Abstract The Asian economic crisis which began with the floating of the bhat by Thailand on July 1 1997 is still having devastating effects on the livelihood and the well being of millions of people in many parts of the world. The financial crisis spread from Thailand to other Asian countries,...

This paper provides a critical analysis of the World Bank’s new thinking on industrial policy. After outlining the changing perspectives on industrial policy put forward by the World Bank over the last three decades, we argue that the bank’s economists have taken one step forward (the...

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...

There are only a handful of studies that examine public support for the IMF and World Bank. At the individual level, evaluations of the economy feature prominently in these studies. Utilizing data from the Afrobarometer study, we find that evaluations of the economy, ideology and a range of...

Abstract This paper provides a critical analysis of the World Bank’s new thinking on industrial policy. After outlining the changing perspectives on industrial policy put forward by the World Bank over the last three decades, we argue that the bank’s economists have taken one step forward...

Burundi, a small fragile economy, went through sporadic civil war since its independence in 1962 during which rampant insecurity had adverse impact on the country’s social and economic development. While Burundi is agriculturally rich, high rate of growth of rural population places...

Abstract Proposing far-reaching reforms to the pension systems, the World Bank has recently suggested that the existing pay-as-you-go pension systems in many rich as well as poor countries, should be replaced by fully funded, mandatory, preferably private pensions, as the main pillars of the new...

This paper examines the contemporary international trade and currency system to determine whether the system is appropriate for the level of knowledge, development and maturity of countries today. International trade and currencies are a key mechanism by which governments manage the livelihoods,...

The World Bank (WB) was found in accordance with the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944 with the mission of assisting post war reconstruction and alleviating poverty. The WB is an international institution that aims to expand development through the allocation of loans in developing countries with...

Impact evaluation provides a measure of aid effectiveness, that is how good development aid is at reducing poverty. Critics of aid argue that there have been few attempts to measure its impact. This may have been true in the past, but there is a growing body of literature on impact evaluation....