The Prosperity Research Program examines how financial systems, private sector dynamics, macroeconomic policies, and global economic integration interact to shape firm behavior, resource allocation, and institutional performance, and how these can work together to drive growth, jobs, and poverty reduction.
Policy Research Talk, April 20, 2026
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. Yet standards are too often overlooked by policy makers, especially in developing countries. Join us for this Policy Research Talk on April 20, where World Development Report Director Xavier Giné will provide a deep dive into the World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development.
Publication, March 23, 2026
Global goods trade expanded in 2025, driven by strong demand for AI-related products, relatively low shipping costs, and the resilience of global value chains — which adapted to policy turbulence through trade diversion and creation. Trade in services continued to grow in 2025 led by strong growth in digitally delivered services. Shipping costs remained relatively low through February 2026, as rapid container fleet expansion kept freight rates in check despite ongoing supply-chain pressures.
Website | Publication | Interactive Dashboard
Seminar, May 2026
The Journal of International Economics, University of Geneva, the World Bank, and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) invite you to participate of the Call for Papers for the second edition of the “International Seminar on Trade” (ISoT) on May 21-22, 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland. ISoT focuses on recent advances in empirical, theoretical, and quantitative international trade.
Global Database, July 2025
Since its launch in 2011, the Global Findex has provided critical insights into financial inclusion, digital payments, savings, and borrowing behaviors across various economies. The database highlights key trends such as the rise of digital financial services and the gender gap in account ownership. The Global Findex 2025 introduces the Digital Connectivity Tracker, a new component that measures access to and use of mobile technology. Combined with financial inclusion data, it offers a holistic view of how mobile infrastructure is expanding access to financial services and improving economic resilience.
Launch Video | Download the Report | Data Visualizations | Policy Research Talk (September 30, 2025)
A well-functioning financial system and a vigorous private sector are important drivers of growth and poverty reduction.
What are the determinants of macroeconomic outcomes, especially growth and jobs? And what is the role of governments in raising and allocating resources?
Global economic integration is a key factor in supporting jobs, growth, and poverty reduction.
This programs seeks to develop and implement diagnostic tools to identify the policies undermining creative destruction and the business dynamism underlying any fast-growing economy.
The Trade Fragmentation Research Initiative offers new data sets, visualization tools, and policy modeling frameworks.
DaTax conducts cutting-edge analytical work with micro tax data, aimed at supporting the development of equitable and sustainable public finance systems.
Joint IFC-World Bank Report March 2025
Equity and bond issuance is increasingly driving revenue growth and expansion in developing economies, accounting for $4 trillion in new capital over the last three decades, and a 5 percent lift in jobs. These are some of the findings presented in this new book from the World Bank Group highlighting how capital markets are accounting for a rising share in the financing of companies in low- and middle-income economies that traditionally rely on bank lending.
Report Landing Page | Launch Event | Capital Markets Portal
Trade Simulation Tools, 2026
These interactive Trade Policy Simulators allow users to model customized trade policy scenarios and assess their impact on income, exports, and imports across countries.
Trade Visualization Tools | Trade Fragmentation Research Initiative
Trade Watch Series, Q3, 2025
Global goods trade expanded in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the same period of 2024, despite higher trade-policy uncertainty; Trade in services continued to grow in the July-to-September period, albeit at a slower pace, led by digitally enabled services; Shipping costs remained low, as container fleet expansion continued to restrain shipping costs amid global supply chain pressures.
Publication | Trade Watch Series | Interactive Dashboard
Past event, November 20, 2025, Washington, DC and Online
The 2020 World Development Report explored how global value chains (GVCs) could drive development. Five years later, trade is being reshaped by geopolitical tensions, climate pressures, and technological shifts. The 5th Anniversary Event revisits the WDR’s insights and asks how GVC-based development can evolve in a more fragmented global economy.
Access event materials | Read the World Development Report 2020
Conference, September 25–26, 2025
The 2025 conference included sessions on labor taxation and job creation, efficiency of the public sector, emerging tax instruments and policies, government accountability and procurement, and international tax reform. The agenda also featured country-focused sessions on Brazil and Uganda, highlighting recent research on tax policy, social protection, and development.
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
Policy Research Talk, January 28, 2025
Government procurement is big business, typically accounting for 10 to 20 percent of annual GDP depending on the country and year. In this Policy Research Talk, Manuel García-Santana shares new insights from economic research address key questions on this topic.
Event Information | Presentation | More from Manuel García-Santana
Literature Review, December 2024
Digitalizing wage payments can increase account ownership among workers, help them save, and avoid unnecessary fees or commute costs from going to the bank—all while helping firms reduce costs and operate more efficiently. But these benefits only materialize when the right infrastructure is in place. This paper reviews the evidence demonstrating how digital payments can expand financial inclusion.
Research Insights Feature (April 2025)
Technical Note, September 2024
This technical note examines the state of access to and use of financial services for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Lao PDR. Based on extensive interviews with key private and public stakeholders, data collection efforts, and desk reviews of existing reports, laws, regulations, and policies, it provides an overview of the current status of financial inclusion for MSMEs and the enabling environment for MSME finance.
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
Long-term and Lasting Impacts of Personal Initiative Training on Entrepreneurial Success
Francisco Campos, Michael Frese, Leonardo Iacovone, Hillary Johnson, David McKenzie, and Mona Mensmann
American Economic Review: Insights, December 2025
Promoting Innovative Startups: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Tunisia
Nadia Ali, Massimiliano Cali, and Bob Rijkers
Journal of Development Economics, vol. 177, October 2025
Bayesian Impact Evaluation with Informative Priors: An Application to a Colombian Management and Export Improvement Program
Leonardo Iacovone, David McKenzie, and Rachael Meager
Econometrica, vol. 93, September 2025
The Quality and Price of Africa's Imports of Digital Goods
Paulo Bastos, Lucio Castro, and Marcio Cruz
The World Economy, vol. 48, September 2025
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
Natural Resoure Dependence and Monopolized Imports
Rabah Arezki, Ana Fernandes, Federico Merchán, Ha Nguyen, and Tristan Reed
Review of Economics and Statistics, July 2025
Legal effectiveness and external capital: The role of foreign debt
George Allayannis, Gregory W. Brown, and Leora F. Klapper
Journal of Economics and Business, vol. 134-135, March – June 2025
