Policy Indicators Briefs Series

Policy Indicators Briefs (PIBs) are developed by the Policy Indicators Group (DECIG) of the World Bank's Development Economics Vice Presidency. PIBs summarize key findings of formal research and data analysis conducted by DECIG staff on topics related to private sector development; these include economic growth, job creation, firm dynamics, productivity and innovation, regulatory reform, and gender equality. PIBs also draw on the larger relevant literature and explore the implications for policy and social debate.

The briefs are edited by David Francis and Norman Loayza, with contributions from the PIB team: Varun Eknath, Gina Cardenas Varon, Seung Hee Nam, and Kerenny Torres Negron.

Briefs 2026

No.	Date	Authors	Affiliation	Title
45	2026/03/11	Niesten, Hannelore Maria L.; Ferraz Di Ricco, Luiza; Sakhonchik, Alena;	World Bank – Women, Business and the Law	Gender and Taxation: Insights from New Data Across 81 Economies
44	2026/03/10	Behr, Daniela Monika;Groussard, Heloise Marie; Martins, Natália Mazoni S.;	World Bank – Women, Business and the Law	Leveraging Public Procurement to Advance Women’s Economic Opportunity: Insights from Brazil
43	2026/02/09	Behr, Daniela Monika; Siegrist, Felicia Norina;	World Bank – Women, Business and the Law	Unlocking Women’s Entrepreneurship through Childcare Reform
42	2026/01/21	Ghandour, Ziad; Meza, Jorge Rodriguez	World Bank – Enterprise Surveys	Insights from Firm-Level Data on Price Regulation Around the World

Briefs 2025

No.	Date	Authors	Affiliation	Title
41	2025/11/20	Rooms, Tommaso	World Bank – Regulatory Efficiency	From Local Practice to National Reform : A Roadmap for Closing Regional Gaps in the European Union Business Environment
40	2025/10/27	Cardenas, Gina; Biasiucci, Giovanni;	World Bank – Regulatory Efficiency	Using Building Regulations to Lower Risks from Disasters and Strengthen Private Sector Resilience
39	2025/09/02	Boyce, Taylor Colin; Jiang, Charlotte Nan; Padhi, Debasmita; Romano, Thomas Philip	World Bank - Business Ready (B-READY)	Punching Above Their Weight: Insights from Rwanda and Georgia’s B-READY Performance
38	2025/06/19	Maroz, Raman; Kairuz Harb, Tommy;	World Bank - Business Ready (B-READY)	The Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Commercial Dispute Resolution
37	2025/06/11	Solis Sosa, Ben Omar Heli;	World Bank, Subnational Business Ready	Defying Outages : The Struggles and Strategies of Businesses Facing Unreliable Electricity
36	2025/04/10	Behr, Daniela Monika; Braunmiller, Julia Constanze;	World Bank, Women, Business and the Law	Changing Laws, Changing Lives : Family Law Reform as a Catalyst for Economic Prosperity
35	25/05/07	Antoni Albert Nogues Comas; Kerenny Torres Negron;	World Bank, Enterprise Surveys	Insights about Public Procurement: Key Findings from the B-READY Project
34	2025/02/05	Maksym Iavorskyi, Predrag Sutanovac	World Bank, Subnational Business Ready	The Role of Subnational Studies in Driving Regulatory Reforms
33	2025/02/03	Alexis Koumjian Cheney, Daniela Monika Behr	World Bank, Women, Business and the Law	Sierra Leone’s Reform Journey to Advancing Female Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion
32	2025/01/22	Mohammad Amin	World Bank, Enterprise Surveys	Understanding Women’s Lower Participation than Men as Workers, Top Managers, and Owners in Private Firms in the EU-27 Countries
31	2025/01/22	Nazim Tamkoc	World Bank, Enterprise Surveys	Establishment Size Distribution in the European Union
30	2025/01/22	Mohammad Amin	World Bank, Enterprise Surveys	Educated Workers and Managers in the EU-27
29	2025/01/22	Domenico Viganola, Mamadou Yaya Diallo	World Bank, Enterprise Surveys	How Management Practices Differ in the EU-27

Briefs 2024

No.	Date	Authors	Affiliation	Title
28	2024/11/14	David C. Francis, Filip Jolevski	World Bank, Enterprise Surveys	Assessing the Business Environment in the EU-27: An Overview
27	September 2024	Viktoriya Ereshchenko, Elena Popic	World Bank - Business Ready (B-READY)	Supply-Side Regulatory Drivers for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
26	March 2024	Laperle Forget, Lolita Gurbuz Cuneo, Alev	World Bank, Women, Business and the Law	Women, International Trade, and the Law: Breaking Barriers for Gender Equality in Export-Related Activities

Briefs 2023

No.	Date	Authors	Affiliation	Title
25	December 2023	Maroz,Raman Popova,Oleksandra Santiago Satizábal Acosta	World Bank - Business Ready (B-READY)	Digitizing Court Systems: Benefits and Limitations
24	December 2023	Isabel Micaela Santagostino Recavarren Marekera,Shantel Gnakra,Mariam Anais	World Bank, Women, Business and the Law	Laws and Policies to Address Violence Against Women in Countries Affected by Fragility and Conflict
23	October 2023	Behr, Daniela Monika; Groussard,Heloise Marie; Khaitina,Viktoria; Shen, Liang	World Bank, Women, Business and the Law	Women's Land Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: Where do we Stand in Practice?
22	July 2023	Valentina Saltane, Anam Amin and Subika Farazi.	World Bank - Business Ready (B-READY)	Does sustainable finance regulation play a role in the“greening” of capital markets?
21	June 2023	Sakhonchik,Alena, Elefante,Marina, Niesten,Hannelore Maria L.	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Government Financial Support for Childcare Services : A Study of Regulations in 95 Economies
20	June 2023	Braunmiller,Julia Constanze; Isabel Micaela Santagostino Recavarren; Aparna Mittal; Tanvi Khatri	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	How Did India Successfully Reform Women’s Rights? Part II : Answers from the Movement on Protection from Violence
19	June 2023	Braunmiller,Julia Constanze; Isabel Micaela Santagostino Recavarren; Mittal,Aparna; Khatri,Tanvi	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	How Did India Successfully Reform Women’s Rights? Part I: Answers from the Movement on Equal Inheritance Rights
18	June 2023	Affoum,Nelsy Reyhanne Marikel; Isabel Micaela Santagostino Recavarren; Vohra,Nayantara; Wodon,Quentin T.	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Protecting Women and Girls from Cyber Harassment : A Global Assessment of Existing Laws
17	May 2023	Alemayehu,Maereg Tewoldebirhan; Khaitina,Viktoria; Woldeyesus,Elshaday Kifle; Mykhalchenko,Olena; Schulz,Katrin Anna	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	The Road to Reforming Ethiopia’s Policies on Maternity and Paternity Leave
16	March 2023	Bin Humam,Yasmin Klaudia; Braunmiller,Julia Constanze; and Elsaman,Mahmoud Salaheldin	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Emerging Trends in National Financial Inclusion Strategies that Support Women’s Entrepreneurship

Briefs 2022

No.	Date	Authors	Affiliation	Title
15	December 2022	Arlet, Jean Nicolas; Eknath, Varun and Popova, Oleksandra	World Bank Group, Global Indicators Group	Effectively Engaging the Private Sector in the Business Reform Process
14	November 2022	Braunmiller,Julia Constanze and Dry,Marie Jeanne Charlotte	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Safeguarding the Rights of Women with Disabilities to Family Life, Work, and Protection from Gender-based Violence
13	October 2022	Natália Mazoni Silva Martins and Claudia Lenny Corminales	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Legal Reforms to Protect Women at Home and at Work in São Tomé and Príncipe
12	September 2022	Nelsy Reyhanne Marikel Affoum and Marie Dry	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Reforming Discriminatory Laws to Empower Women in Togo
11	September 2022	Julia Constanze Braunmiller and Marie Dry	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	The Importance of Designing Gender and Disability Inclusive Laws : A Survey of Legislation in 190 Economies
10	August 2022	Girija Borker	World Bank Group, Development Economics Vice Presidency	Constraints to Women’s Use of Public Transport in Developing Countries, Part II : Safety
9	August 2022	Girija Borker	World Bank Group, Development Economics Vice Presidency	Constraints to Women’s Use of Public Transport in Developing Countries, Part I : High Costs, Limited Access, and Lack of Comfort
8	June 2022	Valentina Saltane, Viktoriya Ereshchenko, Shoghik Hovhannisyan, Justice Tei Mensah	World Bank Group, Global Indicators Group and IFC, Development Impact	Responses of the Electricity Sector in 120 Economies to the COVID-19 Pandemic
7	June 2022	Luca Bettarelli. Tommaso Rooms	Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca and World Bank Group, Global Indicators Group	Replicating Local Good Practices in Regulating the Business Environment at the National Level : What Italy’s Experience Reveals
6	May 2022	Nisha Arekapudi, Natália Mazoni Silva Martins	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Challenging Entrenched Marital Power in South Africa
5	March 2022	Catherine Nyaguthii Githae,*+ Emilia Galiano,+ Fredrick J.K Nyagah,*+ and Isabel Santagostino Recavarren+	*Men Engage Kenya Network (MENKEN) +World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Key Ingredients to Women’s Legal Rights in
4	March 2022	Julia Constanze Braunmiller, Marie Dry	World Bank Group, Women, Business and the Law	Reforms to Enhance Gender Equality in the Democratic Republic of Congo: From Advocacy to Implementation (English)   Réformes Visant à Promouvoir l’Égalité des Sexes en République Démocratique du Congo : du Plaidoyer à la Mise en Œuvre (French)

Briefs 2021

No.	Date	Authors	Affiliation	Title
3	September 2021	Viktoriya Ereshchenko, Varun Eknath, Inés Zabalbeitia Múgica	World Bank Group, Global Indicators Group	The Importance of Facilitating Imports for International Trade Flows : Evidence from the Auto Industry
2	July 2021	Marie Hyland, Nona Karalashvili, Silvia Muzi, Domenico Viganola	World Bank Group, Enterprise Analysis & Women, Business and the Law	Female-Owned Firms during the COVID-19 Crisis
1	June 2021	Nona Karalashvili, Domenico Viganola	World Bank Group, Enterprise Analysis	The Evolving Effect of COVID-19 on the Private Sector