Finance & Private Sector Development

A well-functioning financial system and a vigorous private sector are important drivers of growth and poverty reduction. Finance is central to private sector development and vice versa, and large parts of both sub-disciplines revolve around the behavior and performance of firms.

Featured

The Global Findex, Financial Inclusion & Resilience
Policy Research Talk, November 15, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic increased digital adoption worldwide, as people sought alternative ways to address daily needs without face-to-face contact. Results from the latest Global Findex survey—conducted in 2021 in 123 countries with more than 125,000 respondents during the COVID-19 pandemic—offer insights into how digitalization of payments contributed to increases in financial inclusion. In this Policy Research Talk, World Bank Lead Economist and Global Findex founder Leora Klapper will discuss the latest Global Findex findings, how technology has expanded access to financial services, the opportunities to close the remaining gaps, and the areas that countries need to focus on moving ahead.
Video | The Global Findex Database | Event Information | Presentation
The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19
Global Database, June 2022
Financial inclusion is a cornerstone of development, and since 2011, the Global Findex Database has been the definitive source of data on global access to financial services from payments to savings and borrowing. The 2021 edition, based on nationally representative surveys of over 125,000 adults in 123 economies during the COVID-19 pandemic, contains updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services and digital payments, and offers insights into the behaviors that enable financial resilience.
The Global Findex Database 2021 | Blog Post | Video | Press Release | Download Report | Executive Summary
World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery
Flagship Report, March 2022
This report examines the central role of finance in the economic recovery from COVID-19. Based on an in-depth look at the consequences of the crisis most likely to affect low- and middle-income economies, it advocates a set of policies and measures to mitigate the interconnected economic risks stemming from the pandemic, risks that may become more acute as stimulus measures are withdrawn at both the domestic and global levels.
World Development Report 2022 | Launch Event | Report Overview | Video
Data from Secondary Markets: Insights and Implications for Development
Policy Research Talk, March 22, 2022
Since the Great Recession cross-border financial assets have grown nearly 60 percent. While cross-border bank lending has stayed relatively constant, cross-border portfolios and market-based finance have grown tremendously. In this talk, World Bank economist Alvaro Pedraza sheds light on this pressing issue with recent insights from the Colombian Stock Exchange (CSE).
Video | Presentation | Event Page | More About Alvaro Pedraza
World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives—Research Directions and Measuring Country Capacity
Policy Research Talk, May 25, 2021
In this Policy Research Talk, members of the report team illustrate the potential to combine private and public intent data to yield timelier, more granular insights to confront policy challenges, as well as research findings from data quality experiments and assessments. The team presents new data sources released in conjunction with the report.
Event Information | Video | Presentation (Part 1 & 2) | Presentation (Part 3) | World Development 2021: Data for Better Lives

LATEST WORKING PAPERS

Trade Credit: Theory and Evidence for Emerging Economies and Developing Countries
Robert Cull, Chorching Goh, L. Colin Xu
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10468, June 2023

How Do Borrowers Respond to a Debt Moratorium? Experimental Evidence from Consumer Loans in India
Stefano Fiorin, Joseph Hall, Martin Kanz
10358, March 2023

The Importance of Financial Education for the Effective Use of Formal Financial Services
Saniya Ansar, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10345, March 2023

Bayesian Impact Evaluation with Informative Priors: An Application to a Colombian Management and Export Improvement Program
Leonardo Iacovone, David McKenzie, Rachael Meager
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10274, January 2023

Climate Change Regulations: Bank Lending and Real Effects
Faruk Miguel, Alvaro Pedraza, Claudia Ruiz-Ortega
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10270, December 2022

Global Bank Lending under Climate Policy
Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Alvaro Enrique Pedraza Morales, Fredy Pulga, Claudia Ruiz Ortega
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10266, December 2022

Capacity Building as a Route to Export Market Expansion: A Six-Country Experiment in the Western Balkans
Ana Paula Cusolito, Ornella Darova, David J. Mckenzie
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10256, December 2022

More Working Papers

LATEST JOURNAL ARTICLES

Banking with Agents: Experimental Evidence from Senegal
Xavier Gine, Sinja Buri, Robert Cull, Sven Harten, Soren Heitmann
Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2023 | Working Paper Version

Efficient Irrigation and Water Conservation: Evidence from South India
Ram Fishman, Xavier Gine, Hanan G. Jacoby
Journal of Development , vol. 162: 103051, May 2023 | Working Paper Version

Political Survival, Local Accountability, and Long-Term Development: Evidence from an Authoritarian Country
Hanming Fang, Linke Hou, Mingxing Liu, L. Colin Xu, Pengfei Zhang
Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 51 (1), March 2023

How should the government bring small firms into the formal system? Experimental evidence from Malawi
Francisco Campos, Markus Goldstein, David McKenzie
Journal of Development Economics, vol. 161: 103045, March 2023 | Working Paper Version

Fears and Tears: Should More People Be Moving within and from Developing Countries, and What Stops this Movement?
David McKenzie
The World Bank Research Observer, January 2023 | Working Paper Version

COVID-19 and Changes in Intentions to Migrate from The Gambia
Tijan L Bah, Catia Batista, Flore Gubert, David McKenzie
Journal of African Economies, December 2022 | Working Paper Version

BOOKS AND REPORTS

World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery
World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery examines the central role of finance in the economic recovery from the pandemic.

The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19
The 2021 edition of the Global Findex Database contains updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services and digital payments, and offers insights into the behaviors that enable financial resilience.

World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives
This report explores the tremendous potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of poor people, while also acknowledging its potential to open back doors that can harm individuals, businesses, and societies.