups and downs. A new World Bank study shows a sound and practical Fiscal Commitment and Contingent Liabilities…

Marcel van den Broek, Hulya Pasaogullari, Mikel Tejada Ibañez, Elena Timusheva |

Policies that can keep individuals employed for a longer time are especially important as societies age and governments would like to encourage older workers and workers in less good health to…

Judit Krekó, Daniel Prinz, Andrea Weber |

A growing number of countries are considering Climate Budget Tagging (CBT) as an important tool for identifying, measuring and monitoring what governments spend on climate-related activities.…

Saša Eichberger, Kai Kaiser, Darejan Kapanadze, Kakhaberi Mdivani |

Firms play an important role in the impact of payroll taxes on their workers and different firms respond differently to payroll tax cuts. Findings suggest that governments need to consider the…

Anikó Bíró, Réka Branyiczki, Attila Lindner, Lili Márk, Daniel Prinz |

Georgia's Best Annual Reporting Transparency Awards (BARTA) - the region's first 'Transparency Oscars' - is creating buzz and generating real impact on the country's…

Sebastian Molineus, Irina Gordeladze |

Azerbaijan celebrated Novruz last week, with festivities hailing water as a source and precursor of the re-birth of nature, and we were all reminded of how crucial water is in our lives. At the…

Winston Yu |

While International Women’s Day 2022 has passed, it is critical that the Europe and Central Asia region maintain a focus on gender equality. Without identifying and grappling with existing…

Sebastian Molineus |