This paper provides an overview of the
history of development research at the World Bank and points
to new future directions in both what we research and how we
research. Six main messages emerge. First, research and data
have long been essential elements of the Bank's country

An increase in sea surface temperature
is evident at all latitudes and in all oceans. The current
understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in
intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges.
The vulnerability of coastlines to intensified storm surges

World Development Indicators (WDI) 2009
arrives at a moment of great uncertainty for the global
economy. The crisis that began more than a year ago in the
U.S. housing market spread to the global financial system
and is now taking its toll on real output and incomes. As a

Namibia is a large country in Southern
Africa that borders the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola
to the north and South Africa to the south. With a surface
area of 824,290 square kilometers, it is similar in size to
Mozambique and about half the size of the U.S. state of

The commission on growth and development
was established in April 2006. It felt that the benefits of
growth were not fully appreciated, but also recognized that
the causes of growth were not fully understood. Growth is
often overlooked and underrated as an instrument for

Urban Development Investment
Corporations (UDICs) have over the years become the central
pillar in the local government drive to build infrastructure
in China, where local governments are not allowed to engage
in direct market borrowing. UDICs were established during

This report " Country Social
Analysis (CSA) " focused on ethnicity and development
in Vietnam is a provocative analysis of marginality in
contemporary Southeast Asia. It seeks to understand the
macro social and political processes, and provides an

Municipalities in Mozambique were
established by law in 1997 and elected in 1998 for the first
time, only a few years after the peace agreement. Most
inherited archaic and dysfunctional remnants of colonial and
central government systems and infrastructure, and as such

This paper reviews the correlations and
potential links between health and economic growth and
summarizes the evidence on the role of government in
improving health status. At the macroeconomic level, the
evidence of an impact of health on growth remains ambiguous

In many countries, place specific
investments in infrastructure are viewed as integral
components of territorial development policies. But are
these policies fighting market forces of concentration? Or
are they adding net value to the national economy by tapping

Son preference is known to be found in
certain types of cultures, that is patrilineal cultures. But
what explains the fact that China, South Korea, and
Northwest India manifest such extreme child sex ratios
compared with other patrilineal societies? This paper argues

The purpose of this guidance note is to
bridge precisely identify how to implement World Bank
resettlement policies in the context of infrastructure
projects affecting South Asian largest cities, with a focus
on the impacts on poor areas and slums. The guidance note is