Prosperity Research Program

World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development
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.

Trade Watch: Reshaping Trade to Sustain Resilience
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

International Seminar on Trade (ISoT) – 2nd EditionSeminar, 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.

ISoT - 1st Edition

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)

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

What Happens When Tariffs and Trade Costs Change?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 Remains Resilient to Trade-Policy Uncertainty. Check out the latest edition of the Trade Watch ReportTrade 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

5th Anniversary WDR 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value ChainsPast 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

7th World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance ConferenceConference, 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

Purchasing Prosperity: The Economics of Government ProcurementPolicy 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

Enabling Digital Wage Payments: Why (and What) Infrastructure Matters for Inclusive FinanceLiterature 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)

Access to Finance for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises in Lao PDRTechnical 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.

World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable RecoveryFlagship 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