Publications

Is It Time to Rationalize Tax Expenditures?

 , , and | 19 April 2022
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Tax Expenditures, Tax Reform
As developing countries recover from the pandemic, they will need to bring their public finances to a more sustainable position, by streamlining public spending and strengthening the revenue base. The need to mobilize additional resources has been exacerbated by the recent economic turmoil triggered by ... continue reading

G7 Countries Must Urgently Phase Out Fossil Fuel Subsidies

 , and | 8 April 2022
Fiscal, Policy Briefs | Tags: Climate Change, Fossil Fuel Subsidies
The world’s governments have pledged to fight climate change, yet many still subsidize fossil fuels, the combustion of which increases GHG emissions. Phasing out these subsidies is thus vital to combating climate change. What this Policy Brief proposes is that G7 Governments reaffirm their commitment ... continue reading

A Dashboard for Biodiversity Risk Metrics

 , and | 24 March 2022
Monetary, Policy Briefs | Tags: Biodiversity Risk, Central Banks
This policy brief calls on central banks and financial supervisors to build and use a dashboard of biodiversity metrics to assess biodiversity risks in terms of both dependencies and impacts. In order for these metrics to become fully operational, they should cover risks for firms ... continue reading

Monetary Policy Operations and Biodiversity Loss

 | 24 March 2022
Monetary, Policy Briefs | Tags: Biodiversity Risk, Central Banks, Climate Change
Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates in human history, with growing evidence that this could have significant economic and financial implications. In this regard, biodiversity loss is very similar to climate change: both entail physical risks that could translate into substantial economic and financial losses, ... continue reading

The Global Tax Deal and Tax Incentives: What if the Cure Is Worse Than the Disease?

 | 18 March 2022
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Minimum Tax Rate, Tax Expenditures, Tax Incentives
The global tax deal reached in October 2021 is a milestone in international tax coordination. With 137 out of 141 jurisdictions in the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) now participating in the agreement, there is no doubt about its significance. ... continue reading

Cross-border Movement of People and Its Critical Role for Services Trade

 and | 28 February 2022
Trade, Blog | Tags: Mode 4, Services Trade, WTO
The importance of cross-border movement of people for services trade and the functioning of global value chains has been amply demonstrated during the COVID-19 crisis. While in normal times – and during the financial crisis in 2008 – services trade has been less volatile than ... continue reading

Resilience in Services Value Chains

 | 15 February 2022
Trade, Blog | Tags: Global Value Chains, Resilience, Services Trade
COVID-19 has triggered a new debate on the resilience of global value chains (GVCs) and risks associated with international production (Bonadio et al., 2020; Miroudot, 2020a). Most of this debate focuses on manufacturing and shortages of goods such as face masks or semi-conductors. This is ... continue reading

A Guaranteed Win for the Climate: Sustainable Loan Guarantees and Sustainable Loan Guarantee Facilities

 , and | 8 February 2022
Monetary, Blog | Tags: Central Banks, Climate Change, Targeted Refinancing Lines
In order to limit global warming to the levels set in the Paris agreement, an immense amount of additional investment has to be directed into sustainable technologies – a difference of between $610 billion (IEA 2020) and $2 trillion (IRENA 2020) per year as compared ... continue reading

The EU Digital Market Regulations: Rule-Maker or Deal-Breaker?

 , and | 3 February 2022
Trade, Policy Briefs | Tags: Digitalization, Services Trade
The digital transformation of the economy and society gives rise to a need for updated regulations and rules of the game for the digitised market. Within the EU, this need has been reflected in a number of legislative initiatives, most recently the Digital Markets Act (DMA), ... continue reading

Greening Financial Governance: Lessons from China

 | 13 January 2022
Monetary, Discussion Notes | Tags: China, Governing Finance, Green Finance, Macroprudential Policy
China’s turn towards green financial governance has causes and consequences that are instructive for policymakers elsewhere. This paper traces the evolution of rules and regulations designed to guide China’s financial system towards supporting green firms and projects since the 1990s. It outlines four domestic reasons ... continue reading

Double Whammy? The Impact of Trade and Automation on High-Skilled Jobs

 and | 10 January 2022
Trade, Blog | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Employment, Services
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities for language, speech and image recognition pass human levels, AI-enabled software can perform white collar tasks previously done exclusively by high-skilled humans. Furthermore, white collar jobs in rich countries could face a double whammy. Not only may AI-enabled automation transform ... continue reading

From Budgetary to Tax Expenditures: Tackling Social Protection in Quebec, Canada

 , and | 7 January 2022
Fiscal, Discussion Notes | Tags: Social Protection, Tax Expenditures
In his 2018 article "Reimagining Social Protection" Michal Rutkowski, the World Bank's Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs, highlighted the need for new social protection systems that retain their original purpose of fighting poverty, helping households manage uncertainty, and ultimately sparking a more efficient ... continue reading

Trade and Consumer Prices: The Role of Competitive Transport, Communication, and Distribution Services

 | 21 December 2021
Trade, Blog | Tags: Competition, Inflation, Services Trade, Transport
The recent spike in consumer price inflation has amply demonstrated that transport, logistics and distribution play a major role in bringing goods from producers to consumers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Conversely, when choke points in the logistics supply chain arise, prices skyrocket (Figure ... continue reading

The WTO is Back in Business?

 | 10 December 2021
Trade, Blog | Tags: Services Trade, Trade Governance, WTO
The building on Lake Geneva which houses the WTO stands as the symbol of the multilateral trading system and the bastion of global non-discrimination in trade governance. Meetings held under WTO auspices, whether physical or virtual, attract global participation by all trading partners. No other ... continue reading

For PBOC’s New Green Lending Tool, Transparency and Verification Are Key

 | 10 December 2021
Monetary, Commentary | Tags: Central Banks, China, Climate Change, Targeted Refinancing Lines
Global efforts to expedite the transition to a sustainable future require a significant shift in financial flows. The institutions governing finance play a vital role in achieving this objective. Central banks stand at the heart of this endeavor and are increasingly rising to the challenge. ... continue reading
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