The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (OKR) is The World Bank’s official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products.
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Total publications: 37,841
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Publication Distressed Asset Management and Divestment Practices by Deposit Guarantee Funds in Serbia and Ukraine(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-11) World BankEffective and efficient management and sale of distressed assets helps minimize risks to financial stability and support economic growth. This paper summarizes the asset management and divestment experience of deposit guarantee funds in Serbia and Ukraine. It also provides some examples of practices from selected asset management companies in Western Europe. These could help inform policy decisions on the design of bank liquidation frameworks aimed at improving operational capacity. The examples suggest the following are key factors that contribute to successful distressed asset management and divestment: (i) sound governance practices and clear legal frameworks, (ii) comprehensive asset management and divestment strategies, (iii) active asset management and improvement of assets with safeguards in place to maximize return, (iv) transparent and prudent asset valuation, and (v) transparent and competitive asset sale.Publication September 2024 Update to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP): What’s New(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-11) Aron, Danielle V.; Castaneda Aguilar, R. Andres; Diaz-Bonilla, Carolina; Fujs, Tony H. M. J.; Garcia R., Diana C.; Hill, Ruth; Jularbal, Lali; Lakner, Christoph; Lara Ibarra, Gabriel; Mahler, Daniel G.; Nguyen, Minh C.; Nursamsu, Samuel; Sabatino, Carlos; Sajaia, Zurah; Seitz, William; Sjahrir, Bambang Suharnoko; Tetteh-Baah, Samuel K.; Viveros Mendoza, Martha C.; Winkler, Hernán; Wu, Haoyu; Yonzan, NishantThe September 2024 update to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) introduces several changes to the data underlying the global poverty estimates. This document details these changes and the methodological reasons behind them. The database now includes 16 new country-years, bringing the total number of surveys to nearly 2,400. This update incorporates new methodologies for measuring global poverty and introduces new indicators of shared prosperity: A Prosperity Gap and the number of economies with high income inequality. It also incorporates two new analytical dashboards: growth incidence curves and poverty decompositions. Depending on the availability of recent survey data, global and regional poverty estimates are reported up to 2022. For the first time, PIP also includes country-level, regional, and global poverty nowcast estimates up to 2024. The September 2024 PIP update presents the poverty and inequality data underlying the forthcoming World Bank’s Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2024.Publication Togo’s 2024 Economic Update: Building Resilience(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-11) World BankEconomic activity has been resilient in Togo over the last few years thanks in part to fiscal stimulus which now needs to be unwound to reduce deficits and put public debt on a sustainable trajectory. While Togo's recent economic performance has been positive, it still fell short of regional peers such as Benin and Cote d’Ivoire, or more aspirational ones like Bangladesh or Vietnam. This can mostly be attributed to structural factors, including a relatively muted contribution of capital deepening to Togo’s potential growth; the predominance of low yielding agricultural practices; persistently large disparities in economic opportunities and access to basic services between rural and urban areas; a highly concentrated private sector; and limited strides in industrialization despite the expansion of port activities and the development of agro-processing and other industrial zones. The economic outlook remains positive for the next few years, contingent upon enacting adequate policy decisions and implementing ambitious reforms. This 2024 Economic Update for Togo is articulated in two chapters. The first chapter presents recent economic and poverty developments, as well as the outlook, key risks, and priorities to lift growth and accelerate structural transformation. The second chapter offers a deep dive on the likely impact of climate change on the agriculture sector in Togo and how scaling up agroforestry systems could help smallholder farmers increase their welfare, while boosting food security, preventing the loss of arable land, and reducing carbon emissions.Publication South Asia Development Update, October 2024: Women, Jobs, and Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-10) World BankSouth Asia’s growth is on track to exceed earlier expectations, in a broad-based upturn. The region is expected to remain the fastest-growing among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Several risks could upend this generally promising outlook, including extreme weather events, social unrest, and policy missteps, such as reform delays. But South Asian countries also have considerable untapped potential that could help them further boost productivity growth and employment and adapt to climate change. In particular, with about two-thirds of the region’s working-age women out of the labor force, raising female employment rates to those of men could increase per capita income by as much as one-half. Measures to accelerate job creation, remove obstacles to women working, and equalize gender rights would be more effective if combined with a shift toward social norms that looked more favorably on working women. Also, most South Asian countries rank among the EMDEs least open to global trade and investment. Greater openness could boost women’s employment, spur the growth of firms, and allow the region to take better advantage of the reshaping of global supply chains and trade. Reducing the cost of conducting business could help the region better harness large-scale remittance inflows.Publication Pathways to Prosperity for Adolescent Girls in Africa - Executive Summary Booklet(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-10) Ajayi, Kehinde F.; Koussoubé, Estelle; eds.Africa stands at a crossroads, with its future prosperity hinging on the policy and investment decisions it makes today. The continent has an opportunity to shape the trajectories of generations to come by investing in the success of a pivotal population: its adolescent girls. With over 145 million adolescent girls calling Africa home, the potential for transformative change is immense. Yet challenges persist: from high rates of child marriage to limited educational opportunities. Nearly half of African girls ages 15 to 19 are out of school or married or have children. How can African countries overcome these challenges to ensure that adolescent girls enter adulthood empowered to thrive? Pathways to Prosperity for Adolescent Girls in Africa offers a groundbreaking road map for change. This landmark report: Outlines concrete, actionable policy recommendations; Provides a comprehensive review of evidence-based interventions; Presents a data-driven categorization of African countries to guide investments in adolescent girls; and Introduces an innovative framework for understanding and measuring adolescent girls’ empowerment. Drawing on extensive research and consultations with adolescent girls, policy makers, and practitioners, this report reveals that investing in adolescent girls can yield a tenfold return in economic impact. It outlines six key areas for targeted action: building human capital, enhancing economic success, focusing on the most vulnerable girls, adopting a holistic approach, addressing data and evidence gaps, and mobilizing diverse stakeholders. Whether you are a policy maker, researcher, development practitioner, or advocate, this report will equip you with the knowledge and tools to drive meaningful change. Discover how empowering adolescent girls can transform individual lives and African economies. Join the movement to secure a brighter future for Africa’s adolescent girls and nations alike. The time for action is now.