The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (OKR) is The World Bank’s official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products.
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Publication How Much Do Commodity Exporters Share Risk?(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-14) Luttini, Emiliano; Mekonnen, Dawit; Mercer-Blackman, Valerie; Sorensen, BentCommodity-exporting countries face important challenges in shielding their economies from commodity price volatility. In an ideal world, a country would buy and sell foreign assets to insure itself against volatility caused by the destabilizing economic impact of gross domestic product fluctuations over time. The literature on the topic, which has mainly focused on risk sharing across advanced economies, has found a puzzlingly low amount of risk sharing. Using a sample of 110 countries between 1995 and 2019, this paper finds that commodity exporters share 46 percent of their risk as a group internationally, significantly more so than non-commodity exporters, which share about 33 percent of their risk. The greater the volatility of commodity terms of trade, the more a country shares risk internationally. Consequently, energy and metals exporters share risk more than agricultural exporters. Government saving is the main risk-sharing mechanism in commodity-exporting and non-exporting countries, although it is more important for commodity exporters. Commodity-exporting countries are also more likely to smooth gross domestic product fluctuations through net purchases of assets abroad, while non-commodity exporters tend to self-insure through procyclical domestic investment.Publication Pathways to Financial Inclusion for Young Women: Opportunities for Financial Service Providers and Funders(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-30) Deshpande, Rani; Koning, AntoniqueThis Focus Note explores why this remains the case— even after significant efforts to narrow the financial inclusion gender gap—and what can be done to achieve equality in this sphere. Since closing the gap will require contextually adapted solutions, Ghana and Tanzania were selected as two representative yet diverse countries for deep dives, analyzing the causes and testing prototype solutions. In each country, FinScope data was used to segment the young women’s market and, with industry input, select priority groups for qualitative research. CGAP then partnered with leading financial service providers (FSPs) to design and test prototypes addressing constraints on financial inclusion for these segments.Publication The influence of digital information and technological advancement on firms’ ethical practices(Elsevier, 2026-01-14) Carboni, Marika; Degl’Innocenti, Marta; Fiordelisi, Franco; Mare, Davide SalvatoreWhile technology has the potential to enhance ethical practices, its impact is complex and poorly understood. This paper examines corporate ethical standards in digital tech–oriented firms to explore this dynamic. Using data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys spanning 2006 through 2023, we find that technology and digitalization positively influence the adoption of environmental and social standards. However, digital tech–oriented firms exhibit lower governance standards. These results are shaped by country culture, the burden of business regulation, and the perception of the courts as obstacles to business activity. Our findings highlight the significance of broader societal influences and the quality of the business environment in determining how digital-oriented technological firms adopt ethical standards.Publication African Trade and Investment for Global Resilience: The Mattei Lecture at the World Bank’s 2025 Africa Growth and Opportunity—Research in Action (AGORA) Conference(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-13) Okonjo-Iweala, NgoziThis paper, based on the Mattei Lecture that the author delivered at the 2025 Africa Growth and Opportunity–Research in Action Conference, argues that Africa can anchor a new model of growth—and bolster global resilience—by shifting from commodity dependence to value-added production and deeper integration into trade and investment networks. Against a backdrop of strained multilateralism and falling foreign direct investment to developing economies, global trade remains more robust than presumed, with goods, services, and South-South flows expanding. Africa’s goods exports are projected to grow rapidly, and digitally delivered services have surged from a low base, underscoring untapped potential. Yet persistent impediments—among the world’s highest trade costs, slow regional integration, and limited value addition—have left Africa underrepresented in global trade. The paper advances a two-track agenda: (i) reforming the global trading system, including World Trade Organization modernization and investment facilitation, to restore predictability and openness; and (ii) accelerating African reforms to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area, reduce intra-African trade frictions, and attract efficiency-seeking foreign direct investment into manufacturing, services, and “industries without smokestacks.” Leveraging Africa’s megatrends—demographic dynamism, rising middle classes, and mineral and arable endowments—and “green comparative advantage,” the paper highlights opportunities to locate energy-intensive activities where renewable resources are abundant, closing gaps in clean energy investment. Case studies—from industrial parks and automotive exports to fintech and critical mineral value chains—demonstrate feasibility but emphasize the need for scale. A pragmatic, delivery-focused partnership—particularly with Europe, via a modernized “Mattei formula”—is proposed to de-risk investment and prioritize timely, transformative infrastructure, yielding shared gains in growth, jobs, and supply chain diversification.Publication On the Road to Recovery: Addressing Ukraine’s Transport Labor Shortages(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-12-16) Kurshitashvili, Nato; Lungu, Elena; Hoftijzer, Margo; Vazhnenko, Anna; Bespalov, Dmytro; Myroshnychenko, Oksana; Hanushevych, InnaThis study provides an assessment of Ukraine’s transport workforce and skills landscape during a period of profound change. As maritime and air routes remain suspended, road freight, road passenger, and urban public transport have become the backbone of domestic and international mobility, and therefore the focus of this report. It examines critical labor shortages and skills gaps in these transport subsectors, drawing on secondary sources such as current literature and available statistics, as well as primary sources, including stakeholder interviews, an online industry survey, job advertisement analysis, and labor demand forecasting for transport jobs. The focus is on drivers, maintenance personnel, and several other key roles essential for the sector to function properly, all of which are experiencing severe shortages. The study identifies the structural factors behind these gaps to inform actions that align workforce development with the sector’s reconstruction and modernization needs.