South Asia has created nearly 800,000 jobs per month during the last decade. Robust economic growth in large parts of the region has created better jobs -- those that pay higher wages for wage workers and reduce poverty for the self-employed, the largest segment of the region s employed. Going forward, South Asia faces the enormous challenge of absorbing 1 to 1.2 million entrants to the labor force every month for the next two decades at rising levels of productivity. This calls for an agenda that cuts across sectors and includes improving the reliability of electricity supply for firms in...

Inequality in South Asia appears to be moderate when looking at standard indicators, such as the Gini index, that are based on consumption expenditures per capita. But other pieces of evidence reveal enormous gaps, from extravagant wealth at one end to appalling human development outcomes at the other. Which prompts the question: How bad is inequality in South Asia? And why would that matter? Addressing Inequality in South Asia takes a comprehensive look at the extent, nature, and drivers of inequality in this very dynamic region of the world. It discusses how some dimensions of inequality,...

The number of people in South Asia's cities rose by 130 million between 2000 and 2011--more than the entire population of Japan. This was linked to an improvement in productivity and a reduction in the incidence of extreme poverty. But the region's cities have struggled to cope with the pressure of population growth on land, housing, infrastructure, basic services, and the environment. As a result, urbanization in South Asia remains underleveraged in its ability to deliver widespread improvements in both prosperity and livability. Leveraging Urbanization in South Asia is about the state of...

South Asia is undergoing a rapid economic transformation and has the potential to become the next major middle-income region of the world. More than a million young people are reaching working age every month, and the population of the region's mega agglomerations and sprawling cities is expanding at roughly the same pace. By 2030 more than a quarter of the world's working adults will live in South Asia. But the region has not been particularly successful in integrating within itself and with the global economy. The demographic transition and urbanization on the one hand, and poor...

Using historic and projected climate and household survey data, this study investigates the historic spatial patterns of climate change across South Asia at the district level, the effect of changes in long-term average climate on living standards at the household level, and where the future hotspots may be.