This year's 'Word Development Report', the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person's chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report's main...

The information revolution makes understanding knowledge and development more urgent than before. New communication technologies and plummeting computing costs are transforming distance and eroding borders and time, but the fact remains that people still lack basic, life-saving knowledge because simple information does not flow as readily as one would hope. This year's Report, the twenty-first in this annual series, examines the role of knowledge in advancing economic and social well being. It proposes that we step back from the familiar problems of development and consider them from a fresh,...

Entrepreneurship is a fundamental driver of growth, development, and job creation. While Latin America and the Caribbean has a wealth of entrepreneurs, firms in the region, compared to those in other regions, are small in size and less likely to grow or innovate. Productivity growth has remained lackluster for decades, including during the recent commodity boom. Enhancing the creation of good jobs and accelerating productivity growth in the region will require dynamic entrepreneurs. This book studies the landscape of entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean. Utilizing new datasets...

The World Development Report (WDR) 2017 on Governance and the Law seeks to shed light on how a better understanding of governance can bring about more effective policy interventions to achieve sustainable improvements in welfare. Many governance reform efforts have focused on transplanting idealized institutional forms, strengthening state capacity, and establishing the rule of law. However, history has shown us that these types of changes in governance do not necessarily lead to improvements in development outcomes in every context, nor are they always feasible to bring about. The WDR 2017...