List of World Bank Policy Research Working Papers—December 2025

The latest insights from the world’s largest working-paper series focused on development economics and developing countries.

December 2025

PEOPLE

WPS11265. Temptation, Self-Control, and the Design of Optimal Unemployment Insurance. Zoe Leiyu Xie and Pei Cheng Yu WPS11270. Medium-Term Impacts of Integrated Social Safety Nets: Cash Transfers, Information Meetings, and Home Visits for Child Development. Richard Akresh, Damien de Walque, Harounan Kazianga, and Abigail Stocker | Verified Reproducible WPS11271. Psychological Barriers to Participation in the Labor Market: Evidence from Rural Ghana. Leandro Carvalho, Damien de Walque, Crick Lund, Heather Schofield, Vincent Somville , and Jingyao Wei  | Verified Reproducible

PROSPERITY

WPS11264. Investment Policy Reforms and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: A Case Study of Ethiopia. Sammy Fwaga, Deepa Chakrapani, and Girum Abebe | Verified Reproducible WPS11267. Rigging the Scores: Corruption through Scoring Rule Manipulation in Public Procurement Auctions. Qianmiao Chen | Verified Reproducible WPS11268. How Laws Promote Economic Opportunities: A Review. Fabiola Saavedra-Caballero, Ana Maria Tribin, and Caroline Perrin | Verified Reproducible WPS11272. Revisiting Public Capital Need: An Analysis of Growth-Maximizing Investment with Efficiency and Congestion Effects. Santiago Herrera, Christophe Hurlin, and Hironobu Isaka | Verified Reproducible WPS11273. Mapping the Gender Dimension in Taxation and Budgeting: A Cross-Country Study of Laws, Policies and Practices. Hannelore Maria L. Niesten, Luiza Ferraz Di Ricco, and Alena Sakhonchik WPS11274. External Finance in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies: A Tale of Differences in Vulnerabilities. Dohan Kim and Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti | Verified Reproducible WPS11275. Seeds of Change: The Effects of the Introduction of Bt Cotton in India. Yi Jie Gwee | Verified Reproducible WPS11276. The Contribution of Human Capital to Current and Future Growth: An Extension of the World Bank’s Long-Term Growth Model (LTGM-HC). Arthur Mendes and Steven Pennings | Verified Reproducible WPS11277. Growth and Opportunity for Africa—The World Bank Africa Growth and Opportunity: Research in Action Conference. Florizelle Liser and Laird Treiber

PLANET

WPS11266. Pollution Intensity of Consumption: Exploring the Environmental Engel Curve Based on Micro-Data from 109 Countries. Ebad Ebadi and Jun Rentschleri | Verified Reproducible WPS11269. Country-Level Pathways to 30x30 and Their Implications for Global Biodiversity Protection. Susmita Dasgupta, Brian Blankespoor, and David Wheeler| Verified Reproducible

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