Bureaucratic complexity in citizen-government interactions can be an obstacle to accessing basic services and exercising civil rights. This paper presents a new methodology to collect contributor-based data on the regulatory framework and compliance burden of six key citizen-government...

Agriculture plays a vital role in the development of many countries. Access to markets, finance and information are cornerstones for agricultural growth. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supports farmers by facilitating access to markets through real-time data on market prices,...

This thematic note emphasizes the role of laws and regulations in safeguarding women's economic opportunities, for the purpose of informing the update of the World Bank Group's Gender Strategy. The note demonstrates the importance of legal gender equality and draws on data and analysis from the...

This thematic note emphasizes the role of laws and regulations in safeguarding women's economic opportunities, for the purpose of informing the update of the World Bank Group's Gender Strategy. The note demonstrates the importance of legal gender equality and draws on data and analysis from the...

Developing countries across East Asia have made impressive progress in economic development. Despite the effect of the 1997-1998 financial crisis, poverty rates in the region have been consistently declining. Agriculture played a key role by driving growth in the early stages of...

Economists have either avoided or struggled with the concept of culture and its role in economic development. Although a few theoretical works-and even fewer empirical studies-have appeared in the past decades, this paper tries to build on a multidisciplinary approach to review the evidence on...

Economists have either avoided or struggled with the concept of culture and its role in economic development. Although a few theoretical works -- and even fewer empirical studies -- have appeared in the past decades, this paper tries to build on a multidisciplinary approach to review the...

In 2008 the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation established a Trust Fund to be administered by the World Bank with the goal of advancing financial capability in low-and middle-income countries. This report documents the multiyear effort to develop measures of financial capability and...