This evaluation of the Bank's assistance on trade-related issues focuses on the period between fiscal years 1987 and 2004. The majority of developing countries have significantly improved their environment for trade and economic growth, following over two decades of assistance from the Bank in...

This evaluation focuses on the World Bank Group's support to enhancing industry-specific productivity and competitiveness, and examines the implications of improved industry competitiveness for employment during the last decade. The evaluation focuses on activities with explicit objectives to...

Growth is good for the poor, but the impact of growth on poverty reduction depends on both the pace and the pattern of growth. A pattern of growth that enhances the ability of poor women and men to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from growth should not come at the expense of a slower...

Technological innovation drives economic progress. Information and communication technologies (ICT) can be leveraged for development, but harnessing this potential depends on an enabling environment for their production, diffusion, and use. Otherwise, technology can widen rather than narrow...

Technological innovation drives economic progress. Information and communication technologies (ICT) can be leveraged for development, but harnessing this potential depends on an enabling environment for their production, diffusion, and use. Otherwise, technology can widen rather than narrow...

Over the past year, the response to the global financial crisis has continued to dominate development and the work of international institutions, including the World Bank Group. Challenges of poverty and fragile states, environment, and climate change remain daunting. But the manner in which...

This report has been prepared in the context of a major global effort in the past eight years to better measure results in development assistance. The agenda for this effort was articulated and refined in a series of international conferences, beginning with the international conference on...

The World Bank Group's (WBG) safeguards and sustainability policies were put in place to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts of its projects on people and the environment. These goals remain critical given current environmental and social trends. Recent global experience in the financial and...

The purpose of this study is to update the review of World Bank experience in Irrigation (IEG 1994) and to broaden the scope of evaluation to include all water lending for agricultural development. Since that first study, the proportion of World Bank lending for agricultural water management...

This evaluation assesses knowledge-based activities in nine country programs selected from 48 knowledge-intensive programs supported by the Bank Group. It identifies the factors in the success or failure of those activities as they contribute to policy making or development outcomes. It also...