Search the OKR
Search tip: Use quotation marks around exact phrases
Featured Publications
Recently Added
-
Publication
The Economic Cost of Exclusion Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics in the Labor Market in the Republic of Serbia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-26)Recent research suggests that the effects of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people could be costing economies billions of dollars. There are numerous reasons for these costs, including adverse educational environments, employment discrimination, physical and mental health disparities, and violence. This research aims to estimate the economic cost of exclusion based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) in the Republic of Serbia and to provide the country’s policy makers, civil society, and development partners with new evidence on the ongoing policy dialogue on strengthening the social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. To estimate the cost of exclusion, this report presents two theoretical models focused on the labor market and related issues. The first model centers mainly on the accumulated loss of individual wages due to the consequences of exclusion. The second model calculates the negative effect of exclusion on accumulated fiscal revenues (due to lower income and payroll taxes) and expenditures (due to higher expenditures for unemployment benefits and active labor market programs). -
Publication
The Economic Cost of Exclusion Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics in the Labor Market in the Republic of North Macedonia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-26)Recent research suggests that the effects of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people could be costing economies billions of dollars. There are numerous reasons for these costs, including adverse educational environments, employment discrimination, physical and mental health disparities, and violence. This research aims to estimate the economic cost of exclusion based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) in the Republic of North Macedonia and to provide the country’s policy makers, civil society, and development partners with new evidence on the ongoing policy dialogue on strengthening the social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. To estimate the cost of exclusion, this report presents two theoretical models focused on the labor market and related issues. The first model centers mainly on the accumulated loss of individual wages due to the consequences of exclusion. The second model calculates the negative effect of exclusion on accumulated fiscal revenues (due to lower income and payroll taxes) and expenditures (due to higher expenditures for unemployment benefits and active labor market programs). -
Publication
Household Surveys during Multiple Crises: Modifying Questionnaires to Assess the Impact of Shocks
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-25)Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has experienced multiple global crises in the last few years. As countries adapt to a new normal, multi-topic household surveys should also be adapted to account for the impacts of shocks on household welfare. By reviewing the standard household survey questionnaires included in the guidebook, capturing what matters: essential guidelines for designing household surveys, the authors provide technical guidance on issues to consider when reviewing, designing, or updating questionnaires for household surveys during or after a major shock - relying on lessons learned from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study program. -
Publication
Gender Gaps in Agriculture Productivity and Public Spending in Nigeria
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-25)Women farmers produce 30 percent less per hectare than their male counterparts. Among various factors, there are three key drivers of gender gaps in agriculture productivity in Nigeria: women use fewer inputs and have limited participation in extension services, farm less-valuable crops, and hire less productive labor. The four value chains receiving the largest budget allocations are among those with the lowest participation of women farmers. These gaps can be closed via adjustments at fundamental stages of budget allocation and policy formulation. This technical note aims to analyze the gender dimensions of participation, input distribution, and budget allocation across various crop value chains supported by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD). Specifically, the underlying analysis aims to (i) examine women’s participation in the crop value chains for which FMARD provides input support; (ii) quantify the gender gaps in agricultural input use, extension services, and labor productivity; (iii) examine women’s participation and inputs use against budget allocations; and (iv) thereby, formulate recommendations for increasing fiscal space and investments to close the agricultural gender productivity gaps in Nigeria. -
Publication
Mobilizing Private Finance for Nature: A World Bank Group Paper on Private Finance for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-25)Biodiversity and ecosystem services, or nature for short, underpin many aspects of economic activity and are deteriorating at an unprecedented level, with potentially far-reaching implications for economies worldwide. Sustained ecosystem damage can trigger regime shifts and generate systemic impacts on human well-being and economies. For example, the degradation of natural ecosystems has been associated with an increase in the probability of emerging infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely an example of how the disturbance of ecosystems can have systemic consequences. As biodiversity is often seen as a public and therefore open access good, its conservation, restoration, and sustainable use rely heavily on scarce public sector finance. Simultaneously, governments are spending vast amounts to promote economic activities that are potentially harmful to biodiversity. This paper argues that governments and regulators, supported by financial institutions and multilateral development banks (MDBs), hold the key to mobilizing private finance at the scale needed to transform the way we build, produce, and consume to protect nature while fostering sustainable poverty reduction. The analysis looks at two key approaches to mobilizing private finance for biodiversity. First, it assesses opportunities for financing green, that is, the financing of projects that contribute, or intend to contribute, to the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity and its services to people. Second, it looks at greening finance, that is, directing financial flows away from projects with negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystems to projects that mitigate negative impact, or pursue positive environmental impact as a co-benefit. Despite growing innovation in both categories, significant challenges to scaling up private finance remain. These include policies that exacerbate the underpricing of biodiversity; lack of data, measurement, and reporting standards; and issues with biodiversity investment opportunities, which tend to be small scale and noncommercial, making private sector financing a challenge. The paper provides a set of recommendations for governments, regulators, companies, financial institutions, and MDBs. These are synthesized into a set of big five approaches to mobilize private finance for biodiversity: environmental fiscal reforms to realign incentives with sustainable practices; national biodiversity data provision and planning; the establishment of a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to support biodiversity reporting; the establishment of a Nature Action 100 to drive change in the companies whose activities most threaten biodiversity; and the provision of catalytic, concessional capital for biodiversity funds and projects.