An exercise in Central America included a financial response simulation conducted by the World Bank Disaster Risk Management team. This reflects the increasing importance that countries in the…

Rolando Durán Vargas, Francisco Javier Jeria León |

Despite progress toward more comprehensive SPL systems, many Central Americans had limited pre-pandemic access to vital programs to help them cope with crises, find jobs, invest in the health and…

Aylin Isik Dikmelik, Ana Sofia Martinez Cordova |

There is no substitute for an effective teacher. That's why their professional development is critical; they make a huge difference in the learning outcomes of their students.

David Evans |

In 2020, 48.7% of the 16.2 million emigrants from Central America and Mexico were women. The migration phenomenon in Central America particularly affects women and girls, who face challenges at…

Michel Kerf, Manuel Contreras-Urbina, Ana I. Aguilera, Erika Padron, Carlos Xavier Muñoz Burgos |

A new paper that synthesizes over 300 studies over 40 years is one of the most significant attempts to date to understand the impact of infrastructure on development outcomes. With some caveats,…

Maria Vagliasindi, Nisan Gorgulu |

Small farmers in northern Central America have been affected by structural inefficiencies and new global challenges. How can agrologistics support them?

Maria Victoria Traverso, Viviana Perego, Augusto Garcia Barea, Ashesh Prasann |

About three-quarters of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean uses the Internet. The World Bank studies 24 countries in the region and provides three main findings on household digital…

Gabriel Lara Ibarra, Niccolò Comini, Natalija Gelvanovska-Garcia |

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 |

Whenever the share of industry in the economy starts waning, industrial expansion often becomes a component of the growth policies. This blog analyzes if and how targeting labor market barriers…

Rishabh Sinha |

Providing internet access with reliability, affordability, and speed is essential to bringing more equitable impacts to vulnerable communities.

Niccolò Comini, Nicola Perra, Nicolò Gozzi |