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World Bank

In research, World Bank stands highest in Economics, Econometrics and Finance (#176 of 1,775 worldwide), Social Sciences (#1,412 of 10,521 worldwide) and Economics and Econometrics (#220 of 1,272 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in General Economics, Econometrics and Finance, Safety Research and Economics, Econometrics and Finance — General Economics, Econometrics and Finance is 19.2× its share of world research.

worldbank.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#4,640
of 28,054 · #1,563 all time
Rank in United States
#646
of 4,192
Research works
8k
▼ 6% vs 2013–17
Citations
438k
54.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
35.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
37%
world 28%

What is World Bank known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #176 of 1,775 39.6%202 #20
Social SciencesDomain #1,412 of 10,521 38.2%488 #254
Economics and EconometricsSubfield #220 of 1,272 41.0%142 #22
Social SciencesField #1,756 of 6,365 38.6%199 #272
Physical SciencesDomain #4,840 of 12,888 27.3%152 #4091
Environmental ScienceField #1,494 of 3,551 31.4%61 #713
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,117 of 2,578 38.0%65 #161
Health SciencesDomain #7,936 of 11,982 36.0%82 #2935

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where World Bank 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 world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Economics, Econometrics and Finance#20 #176
  2. Social Sciences#254 #1,412
  3. Economics and Econometrics#22 #220
  4. Social Sciences#272 #1,756
  5. Physical Sciences#4,091 #4,840
  6. Environmental Science#713 #1,494
  7. Sociology and Political Science#161 #1,117
  8. Health Sciences#2,935 #7,936
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

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

What does World Bank specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: General Economics, Econometrics and Finance takes 19.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. General Economics, Econometrics and FinanceSubfield · 36.8 works19×
  2. Safety ResearchSubfield · 26.5 works13×
  3. Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField · 201.9 works12×
  4. Economics and EconometricsSubfield · 142.5 works12×
  5. FinanceSubfield · 22.6 works9.8×
← 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: 1.06× its world share, 38 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.02× its world share, 1 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.10× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Computer Science: 0.31× its world share, 19 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.33× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.69× its world share, 19 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.34× its world share, 39 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.62× its world share, 61 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.98× its world share, 9 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.85× its world share, 37 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.23× its world share, 34 worksMedicineNursing: 2.98× its world share, 11 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.25× its world share, 5 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.15× its world share, 53 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.55× its world share, 11 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 12.39× its world share, 202 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.74× its world share, 17 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.07× its world share, 199 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 12.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at World Bank?

Ranked on the composite score, Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt, Norman Loayza and Stephen Knack lead among researchers whose main affiliation is World Bank.

  1. 1 Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt United States · #1,581 worldwide 2.3k citations · 92 works
  2. 2 Norman Loayza United States · #11,830 worldwide 705 citations · 58 works
  3. 3 Stephen Knack United States · #19,773 worldwide 1.1k citations · 40 works
  4. 4 Will Martín United States · #29,957 worldwide 571 citations · 76 works
  5. 5 Donald L. Plucknett United States · #32,348 worldwide 300 citations · 38 works
  6. 6 George Psacharopoulos United States · #34,637 worldwide 505 citations · 94 works
  7. 7 Derek Byerlee United States · #40,891 worldwide 338 citations · 62 works
  8. 8 Luis Servén United States · #41,447 worldwide 475 citations · 46 works
  9. 9 Emmanuel Skoufias United States · #42,287 worldwide 381 citations · 41 works
  10. 10 Ajay Tandon United States · #45,732 worldwide 579 citations · 30 works
All ranked researchers at World Bank

Which keywords describe research at World Bank?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Economic Growth, Economic Development, Globalization, Gender Inequality, Fiscal Policy, Climate Change, Poverty Reduction and Labor Market.

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

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 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 Growth97▲ 15×23 topics
  2. Economic Development68▲ 11×24 topics
  3. Globalization66▲ 4.4×44 topics
  4. Climate Change65▲ 3.2×53 topics
  5. Gender Inequality51▲ 48×6 topics
  6. Fiscal Policy44▲ 27×8 topics
  7. Sustainability43▲ 2.3×41 topics
  8. Poverty Reduction40▲ 40×5 topics
  9. Labor Market39▲ 17×12 topics
  10. Innovation35▲ 4.4×18 topics
  11. Renewable Energy34▲ 3.1×20 topics
  12. Income Tax34▲ 54×2 topics
  13. Social Networks31▲ 15×8 topics
  14. Vulnerability27▲ 16×6 topics
  15. Regional Development26▲ 9.6×7 topics
  16. Income Inequality25▲ 23×6 topics
  17. Political Economy25▲ 13×14 topics
  18. Social Capital24▲ 6.0×12 topics
  19. Urbanization24▲ 7.5×10 topics
  20. Human Capital23▲ 19×7 topics
  21. Conditional Cash Transfers23▲ 81×1 topic
  22. School Subsidies23▲ 81×1 topic
  23. Governance23▲ 9.0×10 topics
  24. Monetary Policy22▲ 12×9 topics
  25. Transport Infrastructure22▲ 34×3 topics
  26. Infrastructure22▲ 23×3 topics
  27. Taxation22▲ 33×3 topics
  28. Government Expenditure22▲ 47×1 topic
  29. Public Investment22▲ 47×1 topic
  30. Risk Management21▲ 5.7×9 topics
  31. Health Outcomes21▲ 10.0×5 topics
  32. Global Warming21▲ 6.6×7 topics
  33. International Trade20▲ 18×3 topics
  34. Agriculture20▲ 6.7×6 topics
  35. Energy Transition20▲ 18×4 topics
  36. Institutions19▲ 32×4 topics
  37. Institutional Quality19▲ 23×3 topics
  38. Corruption19▲ 16×5 topics
  39. Greenhouse Gas Emissions18▲ 8.9×6 topics
  40. Market Size18▲ 33×2 topics

Which research topics does World Bank publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare, Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth, Global trade and economics and Agricultural risk and resilience.

Poverty, Education, and …23Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare: 23 fractional worksFiscal Policy and Econom…22Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: 22 fractional worksGlobal trade and economics18Global trade and economics: 18 fractional worksAgricultural risk and re…16Agricultural risk and resilience: 16 fractional worksIncome, Poverty, and Inequality: 12 fractional worksGender, Labor, and Family Dynamics: 12 fractional worksClimate Change Policy an…12Climate Change Policy and Economics: 12 fractional worksChild Nutrition and Water Access: 11 fractional worksTaxation and Compliance Studies: 10 fractional worksMicrofinance and Financi…10Microfinance and Financial Inclusion: 10 fractional works
Safety ResearchEconomics and EconometricsGeneral Economics, Econometrics and FinanceSoil Science3 others

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

  1. 1 Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare Safety Research 23 works
  2. 2 Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth Economics and Econometrics 22 works
  3. 3 Global trade and economics General Economics, Econometrics and Finance 18 works
  4. 4 Agricultural risk and resilience Soil Science 16 works
  5. 5 Income, Poverty, and Inequality Sociology and Political Science 12 works
  6. 6 Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics Gender Studies 12 works
  7. 7 Climate Change Policy and Economics Economics and Econometrics 12 works
  8. 8 Child Nutrition and Water Access Nutrition and Dietetics 11 works
  9. 9 Taxation and Compliance Studies Economics and Econometrics 10 works
  10. 10 Microfinance and Financial Inclusion Economics and Econometrics 10 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 available37.2%not open62.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors24.7%domestic only75.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has World Bank's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 6% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Other research institutions in Washington

All research institutions in Washington

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.