David Dollar Memorial Prize

World Bank's David Dollar Memorial Prize is designed to honor the memory and contribution of David Dollar, an eminent economist with a distinguished career at UCLA, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Brookings Institution, who was one of the pioneers in the World Bank’s focus on investment climate. The prize aims to encourage high quality and policy relevant research on private sector development. 

The World Bank’s Enterprise Analysis Unit invites researchers to submit papers for the 2025 David Dollar Memorial Prize. Only the full working papers that use the Enterprise Surveys as their main data source, and that are produced in the last two years will be considered. We welcome submissions that span a variety of topics related to all aspect of private sector development, including but not limited to:

  • Productivity and firm dynamics
  • Quality of the business environment and firms’ outcomes
  • Job creation
  • Women’s participation in the labor force
  • Access to finance
  • Informality  and its impact on the formal sector
  • Innovation, etc.

DEADLINE: Thursday, March 20, 2025 (11:59 PM EST).

SUBMISSION: Please send papers to enterprisesurveys@worldbank.org, and include the following in the subject line: “[Submission] 2025 World Bank David Dollar Memorial Prize”. It should be a full working paper (including the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classifications) produced in the last two years. The papers that are already published in a journal or a book will not be considered. The paper should further our understanding of private sector development and have a high relevance for policy makers. Notification of acceptance will be given by Friday, April 4, 2025, at the latest. 

SELECTION: The winner will be selected by a panel of experts, including the Director of the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group, and the Manager of the Enterprise Analysis Unit. 

CRITERIA: The criteria will include the following:

  • The paper must use the World Bank Enterprise Surveys as its main data source
  • The paper should be methodologically rigorous 
  • The paper should have a high relevance for private sector development, and preferably provide clear policy implications
  • The paper’s findings should ideally be of broader interest to the developing world even though the paper may focus on a particular country, region, or industry

AWARD: The monetary prize, 3 000 USD, will be awarded at the annual event on the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys in June, 2025. We will cover the travel and accommodation expenses of up to one author of the winning paper.


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