A prolonged and multispeed recovery period, its associated policy response, and the new global financial landscape might have important bearing on the size and allocation of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) assets. SWFs could become a driving force in South-South flows, boosting global wealth by...

As the global stock of ideas expands and diffuses across and within countries, technological learning is poised to become an even more important determinant of growth through its impact on innovation. This note reviews global trends that make a policy focus on technological learning and...

Recent events have rekindled interest in the role of primary commodities in development. Was the boom in commodity prices from around 2003 through 2008 just a cyclical event, or does it suggest that prices have entered on a period of secular strength, driven by factors such as demand in big,...

Remittances to developing countries are estimated to have declined by 6.1 percent in 2009 as a result of weak job markets in major destination countries. Although new migration has fallen, it is still positive. The stock of international migrants, therefore, has continued to grow and remittances...

As the financial crisis has spread through the world, the lack of real-time data has made it difficult to track its impact in developing countries. We use a microsimulation approach to assess the poverty and distributional effects of the crisis. In Bangladesh, Mexico, and the Philippines, we...

This note presents early evidence on the labor market impacts of the recent economic crisis in 41 middle-income countries.A broader geographic coverage is prevented by the lack of high-frequency labor market data in other middle-income countries and in the low-income countries. Whereas the...

The financial crisis of 2008-09 has highlighted the need for greater attention to gender, both to address the vulnerability of countries to global shocks and to reach growth and poverty reduction goals. Investments in girls and women need to be scaled up substantially in response to this and...

The global economic crisis has forced a major rethinking of the respective roles of governments and markets in the processes of trade and growth. Indeed, industrial policy seems to be back in fashion—or, at least, talking about it is. But a renewed “activism” by government in the trade and...

This note focuses on the impact of the global financial crisis on subnational debt financing. We approach the following questions: Why is subnational debt financing important? What are the impacts of the crisis on the fiscal balance and financing cost of subnational governments (SNGs)? What...