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Compressed Air Energy Storage: A Case Study
Full text linkTo maximize the contribution of variable renewable energy sources, long duration storage is critical, since variable sources, notably wind and solar, often generate excess power at off-peak times. The successful Yingcheng compressed air energy storage project in China is presently the world’s largest, and the first of its kind to operate without the use of supplemental fuels. With a five-hour discharge at full capacity of 300 MW, the project is a breakthrough for long-duration storage technology at such scale
Quality at Scale : Advancing Viet Nam's Early Childhood Education and Care System
Full text linkViet Nam’s investment in its youngest generation is fundamentally an investment in the country’s future human capital. Today, over 10 million Vietnamese children under age 6 (with another one million expected in the next five years) will reach working age by 2040. This cohort is projected to comprise about one-fifth of the national labor force by that time, forming a vital base of tomorrow’s workforce. Their education and early development–from preschool participation to foundational skill acquisition–will significantly shape Viet Nam’s productivity, equity, and long-term growth. Recognizing this, the nation’s leadership has increasingly prioritized early childhood education and care (ECEC) within its human capital development agenda. Viet Nam has already made notable gains in education and health outcomes in recent decades, as reflected in rising Human Capital Index rankings and learning assessments (with secondary-level math scores now approaching averages in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Building on this progress, attention is turning to the early years as the next critical frontier for sustaining human capital improvements
Do Informal Businesses with More-Educated Owners Adopt Better Business Practices? Evidence from the Central African Republic
Full text linkThe business practices of unregistered or informal enterprises can significantly affect their performance and the overall productivity of the sector. However, very little is known about the prevalence of business practices and the sorts of factors that influence their adoption among informal enterprises. This is especially the case in the context of fragile economies. The present paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the adoption of business practices among informal enterprises in the Central African Republic, which serves as a unique context – high informality, low education attainment, and recurrent shocks including conflict and the AIDS epidemic. While several factors correlated with the decision to adopt business practices are uncovered, the focus is on the education level of the business owner or manager. A conservative estimate suggests that relative to no education or up to primary education, secondary or higher education increases the likelihood of adopting one or more of the nine business practices considered by about 10 percentage points. The number of business practices adopted increases by 0.66 (against a mean value of 1.7). The paper shows that the positive impact of education is most likely causal using entropy balancing, inverse probability weighting, the Oster test for selection on observables, and the impact of the AIDS epidemic in the latter half of the 1990s on school enrollment as an instrument for the education level of current business owners. The analysis also finds significant heterogeneities in the relationship between education and business practices. Belonging to a business association and a business owner’s past experience in the industry may compensate for a lack of formal education, while the use of electricity, manufacturing versus services activity, and location in Bangui city versus Berberati complement and magnify the positive effect of education. The paper discusses several avenues for future research
Industrial Policy for Development: Approaches in the 21st Century
No full textAmidst slower global growth, a shifting labor market, and rising protectionism, governments around the world are increasingly turning to a once controversial policy. Industrial policy—the range of policy tools governments use to shape what an economy produces, rather than leaving it to markets alone—is back with a vengeance.
Contrary to recent headlines, advanced economies are not the heaviest users of industrial policy. As this report documents, developing economies use it more intensively. New data show that total business subsidies among upper-middle-income economies now average 4.2 percent of GDP—the highest on record. Middle-income economies have higher average import tariffs and more dispersion of tariffs across individual products compared to high-income economies—evidence of stronger targeted protection of certain industries. A review of the latest national development plans across 183 economies finds that low-income economies target growth in 13 industries on average, more than twice the number in high-income economies.
This report offers the first comprehensive guide to industrial policy for development in the 21st century, distinctive in four respects: it covers 15 policy tools—well beyond the existing literature's focus on tariffs and subsidies; it provides practical guidance on design and implementation, including how to target industries and design effective institutions; it draws on new evidence from more than 60 economies; and it identifies targeted approaches for governments using industrial policy to pursue specific goals, from earning foreign exchange and creating jobs to reducing pollution and strengthening security and resilience
The influence of digital information and technological advancement on firms’ ethical practices
No full textWhile technology has the potential to enhance ethical practices, its impact is complex and poorly understood. This paper examines corporate ethical standards in digital tech–oriented firms to explore this dynamic. Using data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys spanning 2006 through 2023, we find that technology and digitalization positively influence the adoption of environmental and social standards. However, digital tech–oriented firms exhibit lower governance standards. These results are shaped by country culture, the burden of business regulation, and the perception of the courts as obstacles to business activity. Our findings highlight the significance of broader societal influences and the quality of the business environment in determining how digital-oriented technological firms adopt ethical standards
Delivering Hope in Fragile Times: The Story of the Sudan Family Support Program
Full text linkSudan’s experience following the 2011 secession of South Sudan offers a compelling case study in the design and delivery of social protection in fragile and conflict-affected settings. The loss of three-quarters of its oil revenue triggered a prolonged economic crisis, marked by hyperinflation, fiscal constraints, and rising poverty. Vulnerable groups—especially women, internally displaced persons, and rural communities—faced deepening hardship. Sudan’s transitional government, formed after the 2019 revolution, launched ambitious economic reforms. It introduced the Sudan Family Support Program (SFSP) in 2020 to provide monthly cash transfers to nearly 80 percent of the population and lay the foundation for a nationally owned social protection system.
Although the program was suspended in 2021 due to political instability, the SFSP reached 8.7 million people—50 percent of whom were women—before its interruption. Beyond its scale, the program yielded critical lessons and innovations for the delivery of social assistance in low-capacity, high-risk contexts. Delivering Hope in Fragile Times: The Story of the Sudan Family Support Program describes these approaches that include strategies to expand legal identity coverage, hybrid staffing models that combined national capacity with international expertise, and the use of culturally grounded communication to build trust and combat misinformation.
Key operational components—such as a simplified joint registration form; phased digital systems integration; and a modular, automated payment platform—allowed for adaptability and real-time responsiveness. The program emphasized community-based delivery and grassroots monitoring via trusted local networks to reinforce accountability and inclusiveness. Partnerships with media and civil society played a vital role in fostering public engagement and managing expectations amid uncertainty.
Although the SFSP was cut short, its delivery infrastructure—including digital registries, payment systems, and grievance mechanisms—remained intact and was leveraged to support vulnerable communities across Sudan today. These developments highlight how investing in durable systems can ensure continuity, even amid political disruption.
Ultimately, the Sudan Family Support Program offers a valuable model for adaptive, inclusive, and resilient social protection in crisis-affected settings. Its innovations in identity, delivery, and communication provide a roadmap for future efforts to build systems that not only respond to immediate needs but also withstand political shocks. As fragility and conflict continue to shape the development landscape, the lessons from Sudan’s SFSP are increasingly relevant for governments, donors, and practitioners seeking to protect vulnerable populations in uncertain environments
Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) FY27 Work Program and Budget and FY28-29 Indicative Plan
No full textThe development aid landscape is increasingly uncertain, with global growth projected at 2.3% in 2025—the lowest since 2008—and the 2020s likely the slowest decade since the 1960s. Persistent economic headwinds, lingering post pandemic trade disruptions, and shocks from conflict and disasters are straining supply chains and raising investment risks. At the same time, aid flows are declining as donors prioritize domestic stabilization, defense, and social spending, underscoring the need for the World Bank Group inline to maximize the impact strip of finite resources. The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) is pivotal to this effort, providing independent validations of WBG self evaluations and producing system level learning through RAP, MAR validations, thematic and corporate evaluations, CPEs, and a new Cluster Evaluations product (FY26). To meet rising validation volumes—driven by expanded IFC and MIGA self evaluations—and to sustain methodological and data innovations, IEG requests a 1.2 million increase), prioritizing validation scale up, data science, and capacity development
Accelerating Access to Clean Air for a Livable Planet
No full textThis report assesses directions for future policy interventions that could deliver within the next 15 years, substantial air quality improvements in low- and middle-income regions. Priorities are derived from a cost-effectiveness analysis of the available options to achieve, in each region, an illustrative target for population exposure in 2040. To this end, the 2040 Clean Air Targets call for halving the number of people facing excess of the PM2.5 Interim Target 2 of the WHO (25 µg/ m³) in each region, instead of the 24 percent global growth in the Stated Policies scenario. The full application of all policies and measures that are included in this analysis could reduce global population-weighted exposure by about two thirds in 2040. Specific provisions are made for regions in which desert dust account for a high share of total exposure
To Have It All? Career and Family of College-Educated Women in an Emerging Economy
No full textCan college-educated women in rapidly developing economies balance career and family, or does compressed economic growth polarize their choices? This paper investigates how Indonesian women navigate these dual objectives across birth cohorts from the 1950s to the 1990s. It utilizes 38 years of Labor Force Survey data to examine aggregate cohort patterns and five rounds of Indonesia Family Life Survey panel data to trace individual life-cycle trajectories. The paper documents increasing polarization among younger cohorts, which either delay marriage and stay in the labor force or opt out of the labor force altogether post-marriage. The paper traces this divergence to two concurrent trends. First, more women enter time-demanding, high-skilled professions traditionally dominated by men. Second, rising conservatism among young men creates marriage market frictions, leaving educated women with stark choices: conform to conservative family expectations by leaving work, or prioritize careers while delaying or forgoing family
Unlocking Women’s Entrepreneurship through Childcare Reform
No full textThis Brief explores how childcare responsibilities shape women’s entrepreneurial choices and business growth, drawing on data from the Women, Business and the Law project as well as complementary evidence from Bangladesh, Brazil, and Nigeria. Globally, women spend nearly three times as much time providing unpaid care compared to men, constraining their ability to start and grow firms. While laws enabling women’s economic participation are expanding globally, limited supportive childcare policies limit women’s choices and entrepreneurial potential. Even where laws exist, gaps in their implementation or enforcement as well as prevailing social norms may shape how families divide care, how markets respond, and how policymakers prioritize childcare. This Brief highlights the importance of incorporating care systematically into entrepreneurship policy. It calls for expanding adorable and quality childcare, addressing social norms, and supporting women-led care enterprises through accelerators, market access platforms, and tailored financial products. It highlights initiatives like the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) as models for coordinated investment in the care economy to unlock women’s entrepreneurial potential