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Institution · Washington D.C. · United States

World Bank Group

In research, World Bank Group stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,578 of 9,585 worldwide), Economics, Econometrics and Finance (#355 of 1,798 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#1,965 of 5,988 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Economics, Econometrics and Finance and Economics and Econometrics (Economics, Econometrics and Finance is 10.6× its share of world research).

worldbank.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#2,580
of 22,385 · #1,641 all time
Rank in United States
#444
of 3,332
Research works
2.3k
▼ 6% vs 2018-21
Citations
112k
48.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.0%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.35×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
66%
world 40%
International
30%
world 18%
World Bank Group

What is World Bank Group known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #1,578 of 9,585 17.2%232 #648
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #355 of 1,798 16.6%92 #199
Social SciencesField #1,965 of 5,988 18.3%97 #683
Economics and EconometricsSubfield #432 of 1,307 17.4%66 #241
Physical SciencesDomain #4,581 of 10,670 14.4%76 #2591

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where World Bank Group sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#648 #1,578
  2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance#199 #355
  3. Social Sciences#683 #1,965
  4. Economics and Econometrics#241 #432
  5. Physical Sciences#2,591 #4,581
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does World Bank Group work in?

In 2022-now, 58% of research at World Bank Group is in Social Sciences, 21% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (25%), Economics, Econometrics and Finance (23%), Environmental Science (10%). It does 2.3× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 250 fractional works · 58.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 106 fractional works · 24.6% of its workSociology and Political Science: 43 fractional works · 10.0% of its workSafety Research: 14 fractional works · 3.2% of its workGender Studies: 9 fractional works · 2.0% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 8 fractional works · 1.8% of its workDemography: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workTransportation: 6 fractional works · 1.5% of its workEducation: 5 fractional works · 1.1% of its workDevelopment: 4 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHealth: 4 fractional works · 1.0% of its workUrban Studies: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAnthropology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workLaw: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 98 fractional works · 22.7% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 70 fractional works · 16.3% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 14 fractional works · 3.4% of its workFinance: 13 fractional works · 3.1% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 30 fractional works · 7.1% of its workStrategy and Management: 11 fractional works · 2.5% of its workAccounting: 9 fractional works · 2.1% of its workManagement Information Systems: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workBusiness and International Management: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMarketing: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 7 fractional works · 1.7% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 5 fractional works · 1.2% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workClinical Psychology: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSocial Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPhysical Sciences: 89 fractional works · 20.6% of its workEnvironmental Science: 44 fractional works · 10.3% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 12 fractional works · 2.7% of its workPollution: 8 fractional works · 1.8% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 8 fractional works · 1.7% of its workEcology: 5 fractional works · 1.2% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 4 fractional works · 0.9% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workWater Science and Technology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEngineering: 17 fractional works · 3.9% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMedia Technology: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBuilding and Construction: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workOcean Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEnergy: 9 fractional works · 2.1% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 8 fractional works · 1.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 9 fractional works · 2.0% of its workInformation Systems: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMathematics: 6 fractional works · 1.5% of its workModeling and Simulation: 5 fractional works · 1.2% of its workStatistics and Probability: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAtmospheric Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 62 fractional works · 14.3% of its workMedicine: 31 fractional works · 7.3% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 9 fractional works · 2.2% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 8 fractional works · 1.9% of its workInfectious Diseases: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEpidemiology: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workObstetrics and Gynecology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysiology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 1.2% of its workHealth Professions: 23 fractional works · 5.4% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 19 fractional works · 4.3% of its workEmergency Medical Services: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNursing: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workLife Sciences: 30 fractional works · 7.1% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 28 fractional works · 6.5% of its workSoil Science: 11 fractional works · 2.6% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workFood Science: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workPlant Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAgronomy and Crop Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMolecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKWorld Bank Group430fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences7%Physical Sciences21%Health Sciences14%Social Sciences58%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 24 fields, with their numbers
    1. Social Sciences10624.6%
    2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance9822.7%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting307.1%
    4. Decision Sciences71.7%
    5. Psychology71.6%
    6. Arts and Humanities20.5%
    1. Environmental Science4410.3%
    2. Engineering173.9%
    3. Energy92.1%
    4. Computer Science92.0%
    5. Mathematics61.5%
    6. Earth and Planetary Sciences20.5%
    7. Materials Science00.1%
    8. Chemistry00.1%
    9. Physics and Astronomy00.0%
    10. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    1. Medicine317.3%
    2. Health Professions235.4%
    3. Nursing71.6%
    4. Dentistry00.0%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences286.5%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology20.4%
    3. Immunology and Microbiology10.1%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does World Bank Group specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Economics, Econometrics and Finance takes 10.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField · 97.8 works11×
  2. Economics and EconometricsSubfield · 70.1 works10×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 1.37× its world share, 28 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.26× its world share, 9 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.32× its world share, 2 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.33× its world share, 9 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.26× its world share, 17 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.07× its world share, 44 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.25× its world share, 6 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 2.05× its world share, 23 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.38× its world share, 31 worksMedicineNursing: 3.29× its world share, 7 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.19× its world share, 30 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.72× its world share, 7 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 10.62× its world share, 98 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.51× its world share, 7 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.94× its world share, 106 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 10.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.62×98 works
  2. Nursing3.29×7 works
  3. Energy2.33×9 works
  4. Business, Management and Accounting2.19×30 works
  5. Environmental Science2.07×44 works
  6. Health Professions2.05×23 works
  7. Social Sciences1.94×106 works
  8. Decision Sciences1.72×7 works
  9. Agricultural and Biological Sciences1.37×28 works
  10. Mathematics1.25×6 works
  11. Psychology0.51×7 works
  12. Medicine0.38×31 works
  13. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.32×2 works
  14. Computer Science0.26×9 works
  15. Engineering0.26×17 works
  16. Arts and Humanities0.16×2 works
  17. Immunology and Microbiology0.12×0 works
  18. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.08×2 works
  19. Dentistry0.08×0 works
  20. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.07×0 works
  21. Chemical Engineering0.06×0 works
  22. Chemistry0.06×0 works
  23. Materials Science0.03×0 works
  24. Physics and Astronomy0.01×0 works

Who are the top researchers at World Bank Group?

Ranked on the quality score, David John McKenzie, Stephen Knack and Klaus Deininger lead among researchers whose main affiliation is World Bank Group.

  1. 1 David John McKenzie United States · #14,027 worldwide 24k citations · 478 works
  2. 2 Stephen Knack United States · #21,012 worldwide 22k citations · 177 works
  3. 3 Klaus Deininger United States · #29,396 worldwide 22k citations · 438 works
  4. 4 Aart Kraay United States · #40,142 worldwide 33k citations · 208 works
  5. 5 Adam Wagstaff United States · #43,926 worldwide 33k citations · 396 works
  6. 6 Talip Kilic United States · #46,234 worldwide 4.6k citations · 205 works
  7. 7 Inessa Love United States · #51,122 worldwide 16k citations · 141 works
  8. 8 Xavier Giné United States · #52,471 worldwide 8.3k citations · 296 works
  9. 9 Dominique van de Walle United States · #58,392 worldwide 6.3k citations · 145 works
  10. 10 Lixin Colin Xu United States · #62,306 worldwide 8.2k citations · 207 works
All ranked researchers at World Bank Group

What are the most cited papers from World Bank Group?

The most cited paper from World Bank Group is "Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course" (Maureen M. Black, Susan P. Walker, Lia C. H. Fernald et al., 2016), with 3,075 citations. Next come "Estimating Wealth Effects without Expenditure Data-or Tears: An Application to Educational Enrollments in States of India" (3,025) and "Determinants of Commercial Bank Interest Margins and Profitability: Some International Evidence" (1,884).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course Maureen M. Black, Susan P. Walker, Lia C. H. Fernald et al. · The Lancet Open access 8 Oct 2016 3,075
2 Estimating Wealth Effects without Expenditure Data-or Tears: An Application to Educational Enrollments in States of India Deon Filmer, Lant H. Pritchett · Demography Feb 2001 3,025
3 Determinants of Commercial Bank Interest Margins and Profitability: Some International Evidence Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt, Harry Huizinga · The World Bank Economic Review May 1999 1,884
4 Confronting the Environmental Kuznets Curve Susmita Dasgupta, Benoı̂t Laplante, Hua Wang et al. · The Journal of Economic Perspectives Open access Feb 2002 1,778
5 A New Database on the Structure and Development of the Financial Sector Thorsten Beck, Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt, Ross Eric Levine · The World Bank Economic Review Sep 2000 1,759
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at World Bank Group?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Economic Growth, Gender Inequality, Economic Development, Globalization, Fiscal Policy, Poverty Reduction, Income Inequality and Social Networks.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Economic Growth55▲ 16×20 topics
  2. Globalization34▲ 4.0×33 topics
  3. Gender Inequality30▲ 51×6 topics
  4. Climate Change30▲ 2.6×46 topics
  5. Economic Development30▲ 8.7×17 topics
  6. Sustainability23▲ 2.2×38 topics
  7. Fiscal Policy20▲ 22×6 topics
  8. Poverty Reduction19▲ 35×3 topics
  9. Renewable Energy19▲ 3.0×20 topics
  10. Environmental Impact18▲ 2.5×29 topics
  11. Income Inequality17▲ 29×7 topics
  12. Social Networks17▲ 15×5 topics
  13. Vulnerability16▲ 16×5 topics
  14. Income Tax16▲ 49×2 topics
  15. Innovation15▲ 3.4×13 topics
  16. Labor Market15▲ 12×9 topics
  17. Food Security15▲ 6.3×12 topics
  18. Risk Management15▲ 7.1×7 topics
  19. Social Capital14▲ 6.2×12 topics
  20. Agriculture14▲ 8.2×9 topics
  21. Governance13▲ 9.4×9 topics
  22. Institutions12▲ 37×4 topics
  23. Health Outcomes12▲ 10×6 topics
  24. Human Capital12▲ 19×5 topics
  25. Global Warming12▲ 6.4×8 topics
  26. Monetary Policy12▲ 12×7 topics
  27. Regional Development11▲ 7.8×3 topics
  28. Conditional Cash Transfers11▲ 73×1 topic
  29. School Subsidies11▲ 73×1 topic
  30. Taxation11▲ 32×3 topics
  31. Wealth Distribution11▲ 52×3 topics
  32. Political Economy11▲ 10×12 topics
  33. Capability Approach11▲ 133×1 topic
  34. Poverty Measurement11▲ 133×1 topic
  35. Transport Infrastructure11▲ 31×3 topics
  36. Infrastructure11▲ 21×3 topics
  37. Health Inequalities10▲ 20×3 topics
  38. Government Expenditure10▲ 44×1 topic
  39. Public Investment10▲ 44×1 topic
  40. Poverty10▲ 25×4 topics

Which research topics does World Bank Group publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare, Income, Poverty, and Inequality, Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth and Agricultural risk and resilience.

Poverty, Education, and …11Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare: 11 fractional worksIncome, Poverty, and Ine…11Income, Poverty, and Inequality: 11 fractional worksFiscal Policy and Econom…10Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: 10 fractional worksAgricultural risk and re…9Agricultural risk and resilience: 9 fractional worksGlobal Maternal and Child Health: 9 fractional worksGlobal trade and economics: 7 fractional worksCOVID-19 Pandemic Impacts7COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts: 7 fractional worksEnergy and Environment Impacts: 7 fractional worksChild Nutrition and Water Access: 6 fractional worksEnergy, Environment, and…6Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies: 6 fractional works
Safety ResearchSociology and Political ScienceEconomics and EconometricsSoil Science5 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare Safety Research 11 works
  2. 2 Income, Poverty, and Inequality Sociology and Political Science 11 works
  3. 3 Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth Economics and Econometrics 10 works
  4. 4 Agricultural risk and resilience Soil Science 9 works
  5. 5 Global Maternal and Child Health Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health 9 works
  6. 6 Global trade and economics General Economics, Econometrics and Finance 7 works
  7. 7 COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Economics and Econometrics 7 works
  8. 8 Energy and Environment Impacts Pollution 7 works
  9. 9 Child Nutrition and Water Access Nutrition and Dietetics 6 works
  10. 10 Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment 6 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available65.9%not open34.1%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors30.5%domestic only69.5%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has World Bank Group's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 6% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is World Bank Group as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0016% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%World Bank Group0.0016% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of World Bank Group over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%30%World Bank Group15.1% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 27.5% in 2006.

Other research institutions in Washington D.C.

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World Bank Group on Science Explorer

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