World Statistics Day reminds us that to ensure social and economic growth, support for data-backed policymaking is needed. The economic transformation of developing countries in Asia over the past few generations has been well documented. From a share of 4% of global GDP in 1960 to almost 35% in 2019, the region’s economic growth has […]
With mega trade deals and digitalization, we need to rethink aid for trade with more focus on policy and regulatory support. Aid for trade is based on the idea that trade can be a powerful engine for economic development. It targets trade-related programs and projects – including infrastructure, training and regulatory reform – to help […]
After rising at an almost continuous pace for at least a decade, the share of private sector ownership among China’s largest companies has dropped since 2021. It is tempting to infer that President Xi Jinping’s statist policies have brought an end to the age of private-sector expansion in China. But such a conclusion would be […]
Tragically, a war over borders is again at the centre of Europe. As Ukraine fights against Russia’s invasion, historical events going back to the creation and breakup of the Soviet Union continue to affect the geopolitical debate. Right before the invasion last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin (2022) said that “Lenin’s ideas [of a] confederate […]
Over the past few years, about 40% of the diesel imported by the European Union has come from Russia. This share did not drop after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Throughout 2022, the EU imported around 2 million tonnes of diesel from Russia every month, or half a million barrels per day. However, on 5 February, […]
The Energy Transition needs more women in STEM Having more women in technical and leadership positions in energy is crucial to meet the projected 14 million new jobs that will be needed for clean energy growth by 2030. As Mandakini Kaul, World Bank’s Regional Coordinator for South Asia, emphasized at a recent WePOWER Conference: “Women must be […]
Pupin Marini is a mother of one. After her child was born, she would have liked to continue her career as a marketing staff in the media sector for greater personal growth and to bring more income to the family. However, like millions of women with small children in Indonesia, Pupin had little choice but to stay […]
Electronic devices enable innovations in survey design, such as questionnaires that adapt to responses. Our recently published working paper describes the method and results in more detail, leveraging the potential to create a new survey-based tool for determining household eligibility for social assistance benefits. Around 40 percent of households in Indonesia receive regular social assistance programs. Besides […]
Recently, there has been a growing interest in long-term savings institutions such as pension and insurance funds. This is due to the significant growth in their assets and the potential impact they may have on the proper functioning of markets (Liao and Zhang 2020, Borio et al. 2022). For instance, an OECD report shows that […]
The Global Crisis rekindled a discussion that has absorbed macroeconomists and policymakers for decades. In the aftermath of major economic downturns, economic activity does not return to its pre-crisis trend. In other words, major downturns leave ‘scars’ – a catchy expression for negative supply-side effects. Blanchard et al. (2015), Ball (2014), Martin et al. (2015) […]
