Report Series: World Bank Working Papers
World Bank Working Papers present the results of economic, financial, or technical research; country experience or analysis; operational evaluations; or detailed background or case studies. These are typically works in progress, published to stimulate public discussion of ongoing research. These books tend to be short, ranging typically between 64 and 128 pages in length. This series was superseded by the World Bank Studies series in 2011 [see Books - Series (active)]. Smaller, chapter-sized articles can be found in the Policy Research Working Papers collection.
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Publication
Environmental Implications of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-07)Two-thirds of central banks in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have started researching or testing the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). At the same time, the region accounts for one-third of world CO2 emissions and is vulnerable to climate risks. As the Group of 7 (G7), European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of England (BoE) have stated in their public statements, it is increasingly important to consider environmental impact when designing CBDC. However, only a few brief studies have been done on this subject, which will be crucial for the region. This Note explores the environmental implications of CBDC by comparing technical mechanisms and energy consumption within its distributed structure. It also illustrates differences in ecological footprint between CBDC and other payment methods (cryptocurrency, cash, and card networks). As the legitimacy of CBDC is backed by the trust of central banks, CBDC does not need to prove its legitimacy through its technological structure. Therefore, CBDC does not require the energy-intensive consensus or mining mechanisms used by a cryptocurrency, so its energy consumption is lower (comparable to that of a credit card system). CBDC can be designed to use various systems, such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), or a mixture of both. Careful deliberation to meet the objectives and implications will be important as CBDC can be a catalyst for financial innovation. -
Publication
A Novel Tobacco Market Diversification: Unsmoking Rich Countries while Smoking Low-and-Middle Income Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-04-27)In this working paper, an exploration of available data and information is conducted and findings presented, to support the view that the dichotomous business model and related harm reduction narrative promoted nowadays by the tobacco industry, merits scrutiny by the international community. The promotion of e-cigarettes as welfare enhancing in rich countries, particularly because they are posited to help adult smokers quit, tends to obfuscate a dire reality. The same tobacco industry that promotes (e-cigarettes as harm reduction in rich countries, derives the bulk of its profits by selling cigarettes in lower income countries. -
Publication
The Role of Coherence in Strengthening Community Accountability for Remote Schools in Indonesia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-04)Incoherence in accountability relationships, or the lack of alignment between the various components of a specific education system, can hamper the quality of education. Such incoherence can be a particular challenge in resource constrained, remote villages where teachers tend to have higher educational capital and social status than the parents and communities whom they serve. We analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from a randomized controlled trial of a social accountability mechanism (SAM) for primary schools in remote Indonesian villages. The intervention had three treatment groups, all of which included the SAM, that engaged village-level stakeholders in a consensus-building process that led to joint service agreements for supporting the learning process. Prior analyses have found that all three treatment groups significantly improved student learning, but the treatment group combining the SAM with teacher performance pay based on camera-monitored teacher attendance led to much larger gains than the SAM-only treatment group or the treatment group combining the SAM with teacher performance pay based on a community-evaluated scorecard. Drawing on a range of quantitative data sources across all treatment group schools (process monitoring, survey, and service agreement indicators) and qualitative data from nine case study schools (interviews and focus group discussions), we show first that the student learning gains across all three treatment groups were accompanied by increases in both the coherence of the accountability relationships between village-level stakeholders and the degree to which these relationships were oriented toward the purpose of cultivating learning. We further show that the treatment group combining the SAM with camera monitored teacher attendance led to greater improvements in the coherence of accountability relationships than the other treatment groups, because the cameras improved both the technical capacity and the social legitimacy of community members to hold teachers accountable. This coherence-focused, relational explanation for the relative effectiveness of the treatment groups has more explanatory power than alternative explanations that focus narrowly on information quality or incentive structure. Our analysis reinforces arguments for ensuring that accountability structures are coherent with the local context, including local social structures and power dynamics. -
Publication
Structured Lesson Plans for Literacy Instruction: A Compendium of Global Resources - A Collection of Early-Grade Teaching and Learning Materials in 40+ Languages
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03-31)Literacy is the cornerstone of education, and a driver of human economic, social, and civic wellbeing. Despite its importance, far too many children fail to become literate. The World Bank uses a measure called learning poverty to indicate when a child cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text by age ten. The best available data showed that more than two-thirds of children in low- and middle-income countries suffer learning poverty. The World Bank is committed to helping countries achieve the learning target: to cut learning poverty by at least half by 2030. Achieving better outcomes in literacy requires a comprehensive effort in many domains. One of the most important is ensuring that students and teachers have and use high-quality instructional materials, especially textbooks, for reading instruction. As countries and systems review their literacy teaching and learning materials, they will want to compare them to the materials from other countries and systems. The purpose of the compendium is to allow such reviews and comparisons by grouping a critical mass of structured pedagogy lesson plans and related materials in one place. -
Publication
WBG COVID-19 Crisis Response Operational Update: Delivering on the WBG Twin Goals in an Era of Compounding Crises
(Washington, DC, 2022-03-31)This note provides an update on the WBG’s COVID-19 Crisis Response, outlined in June 2020 to help developing countries address the impacts of the pandemic while maintaining a line of sight to long-term development goals. It comprises five short sections: (I) the impacts of COVID-19 and compounding crises on developing countries, (II) an update on the WBG’s operational crisis response and priorities moving forward, (III) the critical role of international coordination, (IV) WBG financing framework for GRID, and (V) concluding remarks. -
Publication
Sustainable Cities Towards A Green, Resilient and Inclusive Recovery: Applying the Sustainable Cities Implementation Framework in Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and Romania
(Washington, DC, 2022-03)Cities are key to unlocking a climate-smart future for all, as they account for more than 50 percent of the global population, about 70 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions and 80 percent of global GDP. Urban centers’ share of emissions is expected to grow as the urban population is projected to increase by 2.3 billion people by 20502. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, cities will present a huge opportunity to rebuild in a way that is climate friendly and meets some of the world’s ambitious climate targets. Cities are viewed as the source of and the solution to many of today's economic, social, and environmental challenges. This is not only because of the concentration of population and economic assets in urban areas, but also because local authorities perform key functions that impact the quality of life of their residents. From an urban management perspective, the leading resource and knowledge sharing platform is the GEF funded Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC), hosted by the World Bank. The GPSC states that achieving sustainability requires the balanced accomplishment of outcomes against four pillars, namely (1) robust economic growth, prosperity, and competitiveness across all parts of the city; (2) protection and conservation of ecosystems and natural resources into perpetuity; (3) mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while fostering overall city resilience; and (4) inclusiveness and livability, mainly through the reduction of city poverty levels and inequality. The Urban Sustainability Framework (USF), developed to outline the areas of work and support by the GPSC, offers a very useful representation of both outcomes as well as enabling actions and requirements (such as spatial data and good governance) cities could focus on. -
Publication
Investing in Digital Hydrometeorological Data for the Developing World
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03)Addressing many of the global challenges facing humankind requires the availability, access, and use of huge volumes of digital hydrometeorological (hereafter “hydromet”) data needed to inform decision-making to save lives and infrastructure as well as to exploit the associated economic opportunities. The global challenges include the world’s increasing vulnerability to weather, climate, and water stresses, and they are especially acute in developing countries. This technical note outlines the opportunities and requirements for developing countries to be able to benefit from the digital hydromet data revolution. -
Publication
Greening Digital in Korea: Korea Case Study for Greening the ICT Sector
(Washington, DC, 2022-02)Digital technologies are making a significant impact on societies, economies, and the physical world, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the green agenda. Applications of these technologies in sectors such as energy, urban, transport, and agriculture are creating new possibilities for climate change mitigation strategies. However, the rapid expansion of digital technologies increases energy usage too, and is therefore also increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In seeking to address these challenges, the World Bank’s Digital Development Global Practice (DD) will publish a flagship report on Digital Development Opportunities for Climate Change, which will assess opportunities for greening with information communication technology (ICT), as well as opportunities for greening the ICT sector itself. To inspire and inform this flagship report, DD studied Korea’s experience in greening its ICT sector, with support from the Korean Green Growth Trust Fund. The Republic of Korea was selected for the case study due to its experience in both the digital and green sectors, and its status as a globally recognized ICT powerhouse. The country was also an early adopter of a green policy agenda, and is integrating DNA (data, network, and AI) into these policies. The government announced a national policy vision of “Low Carbon, Green Growth” in 2008 and has taken concrete steps to build a solid foundation for the green transition, through legislation, standardization, information-based instruments, economic instruments, research and development (R&D), and green procurement. More recently, the country has been aligning its green ICT strategy with the broader national GHG reduction target. Korea's experience can offer meaningful lessons to other countries looking to reduce the ICT sector’s climate impact. It shows that public policies have an important impact on the ICT market. The policy tools that can spur decarbonization of the ICT sector include green government procurement, information-based instruments, economic instruments, and provision of guidelines on green business practices. Keys to success in applying such tools include strong and early political commitment; long-term planning and comprehensive policies; prioritization; research and development (R&D) and investment; and a governance structure that allows a whole-of-government approach. Additionally, Korea’s experience shows that renewable energy will play an increasingly important role in reducing GHG emissions from the energy-intensive ICT industry. Korea’s experience also underscores the fact that more evidence and analysis are needed to measure and determine the effectiveness of policy and regulatory pathways for greening the ICT sector. -
Publication
World - Climate Services Operational Pathways: Pathways for Transforming Weather, Water, and Climate Services in Mozambique
(Washington, DC, 2022-01-28)This study was commissioned by climate investment funds (CIF’s) E and L initiative to distill lessons from CIF’s pilot program on climate resilience (PPCR) support in identifying, designing, and implementing hydrometeorological and climate services investments. It seeks to generate learning and strategic insight into the different operational pathways that can be taken by national hydrological and meteorological services to develop, deliver, and strengthen hydrometeorological and climate services. The outputs from the study comprise of one synthesis report and three country studies for Jamaica, Mozambique, and Nepal. These three countries have been selected for the study due to their different institutional frameworks, hydrometeorological systems, and socio-economic context. They provide diverse in-depth insights in hydrometeorological and climate service development, delivery and use. In this respect, the PPCR-supported Climate Resilience: Transforming Hydrometeorological Services Project was selected as a case study project for Mozambique. It elucidates lessons learned on the process for modernizing hydrometeorological systems and delivering climate services to users. Furthermore, it offers insight into challenges and opportunities for climate services development, delivery, and use in Southern African developing countries. Qualitative methods, including structured interviews and literature review, were used to identify promising pathways to continue to transform weather, water, and climate services in the three case study countries. In Mozambique, the analysis of the data collected revealed six themes regarding critical pathways to transform weather, water, and climate services in the country. These are: harmonizing and integrating data resources; improving hydrometeorological and climate service design and delivery; fostering hydrometeorological and climate services impact through user feedback; building appropriate human capacity; strengthening national coordination; and promoting regional collaboration. The report summarizes key findings. -
Publication
World - Climate Services Operational Pathways: Pathways for Transforming Weather, Water, and Climate Services in Jamaica
(Washington, DC, 2022-01-27)This report was commissioned by climate investment funds (CIF’s) E and L initiative to distill lessons from CIF’s pilot program on climate resilience (PPCR) support identifying, designing, and implementing hydrometeorological and climate services investments. It seeks to generate learning and strategic insight into the different operational pathways that can be taken by national hydrological and meteorological services to develop, deliver, and strengthen hydrometeorological and climate services. The outputs from the study comprise of one synthesis report and three country studies for Jamaica, Mozambique, and Nepal. These three countries have been selected for the study due to their different institutional frameworks, hydrometeorological systems, and socio-economic context. They provide diverse in-depth insights in hydrometeorological and climate service development, delivery, and use. In this respect, the PPCR-supported Improving Climate Data and Information Management Project (ICDIMP) was selected as a case study project for Jamaica. As of December 2021, the project is still under implementation and, based on the project experience acquired so far, this country study elucidates lessons learned on the process for modernizing hydrometeorological systems and developing climate services to users. Furthermore, it offers insight into challenges and opportunities for climate services development, delivery, and use in the Caribbean countries and small island developing states. Qualitative methods, including structured interviews and literature review, were used to identify promising pathways to transform weather, water, and climate services in the three case study countries. In Jamaica, the analysis of the data collected revealed seven themes regarding critical pathways to continue to transform weather, water, and climate services in the country. These comprise of integrating hydrometeorological data resources; hydrometeorological and climate service design and delivery; fostering hydrometeorological and climate services impact through user feedback; building appropriate human capacity; strengthening national coordination; promoting international collaboration; and institutional strengthening. The report summarizes key findings and recommendations.