World Bank - Government Documents - United Nations Specialized Agencies - Research Guides at University of Hawaii at Manoa

World Bank Publications

World Bank Documents & Reports
The D&R site contains final and official documents and reports from 1946 through the present, including: Board Documents (items concerning meetings of the Executive Directors); Country Focus (strategic priorities and directions for lending activities); Economic and Sector Work (in-depth background studies); Project Documents (loan/credit related documents released to the public according to the project cycle, including legal agreements); Publications and Research (formal publications, working papers and informal series from departments around the WBG).

World Bank Data

World Bank Data (free)
More than 2,000 indicators now available for free. Note: "Much of the data comes from the statistical systems of member countries, and the quality of global data depends on how well these national systems perform."
World Development Indicators
"The primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates."

Search for items

Most current World Bank publications and research are freely available online. You can search for World Bank materials in the library's OneSearch discovery layer. Some resources may also be available electronically via ebrary and a UH username and password are required for remote access.

Print materials can be found in the stacks for the following organizations by their acronym: IBRD, IFC, and ICSID.

The Government Documents Collection has very few IDA and MIGA publications in print.

Working Paper Series

The Working Papers Series is a semi-annual publication that communicates the results of the World Bank Group's ongoing research and stimulate public discussion. As its name would suggest, all content published in this series is a work-in-progress.

Click here for a list of working papers from our catalog.

World Bank Working Papers via the Open Knowledge Repository

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World Bank Components

The World Bank Group is made up of five organizations:

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
"IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries by promoting sustainable development through loans, guarantees, risk management products, and analytical and advisory services."
International Development Association
"The IDA helps the world’s poorest countries. Established in 1960, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing loans (called 'credits') and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions." The IDA and the IBRD share the same staff and headquarters.
International Finance Corporation
"IFC is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. Their work allows companies and financial institutions in emerging markets to create jobs, generate tax revenues, improve corporate governance and environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities."
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
"MIGA's mission is to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries to help support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people's lives."
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
"The primary purpose of ICSID is to provide facilities for conciliation and arbitration of international investment disputes. Today, ICSID is considered to be the leading international arbitration institution devoted to investor-State dispute settlement."

Working together, these organizations act as a "vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world."

Little Data Books

The World Bank publishes data books annually on a wide range of themes. Some examples are below. All current data books are available through the World Bank website.

The Little Green Data Book
The Little Green Data Book presents data from the World Development Indicators related to agriculture, forests, oceans, energy, water and sanitation, and environment and health.
The Little Data Book on Gender
"The book presents sex-disaggregated data for more than 200 economies in an easy country-by-country reference on demography, education, health, labor force, political participation and the Millennium Development Goals."

Government Documents - United Nations Specialized Agencies: World Bank