Eugene Meyer, the recently resigned President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, spoke about stepping down to allow a permanent head to take over operations. He spoke about insurance companies of the nation and how they are an important factor in its social security....

Enhancing the productivity of agriculture is vital for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic future and is one of the most important tools to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region. How governments elect to spend public resources has significant development impact in this regard....

Pharmaceuticals are essential to achieve health outcomes, but are at the same time a major cost factor in every health system. From a patient perspective, access to pharmaceuticals is a proxy for the functioning of the health system. With increasing economic strength, patients become more...

This report is intended to provide guidance on best practices in mining licensing, based on examples from low, middle and high income countries in Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. It is not a 'how-to guide' or a licensing implementation toolkit, but rather identifies certain...

This study is part of the African Regional Studies Program, an initiative of the Africa Region Vice-Presidency at the World Bank. These studies aim to combine high levels of analytical rigor and policy relevance, and to apply them to various topics important for the social and economic...

Most manufacturing activities use inputs from the financial and business services sectors. But these services sectors also compete for resources with manufacturing activities, provoking concerns about de-industrialization-financial services in industrial countries like the United States and the...

This paper offers new evidence on the relationship between contractual institutions, family management, and aggregate performance. The study creates a new firm-level database on management and ownership structures spanning 134 regions in 11 European countries. To guide the empirical analysis, it...

Countries design programs for supporting firms, with varying levels of success. Firm growth is constrained by several factors, such as low firm capabilities (e.g. management), availability of finance, and access to markets. Based on the available experimental evidence on firm support programs in...

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...