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Industrial Policy and Economic Growth: Evidence from Saudi Arabia
No full textThis paper empirically assesses Saudi Arabia’s industrial policy using data on policy announcements matched to industry-level exports and firm-level outcomes. It first provides a comprehensive overview of the country’s industrial policy landscape, documenting the scale, timing, sectoral coverage, and policy instruments associated with industrial policy interventions. The analysis then evaluates the effects of these interventions on both external and domestic out-comes. On the external side, no statistically significant impact on exports is detected over the sample period, consistent with evidence that structural transformation and export upgrading typically unfold over long horizons. On the domestic side, industrial policy interventions are examined at the firm level along both the extensive and intensive margins. On the extensive margin, industrial policies lead to a reduction in the number of active firms within the observed sample, suggesting a shift in firm composition within industry. On the intensive margin, local content requirements lead to higher employment but lower capital investment, while domestic subsidies correspond to transitory declines in earnings. Overall, the findings point to early adjustment dynamics, particularly labor absorption, rather than immediate gains in exports or profitability, underscoring the importance of improved policy targeting and coordination to achieve longer-term structural transformation
Accélérer l’Impact: Une Perspective de Genre sur la Protection Sociale Adaptative au Sahel
No full textEmpowering women and girls is a strategic imperative for tackling the complex and interconnected challenges facing countries in the Sahel. Policies, programs, and institutions aimed at reducing poverty, boosting productivity, and strengthening resilience among the most vulnerable must enable the full participation of women and girls by recognizing and addressing the distinct barriers they face throughout their lives. Adaptive social protection (ASP) programs can advance gender equality and women’s empowerment by widening women’s economic opportunities; enhancing their access to education, knowledge, and skills; improving their well-being, voice, and agency; and increasing their protection from GBV.Améliorer la situation des femmes et des filles est un impératif stratégique pour relever les défis complexes et interconnectés auxquels les pays du Sahel sont confrontés. Les politiques, programmes et institutions visant à réduire la pauvreté, à accroître la productivité et à renforcer la résilience des populations les plus vulnérables doivent permettre la pleine participation des femmes et des filles en reconnaissant et en levant les obstacles spécifiques auxquels elles font face tout au long de leur vie. Les programmes de protection sociale adaptative (PSA) peuvent faire progresser l’égalité de genre et le pouvoir d’action des femmes en élargissant leurs opportunités économiques ; en améliorant leur accès à l’éducation, aux connaissances et aux compétences ; en renforçant leur bien-être, leur voix et leur capacité d’action ; et en accroissant leur protection contre les VBG
Digital Technology, Gender, and Structural Transformation: Evidence from the Mashreq
No full textTechnological change has historically widened or preserved gender gaps in labor market outcomes in favor of men. The World Bank’s Digital Transformation and Its Role in Expanding Women’s Economic Opportunities in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon provided a comprehensive diagnostic of the digital landscape facing women in the Mashreq. The study documented large gender gaps in access, skills, and use; identified infrastructure, regulatory, and social constraints; and outlined policy priorities to make digitalization more inclusive. This paper builds directly on that foundation by developing a formal framework that treats digital technology as potentially gender-biased technical change, and by empirically testing whether digital adoption is differentially associated with women’s labor market outcomes. Using latent indexes of digital skills and digital use constructed from the flagship survey data, the paper shows that digital technology is more strongly associated with women’s labor force participation, sector-specific earnings, and key mediating factors—such as productive internet use, online safety behavior, and the easing of care-related constraints—than with corresponding outcomes for men. By linking these patterns to a dual-economy perspective on structural transformation, the paper reframes digitalization not merely as a tool for inclusion, but as a mechanism that may shift both labor demand and labor supply in ways that favor women in low-participation settings such as the Mashreq
Innovation Rising: Lifting Central and Eastern Europe’s Jobs and Growth Potential
No full textThis 11th edition of the EU Regular Economic Report looks at how innovation can drive growth in CEE countries. The Draghi and Letta reports set a compass for the EU overall, but the bloc is far from homogenous. This report focuses on the growth models and innovation ecosystems of four CEE economies—Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and Romania (the 4CEEs)—all with active World Bank Group programs. Over the past two decades, these four countries have experienced one of Europe’s most notable episodes of economic convergence, closing a substantial share of their income gap with EU15 member states. Since joining the EU, some of them have more than doubled their per capita income, driven by deep integration into the Single
Market and steady productivity gains. This progress partly reflects sustained reforms, effective use of EU funds, strong foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and improvements in human capital and infrastructure. However, the region now faces a set of structural constraints—including an erosion of its labor cost-competitiveness, concentration in lower-value segments of global value chains, limited technology spillovers, emerging skills shortages, and demographic pressures—that increasingly threaten the sustainability of future productivity growth
Support For Prioritization Through Health Benefit Packages: Trends and Lessons Learned from Active Projects
Get PDFThis Knowledge Brief explores key trends, challenges, and opportunities in World Bank analytics and operations that support prioritization processes in the health sector. It is largely aimed at supporting World Bank project design, highlighting operational experiences and lessons to support better country-owned, evidence-informed prioritization in the health sector. The brief focuses exclusively on support to explicit HBPs, that is, a defined and affordable set of services that is clear on entitlements, facilitates implementation, and promotes equity. Generally, countries are encouraged to pursue explicit HBPs based on clear decision-making criteria that are evidence informed and to use fair (that is, equal, impartial) decision-making processes that are consistent over time (World Bank 2023)
Understanding and Unlocking State-Level Growth Potential in Malaysia
Get PDFMalaysia is approaching the status of a high-income economy in the next few years. There is a regional dimension to this inequality, with most people below the threshold concentrated in lagging states. This report finds that regional inequalities in Malaysia are more pronounced than in other countries. Not only is regional inequality pronounced in Malaysia, but it has also widened over the years, resulting in income divergence between states. Addressing regional divergence is crucial because it can be a sign of inefficient resource utilization within the country, resulting in suboptimal growth and developmental outcomes. This report systematically analyzes the growth dynamics across Malaysian states using a variety of techniques and new spatial data to quantify and establish regional income divergence. It also seeks to understand whether there are intrinsic factors within the poorer states that prevent them from catching up. Another finding of this report is that the actual growth of lagging states falls significantly short of their own potential growth compared to leading states. Another finding highlights the importance of understanding with in-state heterogeneity and the need to avoid reliance on state-level averages. This report aims to make a landmark contribution to Malaysia’s understanding of state-level growth. The report begins with a context section that outlines the context of regional inequality in Malaysia. It then provides an overview and explanation of the various methodologies employed in the analysis. The findings are presented in the form of 10 key messages, each highlighting significant insights. Key Messages 1 to 5 deal with divergence and growth potential, 6 to 8 with intra-state and spatial disparities, and 9 and 10 with federal-state relationship. Subsequently, the report offers policy recommendations designed to address the identified issues. Additionally, several box articles are included to delve deeper into specific areas, including offering practical examples and comparative analyses from other countries
Productivity Gap between Women- and Men-Run Private Hotels in Georgia: A Data Envelopment Analysis–Based Meta Frontier Analysis
Get PDFThis paper makes an initial attempt to account for differences in the technologies used by women- and men-run businesses, that is, technological “heterogeneity,” for better understanding productivity differences between the two groups. The paper applies meta frontier analysis to the efficiency of private hotels in Georgia estimated using the data envelopment analysis methodology. The exercise allows distinguishing between productivity differences conditional on the available technology to each group (technical efficiency) and due to differences in the available technology (technology gap). The findings show that gender-based differences in technical efficiency and the technology gap are very different in their direction, size, and distribution across low versus high levels of efficiency. For example, women-run hotels outperform men-run hotels in technical efficiency by 21 percentage points. However, this superior performance is almost fully countered by the inferior technology used by women due to the prevailing socio-cultural and economic environment. The findings also show that the impact of the technology gap on widening the productivity gap is much stronger at low levels of efficiency than at higher levels (the “sticky floors” effect). No such evidence is found for technical efficiency or overall efficiency. Thus, the existing literature, which assumes technological “homogeneity,” provides at best an incomplete picture of the true nature of gender-based productivity gaps and at worst, a misleading one. The main result survives endogeneity checks based on propensity score matching and is robust to several measures of productivity and outlier checks. Policy implications of the findings are discussed
“I Want to Break Free”: How Laws and Social Norms Open Doors for Women
Get PDFThis paper develops a conceptual framework to analyze how gendered social norms mediate the effects of legal frameworks on women’s economic empowerment. Using the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law domains, Safety, Mobility, Work, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension, as an organizing structure, the study conducts a targeted, systematic review of 130 studies focused on nearly 30 single-country cases and diverse regional or multi-country contexts. Each study is coded by domain, research method, and type of norm-law interaction, enabling the identification of patterns of evidence and gaps. Only 56 percent of the reviewed studies establish causal relationships, with most relying on cross-sectional data and concentrated on high-income countries. Qualitative research provides rich contextual insights but remains fragmented. The review highlights a scarcity of longitudinal data, as existing sources differ in the types of information they provide, vary in country coverage, and are often discontinuous over time, resulting in limited evidence on the links or causal relationships between legal reforms and gendered social norms. Although not exhaustive, the paper offers both a conceptual and data-based map of the literature
The Hidden Costs of Violence: How Crime Shapes Women’s Labor Market Outcomes in Latin America
Get PDFThis study explores the gendered impacts of violent crime on economic opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. While both men and women experience violent crime, their exposure to violent crime and the consequences they suffer differ. Women are disproportionately affected by intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, and mobility restrictions, all of which limit their labor market participation and economic independence. Through a review of the literature, the study identifies six primary mechanisms through which violent crime affects women’s economic outcomes: sectoral segregation, fear of victimization, mobility constraints, intra-household bargaining power shifts, increased intimate partner violence, and disruptions to human capital accumulation. By analyzing these gendered dimensions, the study highlights how violent crime may contribute to inequality and restrict women’s access to economic opportunities. Policy responses must go beyond general crime reduction strategies and incorporate gender-sensitive interventions, including stronger legal protections, labor market reforms, and investments in childcare and financial inclusion. Addressing violent crime from a gendered perspective is essential for fostering economic resilience and reducing inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean
African Trade and Investment for Global Resilience: The Mattei Lecture at the World Bank’s 2025 Africa Growth and Opportunity—Research in Action (AGORA) Conference
Get PDFThis paper, based on the Mattei Lecture that the author delivered at the 2025 Africa Growth and Opportunity–Research in Action Conference, argues that Africa can anchor a new model of growth—and bolster global resilience—by shifting from commodity dependence to value-added production and deeper integration into trade and investment networks. Against a backdrop of strained multilateralism and falling foreign direct investment to developing economies, global trade remains more robust than presumed, with goods, services, and South-South flows expanding. Africa’s goods exports are projected to grow rapidly, and digitally delivered services have surged from a low base, underscoring untapped potential. Yet persistent impediments—among the world’s highest trade costs, slow regional integration, and limited value addition—have left Africa underrepresented in global trade. The paper advances a two-track agenda: (i) reforming the global trading system, including World Trade Organization modernization and investment facilitation, to restore predictability and openness; and (ii) accelerating African reforms to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area, reduce intra-African trade frictions, and attract efficiency-seeking foreign direct investment into manufacturing, services, and “industries without smokestacks.” Leveraging Africa’s megatrends—demographic dynamism, rising middle classes, and mineral and arable endowments—and “green comparative advantage,” the paper highlights opportunities to locate energy-intensive activities where renewable resources are abundant, closing gaps in clean energy investment. Case studies—from industrial parks and automotive exports to fintech and critical mineral value chains—demonstrate feasibility but emphasize the need for scale. A pragmatic, delivery-focused partnership—particularly with Europe, via a modernized “Mattei formula”—is proposed to de-risk investment and prioritize timely, transformative infrastructure, yielding shared gains in growth, jobs, and supply chain diversification