Mr.Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

Akira Sasahara

Alexis Meyer-Cirkel

Hans Weisfeld

This paper estimates agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) in 162 countries between 1991 and 2015 and aims to understand sources of cross-country variations in agricultural TFP levels and its growth rates. Two factors affecting agricultural TFP are analyzed in detail – imported intermediate inputs and climate. We first show that these two factors are independently important in explaining agricultural TFP – imported inputs raise agricultural TFP; and higher temperatures and rainfall shortages impede TFP growth, particularly in low-income countries (LICs). We also provide a new evidence that, within LICs, those with a higher import component of intermediate inputs seem to be more shielded from the negative impacts of weather shocks.

Importing Inputs for Climate Change Mitigation: The Case of Agricultural Productivity

Ms.Era Dabla-Norris

Mr.Alun H. Thomas

Ms.Yingyuan Chen

This paper documents stylized facts on the process of structural transformation around the world and empirically analyzes its determinants using data on real value added by sector of economic activity (agriculture, manufacturing and services) for a panel of 168 countries over the period 1970-2010. The analysis points to large differences in sector shares both across and within regions as well as for countries at similar levels of economic development. Using both linear and quantile regression methods, it finds that a large proportion of the cross-country variation in sector shares can be accounted for by country characteristics, such as real GDP per capita, demographic structure, and population size. It also finds that policy and insitutional variables, such as product market reforms, openness to trade, human and physical capital, and finance improve the baseline model’s ability to account for the variation in sectoral shares across countries.

Benchmarking Structural Transformation Across the World

Ms.Monique Newiak

Ms.Stefania Fabrizio

Adrian Peralta-Alva

Luis-Felipe Zanna

Ms.Inci Otker

Ms.Genevieve Verdier

Ms.Lisa Kolovich

Ms.Catherine A. Pattillo

Baoping Shang

Andrea Presbitero

Ms.Marie-Therese Camilleri

Kazuaki Washimi

Martin Cihak

Ms.Carol L. Baker

The formal launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sets the global development agenda through 2030, placing significant emphasis on promoting social and environmental sustainability alongside economic growth and poverty reduction. Meeting the SDGs will require actions across a wide range of areas by both national governments and the international community. This paper examines the types of policies that developing countries will need to implement to foster economic transformation, to promote economic and social inclusion, and to meet key environmental objectives. Reducing inequality, achieving gender equity, and pricing energy and water resources appropriately receive particular attention.

Policies in Support of Sustainable Development Goals

From Ambition to Execution

Mr.Sebastian Weber

Cheikh A. Gueye

Mr.Javier Arze del Granado

Mr.Mumtaz Hussain

Mr.B. Jang

Mr.Juan S Corrales

During the past three years the frontier markets of sub-Saharan Africa have received growing amounts of portfolio capital flows, with heightened interest from foreign investors. Compared with foreign direct investment, portfolio capital flows tend to be more volatile, and thus pose challenges for sub-Saharan African frontier markets. This study examines the evolution of capital flows since 2010 and discusses the policies these countries have designed to reduce risks from the inherent volatility of these flows.

Managing Volatile Capital Flows: Experiences and Lessons for Sub-Saharan African Frontier Markets

Davide Furceri

Bin Grace Li

Mrs.Sandra V Lizarazo Ruiz

Mr.Futoshi Narita

Ms.Marina Mendes Tavares

Despite sustained economic growth and rapid poverty reductions, income inequality remains stubbornly high in many low-income developing countries. This pattern is a concern as high levels of inequality can impair the sustainability of growth and macroeconomic stability, thereby also limiting countries’ ability to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. This underscores the importance of understanding how policies aimed at boosting economic growth affect income inequality. Using empirical and modeling techniques, the note confirms that macro-structural policies aimed at raising growth payoffs in low-income developing countries can have important distributional consequences, with the impact dependent on both the design of reforms and on country-specific economic characteristics. While there is no one-size-fits-all recipe, the note explores how governments can address adverse distributional consequences of reforms by designing reform packages to make pro-growth policies also more inclusive.

Macro-Structural Policies and Income Inequality in Low-Income Developing Countries

Mr.Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

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