The World Bank’s World Development Report, published annually since 1978, is an invaluable guide to the economic, social, and environmental state of the world today. Each report provides in-depth analysis and policy recommendations on a specific and important aspect of development—from agriculture, the role of the state, transition economies, and labor to infrastructure, health, the environment, and poverty. Through the quality and timeliness of the information it provides, the report has become a highly influential publication that is used by many multilateral and bilateral international organizations, national governments, scholars, civil society networks and groups, and other global thought leaders to support their decision-making processes. This corporate flagship undergoes extensive internal and external review and is one of the key outputs of the World Bank's Development Economics unit.
With this workshop, the Center on Global Economic Governance and the Center for Development Economics and Policy at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, together with Cornell University, will convene the World Bank team and leading academics and practitioners for a discussion of the 2016 World Development Report, to explore what the report findings mean for policy implementation at the country and international levels and to identify existing research gaps and how to address them. The Report examines the impact Internet and digital technologies have on economic growth and development, social opportunity, and governance and the efficiency of public service delivery and will be published at the end of 2015.
Open to Columbia University students only (Registration required).
AGENDA
1:00-1:15 - Welcome
Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA; Professor of Professional Practice, International Economic Law and International Affairs
1:15-2:00 - Report Overview
Uwe Deichmann, Co-Director, WDR 2016, World Bank;
Deepak K. Mishra, Co-Director, WDR 2016
2:00-3:15 - Session I: Digital Technologies: Governance and the Efficiency of Public Service Delivery
Opening Remarks: Deepak K. Mishra, Co-Director, WDR 2016
Moderator: Ravi Kanbur, T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, Cornell University
3:15-3:30 - Break
3:30-4:45 - Session II: The Impact of the Internet on Economic Growth and Jobs
Opening Remarks: Indhira Santos, Senior Economist, World Bank
Moderator: Jan Svejnar, James T. Shotwell Professor of Global Political Economy, Columbia University SIPA
4:45-5:00 - Summary and Closing Remarks
