The World Bank Research Observer

1986 - 2023

Current editor(s): Peter Lanjouw

From World Bank Group
Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
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Volume 38, issue 2, 2023

Improving the Well-Being of Adolescent Girls in Developing Countries pp. 179-212

Katy Bergstrom and Berk Özler

Quasi-Experimental Evidence on Carbon Pricing pp. 213-248

Kasper Vrolijk and Misato Sato

Impacts of Temporary Migration on Development in Origin Countries pp. 249-294

Laurent Bossavie and Çağlar Özden

The Promise and Limitations of Information Technology for Tax Mobilization pp. 295-324

Oyebola Okunogbe and Fabrizio Santoro

What Makes Public Sector Data Valuable for Development? pp. 325-346

Dean Jolliffe, Daniel Gerszon Mahler, Malarvizhi Veerappan, Talip Kilic and Philip Wollburg

Volume 37, issue 2, 2022

Factors Affecting Technological Diffusion Through Social Networks: A Review of the Empirical Evidence (Just a Few Seeds More: Value of Network Information for Diffusion.” SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3062830) pp. 137-170

Hoi Wai Jackie Cheng

EdTech in Developing Countries: A Review of the Evidence (From Proof of Concept to Scalable Policies: Challenges and Solutions, with an Application) pp. 171-203

Daniel Rodriguez-Segura

Do Government Incentives to Promote R&D Increase Private R&D Investment? (Productivity Differences) pp. 204-228

Jieun Choi

Social Protection for Child Development in Crisis: A Review of Evidence and Knowledge Gaps (School Feeding Reduces Anemia Prevalence in Adolescent Girls and Other Vulnerable Household Members in a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in Uganda) pp. 229-263

Elisabetta Aurino and Sara Giunti

Volume 37, issue 1, 2022

Measure for Measure: Comparing Survey Based Estimates of Income and Consumption for Rural Households (Obtaining Useful Data on Household Incomes from Surveys) pp. 1-38

Gero Carletto, Marco Tiberti and Alberto Zezza

Mentoring Migrants for Labor Market Integration: Policy Insights from a Survey of Mentoring Theory and Practice (A Marginal Cost Analysis of a Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Youth Mentoring Program: New Evidence Using Statistical Analysis) pp. 39-72

Lisa Bagnoli and Antonio Estache

Teacher Beliefs: Why They Matter and What They Are (Instructional Time Loss in Developing Countries: Concepts, Measurement, and Implications) pp. 73-106

Shwetlena Sabarwal, Malek Abu-Jawdeh and Radhika Kapoor

Teacher Professional Development around the World: The Gap between Evidence and Practice (Training to Teach Science: Experimental Evidence from Argentina) pp. 107-136

Anna Popova, David Evans, Mary E Breeding and Violeta Arancibia

Volume 36, issue 2, 2021

Public Procurement, Regional Integration, and the Belt and Road Initiative (How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port) pp. 131-163

Tania Ghossein, Bernard Hoekman and Anirudh Shingal

What Drives Successful Economic Diversification in Resource-Rich Countries? (Blocking the Pathway out of the Resource Curse: What Hinders Diversification in Resource-rich Developing Countries?) pp. 164-196

Addisu A Lashitew, Michael L Ross and Eric Werker

Financial Inclusion and Stability: Review of Theoretical and Empirical Links (Risk in Islamic Banking) pp. 197-233

Martin Čihák, Davide Salvatore Mare and Martin Melecký

Can Jobs Programs Build Peace? (Intergroup Conflict and Intra-Group Punishment in an Experimental Contest Game) pp. 234-259

Tilman Brück, Neil T N Ferguson, Valeria Izzi and Wolfgang Stojetz

Public Service Reform in Post-Conflict Societies (Labor Contracts as Partial Gift Exchange) pp. 260-287

Jurgen Rene Blum and Daniel Rogger

Volume 36, issue 1, 2021

Simulating the Potential Impacts of COVID-19 School Closures on Schooling and Learning Outcomes: A Set of Global Estimates (Tackling Inequity in Education during and after COVID-19) pp. 1-40

João Pedro, Amer Hasan, Diana Goldemberg, Koen Geven and Syedah Aroob Iqbal

Policies to Support Businesses through the COVID-19 Shock: A Firm Level Perspective (Economic Uncertainty before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic) pp. 41-66

Xavier Cirera, Marcio Cruz, Elwyn Davies, Arti Grover, Leonardo Iacovone, José López-Córdova, Denis Medvedev, Franklin Maduko, Gaurav Nayyar, Santiago Reyes Ortega and Jesica Torres

Who on Earth Can Work from Home? (Secular Stagnation? The Effect of Aging on Economic Growth in the Age of Automation) pp. 67-100

Daniel Garrote Sanchez, Nicolas Gomez-Parra, Caglar Ozden, Bob Rijkers, Mariana Viollaz and Hernan Winkler

Replication Redux: The Reproducibility Crisis and the Case of Deworming (Economics of Mass Deworming Programs) pp. 101-130

Owen Ozier

Volume 35, issue 1, 2020

Putting Global Governance in Its Place pp. 1-18

Dani Rodrik

Supporting Policy Reform from the Outside pp. 19-43

Lodewijk Smets

Illicit Financial Flows: Concepts, Measurement, and Evidence pp. 44-86

Matthew Collin

Preventing More “Missing Girls”: A Review of Policies to Tackle Son Preference pp. 87-121

Sneha Kumar and Nistha Sinha

Volume 34, issue 2, 2019

What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? pp. 161-197

Stephan Klasen

Jobs and Land Use within Cities: A Survey of Theory, Evidence, and Policy pp. 198-238

Arti Grover Goswami and Somik V Lall

Beyond Poverty Escapes—Social Mobility in Developing Countries: A Review Article pp. 239-273

Vegard Iversen, Anirudh Krishna and Kunal Sen

The Turnaround of the Swedish Economy: Lessons from Large Business Sector Reforms pp. 274-308

Fredrik Heyman, Pehr-Johan Norbäck and Lars Persson

Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions: A Research Review pp. 309-346

Mayra Buvinić and Megan O'Donnell

Volume 34, issue 1, 2019

The World Bank Human Capital Index: A Guide pp. 1-33

Aart Kraay

Governance and Women's Economic and Political Participation: Power Inequalities, Formal Constraints and Norms pp. 34-64

Annamaria Milazzo and Markus Goldstein

Globalization and Structural Change around the World, 1985–2015 pp. 65-94

Adrian Wood

Changing Behavioral Patterns Related to Maternity and Childbirth in Rural and Poor Populations: A Critical Review pp. 95-118

Ariadna Garcia-Prado

Long-Term Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfers: Review of the Evidence pp. 119-159

Teresa Molina Millán, Tania Barham, Karen Macours, John Maluccio and Marco Stampini

Volume 33, issue 2, 2018

Mobile Money and the Economy: A Review of the Evidence pp. 135-188

Janine Aron

Industrial Policy, Information, and Government Capacity pp. 189-217

William Maloney and Gaurav Nayyar

A Mixed-Method Review of Cash Transfers and Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries pp. 218-258

Ana Maria Buller, Amber Peterman, Meghna Ranganathan, Alexandra Bleile, Melissa Hidrobo and Lori Heise

Myth-Busting? Confronting Six Common Perceptions about Unconditional Cash Transfers as a Poverty Reduction Strategy in Africa pp. 259-298

Sudhanshu Handa, Silvio Daidone, Amber Peterman, Benjamin Davis, Audrey Pereira, Tia Palermo and Jennifer Yablonski

Volume 33, issue 1, 2018

The Whys of Social Exclusion: Insights from Behavioral Economics pp. 1-33

Karla Hoff and James Walsh

Generalization in the Tropics – Development Policy, Randomized Controlled Trials, and External Validity pp. 34-64

Jörg Peters, Jörg Langbein and Gareth Roberts

Privatization in Developing Countries: What Are the Lessons of Recent Experience? pp. 65-102

Saul Estrin and Adeline Pelletier

Public-Private Partnerships in Developing Countries: The Emerging Evidence-based Critique pp. 103-134

James Leigland

Volume 32, issue 2, 2017

How Effective Are Active Labor Market Policies in Developing Countries? A Critical Review of Recent Evidence pp. 127-154

David McKenzie

Debunking the Stereotype of the Lazy Welfare Recipient: Evidence from Cash Transfer Programs pp. 155-184

Abhijit Banerjee, Rema Hanna, Gabriel E. Kreindler and Benjamin Olken

The Impacts of Fiscal Openness pp. 185-210

Paolo de Renzio and Joachim Wehner

The Opportunities and Challenges of Digitizing Government-to-Person Payments pp. 211-226

Leora Klapper and Dorothe Singer

Volume 32, issue 1, 2017

“Well-fare” Economics of Groundwater in South Asia pp. 1-20

Hanan Jacoby

Minimum Wages in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Primer pp. 21-74

Haroon Bhorat, Ravi Kanbur and Benjamin Stanwix

Improving Learning Outcomes in South Asia: Findings from a Decade of Impact Evaluations pp. 75-106

Salman Asim, Robert S. Chase, Amit Dar and Achim Schmillen

Big Numbers about Small Children: Estimating the Economic Benefits of Addressing Undernutrition pp. 107-125

Harold Alderman, Jere Behrman and Chloe Puett