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

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 1610

Steering the Human Development Strategy for a Sustainable Green Economy in the Slovak Republic

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-17) Abdul-Hamid, Husein ; Ambasz, Diego

The rippling effects of multiple overlapping crises on the economy, declining education outcomes, and inability of the education system to meet the upcoming needs of the labor market puts the Slovak Republic in a human capital crisis. There is a misalignment between the supply and outcomes of the education system and requirements of the labor market. Education-to-work pathways through vocational and tertiary education are insufficient to prepare students for the green economy transition. Education-to-work pathways need to be flexible to align worker choices with needs of the labor market. This policy note provides a deep dive into the education situation in the Slovak Republic and proposes specific policy recommendations aiming at the skilling and reskilling toward the green and digital agenda, utilizing European and international experiences in this area.
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.
The Future of Pacific Tourism

(Washington DC, 2023-04-25) World Bank

Over the two decades preceding the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, tourism became one of the most important drivers of economic growth across the Pacific. The COVID-19 crisis had a devastating impact on tourism activity in the Pacific, with severe and potentially durable economic and social consequences. This study takes a fresh look at tourism’s role for development in the Pacific, its future after COVID-19, and the scope to foster a greener, more resilient, competitive, and inclusive sector. It complements and builds on the 2016 Pacific possible report, which assessed specific opportunities to increase arrivals in a context of rapid tourism growth, by considering the changes to the industry’s model that could maximize tourism’s economic, social, and environmental benefits for Pacific Islanders. It does this by: (i) taking stock of the evidence on tourism’s historical contribution to development in the Pacific Island Country (PICs) and of the COVID-19 crisis’ impacts, (ii) analyzing current obstacles and potential opportunities for a more competitive and sustainable Pacific tourism, focusing on selected issues key to target higher value markets, and (iii) recommending policy priorities and investment needs to (re)position the Pacific tourism model for the future and broaden its benefits, focusing on competitiveness, environmental sustainability, resilience and inclusiveness. Given the scarcity of data on Pacific tourism and frequent discrepancies across sources, one of the study’s main contributions is to provide a detailed quantitative assessment of the sector and its economic impacts, for instance on jobs, poverty, and public revenue, based on an extensive data collection, cross-checking and integration exercise.
Making the European Green Deal Work for People: The Role of Human Development in the Green Transition

(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2023-04-24) Sanchez-Reaza, Javier ; Ambasz, Diego ; Djukic, Predrag

Climate change is the single most important existential threat of our times. Mounting average global temperature contributes to rising sea levels, more frequent extreme weather events, deteriorating biodiversity, and shifts in the sustainability of agriculture and aquaculture. The European Green Deal (EGD) is the response of the European Union (EU) to the climate challenge. It will establish regulations and incentives to nudge European society toward a more sustainable economy. To achieve these ambitious goals the EGD combines a wide range of regulations, policies, and intervention. But a green transition is only possible with an enabling human transition, and only with the proper human development (social) policies to support this transition. This report identifies the human development (HD) policies needed to enable the green transition in Europe.
Protecting Human Capital Through Shocks and Crises: How lessons learned from the COVID-19 response across Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus can be used to build better and more resilient human development systems

(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-04-20) Rigolini, Jamele ; Coll-Black, Sarah ; de Hoyos, Rafael ; Nguyen, Ha Thi Hong

Risk and uncertainty are on the rise, and countries across Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are not immune from it. The region is being hit by crises, conflicts, and continued uncertainty that are negatively affecting people’s livelihoods in the short term and prosperity in the long term. Then COVID-19 hit, inflicting massive harm on people’s wellbeing, livelihoods, and human capital. Lockdowns prevented people from working, school closures prevented students from learning, and overwhelmed hospitals had to defer important treatments. This report explores how to strengthen the resilience of health, education, and social protection systems to better protect people’s human capital from the long-term effects of recurrent shocks and crises.
Planning for Success: Strategies of Investment Promotion Agencies

(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-04-07) Sawaqed , Lina ; Griffin, Carlos

Governments establish investment promotion agencies (IPAs) as part of the larger framework fostering private sector development and contributing to achieving national development objectives. IPAs do this by attracting and supporting investments that will translate into more and better jobs; higher wages; more revenue for local businesses; and the skills, technologies, and new economic activities which will, in turn, lead again to more jobs, wages, and local revenue. In order to do this, the IPA must identify its own strategic objectives and chart a path towards the achievement of these objectives. Cascading from national strategies and plans, the IPA’s strategy is a key tool that helps it succeed by guiding it to focus on the investors most likely to invest and generate the desired impacts, engage in the most suitable activities to cater to investors along the investment lifecycle, and make the best use of its resources, capabilities, and partnerships. This note serves as a guide to IPAs and policy makers in the development, adoption, and implementation of IPA strategies, drawing on World Bank Group experience and examples of good practices around the world. It presents the essential elements of an investment promotion strategy and the critical steps for its development and implementation.
Maldives Development Update, April 2023: Navigating a Tight Line

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-04) World Bank

The economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and, with rising tourist arrivals, is expected to maintain a strong growth and poverty reduction trajectory over the medium term. Commodity price volatility is driving inflation and exerting pressure on fiscal and external balances, through costlier imports and higher subsidies. Despite recent improvements, public debt is expected to remain high, warranting continued efforts to reduce fiscal deficits, including comprehensive subsidy reforms while mitigating impacts on the vulnerable.
Syria Economic Monitor, Winter 2022/23: Syria’s Economy in Ruins after a Decade-long War

(Washington, DC, 2023-03-28) World Bank

The World Bank’s teams have been resorting to the use of a mix of standard tools and innovative geospatial and remote-based data sources (e.g., nighttime lights, shipping-position data, traffic congestion data, aviation statistics, mobile phone location data, remote sensing vegetation indices, and conflict intensity maps) to reveal economic trends and analyze unrecorded activities that are prominent in war-torn economies like Syria. Macroeconomic conditions in Syria have substantially deteriorated since the start of the war in Ukraine. Already very high, the vulnerability of Syrian households is on the rise. Subject to high uncertainty, real gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to contract by 3.2 percent in 2023, following a 3.5 percent decline in 2022.
Syria Earthquake 2023: Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA)

(Washington DC, 2023-03-28) World Bank

Following the magnitude (Mw) 7.8 Türkiye-Syria Earthquake on February 6, 2023, and the (Mw) 6.3 earthquake on February 20, 2023, the World Bank launched the Syria Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA). The objective of the RDNA is to estimate the impact of the earthquake on physical assets and service delivery in the most affected areas. The RDNA covers six governorates with roughly 10million inhabitants, with an in-depth analysis of nine cities. It provides preliminary estimates to rebuild infrastructure and restore service delivery, and general guiding principles for recovery and building back better, focusing on early recovery (0–12 months) and short-term needs (1–3 years). The RDNA also analyses the macroeconomic and socioeconomic impacts of the earthquake to anticipate repercussions on the economic outlook and on the population’s well-being. This RDNA contributes to the understanding of the impactof the earthquake on Syria. While the RDNA focuses on the damages incurred by the earthquake, the compounding effect of the pre-existing damages caused by the conflict are reflected in the pre-earthquake baseline. The RDNA follows a globally established and recognized damage, loss, and needs assessment methodology developed by the World Bank Group (WBG), the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN). This methodology has been applied globally in post-disaster and conflict contexts to inform recovery and reconstruction planning. Prior to this RDNA, the World Bank Group conducted six assessments to provide information on the effects of the ongoing conflict on population, physical infrastructure, and quality of service delivery.