This paper provides an overview of the history of development research at the World Bank and points to new future directions in both what we research and how we research. Six main messages emerge. First, research and data have long been essential elements of the Bank’s country programs and its...

Critics of globalization claim that firms are being driven by the prospects of cheaper labor and lower labor standards to shift employment abroad. Yet the evidence, beyond anecdotes, is slim. This paper reports stylized facts on the activities of U.S. multinationals at home and abroad for the...

Many developing countris now actively solicit foreign investment, offering income tax holidays, import duty exemptions, and subsidies to foreign firms. One reason for subsidizing these firms is the positive externalities as foreign technology is transferred from foreign to domestic firms. This...

During the 1990s, anti-sweatshop activists increased their efforts to improve working conditions and raise wages for workers in developing countries. Indonesia, home to dozens of Nike, Reebok, and Adidas subcontractors, was a primary target for these activists. At the same time, the Indonesian...

This chapter reviews the evidence on the linkages between globalization and poverty, drawing on the collected works of Jagdish Bhagwati and the results of an National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) project directed by Ann Harrison, Globalization and Poverty. We focus on two measures of...

During her five years at the World Bank, Harrison initiated four studies involving multinational enterprises in four developing countries: Ivory Coast, Mexico, Morocco and Venezuela. These studies measure the role of multinational enterprises in promoting technology transfer; test whether...

This chapter reviews the available evidence on the linkages between trade reform, labor markets, and FDI. We begin by drawing on studies of sixteen countries that underwent trade reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. These sixteen countries were chosen because of their inclusion in the United Nations...

Despite the voluminous literature on direct foreign investment in the 1960s and 1970s, the empirical evidence on spillovers from foreign sources of equity investment remains slim. This chapter draws on new data sources for Cote d'lvoire, Morocco, and Venezuela to explore two related questions....

In an effort to shed some light on the larger question of labor standardsvand globalization, we seek to examine compliance with minimum wage legislation in Indonesia. Indonesia is an ideal case study because the govern ment made minimum wages a central component of its labor market policies in...

Since last fall, President Obama has repeatedly declared that manufacturing jobs are coming back to America. In this article, however, we suggest that the return of U.S. manufacturing is still more promise than reality.In particular, while the recent increase in natural gas exploration and...