This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group. It introduces four papers published from November 1 to November 15 on various topics, including…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

Detailed data on the spatial distribution of jobs is crucial, but such data are rarely available. This study develops a machine learning algorithm that relies on widely available public data to…

Paolo Avner, Jun Rentschler, Samira Barzin, Neave O'Clery |

The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens the uneven recovery of East Asia and Pacific. The invasion comes on top of the economic distress caused by the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, the financial…

Aaditya Mattoo, Ekaterine T. Vashakmadze, Ergys Islamaj |

While countries should take advantage of the apparel industry to bring more women in the labor force, they also need policies to tackle barriers that prevent women from pursuing careers.

Stacey Frederick, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo, Raymond Robertson, Mexico Vergara |

Las empresas privadas son la columna vertebral de la mayoría de las economías en desarrollo. Proporcionan 9 de cada 10 empleos, generan ingresos fiscales para financiar proyectos de…

Martin Spicer |

Few countries can match Cabo Verde’s development progress over the past quarter of a century. Its Gross National Income per capita (GNI) grew six-fold. Extreme poverty fell by two-thirds from 30%…

Rob Swinkels, Rohan Longmore |

Photo: Trocaire | Flickr Creative Commons In war-torn post-1991 Somalia, running water was a scarce commodity, to the misfortune of millions of people. Members of local communities rose to the…

Yolanda Tayler, Nazaneen Ismail Ali, Simeon Sahaydachny, Nataliya Langburd Wright |

Also available in: Spanish Emerging technologies are transforming global logistics. The evidence is everywhere: Logistics companies are exploring autonomous fleets and “lights-out” warehousing,…

Karuna Ramakrishnan, Yin Lam |

We are all aware of the statistics: [[tweetable]]cities are home to more than 50% of the world’s population, [[/tweetable]] and they are growing so fast that 66 out of 100 people on earth will be…

Soraya Goga |

Also available in: Français A public faucet that serves 1, 000 families in el Alto, Bolivia. Photo credit: Stephan Bachenheimer / World Bank Small towns* typically have not been well served by…

Fadel Ndaw |