At the onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there was global concern about the negative indirect impacts the crisis would have on girls and women and their human capital. Two years into the crisis, this brief summarizes the evidence to date on how the predictio...

All countries across South Asia, faced with the rising risks of COVID-19 infection rates, implemented severe economic lockdowns in early 2020 with varying frequencies and time periods. While the exact nature and duration of these lockdowns varied across countries in the...

This paper estimates the impact of technology sophistication pre-COVID-19 on the performance of firms during the early stages of the pandemic. It exploits a unique data set covering firms from Brazil, Senegal, and Vietnam, using a treatment effect mediation framework to...

This report discusses the remarks delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held during the 2022 annual meetings. He discusses: the world needs to be much better prepared to respond to pandemics...

This paper presents descriptive statistics from the first wave of the Syrian Refugee Life Study (S-RLS), which was launched in 2020. S-RLS is a longitudinal study that tracks a representative sample of 2,500 registered Syrian refugee households in Jordan. It collects co...

The COVID-19 crisis requires policy reforms on many fronts, from debt sustainability to climate-smart recovery. This Research & Policy brief draws on theory and empirical evidence to explore the opportunities for the international development community to support policy...

This paper studies the distribution of credit during crisis times and its impact on firm indebtedness and macroeconomic risk. Whereas policies can help firms in need of financing, they can lead to adverse selection from riskier firms and higher default risk. The paper a...

Evaluating the relevance of development interventions is a complex task because many different dimensions must be considered. This study focuses on one particular, quantifiable aspect of relevance and proposes a method for generating data-driven evidence that can be use...

Moldova’s policy priorities and key actions going forward: Strengthening the capacity and governance of public administration; Strengthening the judiciary and the fight against corruption; Supporting a resilient recovery while safeguarding fiscal sustainability; Buildin...

The South African financial system has weathered the shock of COVID-19 but faces growing risks emanating from a weak macroeconomic outlook. The pandemic crisis hit South Africa hard, with nonresident capital outflows accelerating and the domestic and global slowdown pre...