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Finance & Private Sector Development


A well-functioning financial system and a vigorous private sector are important drivers of growth and poverty reduction. Finance is central to private sector development and vice versa, and large parts of both sub-disciplines revolve around the behavior and performance of firms.

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  • Global Findex 2025 social media card

    Global Findex 2025

    Global Database, July 2025
    Since its launch in 2011, the Global Findex has provided critical insights into financial inclusion, digital payments, savings, and borrowing behaviors across various economies. The database highlights key trends such as the rise of digital financial services and the gender gap in account ownership. The Global Findex 2025 introduces the Digital Connectivity Tracker, a new component that measures access to and use of mobile technology. Combined with financial inclusion data, it offers a holistic view of how mobile infrastructure is expanding access to financial services and improving economic resilience.
  • Literature Review, December 2024
    Digitalizing wage payments can increase account ownership among workers, help them save, and avoid unnecessary fees or commute costs from going to the bank¡ªall while helping firms reduce costs and operate more efficiently. But these benefits only materialize when the right infrastructure is in place. This paper reviews the evidence demonstrating how digital payments can expand financial inclusion.
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    Designing Better Green Finance: Insights for the Next Generation of Sustainable Investment

    Policy Research Talk, November 26, 2024
    Climate finance is essential for achieving the Paris Agreement's goals, but effectively scaling up investments requires understanding how financial markets interact with these regulations and addressing barriers like greenwashing and misaligned incentives. In this Policy Research Talk, Federica Zeni will highlight new research insights that can help global stakeholders design better regulatory and financial mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable investments.
  • Technical Note, September 2024
    This technical note examines the state of access to and use of financial services for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Lao PDR. Based on extensive interviews with key private and public stakeholders, data collection efforts, and desk reviews of existing reports, laws, regulations, and policies, it provides an overview of the current status of financial inclusion for MSMEs and the enabling environment for MSME finance.
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    Financial Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa¡ªData from the Global Findex

    Note Series, April 2024
    Sub-Saharan Africa has shown significant growth in financial inclusion over the past decade, driven by mobile money account adoption as well as by efforts by governments and financial institutions to promote bank account opening. In a series of notes, the Global Findex team explores the data on financial inclusion and usage in Sub-Saharan Africa, and how having an account affects wellbeing and resilience for African adults.
  • Postcard for the event on The Global Findex, Financial Inclusion & Resilience

    The Global Findex, Financial Inclusion & Resilience

    Policy Research Talk, November 15, 2022
    The COVID-19 pandemic increased digital adoption worldwide, as people sought alternative ways to address daily needs without face-to-face contact. Results from the latest Global Findex survey¡ªconducted in 2021 in 123 countries with more than 125,000 respondents during the COVID-19 pandemic¡ªoffer insights into how digitalization of payments contributed to increases in financial inclusion. In this Policy Research Talk, World Bank Lead Economist and Global Findex founder Leora Klapper will discuss the latest Global Findex findings, how technology has expanded access to financial services, the opportunities to close the remaining gaps, and the areas that countries need to focus on moving ahead.
  • Global Findex chapter 1 illustration of a couple holding cell phones and sticky notes on either side representing bar charts

    The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19

    Global Database, June 2022
    Financial inclusion is a cornerstone of development, and since 2011, the Global Findex Database has been the definitive source of data on global access to financial services from payments to savings and borrowing. The 2021 edition, based on nationally representative surveys of over 125,000 adults in 123 economies during the COVID-19 pandemic, contains updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services and digital payments, and offers insights into the behaviors that enable financial resilience.
  • Flagship Report, March 2022
    This report examines the central role of finance in the economic recovery from COVID-19. Based on an in-depth look at the consequences of the crisis most likely to affect low- and middle-income economies, it advocates a set of policies and measures to mitigate the interconnected economic risks stemming from the pandemic, risks that may become more acute as stimulus measures are withdrawn at both the domestic and global levels.

LATEST WORKING PAPERS


David McKenzie
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11176, July 2025


David McKenzie, Charlotte M¨¹ller, and Pablo Acosta
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11141, June 2025


Miriam Bruhn, Johan Andrey Ortega Hernandez, and Claudia Ruiz Ortega
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11140, June 2025


Miriam Bruhn, Federico Diaz, Kalan Nicol¨° Fraccaroli, and Claudia Ruiz Ortega
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11121, May 2025 |


Marina Mavungu Ngoma
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11118, May 2025 


Saniya Ansar, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11021, January 2025


LATEST JOURNAL ARTICLES


Leonardo Iacovone, David McKenzie, Rachael Meager
Econometrica, Forthcoming |


George Allayannis, Gregory W. Brown, and Leora F. Klapper
Journal of Economics and Business, vol. 134-135, March - June 2025 |


Francisco Campos, Michael Frese, Leonardo Iacovone, Hillary Johnson, David McKenzie, and Mona Mensmann
American Economic Review: Insights, 2025 (forthcoming) |


David McKenzie
New Zealand Economic Papers, vol. 59, 2025 |


Catia Batista, Daniel Han, Johannes Haushofer, Gaurav Khanna, David McKenzie, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Caroline Theoharides, and Dean Yang
Science, vol. 388, May 2025


Stefano Fiorin, Joseph Hall, and Martin Kanz
AEA Papers and Proceedings, May 2025 


BOOKS AND REPORTS

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This timely Handbook collates a range of evidence from top scholars in the field to help readers understand who microfinance reaches, how it helps, and why clients come back. It offers updated views on important concepts that enable a broader framework for understanding poverty and the corresponding financial needs of poor households.

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World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery
World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery examines the central role of finance in the economic recovery from the pandemic. 

Download Main Messages:   |  |  |  |  | | 

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The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19
The 2021 edition of the Global Findex Database contains updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services and digital payments, and offers insights into the behaviors that enable financial resilience.

The Global Findex Database 2021 |   |  Video |  Press Release |  Download Report |  Executive Summary

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World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives 
This report explores the tremendous potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of poor people, while also acknowledging its potential to open back doors that can harm individuals, businesses, and societies. 

Policy Research Talk | Video |   |  
Download Main Messages:  |  | |  |  |  | 

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Global Financial Development Report 2019 / 2020: Bank Regulation and Supervision a Decade after the Global Financial Crisis
Drawing on 10 years of data and analysis, the 5th edition of the report reflects on the causes of the crisis and the regulatory remedies adopted to prevent future financial troubles.

Report |  Video |   |   |  Previous Reports

 

Last Updated: Sep 04, 2025





MANAGER

Robert Cull

World Development Report 2021 Co-Director and Research Manager, Finance and Private Sector
Research Staff »