"This paper briefly reviews new indices of trade restrictiveness and trade facilitation that have been developed at the World Bank. The paper also compares the trade impact of different types of trade restrictions applied at the border with the effects of domestic policies that affect trade...

"The authors explore the relationship between transaction costs and generalized trust. Using panel data from 2,100 households in 135 rural communities of the Philippines, the paper shows that where transaction costs are reduced (proxied by road construction), there is an increase in generalized...

"Trade costs and nontariff barriers are at the forefront of discussions on competitiveness and expanding trade opportunities for developing countries. This paper provides a summary overview of data and indicators relevant to these issues and has been informed by work underway at the World Bank...

"Zervos documents the precise costs of debt and equity issuance, both domestically and internationally, for firms in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Costs include investment banking and legal fees, regulatory and exchange listing costs, rating agency fees, and expenditures for marketing and...

"Using a new global data base on patents and innovation inputs, the authors examine the process of knowledge creation measured by the dynamic relationship between research and development and U.S. patents granted. They confirm at the country level the recurrent micro-level finding of a strong...

How much Indonesia spends on research and development (R and D) financing, where it spends it, and how it spends it, will affect the level of the country's growth for many years to come. Indonesia currently has the opportunity to consider the nature of its economic growth and where state...

When the Arid Region Institute (Institut des R??gions Arides, IRA) in M??denine, Tunisia, set out to seek the dynamics of IK in marginal rural areas of central and southern Tunisia, it discovered a large number of farmers -both men and women-who were developing their own innovations without the...

A functional review by the World Bank of Romania's research, development and innovation (RD&I) sector has been commissioned by the Government of Romania and the European Commission as part of a broader assessment of the public administration contribution to the country's growth and continued...