Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics 2022: Recovery, Reform, and Business Environment | The World Bank | 21 June 2022 | Virtual Event

The (ABCDE), organized by the World Bank’s Development Economics (DEC) Vice Presidency, is one of the world's best-known conferences for the presentation and discussion of new knowledge on social and economic development. The conference aims to promote the exchange of cutting-edge knowledge among researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners.

The theme of ABCDE 2022 is with a key focus on how enterprises are recovering from the pandemic crisis, how the business environment was affected by the pandemic, and reform prospects for the future. It will be held completely online, using a Zoom platform. It will take place over 5 days.

Recovery
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis produced an unprecedent shock to the global economy. Firms of all sizes and sectors were deeply impacted by the measures to reduce the likelihood of contagion (e.g., lockdowns and travel restrictions) and the consequent disruptions in both local and global value chains. Most governments worldwide acted by changing the regulatory environment aimed to enhance markets functioning, easing access to credit, and/or through targeted policies envisaged to attenuate the negative effects on firms’ performance and consequently on the labor market. The crisis also created new opportunities. The use of digital technologies and platforms, which the World Bank has been advocating for in the last few years, skyrocketed. Firms have been pressed to innovate and adapt their business models to expand markets or simply survive. The steadily increasing pace of digitization is expected to ease production of high-frequency data that can be used for faster and better-informed decision-making and to identify market frictions.

Reform
Independently of the pandemic crisis, the regulatory environment and the provision of public services necessary for the functioning of markets continue to play an important role in the growth and development of businesses and the private sector in general. Reforms in the business environment are fundamental to achieve the larger goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity. They continue to be a challenge, especially for developing countries. Moreover, the issues raised by the pandemic crisis have accentuated the need for reforms.

For both “recovery and reform” several questions are of keen interest for academics and policy makers. For instance, to what extent do regulatory reforms contribute to enhance the business environment and market functioning? What public services, policies and institutions are most conducive to spur private sector dynamism? Which specific policies targeting firms during the crisis (particularly the micro, small and medium-sized ones - MSMEs) actually had an impact on firm survival, businesses’ models, and performance outcomes? How deep has the effect of the pandemic been on businesses’ financial needs? How innovations in the credit market can impact access of underserved firms and what are their implications to businesses’ performance and productivity? How is the labor market responding to transformational changes produced by the pandemic crisis? What are the underlying political economy issues driving regulatory changes for crisis management and long-term development?

2022 Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Laura Alfaro
Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Steven J. Davis
Professor, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

SPEAKERS:

Gabriel Ulyssea
Associate Professor, University College London

Marcela Eslava
Associate Professor, University of Maryland at College Park

Steven Pennings
Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Development Research Group

Mark Gertler
Professor of Economics, NYU

Ana Margarida Fernandes
Lead Economist in the Trade and International Integration Unit of the Development Research Group, World Bank Group

Carmen M. Reinhart
Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, The World Bank Group

Marco Sanfilippo
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Torino

Dorothe Singer
Senior Economist, Europe and Central Asia, World Bank

Xiaohan Yang
Econ. Ph.D. Student at National School of Development, Peking University

Peter Wankuru
Economist, International Monetary Fund

Jesica Torres
Economist, World Bank Group

Valeria Perotti
Program Manager, Business Enabling Environment, Global Indicators Group, Development Economics, World Bank Group

Loren Brandt
Noranda Chair Professor of International Trade and Economics, University of Toronto

Roberto N. Fattal Jaef
Senior Economist, Development Research Group, The World Bank

Eduardo Montero
Assistant Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago

Bob Rijkers
Senior Economist, The World Bank

Mushfiq Mobarak
Professor of Economics, Yale University

Xavier Giné
Lead Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Group

Manaswini Rao
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, San Diego

Davide Del Prete
Associate Professor of Economics, Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope

Daniel Li Chen
Senior Economist, Development Impact Evaluation (DIME), World Bank

James Dzansi
Country Economist, International Growth Centre

Pierre Bachas
Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Group

Silvia Muzi
Program Coordinator, World Bank Group

Chen Lin
Chair of Finance and Stelux Professor in Finance, HKU Business School

Leonardo Iacovone
Lead Economist, World Bank Group

Adam Osman
Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

David McKenzie
Lead Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Group

Jing Cai
Associate Professor, University of Maryland

Claudia Ruiz
Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Group

Luis Franjo
Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Alicante

Rachel Cassidy
Economist, World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab

Roman David Zarate
Research Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Group

Mary Hallward-Driemeier
Senior Economic Adviser, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation, World Bank Group

Chang-Tai Hsieh
Winkelried Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Siddharth Sharma
Senior Economist, World Bank

David Koll
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Mannheim

Namrata Kala
Assistant Professor, MIT Sloan

Francisco Buera
Consultant, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Mikko Siliman
PhD candidate, Harvard University