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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Total publications: 38,946
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Publication Luck of the Draw: The Causal Effect of Physicians on Birth Outcomes(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-13) Posso, Christian; Tamayo, Jorge; Guarin, Arlen; Saravia, EstefaniaThis paper estimates the effect on birth outcomes of a mother’s being treated by more-skilled versus less-skilled physicians, by exploiting a Colombian government program that randomly assigned newly graduated physicians to local health centers. It estimates the impact on 255,089 children whose mothers received care in the local health centers using administrative data from the program, local health centers’ vital statistics records, and records from physicians’ mandatory graduation exams. The findings show that mothers treated at local health centers with more-skilled physicians were 9.14 percent less likely to give birth to an unhealthy baby, potentially because the more-skilled physicians better targeted care toward more-vulnerable mothers.Publication Delivering Primary Care for Non-communicable Diseases: A Compendium of Service Delivery Models in Low and Middle-income Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-13) World BankThe global prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) continues to escalate, leading to a substantial burden of disease. NCDs account for 74 percent of all global deaths, causing approximately 41 million fatalities annually, with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes being the main contributors. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear a disproportionate share of this burden, experiencing around 82 percent of premature NCD-related deaths. Yet, many health systems in low- and middle-income countries are inadequately prepared to deliver comprehensive care for major NCDs, as primary health care (PHC) services mainly focus on the provision of acute and episodic care, leaving gaps in coverage and quality of essential services for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of NCDs across the care continuum. While a broad range of cost-effective, equitable, and evidence-based interventions to address the growing burden of NCDs have been identified, the challenge lies in effectively delivering these interventions, particularly in health systems facing significant resource constraints. Integrating NCD care into primary health care (PHC) services is key to expanding access to care closer to communities, supporting health promotion and facilitating NCD prevention and control, and alleviating the burden of care at higher-level facilities. New strategies and innovative solutions are needed to achieve this approach and improve outcomes across the care continuum, from reducing risk factors to sustainably managing chronic conditions at the PHC level.Publication Effects of COVID-19 on Student Learning: Assessing Learning Losses Using Adaptive Technology(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-13) Baron, Juan; Mola, José; Pineda, Astrid Camille; Polanco Santos, Paola PatriciaThis paper quantifies learning losses between 2020 and 2022 in the Dominican Republic, an upper-middle-income country. The paper uses data from a sample of ninth-grade students who benefited from computer adaptive learning software during this period. This study is among a few to measure actual losses among secondary school students, and it is the first to use detailed data on students’ mastery of individual math topics to do so. The findings show no evidence of learning losses in our analysis sample. However, the paper documents concerningly low learning levels, with the average student mastering only 45 percent of pre-requisite topics for their grade. These results should be interpreted with caution, as they are based on a select sample of urban schools and may not fully reflect broader educational trends across the country.Publication A Framework for Private Sector-Led Offshore Wind Projects in Viet Nam: Next Steps for Advancing Viet Nam’s Offshore Wind Journey(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-13) World Bank GroupViet Nam’s rapidly growing economy has created increasing energy demands, with significant untapped offshore wind resources located in shallow waters near population centers. While several near-shore projects were previously developed under a Feed-in-Tariff system, no far-shore installations exist yet. Despite initial interest from international developers, many investors withdrew while awaiting policy clarity. This report aims to inform industry stakeholders about Viet Nam’s current offshore wind policies and regulations while providing recommendations to the government for framework improvements that will support project success and help achieve national targets. For Viet Nam to realize its offshore wind potential and meet national energy targets, a balanced approach that leverages both state and private sector capabilities while providing a stable, attractive investment environment is essential.Publication Barriers to Entry: Decomposing the Gender Gap in Job Search in Urban Pakistan(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-13) Gentile, Elisabetta; Kohli, Nikita; Subramanian, Nivedhitha; Tirmazee, Zunia; Vyborny, KateGender gaps in labor market outcomes persist in South Asia. An open question is whether supply- or demand-side constraints play a larger role. This paper investigates this using matched data from three sources in Lahore, Pakistan: representative samples of jobseekers and employers, administrative data from a job matching platform, and an incentivized binary choice experiment. Employers’ gender restrictions are a larger constraint on women’s job opportunities than supply-side decisions. This demand-side gap in the quantity of job opportunities closes as education levels increase and jobs become more “white-collar.”