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Blog Post
June 13, 2024
The WBG thus deserves recognition for the progress it has made towards rewarding men and women equally and for not penalizing motherhood, at least in terms of compensation as analyzed in Das and Joubert. This is in sharp contrast to a growing literature that finds that much of the gender wage-gap no...
Blog Post
May 31, 2024
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is up for renewal this year. AGOA is a cornerstone of US-Africa economic relations, and has enjoyed bipartisan support for nearly a quarter century. But it's showing its age. A lot has changed since Bill Clinton signed the bill back in 2000—not least, th...
Blog Post
May 14, 2024
In an organization like the World Bank that has long favored men in their hiring process, most senior managers will be men because organizations prefer to promote from `within’ at the senior level. Suppose that, recognizing the need to diversify, the Bank starts hiring more women at entry-level posi...
Blog Post
May 14, 2024
Richer aging countries need educated young workers to provide the services and entrepreneurial talent to sustain their quality of life. A growing population of young, increasingly educated people in poorer countries, and especially in Africa, need good jobs and greater opportunities. More trade in s...
Blog Post
April 17, 2024
In the wake of COVID and amidst global crises, care has increasingly become recognized as a global issue critical for sustainable development and gender equality. Yet, there are still massive gaps in care policies, services, and financing, and there is much more work that needs to happen to ensure u...
WORKING PAPERS
April 04, 2024
Star firms, defined as the top 10 percentile of firms in the world in terms of return on invested capital, are more likely to occur in high-income countries and manufacturing industry, but there is an increasing share of star firms from middle-income countries and the services sector. Star firms hav...
Blog Post
April 04, 2024
A large academic and policy debate has focused on the increase in market concentration over the past few decades which has given rise to “star firms,” a small set of firms that generate abnormal returns for their investors. A common concern is that these firms exert excess market power and behave as...
WORKING PAPERS
April 02, 2024
Starting in 2001, duty-free access to U.S. markets under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) led to a brief boom in African manufacturing exports, particularly apparel, which then fizzled in the face of unfettered Chinese competition after 2005. The looming expiration of AGOA—and eroding C...
Blog Post
April 02, 2024
“Trade not aid” is a slogan that appeals to certain instincts on both the left and right. The idea being that rich countries can do more for economic development in poor countries by granting them market access than by sending charity. But will market access really stimulate economic growth in laggi...