Policy makers in developing countries, including India, are increasingly sensitive to the links between spatial transformation and economic development. However, the empirical knowledge available on those links is most often insufficient to guide policy decisions. There is no shortage of case...

Financial inclusion can help promote development. Inclusive financial systems allow people to invest in their education and health, save for retirement, capitalize on business opportunities, and confront shocks. In the Europe and Central Asia region, there is great variation in financial...

The share of immigrants in Western and Eastern Europe has increased rapidly over the past four decades.Today, one of every three immigrants in the world goes to Europe. Furthermore, although globally onlyone-third of migration takes place within regions, intraregional migration is especially...

The effect of structural reforms on growth in Europe and Central Asia is assessed by looking separately at each supply-side channel: capital, labor, and productivity, with the last estimated using the stochastic frontier approach. By controlling for the interaction with the economic cycle, the...

This paper examines changes in bank capital and capital regulations since the global financial crisis, in the Europe and Central Asia region. It shows that banks in Europe and Central Asia are better capitalized, as measured by regulatory capital ratios, than they were prior to the crisis....

This paper shows that Eastern Orthodox believers are less happy compared with Catholics and Protestants using data covering more than 100 countries around the world. Consistent with the happiness results, the paper also finds that relative to Catholics, Protestants, and non-believers, those of...

With slowing global growth and increasing uncertainty clouding the global economic prospects,the Europe and Central Asia region faces a more challenging context than previously envisioned.Growth in the emerging markets and developing economies in the region slowed in 2018 and isprojected to...

In 2018, the World Bank launched the Human Capital Index (HCI), which is designed to highlight how improvements in current health and education outcomes will shape the productivity of the next generation of workers. The HCI measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect...

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region has the world's fastestgrowing HIV epidemic. Although still concentrated, the epidemic has diversified, affecting several key populations in many countries. This change has increased the number of people in need, the ways the epidemic can spread, and...

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit human capital directly in Europe and Central Asia, adversely affecting both education and health. School closures may lead to learning losses equivalent to a third to a full year of schooling, and they are likely to exacerbate inequalities, by disproportionately...