This study investigates the World Bank's use of lending and non-lending instruments to affect the policy priorities of developing countries. In a typical year, the World Bank lends more than USD 30 billion to its client countries. It also spends approximately USD 200 million on the provision of...

This paper examines the correlates of success of development policy lending operations of the World Bank between 2004 and 2012. The paper uses a data set constructed of individual loan characteristics and ex-post loan ratings produced by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group. Departing...

The World Bank Group (WBG) has focused on reducing the environmental impacts of its internal operations and improving corporate environmental practices since 2002, when the WBG President announced WBG's commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The objective of this document is to...

Rural accessibility is the only metric used in the Sustainable Development Goals to track progress toward better transport services in low- and middle-income countries. This paper estimates the rural accessibility index, defined as the proportion of the rural population who live within 2...

This volume illustrates the relationship between environmental factors and economic development of countries from various angles. Global warming has become a problem that threatens the whole world, especially in recent years. It is known that the main reason for this is carbon emissions. On the...

Beyond the Gap: How Countries Can Afford the Infrastructure They Need while Protecting the Planet aims to shift the debate regarding investment needs away from a simple focus on spending more and toward a focus on spending better on the right objectives, using relevant metrics. It does so by...

Approximately 4.1 million people live in the three states of the Yucatan Peninsula: Quintana Roo, Yucatan, and Campeche. Some 30 municipalities are in a coastal territory of almost 2,000 linear kilometers, from the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico to the world-renowned beaches of Cancun, just...

In 2001, FYR Macedonia embarked on a new education policy agenda. One of the goals of this agenda was to improve the country's student assessment system. In order to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of its existing assessment system, FYR Macedonia decided to benchmark...

This policy note was prepared in parallel to the report Pakistan at 100, Shaping the Future. The report Pakistan at 100 discusses options to accelerate and sustain growth in Pakistan so that the country becomes an upper middle-income country when it turns 100 years old in 2047. This policy note...