Development Research Group

Amidst slower global growth, a shifting labor market, and rising protectionism, governments around the world are increasingly turning to a once controversial policy. 

This report offers the first comprehensive guide to industrial policy for development in the 21st century, distinctive in four respects: it covers 15 policy tools; it provides practical guidance on design and implementation, including how to target industries and design effective institutions; it draws on new evidence from more than 60 economies; and it identifies targeted approaches for governments using industrial policy to pursue specific goals, from earning foreign exchange and creating jobs to reducing pollution and strengthening security and resilience.

Standards are the hidden infrastructure of modern economies—and they have never been more important. Developing countries today must contend with a thicket of increasingly stringent international standards, a product of globalization and rapid technological change. Using standards—and shaping them—is now a prerequisite for export growth, technology diffusion, and the efficient delivery of public services.

In this Policy Research Talk, World Development Report Director Xavier Giné provides a deep dive into the World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development, which provides the most comprehensive assessment of the global landscape of standards today and how they can be used to accelerate economic development.

This annual conference brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss cutting-edge research on public finance of relevance for low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs). The event primarily focuses on research related to L&MICs but also welcomes relevant studies from high-income contexts. Submissions across all areas of public finance are welcome.

Taking place in Washington, DC on September 24-25, 2026, the event will feature Nathaniel Hendren, Professor of Economics at MIT and Founder/Co-Director at Policy Impacts, as the keynote speaker. 

From April 29 to May 1, 2026, the Development Research Group will host the 2026 World Bank Land and Property Research Conference.

The program features two special plenaries: a keynote by Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu on land, labor, and economic development, and a session on the World Bank’s B-READY land indicators.

The conference also includes 45 research sessions that connect land to governance, jobs, rural transformation, technology, and more, bringing together 200 speakers from academia, governments, and international organizations. Sessions will cover topics including property taxation, urban development, equity and rights, land-related conflict, climate resilience, and the use of new technologies such as digital land registries, interoperable data systems, satellite data, and AI.