This paper studies study the impact of providing school and child test scores on subsequent test scores, prices, and enrollment in markets with multiple public and private providers. A randomly selected half of the sample villages (markets) received report cards. This increased test scores by...

The objective of this report is to document the process and summarize the results from the second phase of the pilot implementation of statistical models for measuring the value-added of Bulgarian schools through analysis of the national student' assessments results. This report presents the...

Using a panel of 80 developing and developed countries for the period 1990-2015, this studyanalyses the relationship between exchange rate volatility and foreign direct investment (FDI)inflows. The results reveal a negative relationship between de facto exchange rate volatility andFDI. Reducing...

This paper examines the pros and cons of gradual versus big-bang approaches toward devaluations. It presents original empirical evidence regarding output, consumption, investment and trade balances associated with gradual and big-bang devaluation episodes. It finds that big-bang devaluations are...

While the recent global financial crisis has affected many developed countries, it has had less impact in Africa. Nevertheless, the lessons learned from this crisis are relevant for African countries, especially because banking groups with a head office in Africa have grown rapidly and these...

Monsoon rainfall is a key driver of economic life in rural Nepal as well as a major source of income variability. In this paper, the authors use a newly collected 3-year panel data set, representative of rural Nepal, merged with global monthly precipitation data to investigate the nature of the...

This paper provides an initial analysis of the impact on the World Bank's global poverty estimates of the revised 2011 and new 2017 PPPs published in May 2020. The revised 2011 PPPs slightly increase poverty in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, causing the extreme poverty headcount ratio for...

This paper presents new estimates of the returns to education in the Russian Federation. Private returns to education are three times greater for higher education compared to vocational education, and the returns to education for females are higher than for males. Returns for females show an...

Business training programs are typically offered for free. Charging for training provides potential benefits including financial sustainability, but little is known about how price affects the demand for training. This study conducted two experiments in Jamaica using the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak...