Online Libraries

This page curates online libraries, datasets, and research platforms relevant to poverty, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic development. Resources are grouped by use-case to help students, researchers, and practitioners quickly identify appropriate tools.

A. Poverty, Inequality & Development Data

• World Bank Open Data
  https://data.worldbank.org
  Comprehensive database providing global indicators on poverty, economic growth, education, health, and inequality across 200+ countries and territories.
  

  • World Bank – Data for Groups (World Development Indicators)
    https://data.worldbank.org/tables
    Provides pre-formatted tables and data aggregates categorized by income levels (e.g., Low Income, Lower-Middle Income) and regional groups (e.g., Sub-Saharan Africa, Fragile and Conflict States).

• UNDP Human Development Data Center
  https://hdr.undp.org/data 
  Human Development Index (HDI), inequality-adjusted HDI, Gender Development Index, and multidimensional poverty metrics.

• OECD Data
  https://www.oecd.org/en/data.html
  Comparable international data on development, labor, and productivity.

• World Inequality Database
  https://wid.world
  Wealth and income distribution data worldwide from 1820 to present.
• PovcalNet (World Bank)
  https://pip.worldbank.org
  Interactive tool for global poverty measurement and analysis.
• UNU-WIDER
  https://www.wider.unu.edu/data
  World Income Inequality Database with 182 countries, 1950-present.

• Our World in Data
  https://ourworldindata.org
  Accessible visualizations on poverty, growth, health, climate, education.

• IMF Data
  https://www.imf.org/en/Data
  Macroeconomic indicators relevant to development contexts.

• World Population Review – Poverty Rate by Country
  https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/poverty-rate-by-country
  Latest poverty headcount ratios and Gini coefficients, sortable tables and geographic heat maps.

B. Entrepreneurship & SME Research

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)
  https://www.gemconsortium.org
  Country-level entrepreneurship indicators and reports.

• International Labour Organization

  • Enterprise Development
    https://www.ilo.org/publications 
    SMEs, informal economy, decent work.

  • Statistics on Social Protection (ILOSTAT)
     https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/social-protection/
    Percentage of the population covered by social floors, including health, unemployment, and old-age benefits.

• World Bank 

  • Entrepreneurship Database
    https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship
    Firm entry, business density, regulatory environment.

  • Informal Economy Database
    https://www.worldbank.org/en/research/brief/informal-economy-database  
    Multiple measures of informal output, self-employment, and labor force participation without social security.
• OECD Entrepreneurship Indicators
  https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/smes-and-entrepreneurship.html
  Annual "Entrepreneurship at a Glance" reports and cross-country comparisons.

C. Gender, Inclusion & Social Equity

• World Bank Gender Data Portal
  https://genderdata.worldbank.org

• UN Women Data Hub
  https://data.unwomen.org

• OECD Gender Data Portal
  https://www.oecd.org/gender/data

• Global Findex Database 
  https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex
  Financial inclusion data on how 150+ countries save, borrow, and manage risk.

D. Applied & Practitioner-Oriented Resources

• J-PAL Data & Policy Insights
  https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluations 
  Randomized evaluations, policy lessons.

• IPA DataHub
  https://www.poverty-action.org/data 
  Development microdata and evaluation tools.

• CGD (Center for Global Development)
  https://www.cgdev.org
  Policy-focused research and commentary.

• United Nations University – Promoting Entrepreneurial Capacity Project
  https://unu.edu
  Academic research on fostering entrepreneurship through institutional design, education, and policy in developing economies.
• FinDev Gateway  
  https://www.findevgateway.org
  Microfinance and financial inclusion data, research, and practitioner resources.