Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group discusses the role of private sector as being essential for ending poverty by 2030, and for building shared prosperity so that the bottom 40 percent of the population shares in economic growth. He stresses the need to create a favorable environment...

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, notes that we stand at a critical threshold for global health and development. Too many women and children are still dying because they lack access to quality health care, especially in the least developed countries. He talks about shifting focus...

Canada is home to some of the world's most admired and successful public pension organizations. This was not always the case. As recently as the mid-1980s, many Canadian public pensions were invested largely or entirely in domestic government bonds, were funded primarily on a pay-as-you go...

Eugene R. Black, President of the World Bank Group, spoke about the vigorous partnership between Canada and the World Bank. He described at length the relationship between Canada and the Bank in terms of lending and the country's progress in various areas of economic development

The paper provides evidence of the effects of changes in transport costs on the geographic concentration of industries. The analysis uses micro-level commodity flow data and micro-geographic plant-level data to construct industry-specific ad valorem trucking rates and continuous measures of...

What is the impact of fiscal policy shocks on key macroeconomic variables in Canada? This question triggered renewed interest in the aftermath of the 2008-09 Great Recession. Indeed, as in many advanced economies, fiscal policy in Canada following the recession started with an expansionary phase...

There is much in common between the agricultural sectors of the United States and Canada. This chapter begins with a brief background on the two sectors, then reviews their histories of farm policy developments before reporting new estimates of rates of assistance to their farmers and their...

Urbanization is simultaneously a major driver of development, wealth creation, and poverty reduction, as well as one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. Urbanization can and should be embraced as an opportunity to reduce poverty. The building regulatory capacity assessment...

This paper combines local election results and geo-referenced road construction data over 1993-2012 to investigate political bias in road infrastructure investment in a democratic setting, focusing on the case of Mexico. Using a regression discontinuity design, the paper finds strong evidence of...