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 |

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 |

COVID-19 has prompted many cities to promote the use of cycling, which makes it easier for commuters to comply with social distancing rules. But bicycles have the potential to be much more than a…

Leszek J. Sibilski |

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 |

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 |

Afghanistan. Photo by Steve Utterwulghe. This latest blog post should start with a mea culpa. Indeed, my 2015 work plan for public-private dialogue (PPD) did start in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, not…

Steve Utterwulghe |

On a Friday evening last November, twelve mayors from nearby districts gathered at the municipal office building in Tarapoto, Peru. Even though the rainy season was just ramping-up in this lush…

Maria Margarita Nunez |

Also available in Français | Español | 中文 In January, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim urged the audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos to look closely at a young, promising form of…

Heike Reichelt, Alexandra Klöpfer |