January 8, 2021
A New Year’s Wish: Invest in Data
Ranil Dissanayake calls for developing country governments, donors, and researchers to commit to: invest in, and use, national data collection systems.
Views from the Center
October 7, 2019
The World’s Next Factory Won’t Be in South Asia
The region is losing out to Africa and elsewhere in the race to attract manufacturing investment.
February 19, 2019
A New Standard for Country-by-Country Reporting on Tax?
The vexed question of whether country-by-country (CBC) reports on multinational companies’ tax affairs should be put into the public domain has been a sticking point in debates on responsible tax practice for years.
November 9, 2018
What Have We Learned from Expenditure Conditionality in IMF Programs?
As part of borrowing from the IMF, the IMF and the country that is borrowing agree on the implementation of certain policies (conditions) during the program period. The implementation of some conditions is not essential for the continuation of the program, including some pertaining to budgetary expenditures. Their implementation often vary from country to country, and the empirical analysis shows that certain budgetary conditions achieve their intended objectives over the long term, while others do not. In this blog, I explain which budget conditions work, and which don’t work.
January 18, 2018
International Investment Agreements: Not Fit for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
In a world with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international investment policy system stands as an obsolete regime in urgent need of revision and reform. This is the main conclusion of the analysis that the think tank CIECODE conducted for CGD’s 2017 Commitment to Development Index (CDI). The analysis measures the amount of “sustainable development content” included in International Investment Agreements (IIAs) signed between developing and developed countries. Here, we look at best practices, main issues and which countries could do better.
August 2, 2017
Another Side to the Story: Syrian Refugees Have Invested over $300 Million in the Turkish Economy
We are inundated by bad news about Syria and the heartbreaking stories of refugees fleeing this war-torn country. But there is another side to the story. A groundbreaking study by the NGO Building Markets indicates that there are over 10,000 Syrian-owned businesses in Turkey. Since 2011, Syrians have invested nearly $334 million into 6,033 new companies.
June 7, 2016
When China Looks at MDBs, It Sees Infrastructure
When the Chinese government launched a new multilateral development bank (MDB) with “infrastructure” in the name—the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)—it hardly seemed far-fetched to assume a strong Chinese preference for infrastructure-related MDB financing. Everything we know about China’s bilateral development financing suggests the same. Yet, a closer look at the AIIB’s charter suggests openness to a broader range of sectors and activities, pointing to potential for investments in “other productive sectors.”
December 18, 2013
Dealing with Big Tobacco Bullies Part 2: The Trade and Investment Angle
Colleagues Amanda Glassman and Bill Savedoff posted an excellent piece on the role of the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development, and other nontrade agencies in helping developing countries fend off the “Big Tobacco Bullies.” They argue that agencies like the World Bank could use their money, technical assistance, and policy dialogue to provide big visible support for developing countries to implement their anti-tobacco policies.
May 19, 2011
Obama Urges Trade, Investment to Support Arab Spring; U.S. Scores Not so Hot
One passage in President Obama's Middle East speech today caught my attention:
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