Macroeconomics and Growth

The following big questions guide the Macroeconomics and Growth Research work program:

1) What are the determinants of macroeconomic outcomes (especially growth)? How are those outcomes linked to institutions and resource allocation at the micro level?

2) What is the role of governments in raising and allocating resources? What should governments do over the long run and in response to shocks?

The work program is organized around the following interrelated areas:

Growth: Macro, regional (local), sectoral, firm growth; labor markets and human capital
Firms and Aggregate Outcomes: Allocation of production and finance; competition
Public economics/public finance: Domestic revenue mobilization, taxation, debt; government spending (fiscal policy, infrastructure, procurement); governance and institutions
International economics: International and domestic financial markets; exchange rates and monetary policy; globalization

FEATURED RESEARCH

7th World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference

Conference, September 25–26, 2025

Conference Agenda | 6th World Bank/IFS/ODI Public Finance Conference: Driving Progress - Public Finance and Structural Transformation | DaTax: A Lab to Study Taxes, Firms and Jobs using Micro Data

Financing Firm Growth: The Role of Capital Markets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Joint IFC-World Bank Report March 2025

Report Landing Page | Launch Event | Capital Markets Portal

Purchasing Prosperity: The Economics of Government Procurement

Policy Research Talk, January 28, 2025

Event Information | Presentation | More about Manuel García-Santana

2023 Tax Conference on The Political Economy of Public Finances

6th World Bank/IFS/ODI Public Finance Conference: Driving Progress: Public Finance and Structural Transformation

Washington, DC and Online, September 26-27, 2024

5th World Bank/IFS/ODI Tax Conference: The Political Economy of Public Finances | 4th World Bank Tax Conference: Global Tax Equity

DaTax: A Lab to Study Taxes, Firms and Jobs using Micro Data

Data Lab, May 2024

Electronic Payment Technology and Tax Compliance | Corporate Taxation and Evasion Responses | Behavioral Insights for Tax Compliance

Two men looking at a document together in a grain storage area

Taxation for Development: Rethinking Fair and Efficient Tax Systems for the Next Decade

Policy Research Talk, May 7, 2024

Event Information | More about Pierre Bachas

Partial view of the Long Term Growth Model book cover. It depicts the Trappen van Strada Reale in Valetta, Malta. 1900-1910

The Long Term Growth Model: Fundamentals, Extensions, and Applications

Policy Research Talk, Mar 21, 2023

Improving the Multilateral Pandemic Response

Policy Research Talk, June 13, 2022

Presentation | Video | Event Information | More about Tristan Reed

The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19

January 2021

Report | Working Paper | Data Download

From Micro to Macro: Entry Barriers, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity

Policy Research Talk, February 23, 2021

LATEST WORKING PAPERS

Green versus Conventional Corporate Debt: From Issuances to Emissions
Juan J. Cortina, Claudio Raddatz, Sergio L. Schmukler, and Tomas Williams
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11226, October 2025

Algorithms and Bureaucrats: Evidence from Tax Audit Selection in Senegal
Pierre Bachas, Anne Brockmeyer, Alipio Ferreira, and Bassirou Sarr
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11205, September 2025

Expansionary Fiscal Consolidation Under Sovereign Risk
Carlos Esquivel and Agustin Samano
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11156, June 2025

Effective Tax Rates, Firm Size and the Global Minimum Tax
Pierre Bachas, Anne Brockmeyer, Roel Dom, and Camille Semelet
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11090, March 2025

Gender Barriers, Structural Transformation, and Economic Development
Gaurav Chiplunkar and Tatjana Kleineberg
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11083, March 2025

More Working Papers

World Bank Policy Research Working Paper

LATEST JOURNAL ARTICLES

Are regional fiscal multipliers on EU structural and investment fund spending large? A reassessment of the evidence
Federico Fiuratti, Desislava Nikolova, Steven Pennings, and Marc Schiffbauer
Journal of Macroeconomics, vol. 85, September 2025

Long-run Returns to Private Equity in Emerging Markets
Shawn Allen Cole, Martin Melecky, Florian Molders, and Tristan Reed
Management Science, August 2025

Natural Resource Dependence and Monopolized Imports
Rabah Arezki, Ana Fernandes, Federico Merchán, Ha Nguyen, and Tristan Reed
Review of Economics and Statistics, July 2025

The impact of COVID-19 on formal firms: Lessons from administrative tax data
Pierre Bachas, Anne Brockmeyer, Pablo Garriga, and Camille Semelet
Journal of Development Economics, vol. 175, June 2025

Leader Value Added: Assessing the Growth Contribution of Individual National Leaders
William Easterly and Steven Pennings
Journal of Development Economics, vol. 175, June 2025

The High and Falling Price of Cement in Africa
Fabrizio Leone, Rocco Macchiavello, and Tristan Reed
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol. 17, April 2025

One rule fits all? Heterogeneous fiscal rules for commodity exporters when price shocks can be persistent: Theory and evidence
Arthur Mendes and Steven Pennings
Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 55, January 2025

Design of Partial Population Experiments with an Application to Spillovers in Tax Compliance
Guillermo Cruces, Dario Tortarolo, and Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare
The Review of Economics and Statistics, January 2025

BOOKS AND REPORTS

Trust in institutions - a representative image with a school in Maseru, Africa.

How Steinbeck Speaks to Institutions in Economics
Book Chapter by Stuti Khemani in Economics and Literature: A Novel Approach, June 2025

nighttime city view with digital lines connecting buildings and lighted highway

Realizing the Promise of (Partial) Decentralization
Shanta Devarajan, Stuti Khemani, September 2023

Aerial view of Bargny. Inhabitants say in the last couple of decades, the water eroded more than 200 meters of coast.

Strengthening Personal Income Taxation in Senegal - Case Study

Pierre Bachas, Leo Czajka, Aissatou Diallo, Justine Knebelmann, Anaelle Toure, June 2023

The Economics of Water Scarcity in The Midde East and North Africa: Institutional Solutions

Dominick de Waal, Stuti Khemani, Andrea Barone, Edoardo Borgomeo, Amal Talbi, Rajesh Advani, Sally Zgheib, Mili Varughese, Mohamad Hamid, Luke Gates, Elvira Broeks Motta, April 2023

Going Viral: COVID-19 and the Accelerated Transformation of Jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean
Guillermo Beylis, Roberto Fattal Jaef, Michael Morris, Ashwini Rekha Sebastian, and Rishabh Sinha, Washington, DC: World Bank, September 2020

The Rise of Domestic Capital Markets for Corporate Financing

Facundo Abraham, Juan J. Cortina, and Sergio L. Schmukler, Washington, DC: World Bank, June 2019

Making Politics Work for Development: Harnessing Transparency and Citizen Engagement

Stuti Khemani, Ernesto Dal Bó, Claudio Ferraz, Frederico Finan, Corinne Stephenson, Adesinaola Odugbemi, Dikshya Thapa, and Scott Abrahams, Policy Research Report, Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016

Last Updated: Oct 22, 2025