Strong cyclical dynamics, together with an easing of macroeconomic policies in the United States and elsewhere, have boosted large parts of the global economy, into the initial phase of a recovery in 2002. Nonetheless, the global recovery is fragile, because investment spending is insufficient...

This paper looks at firm-level evidence on the African business environment from surveys undertaken for Investment Climate Assessments by the World Bank in 2000-2004. These surveys confirm a pattern of generally low "factory-floor" productivity, and show that this is partly due to business...

The aim of this report is to identify a set of concrete steps that the government of Mongolia might take to promote private-sector activity and greater integration with the global economy in a way that leads to job creation, broad-based growth and most importantly, poverty reduction. It does...

This report identifies constraints to Salvadoran manufacturing firms, in the areas of governance and insecurity, physical infrastructure, access to finance and skills, quality and technology. The report uses a survey of manufacturing firms to benchmark El Salvador with respect to other countries...

The war in Ukraine is a human tragedy for the people of Ukraine, but its economic implications are global. This instant report focuses on the direct impact of the war on world trade and investment. It identifies five trade and investment channels through which countries will be affected by the...

A new report from the World Bank Group focuses on the trends in foreign direct investment (FDI), which encompasses foreign investment in new or existing firms and production facilities. FDI is a subset of overall capital flows, but it is perhaps the most critical because of its potential...