This paper is the first to quantify the relationship between the incidence of the digital economy and long-term frictional unemployment across countries.
... See More + The resulting evidence indicates that there is a robust, negative partial correlation between national unemployment rates and the incidence of the digital economy, proxied by the share of the adult population that reports using the internet to pay bills. Further, the absolute values of ordinary least squares estimates of the partial correlation suggest that it might be higher for developing economies than high-income economies. Controlling for the incidence of informal employment appears to be key for removing a positive omitted- variable bias in the estimate of the partial correlation between unemployment and the digital economy, which is due to the existence of a negative bivariate correlation between unemployment and informality on the one hand, and a negative bivariate correlation between informality and the incidence of digital payment on the other hand. The results from instrumental variable estimations suggest that the partial correlation between unemployment and digital payments is negative, with the absolute value of the estimates being larger than the absolute value of the ordinary least squares estimates.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS9170 MAR 02, 2020
Financial inclusion is a key enabler to reducing poverty and increasing shared prosperity. In Mozambique, despite considerable efforts to promote financial inclusion, less than half the population in 2016 had access to a bank account, mobile money account.
... See More + In response, the government of Mozambique (GOM) launched an ambitious national financial inclusion strategy (NFIS) in July 2016. The NFIS implementation period is from 2016 to 2022, with an initial phase to 2018. By 2018, the percent of population with access to a bank account had declined slightly but was compensated by growth in mobile money accounts. A mid-term review (MTR) of the NFIS was undertaken to assess progress at the end of the first phase, recommend requisite course corrections, and establish priorities for the second phase. This report includes recommendations for priority actions for second phase of the strategy’s implementation and monitoring of progress. It is based on an examination of relevant written documentation and discussions with stakeholders during two visits to Mozambique between 2018 and 2019.
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The Multi-Partner Fund (MPF) for Somalia has been the primary source of financing for the World Bank Group's early reengagement in Somalia after more than two decades of disengagement.
... See More + The MPF Project Briefs is an overview of MPF projects.
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This Program Document proposes a Reengagement and Reform Development Policy Financing (DPF) for the Federal Republic of Somalia in the amount of US dollar 420 million from International Development Association (IDA) grant resources.
... See More + The objectives of the proposed DPF are to facilitate full normalization of relations with the World Bank Group (WBG) and support Somalia’s economic recovery through policy reforms that strengthen fiscal management and promote inclusive private sector-led growth. Up to SDR 271.2 (up to US dollar 375 million equivalent) of the proposed grant will be disbursed to the bridge-loan creditor assisting with arrears clearance (‘Portion A of the Financing’); and SDR 32.6 million (US dollar 45 million equivalent) will be disbursed to the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) as budget support to meet cash flow needs after Somalia has cleared its arrears to IDA (‘Portion B of the Financing’). The DPF complements a rapidly expanding engagement to build human capital and strengthen resilience to climate change and other shocks. In FY2020, the World Bank is currently delivering technical assistance to develop livestock insurance, a major Urbanization Review, and upstream analysis on health and education that are expected to inform new financing. The DPF also addresses the above challenges by enabling full reengagement with the WBG. The DPF will facilitate Somalia’s clearance of arrears to IDA, which is a requirement to qualify for international debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Full reengagement with the international community through the HIPC process is expected to enable Somalia to access the financial and technical support the country needs for sustained poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth. Normalization of Somalia’s relationship with IDA would give the government’s access to financing from IDA’s Crisis Response Window, Regional Window, and Window for Host Communities and Refugees. Normalization is also a prerequisite for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to make investments in Somalia’s private sector.
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This paper studies the relationship between the level of economic development and the incidence of three forms of payments across countries, namely the incidence of bank accounts, digital payments, and mobile money accounts among the adult populations across countries.
... See More + It presents simple statistical tests of leapfrogging, the phenomenon by which poor countries surpass rich countries in the provision of payments mechanisms. It contributes to a broader and long-standing literature on stages of development, as well as to the literature on financial development and access to finance. The findings suggest that there is evidence of "absolute" and "relative" leapfrogging, with both terms defined in the paper. In addition, the Middle East and North Africa region, on average, suffers from a notable underperformance gap across all observed stages of payment-systems development. This finding suggests that the region suffers from structural impediments to the development of its financial and banking systems that go well beyond the adoption of digital-technology tools.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS9104 JAN 07, 2020
