This paper studies the relationship between the level of economic development and the incidence of three forms of payments across countries, namely the incidence of bank accounts, digital payments, and mobile money accounts among the adult populations across countries. It presents simple...

This paper is the first to quantify the relationship between the incidence of the digital economy and long-term frictional unemployment across countries. The resulting evidence indicates that there is a robust, negative partial correlation between national unemployment rates and the incidence of...

Advances in digital technology are expanding the boundaries of firms. Digital platform firms, which leverage a "platform" to create value through facilitating exchanges between two or more interdependent groups, are the new disrupters in the market. They exhibit distinct features such as scale...

Djibouti is very well placed, as a landing site of undersea fiber optic cables, to benefit from the digital economy. However, the prevalence of a single national telecom operator in the country has stifled service delivery and innovation in the telecom sector. Mobile broadband coverage and...

The Future of Work in Africa focuses on the key themes of creating productive jobs and addressing the needs of those left behind. It highlights how global trends, especially the adoption of digital technologies, may change the nature of work in Sub-Saharan Africa by creating new opportunities...

Governments around the world are facing a double challenge. Their citizens are expecting everhigher standards of service and want to be able to interact with the government online as easily as they do with banks and Internet commerce companies. At the same time, governments need to reduce...

The evidence that women both drive agricultural production and rely on it for their livelihoods means that greater financial and informational service provision to women, especially through digital channels, could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their labor. While the numerous...

Since its adoption in December 2015 by the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 175 countries to date have ratified the Paris Agreement. These countries have made commitments Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in...

This report provides a cross-country overview of the policy and regulatory framework for digital financial services (DFS) in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from a financial inclusion perspective. It was carried out at the request of the ASEAN Working Committee on...

Cote d'Ivoire has the world's largest cocoa sector, producing over 1.4 million metric tons of raw cocoa per year, accounting for thirty two percent of world production. Harvest payments often arrive late due to the complex logistics of cash-based payments and, it is not uncommon for the amount...