"Using rich data on personnel records, work assignments, and performance in a financial institution, this working paper uncovers the mechanisms leading to promotion gaps in knowledge teamwork. There is a substantial promotion gap for women in early careers. Analysing over 10,000 investment projects, it was found that assignments to project team leaderships (a “promotable” task) are crucial in explaining the gaps in promotions and affect long-term careers. Causal evidence that male supervisors favour male bankers was found. A survey among employees indicates that women perceive to be disadvantaged in the assignments of tasks, but they do not differ in aspirations and demand for these roles."

"Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are essential in the transition to a more sustainable economy. They comprise 90% of businesses worldwide and make up more than 50 percent of all employment.

However, MSMEs' access to finance in emerging markets remains severely constrained, restricting not only business growth but also their sustainability efforts. Financial institutions (FIs) have an important role in bridging the MSME finance gap while enabling their green and just transition. Sustainable finance can be used to fill this gap while benefitting FIs themselves by expanding their portfolios and diversifying their investors.

"Regional inflation will moderate further, as global food and fuel prices stabilize. However, several risks warrant attention. Escalating conflicts and geopolitical tensions may disrupt supply chains and impact commodity prices. Uncertainty surrounding US monetary policy, potential further weakness in the property market in the People’s Republic of China, and extreme weather events could present challenges for the region. Policymakers should intensify efforts to bolster resilience by fostering trade, cross-border investment, and commodity supply networks."

Market Insights for Inclusive Growth

"Unlocking the potential of digital financial services (DFS) is crucial for women's financial inclusion and empowerment. While barriers to access persist, fintech companies have emerged as key players in bridging this gap. However, limited research exists on how fintech companies are delivering on their promise and what practices lead to success. This study addresses these gaps, drawing on a survey of 114 fintech companies across 17 countries as well as interviews with 25 industry leaders."

An OECD Scoreboard

"Since 2020, a series of shocks to the global economy has had significant impacts on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs and their access to finance. Most recently, significant inflationary pressures have led to tighter lending conditions, limiting the flow of finance to SMEs and acting as a barrier to investment. Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2024: An OECD Scoreboard monitors SME and entrepreneurship financing trends, conditions and policy developments in close to 50 countries."

"Women, Business and the Law 2024 introduces new measurements of progress toward legal gender equality in 190 economies. The 10th in a series, it presents two sets of data: Women, Business and the Law 1.0 and an expanded version, Women, Business and the Law 2.0. For the first time, the assessment goes beyond the laws on the books—de jure—to examine the frameworks supporting implementation of the law and to gauge experts’ opinions on the outcome of the laws for women—de facto. In doing so, it now covers 10 indicators: Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension."

"This report by the Asian Development Bank provides an overview of changes in trade and global value chains (GVCs), cross-border investment, financial integration, and the movement of people in Asia and the Pacific and explores ways of decarbonizing GVCs."

"The Global Risks Report explores some of the most severe risks we may face over the next decade, against a backdrop of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, a warming planet and conflict. As cooperation comes under pressure, weakened economies and societies may only require the smallest shock to edge past the tipping point of resilience."

"This note, prepared at the request of the Ministry of Economy and Development, aims to analyze selected opportunities for Mongolia to diversify its economy and identifies specific policy options to realize them. Mongolia’s growing dependence on mining exports, primarily to China creates vulnerabilities and reduces resilience, as exposed during recent external shocks. Policy makers therefore continue to emphasize the importance of diversifying the economy. Against this backdrop, this note identifies opportunities and offers recommendations to achieve this goal."

Results of an OECD survey of public and private financial institutions

"Banks and other financial institutions have a central role to play in supporting the net zero transition of the business sector and its millions of SMEs. They are working to integrate climate considerations in various aspects of their operations, including strategy, management and financial products. This calls for the development of new internal capacities and access to SME sustainability data and assessments which are currently difficult to obtain.

"The rapid acceleration in the pace of Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation in recent years and the advent of content generating capabilities (Generative AI or GenAI) have increased interest in AI innovation in finance, in part due to the user-friendliness and intuitive interface of GenAI tools. Currently, the use of GenAI in financial markets involving full end-to-end automation without any human intervention remains largely at development phase, but its wider deployment could amplify risks already present in financial markets and give rise to new challenges. This paper presents recent evolutions in GenAI and its slow-paced deployment in finance, analyses the potential risks from a wider use of GenAI tools by financial market participants, and discusses associated policy implications."

"How strongly do citizens feel about different policies? How do these preferences affect structural reform? This paper proposes new, generalisable measures which quantify the strength of individuals' preferences for multiple non-pecuniary economic objectives. Using data from World Values Surveys on more than 100 economies over the period 1995-2020, these measures assess individuals' desire for environmental protection, inclusive and democratically governed societies, global integration, and economic competitiveness and resilience. The paper also provides a new, consistent measure of policy outcomes along these dimensions, using data compiled by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development."