Interventions designed to support small and medium enterprises are popular among policy makers, given the role small and medium enterprises play in job creation around the world. Business support interventions in low- and middle-income countries are often based on the assumption that market...

This paper analyzes the impact of two distinct shocks stemming from the cross-border transmission of the 2007-2009 crisis on credit availability for small firms. The paper uses data from AccessBank Azerbaijan which was affected in its liquidity position during the second and third quarters of...

Unlike social programs targeting individuals, few enterprise support programs have been rigorously evaluated, and existing evaluations have mostly been done in high-income countries such as the United States and Europe. Mexico spends a large share of government resources on small and medium...

Business training programs in low-income settings have shown limited, if any, impacts on firm revenues and profits, particularly for female entrepreneurs. This paper uses a randomized design to compare the impacts of two types of business training programs targeting women with established small...

Many countries spend significant resources on investment promotion agencies in the hope of attracting inflows of foreign direct investment. Despite the importance of this question for public policy choices, little is known about the effectiveness of investment promotion efforts. This study uses...

This paper examines the economic impact of international remittances on countries and households in the developing world. To analyze the country-level impact of remittances, the paper estimates an econometric model based on a new data set of 115 developing countries. Results suggest that...

There are significant weaknesses in some of the traditional justifications for assuming that aid will foster development. This paper looks at what the cross-country aid effectiveness literature and World Bank Operations Evaluation Department reviews have suggested about effective aid, first in...

The authors estimate the impact of global merchandise trade distortions and services regulations on agricultural value added in various countries. Using the latest versions of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database and the GTAP-AGR model of the global economy, their results suggest...

Should the China-U.S. trade agreement prompt relief because it averts a damaging trade war or concern because selective preferential access for the United States to China's markets breaks multilateral rules against discrimination? The answer depends on how China implements the agreement....

Although emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) weathered the global recession a decade ago relatively well, they now appear less well placed to cope with the substantial downside risks facing the global economy. In many EMDEs, the room for monetary and fiscal policies to respond to...