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...

"After more than three decades of average annual growth close to 10 percent, China's economy is transitioning to a 'new normal' of slower but more balanced and sustainable growth. Its old drivers of growth -- a growing labor force, the migration from rural areas to cities, high levels of...

This paper takes a first look at the trade effects of China's Belt and Road Initiative, also referred to as the New Silk Road, on the 71 countries potentially involved. The initiative consists of several infrastructure investment projects to improve the land and maritime transportation in the...

The Belt and Road Initiative, due to its diverse and extensive infrastructure investments, poses a wide range of environmental risks. Some projects have easily identifiable and measurable impacts, such as energy projects' greenhouse gas emissions. Others, such as transportation infrastructure,...

This paper develops a computable spatial equilibrium model of Central Asia and uses it to analyze the possible effects of the Belt Road Initiative on the economy of the region. The model captures international and subnational economic units and their connectivity to each other and the rest of...

Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, discussed the fight against poverty during the last 20 years, during which East Asian countries have made progress, but Sub-Saharan African poverty has doubled. Oil revenues far exceed official development assistance. Yet for some countries it has...

The natural resources sector, particularly the mining industry, has been a significant part of Peru's economic growth over the past decade. The law mandates that the national government transfer half of the income taxes paid by mining companies to regional and local governments. This transfer of...

The extractive industries (EI) sector occupies an outsize space in the economies of many developing countries. Economists, public finance professionals, and policy makers working in such countries are frequently confronted with issues that require an in-depth understanding of the sector; its...

Oil, Gas, and Mining: A Sourcebook for Understanding the Extractive Industries provides developing countries with a technical understanding and practical options around oil, gas, and mining sector development issues. A central premise of the Sourcebook is that good technical knowledge can better...

This paper uses the construction of India's Golden Quadrangle central highway network, together with comprehensive loan data from the Reserve Bank of India, to investigate the interaction between infrastructure development and financial sector depth. The paper identifies a disproportionate...