Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, discussed these topics: a new, more globalized world; global aid architecture; the World Bank and a new multilateralism; and Russia's role in development. One of the strategic challenges for the World Bank Group is to contribute to the m...

Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, spoke on the theme that we are now in a new, fast-evolving multipolar world economy in which outdated classifications no longer fit. He discussed these topics: (i) the end of the third world; (ii) multilateralism matters; (iii) new sources of...

Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, charged that economics, and in particular development economics, must broaden the scope of the questions it asks - thereby also becoming more relevant to today's complex, multi-faceted problems. He discussed the following topics: (i) from...

Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank, addressed the following issues: seeds of crisis; the changing context; responsible globalization; the current role of the World Bank Group; the role of the World Bank Group in a new post-crisis World; and the reform agenda. He pointed to four...

Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank, discussed the following priorities: (i) understanding fragile states; (ii) building legitimacy of the state; (iii) security; (iv) rule of law and the legal order; (v) local and national ownership; (vi) economic stability, as a foundation for growth...

This paper uses survey data from 120 developing countries to compare the role of institutions with firm characteristics at the time of creation of the firm in explaining the size, growth, and productivity of firms over their lifecycle. The study finds that firm-level characteristics have...

Antipoverty policies in developing countries often assume that targeting poor households will be reasonably effective in reaching poor individuals. This paper questions this assumption, using nutritional status as a proxy for individual poverty. The comprehensive assessment for Sub-Saharan...

This paper investigates the effect of access to finance on job growth in 50,000 firms across 70 eveloping countries. Using the introduction of credit bureaus as an exogenous shock to the supply of credit, the paper finds that increased access to finance results in higher employment growth,...