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Publication
Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2019/2020: Rebuilding Investor Confidence in Times of Uncertainty
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-05-27)The Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2019/2020 provides novel analytical insights, empirical evidence, and actionable recommendations for governments seeking to rebuild investor confidence in times of uncertainty. It focuses on the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in alleviating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and boosting countries’ economic resilience. It highlights FDI’s contributions to providing a critical source of external finance, creating jobs, lifting people out of poverty, and raising productivity. The report presents results of a survey of more than 2,400 business executives representing multinational corporations in 10 large developing countries: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. Results of the survey, as well as the report’s new global database of regulatory risk, highlight the critical role of government actions in reducing investor risk and increasing policy predictability for rebuilding investor confidence. The report also assesses the impact of FDI on poverty, inequality, employment, and business performance using firm- and household-level evidence from various countries. It shows that FDI in developing countries yields benefits to firms and workers—including more and better-paid jobs—but governments need to remain vigilant about possible adverse consequences on income distribution. Lastly, the report articulates priorities for investment promotion agencies and other stakeholders seeking to strengthen their countries’ investment competitiveness and leverage FDI for a robust economic recovery. -
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Future Drivers of Growth in Rwanda: Innovation, Integration, Agglomeration, and Competition
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020)A strong and widely acknowledged record of economic success—including a three-and-ahalf- fold increase in per capita income since 1994—places Rwanda among the world’s fastest-growing economies. Traumatic memories of the 1994 genocide are gradually fading, as associations begin to take a more positive form—of a nation on the rise, powered by human resilience, a sense of common purpose, and a purposeful government. Past successes and a sense of frailty have fueled aspirations for a secure, prosperous, and modern future. Sustaining high rates of economic growth is at the heart of these ambitions. Recent formulations of the nation’s Vision 2050 set a target of achieving upper-middleincome status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050. Future Drivers of Growth in Rwanda: Innovation, Integration, Agglomeration, and Competition, a joint undertaking by experts from Rwanda and the World Bank Group, evaluates the country’s possibilities and options in this endeavor. The report identifies four essential drivers of growth—innovation, integration, agglomeration, and competition—and reforms in six priority areas: human capital development, export dynamism and regional integration, well-managed urbanization, competitive domestic enterprises, agricultural modernization, and capable and accountable public institutions. -
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Innovative China: New Drivers of Growth
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-09-16)After more than three decades of average annual growth close to 10 percent, China's economy is transitioning to a 'new normal' of slower but more balanced and sustainable growth. Its old drivers of growth -- a growing labor force, the migration from rural areas to cities, high levels of investments, and expanding exports -- are waning or having less impact. China's policymakers are well aware that the country needs new drivers of growth. This report proposes a reform agenda that emphasizes productivity and innovation to help policymakers promote China's future growth and achieve their vision of a modern and innovative China. The reform agenda is based on the three D's: removing Distortions to strengthen market competition and enhance the efficient allocation of resources in the economy; accelerating Diffusion of advanced technologies and management practices in China's economy, taking advantage of the large remaining potential for catch-up growth; and fostering Discovery and nurturing China's competitive and innovative capacity as China approaches OECD incomes in the decades ahead and extends the global innovation and technology frontier. -
Publication
The WEB of Transport Corridors in South Asia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018-07-10)This book develops a holistic appraisal methodology to ensure that economic benefits of investments in transport corridors are amplified and more widely spread, and possible negative impacts such as congestion, environmental degradation, and other unintended consequences are minimized. It focuses on South Asia—not only as one of the world’s most populous and poorest regions—but as a hinge between East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The book is aimed at politicians, technocrats, civil society organizations, and businesses. It presents case studies of past and recent corridor initiatives, provides rigorous analysis of the literature on the spatial impact of corridors, and offers assessments of corridor investment projects supported by international development organizations. A series of spotlights examines such issues as private sector co-investment; the impacts of corridors on small enterprises and women; and issues with implementing cross-border corridors. The 'WEB' in the title stands for both the wider economic benefits (WEB) that transport corridors are expected to generate and the complex web of transport corridors that has been proposed. The appraisal methodology introduced in this book shows how the web of interconnected elements around corridors can be disentangled and the most promising corridor proposals—the ones with the greatest wider economic benefits—can be selected. -
Publication
Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2017/2018: Foreign Investor Perspectives and Policy Implications
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018)This inaugural issue of the World Bank Group’s Global Investment Competitiveness Report presents novel analytical insights and empirical evidence on foreign direct investment’s (FDI) drivers and contributions to economic transformation. Three key features distinguish this report from other leading FDI studies. Firstly, its insights come from a variety of sources, including a new survey of investor perspectives, extensive analysis of available data and evidence, and a thorough review of international best practices in investment policy design and implementation. Secondly, the report provides targeted, in-depth analysis of FDI differentiated by motivation, sector, and geographic origin and destination of investment. Thirdly, the report offers practical and actionable recommendations to developing country governments. The report’s groundbreaking survey of more than 750 executives of multinational corporations investing in developing countries finds that—in addition to political stability, security, and macroeconomic conditions—a business-friendly legal and regulatory environment is the key driver of investment decisions. The report also explores the potential of FDI to create new growth opportunities for local firms, assesses the effectiveness of fiscal incentives in attracting FDI, analyzes the characteristics of FDI originating in developing countries—so-called South–South and South–North FDI—and examines the experience of foreign investors in countries afflicted by conflict and fragility. -
Publication
Enabling the Business of Agriculture 2017
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-02-07)Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) 2017, the third report in the EBA series, offers insights into how laws and regulations affect private sector development for agribusinesses, including producer organizations and other agricultural entrepreneurs. Globally comparable data and scored indicators encourage regulations that ensure safety and quality of agricultural inputs, goods and services but are not too costly or burdensome. The goal is to facilitate the operation of agribusinesses and allow them to thrive in a socially and environmentally responsible way, enabling them to provide essential agricultural inputs and services to farmers that could increase their productivity and profits. Regional, income-group and country-specific trends and data observations are presented for 62 countries and across twelve topics: seed, fertilizer, machinery, finance, markets, transport, water, ICT, land, livestock, environmental sustainability and gender. Data are current as of June 30, 2016. -
Publication
Deepening Health Reform in China: Building High-Quality and Value-Based Service Delivery
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-07-22)At a meeting in July 2014 in Beijing, we committed to working together on a flagship report that would help set the direction for health sector reform in China. This report, Deepening Health Reform in China, is the result. Using the successful model offered by previous flagship reports like China 2030 and Urban China, this report primarily offers a blueprint for a new direction for China’s health sector. The report’s main theme is the need for China to transition its healthcare delivery system toward people-centered, quality, integrated care built on the foundation of a strong primary healthcare system. -
Publication
Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, Third Edition
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-05-02)The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 attempts to present numbers and facts behind the stories of international migration and remittances, drawing on authoritative, publicly available data. It provides a snapshot of statistics on immigration, emigration, skilled emigration, and remittance flows for 210 countries and 15 regional and income groups. The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 updates the 2011 edition of the Factbook with additional data on bilateral migration and remittances and second generation diasporas, collected from various sources, including national censuses, labor force surveys, population registers, and other national sources. -
Publication
Benchmarking Public Procurement 2016: Assessing Public Procurement Systems in 77 Economies
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016)Benchmarking Public Procurement 2016 Report aims to develop actionable indicators which will help countries identify and monitor policies and regulations that impact how private sector companies do business with the government. The project builds on the Doing Business methodology and was initiated at the request of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group. -
Publication
The World Bank Group A to Z 2016
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016)Note: Information in this title reflected the institution at the time of publication and may be subject to change... The World Bank Group A to Z provides concise and essential information about the mission, policies, procedures, products, and services of the new World Bank Group. This second edition is a follow-up to the first volume released for the 2014 Annual Meetings. The World Bank Group A to Z series builds on previous editions of A Guide to the World Bank to include features not found in its predecessors including: a graphical introduction to the World Bank Group, highlighting the Bank Group’s goals, financials, regions, and results; examples and photos of Bank Group projects and programs; and tools to guide you to the information you are looking for (even if you don’t know exactly what that is). It also reflects the wide-ranging reforms that have taken place within the World Bank Group in recent years, including the launch of the new World Bank Group Strategy; new approaches to development; the establishment of new Global Practice Groups and Cross Cutting Solutions Areas; and the goal of becoming a “Solutions Bank,” one that will marshal the vast reserves of evidence and experiential knowledge across the five World Bank Group agencies and apply them to local problems. With more than 280 entries arranged in encyclopedic A-to-Z format, readers can easily find up-to-date information about the five agencies of the World Bank Group and the wide range of areas in which they work: from agriculture, education, energy, health, social protection and labor to gender, jobs, conflict, private sector development, trade, water and climate change. The World Bank Group’s work in all of these areas now focuses on two new twin goals: eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity of the poorest 40 percent in every developing country.