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 713

Jobs, Food and Greening: Exploring Implications of the Green Transition for Jobs in the Agri-food System

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-16) Nico, Gianluigi ; Christiaensen, Luc

The agri-food system (AFS) employs about one third of the global workforce and contributes about one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This together with its large exposure to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation makes what happens in AFS central to the green transition and its implications for jobs and the structural transformation. Microeconomic evidence suggests that the adoption of climate smart agricultural practices will increase labor requirements, at least in the short run and at lower levels of incomes, when its mechanization is still limited. Econometric macro-model-based simulations suggest however that especially substantial investment in climate friendly agricultural R&D as well as soil and water preserving practices and market integration will more than offset the negative effects of climate change and even accelerate the structural transformation, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. Overall, the findings underscore the tremendous potential of increasing agricultural and climate friendly R&D investment for brokering an environmentally sustainable structural transformation. Repurposing of agriculture’s current US$ 638 billion support package towards supporting more climate friendly practices, including to overcome the time lag between the moment of investment and the realization of the benefits, provides an important policy entry point.
Diagnosing the Binding Constraints to Better Jobs: An Approach and Framework

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-16) Osborne, Theresa

The persistent lack of good jobs that is, an inadequate level or quality of jobs, inefficient and/or inequitable jobs outcomes is a key economic issue in developing (and some developed) economies. Yet policy responses often lack an understanding of the causes. While the proximate drivers, such as low productivity growth, slow capital deepening, or a lack of firms and other organized economic actors, may share patterns, the policy roots and circumstances of these outcomes vary a great deal by country. Thus, making progress in a meaningful and lasting way requires, in the first instance, a clear understanding of the binding constraints which, if alleviated, would result in a substantial structural improvement to jobs outcomes. Binding constraints could arise in a host of policies and institutions, including possibly inadequate human capital and labor market policies but also in infrastructure, regulatory, financial, judicial and other areas. This paper provides a data-driven approach and framework for diagnosing the truly binding constraints to better jobs. The approach is to rule out broad categories of constraints using economic logic and data, and to utilize an array of empirical indicators to test whether remaining candidate constraints are binding. While this paper outlines an exhaustive approach, the style of thinking and techniques can also be applied selectively to fill analytical gaps and ensure that key issues are not left unaddressed.
Designing and Delivering Government-Led Graduation Programs for People in Extreme Poverty

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-02-17) Gollin, Maxwell ; Miranda, Carolina de ; Muriuki, Taddeo ; Commins, Steve

While governments face significant obstacles in designing and delivering approaches for people living in extreme poverty, a substantial body of research shows that programs can achieve transformative impact by addressing the socioeconomic barriers that often exclude this population. An increasing number of governments are adopting and scaling economic inclusion programs, including Graduation programs, to address the multidimensional vulnerabilities of people living in extreme poverty. By integrating the Graduation approach into their poverty reduction initiatives, governments can increase the impact and scale of their initiatives by investing in the systems, processes, and capacities needed to reach those furthest behind and deliver multidimensional, timebound, and sequenced program interventions. This In Practice paper shares insights and learning from four non-governmental organizations on the potential to scale up government-led Graduation programs for people living in extreme poverty. It contributes to the growing policy space around economic inclusion and identifies good practices for designing and implementing government-led Graduation programs. It makes recommendations and identifies key considerations for governments on how to identify, reach, and deliver impactful programming to individuals and households facing socioeconomic exclusion and marginalization.
Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No.22, Fall 2022: Beyond the Crises

(Washington, DC, 2022-10) World Bank

The economies of the Western Balkans continue to face a turbulent external environment, placing households, firms, and governments under acute stress. Just as the post-COVID recovery of 2021 began to fade and the region returned to a normalized rate of economic growth, the Western Balkan region now faces a new combination of challenges. The war in Ukraine, and the resultant sharp increase and energy prices and slowdown in global growth, is weighing on economic performance in all six economies. Higher energy and food prices have pushed inflation to levels unseen for many years, eroding purchasing power and business confidence. Monetary tightening in advanced economies is pushing up financing costs and weakening external demand. Following a strong rebound in 2021, growth, although still robust, was on a decelerating path in the first half of 2022. In Q1 of 2022, the Western Balkan economies remained resilient overall, supported by sizable policy actions at the EU, euro area, and national levels. First-quarter growth was particularly strong in tourism-based economies and in Serbia. However, growth decelerated in Q2, as countries had to deal with the direct consequences of the war and is projected to continue decelerating in the second half of the year reflecting higher base levels of growth in Q3 and Q4 2021 and the stronger global headwinds.
Enhancing Links of Poor Farmers to Markets: A Practice Review for Economic Inclusion in Zambia

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-09-16) Sparkman, Tim ; Sackett, Jill ; Avalos, Jorge ; Varghese Paul, Boban

This report reviews the experiences of market linkage programs implemented globally, particularly those focused on poor smallholders, including women, as beneficiaries and farmers who participated in government social safety net schemes. The report highlights lessons learned by program implementers, governments, and other stakeholders related to efforts to link extremely poor households to productive markets. The research was commissioned to inform potential links between two World Bank projects that are currently supporting the economic inclusion of poor households in Zambia. The supporting women’s livelihood (SWL) program of the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL) Project provides a comprehensive package to promote economic inclusion among women from the poorest households. A second project, the Zambia Agribusiness and Trade Project (ZATP), enhances access to markets by linking producer organizations and high-growth small and medium-size enterprises to buyers (commercial off-takers) by facilitating productive alliances (commercial agreements between a producer organization and a commercial off-taker) and providing matching grants and technical support. A diagnostic of the status of and constraints facing SWL beneficiaries with respect to market linkages highlights the lack of upstream value chain linkages for them. The World Bank will provide technical assistance to the government of Zambia, through relevant ministries, to operationalize a mechanism, at scale, for forging market linkages by SWL households by linking them to ZATP beneficiaries. This report reviews and highlights the experiences of similar market linkages programs implemented globally, in an attempt to answer key questions raised by the program. This report describes operational considerations that may be relevant to the ZATP-GEWEL project context. It provides recommendations to guide the next steps in developing the ZATP-GEWEL pilot.
Working for Inclusion: Economic Inclusion in Contexts of Forced Displacement

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-06-15) Heisey, Janet ; Sánchez, Inés Arévalo ; Bernagros, Alexi

Since 2012, the number of forcibly displaced people has more than doubled, reaching 89.3 million by the end of 2021. Ongoing conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, will result in even larger numbers of forcibly displaced people. The economic and human development impacts of forcible displacement present challenges for the people who have been displaced, the communities that host them, and governments that receive them. Governments, humanitarian organizations, and others are using economic inclusion programs as one strategy to increase income and assets and build the resilience of displaced people and host populations living in poverty. An estimated 95 economic inclusion programs are underway in contexts of forced displacement in 45 countries, more than half led by governments. This note examines the experience of economic inclusion programs that serve forcibly displaced people, including internally displaced people, refugees, and their host communities. It also examines the emerging lessons learned in program design and delivery based on new data on the footprint of economic inclusion programs and a review of evidence on forced displacement and economic inclusion programming.
Collection of Policy Notes for the New Somali Government: Unlocking Somalia’s Potential to Stabilize, Grow and Prosper

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-06) World Bank

The arrival of a new government provides an opportunity to reinvigorate the reform agenda to deliver inclusive growth for the Somali people. Since the establishment of the Provisional Constitution in 2012, Somalia has made commendable progress on many fronts. Macroeconomic stability has been maintained, high levels of indebtedness are being addressed through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, several sector laws and institutions have been established, and a poverty reduction strategy paper has been developed – the ninth National Development Plan (NDP9). However, much remains to be done and the time has come to mark the next milestone in Somalia’s development trajectory through advancing reforms anchored in the HIPC process. The objective of the collection of policy notes is to provide sector-specific policy advice for the leadership of the new government, drawing on the expertise of the World Bank Group. This overview chapter synthesizes the advice across the sector policy notes and is organized in four sections. The first section outlines the current context. The second section presents the framework for organizing the policy notes. The third section summarizes the advice, and the fourth section concludes.
Somalia Economic Update, June 2022: Investing in Social Protection to Boost Resilience for Economic Growth

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) World Bank

Somalia is currently experiencing extreme and widespread drought which has been assessed as an unprecedented climatic event not seen in at least 40 years by meteorological agencies and humanitarian partners. After four consecutive seasons of poor rains, 90 percent of the country is experiencing severe drought conditions that include failed crop harvests, widespread water shortages, and decline in livestock production. The drought has intensified the humanitarian crisis and is driving the country into a brink of famine. Significant displacement of people is occurring as they abandoned their homes in search of food, water, and pasture for their livestock. The situation is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine which has pushed up global food and oil prices. The higher commodity prices are disproportionally affecting the poor and exacerbating inequality. Against this challenging backdrop, the seventh edition of the World Bank’s Somalia Economic Update provides a detailed update of recent economic developments and growth outlook and makes a case for investing in Social Protection to help confront the frequent shocks that buffet the country. Overall, the Economic Update series aims to contribute to policymaking process and stimulate national dialogue on topical issues related to economic recovery and development.
Liberia Economic Update: Investing in Human Capital for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-06) World Bank Group

This is the third edition of the Liberia Economic Update (LEU), a series of annual reports that assesses recent economic developments in Liberia and assists the government and its development partners in identifying emerging issues and addressing persistent challenges. It presents a broad overview of Liberia’s macroeconomic context, assesses the macro-fiscal and growth outlook over the short and medium terms, and sheds light on the state of human capital in Liberia. The rebound in global and domestic activity and higher prices of Liberia’s main exports helped improve the country’s economic performance in 2021. The government’s fiscal position improved in 2021 due to strong revenue growth and tight expenditure management. The appreciation of the Liberian dollar, coupled with prudent fiscal and monetary policies, helped stem inflation in 2021. Liberia’s current account deficit widened despite stronger export growth. As domestic activity picked up, increased exports were offset by the surge in imports. Liberia’s medium-term outlook is positive but subject to significant downside risks and uncertainties. The positive outlook is underpinned by significant tailwinds for mining, the government’s planned scale-up of public investment, and the implementation of structural reforms in key sectors, including agriculture and energy. On the downside, there are risks and uncertainties related to the path of the pandemic at home and abroad, the war in Ukraine, and the upcoming general elections in 2023.
Ethiopia - Rural Income Diagnostics Study: Leveraging the Transformation in the Agri-Food System and Global Trade to Expand Rural Incomes

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) World Bank

Ethiopia began the decade on a great run, with high economic growth and significant gains in poverty reduction nationally. But the gains were unevenly shared. Multiple shocks at the beginning of the new decade threaten to discontinue progress and possibly undo most of the gains made in the recent past. This rural income diagnostics (RID) study seeks to inform how to promote growth in rural incomes to accelerate poverty reduction. The objective of the RID is to examine how those who currently reside in rural areas can have higher incomes in the future, which can entail one or more members moving to urban areas. The focus is on income growth that results in higher incomes on average, but also income that is less volatile because of due consideration to effective risk reduction and management, and to ensuring that growth is sustainable. While the RID focuses only on income that is earned by rural households, it is much more detailed in its identification of the constraints because of this narrower focus. The diagnostic provides evidence to validate constraints and key areas of focus in ongoing agriculture and rural policy reforms and other relevant reforms under the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda (HGERA), elevate the importance of some reforms where immediate action is required, and provide empirical arguments to support important policy interventions where consensus may be lacking or there is policy hesitation.