Sector/Thematic Studies

6,525 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

Sub-collections of this Collection

Equitable Growth, Finance & Institutions Insight

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 52

The Business Case for Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Mining

(Washington, DC, 2022-08-08) International Finance Corporation

Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is critical to the sustainability of the planet. A recent World Bank report found that increasing demand for clean energy technologies can increase demand for minerals such as graphite, lithium, and cobalt by nearly 500 percent by 2050. Even though the authors expect recycling rates to go up in the future, mining will still be required to supply critical minerals: the shift to a low-carbon future will be mineral-intensive, and mining will remain a critical industry. It is in this context that the World Bank Group established the climate-smart mining initiative (CSM), which is sustained by a partnership between industry and country governments. The initiative supports the sustainable extraction, processing, and recycling of the minerals and metals that are needed for low-carbon technologies. The concept is built upon four pillars: (i) climate mitigation; (ii) climate adaptation; (iii) reducing material impacts; and (iv) creating market opportunities.
Realizing Sustainability Through Diversity: The Case for Gender Diversity Among Sri Lanka’s Business Leadership

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03) International Finance Corporation

This report makes the case for greater gender diversity on Sri Lanka’s corporate boards and in senior management by highlighting the value propositions of such diversity for companies, communities, and ultimately the country. Diversity is about more than just gender, ethnicity, or religion. However, this report focuses primarily on promoting gender diversity in the workplace, particularly in the corporate boardroom and among senior management. Empirical evidence from around the world shows the importance and value of gender diversity in improving firms’ overall performance, including but not limited to financial performance. Gender diversity among business leaders typically leads to better decision-making processes and better monitoring and strategy involvement. The business case for gender balance at the top goes beyond financial performance. Extensive research shows that having more women in business leadership positions leads to higher environmental, social, and governance standards, with a particularly clear connection when women achieve a critical mass of about 30 percent on company boards. Companies with enhanced environmental, social, and governance standards also perform better on critical metrics: stronger internal controls and management oversight, reduced risk of fraud or other ethical violations, positive workplace environment, greater stakeholder engagement, and improved reputation and brand. Therefore, having a more gender-balanced board and leadership team contributes to stronger environmental, social, and governance performance, which, in turn, leads to better business performance. Ultimately, diversity is about ensuring companies’ competitiveness, performance, and long-term sustainability.
Energy Sector Baseline Study in the Kakuma-Kalobeyei Refugee-Hosting Area in Kenya

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03) International Finance Corporation

Kakuma as a marketplace, a 2018 consumer and market study of Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya, estimates that Kakuma camp and its hosting community have 2,100 refugee-owned businesses and are worth 56 million dollars based on household consumption. This study provides information for businesses in the energy sector to help them assess opportunities for providing or expanding energy services in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei areas; it also provides insights to inform International Finance Corporation (IFC) interventions. The study maps the supply of and demand for energy for lighting, cooking, and productive use among households and businesses in the camp and examines the regulatory environment affecting the energy sector.
Handbook for Scaling Irrigation Systems

(Washington, DC, 2022) International Finance Corporation ; International Fund for Agricultural Development

The demand for more efficient use of land and water resources to enable farmers to produce food using climate-resilient processes continues to grow in the face of a growing global population and the impacts of climate change and other shocks such as Coronavirus (COVID-19). Although irrigation has been widely promoted as important for productivity and resilience, it has not been sufficiently expanded. Large, well-established irrigation projects developed by public institutions and select private sector projects play an important role in providing access to irrigation, but they are insufficient to meet need. In parallel, farmers have been developing effective small-scale irrigation (SSI) options that include a range of technologies, financing methods, and operating models. International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are global organizations focused on promoting resilient agriculture and food system transformation. This handbook takes a practical approach in guiding its target readers, which comprise policy makers, governments and government agencies, private sector actors, and development institution partners, on how to deliver effective design and operation strategies, combined with financing models, to implement and sustainably expand use of irrigation.
Non-Performing Loan Market Assessment in Pakistan: Developing a Secondary NPL Market - Diagnostic Assessment Report

(International Finance Corporation: Washington, DC, 2022) International Finance Corporation ; World Bank

The objective of this Non-Performing Loan (NPL) Market assessment diagnostic report is to examine and assess the NPL market in Pakistan, and identify bottlenecks and practical areas that could be addressed in the short and medium term to make the NPL market in Pakistan more investor friendly. The report analyzes and sizes the NPL market in Pakistan and identifies key financial trends, NPL concentrations, major participants, sectors, and segments. It presents the current state of Pakistan’s NPL market, identifying the legal, prudential, taxation, and other regulatory and practical impediments for financial institutions and potential NPL investors to create and operate a viable secondary market for NPLs. The report also assesses the feasibility of potential secondary market transaction models for NPLs within the context of the current laws and regulations in Pakistan.
Fintech and SME Finance: Expanding Responsible Access

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank ; International Finance Corporation

This technical note is structured in the following manner. Section two provides an overview of the main barriers and frictions that SMEs face to access finance. Section three explores how digitization is an enabler for SME finance and how different fintech solutions address these barriers. The fintech solutions analyzed include digital credit, asset-based lending, and equity products. Also examined are innovative products such as digital payments, credit risk assessment using alternative data, tokenized assets, and electronic invoicing. Market enablers such as e-commerce and open banking, and the digitization of business processes, which contribute to addressing the barriers and frictions to SME access to finance, are also highlighted. Section four analyzes how the providers of these fintech solutions for SMEs impact traditional banks, financial institutions, and implications on the financial market structure. This section also discusses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of digital financial products for SMEs. Section five then addresses some of the key risks and challenges involved in the adoption of digital financial products and key market enablers. Finally, section six presents policy and regulatory recommendations to address the different challenges.
World Bank Group Global Market Survey: Digital Technology and the Future of Finance

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank ; International Finance Corporation

This report documents the main findings of the Word Bank Group Survey on Digital Transformation and the Future of Finance. The survey was conducted between May 2020 and January 2021 and focused on the digital transformation of financial services and its impact on financial markets and regulatory environments across the world. The survey covered a wide range of market participants, with a focus on those from Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs). This survey of market participants complemented earlier surveys of the official sector by the World Bank Group, IMF, and Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance. As a follow-up to the IMF-WBG Bali Fintech Agenda, 3 the IMF and the WBG undertook a global fintech survey (GFS 2019) of central banks, finance ministries, and regulatory agencies, which underpinned the stock-taking paper ‘Fintech: The Experience So Far’ published by the IMF and the World Bank in 2019. GFS 2019 collected insights from 96 official-sector respondents worldwide related to fintech developments in their respective jurisdictions. It found that the official sector broadly expected fintech to increase competition, particularly in payments, and to further financial inclusion for both households and MSMEs. The results suggested the need to modify regulatory approaches and legal frameworks. The WBG-CCAF survey of regulators from 111 jurisdictions on alternative finance (WBG-CCAF 2019) corroborated regulators’ support for technology-driven finance and their plans to further develop regulatory frameworks covering P2P, equity crowdfunding, and initial coin offerings. Purpose-built regulations for these new sectors often impose more obligations than existing regulations. The CCAF-WB 2020 Global COVID-19 FinTech Regulatory Rapid Assessment Study reported regulators’ observations that due to accelerated adoption of fintech products and services during the pandemic, particularly in emerging markets, fintech regulation was a priority, along with concerns about rising cybersecurity, operational, and consumer protection risks. This survey largely confirmed the observations of regulators and market participants from previous surveys, reinforcing the competition and inclusion aspects of fintech and the need to continue to address emerging risks, adapt regulatory frameworks, and reduce barriers to innovation.
Consumer and Market Study in Southwest and West Nile Refugee-Hosting Areas in Uganda

(Washington, DC, 2021-12) International Finance Corporation

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) commissioned a consumer and market study to explore economic activities, employment trends, consumption levels, and consumer preferences of refugees and host communities in Uganda’s largest refugee-hosting areas in the Southwest and West Nile regions. The study covers a gap in existing research on the economic situations of forced displacement, which is often conducted from a humanitarian perspective and rarely offers the private sector view. The study presents the refugees’ economic activities in their distinct roles as consumers, producers, suppliers, and salaried workers from the view of a private sector firm entering the market. It builds on earlier research conducted by the Uganda Investment Authority, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which produced investment profiles for refugee-hosting districts. The report is divided into eight chapters. Chapter one introduces the study. Chapter two outlines the study methodology. Chapter three provides socioeconomic baseline data, such as educational attainment, employment, and income, comparable by region and population group (refugees versus host communities). Chapter four explores access to telecommunication and financial services. Chapter five analyzes household consumption expenditure, the volume of economic activity, consumer preferences, and access to finance and telecommunication services. Chapter six discusses findings from the business survey. Chapter seven briefly looks at agricultural value chains in the Southwest and West Nile. Chapter eight presents investment opportunities in the refugee-hosting districts for the private sector.
Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Central America

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12) International Finance Corporation

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made the digital revolution more important than ever. A strong entrepreneurial ecosystem is essential for digital revolution. This report assesses entrepreneurship ecosystems in Central America and provides a series of recommendations. The assessment was carried out in four countries of Central America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras - and combined a set of analytical instruments. It included an analysis of firm-level micro-data, an analysis of public programs and intermediary organizations to support entrepreneurship, focus groups, and an online survey of more than 2,000 firms on technology use. The findings and the corresponding recommendations also cover challenges that make it difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to digitalize their operations and for start-ups in general.
She Matters: Women in Kazakhstan Corporate Leadership

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09) International Finance Corporation

This report makes a case for greater gender diversity on Kazakhstan corporate boards (including the board of directors and management board). Empirical evidence from around the world shows the importance and value of gender diversity in improving firms’ overall performance, including but not limited to financial performance. Gender diversity among business leaders typically leads to balanced decision-making processes, better monitoring and strategy involvement, and greater attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues to foster sustainability. This report analyzes the relationship between board gender diversity (defined as having at least 30 percent women on the board of directors) and the financial performance of Kazakhstan joint-stock companies (JSCs). For this purpose, a series of financial and gender indicators were collected from the data of the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Depository of Financial Statements and the Register of State Enterprises and Institutions, Legal Entities with the State Participation in the Authorized Capital of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Central Securities Depository, etc. In total, the study includes financial and non-financial information from 788 JSCs between 2017-2019.