On a global scale, the extent of COVID-related lockdowns is massive, and their socio-economic impact is expected to be far-reaching (Barba Navaretti et al. 2020, McKibbin and Fernando 2020). When it comes to the estimated effects of containment measures, timing seems to matter (Deb et al. 2020). In Germany, significant actions to reduce the spread […]
Companies face a huge gap between the skills they need to prosper in the changing economy and the skills available in the labour market. Nearly three-quarters of executives say that changing the skill composition of the workforce is their top priority for dealing with future disruptions, but only 17% believe that their employees are ready for such […]
Cybersecurity is a growing challenge to sustainable economic development. Cyber incidents can impact the safety, prosperity, and resilience of a country and can undermine the benefits of its digital transformation. Achieving better cybersecurity and cyber capacity is becoming a growing priority for both developed and developing countries. However, many developing countries struggle to effectively manage cyber risks […]
As the region emerges from the pandemic, businesses should adopt more flexible approaches to developing talent for digital jobs, while workers must embrace lifelong learning of digital skills. As one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, Asia and the Pacific has witnessed rapid digitisation in recent years. While the trend was evident before the […]
Roughly two-thirds of the world’s poor work in agriculture (Castaneda et al. 2016). Policy interventions aimed at increasing agricultural productivity – such as programmes that provide access, training, or subsidies for modern inputs and production techniques – have therefore been central in the fight against global poverty. In a push for ‘evidence-based policymaking’, recent years […]
Historically, despite being high in international comparison, European energy prices did not constitute an insurmountable obstacle to industrial expansion because of the exceptional energy efficiency of the local manufacturing sector (Rezessy et al. 2015). However, the recent developments in energy markets have driven an extreme wedge between prices in Europe and some other regions, as […]
With year-on-year inflation rates reaching 10% in 2022, central banks in Europe and the US have been raising interest rates to ensure price stability. These policy decisions involve a delicate balancing of risks to inflation, growth, and financial stability, which have featured prominently in the surrounding debates (Acharya and Rajan 2022, Ball, et al. 2022, […]
Climate change is rapidly being recognised as a potential source of financial risk by regulators and supervisors (Claessens et al. 2022, FSB 2022, ESRB 2021a, 2022, ECB 2021a, BIS 2021a, 2021b). Climate-related financial risks have two main dimensions. The first is physical risks: these stem from extreme weather (storms, floods, droughts, heatwaves etc.) or changes […]
Far-right parties across the globe have made significant electoral gains in recent years. Some of them have even been able to defeat traditional cordons sanitaires that actively prevented them from governing. The recently formed Italian government is a case in point, with Giorgia Meloni becoming the most far-right prime minister since fascist rule under Mussolini. Existing research […]
Bank lending is inherently pro-cyclical. This is because, during upswings in the business cycle, banks tend to overestimate the creditworthiness of their borrowers, often resulting in excessive credit expansion. At the same time, they rapidly cut lending during downturns. When an exogenous shock hits the economy, this reduction in the provision of bank credit may […]
