participants were limited to small businesses with 1 to 20 employees, excluding owners, and at least $ 200, 000 but less than $ 2 million in revenue. see board of governors of the federal reserve system, browsing to borrow : “ mom & pop ” small business perspectives on online lenders ( washington : board of governors, june 2018 ), https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / publications / files / 2018 - small - business - lending. pdf. the annual conference is jointly - sponsored by the federal reserve system, the conference of state bank supervisors, and the federal deposit insurance corporation. - 4and five emergency evacuations of montecito, california. 11 within 24 hours of the wildfires and mudslides, the community bank declared an emergency and began executing its disaster response strategy. 12 the bank used a wide range of communication channels, from facebook to text messaging, to keep in touch with its employees and its customers. it created a disaster assistance package for personal and small business borrowers. the bank offered new lines of credit ( including a 24 - hour turnaround on small business lines ). it made payment deferrals on alreadyexisting loans and provided free safe deposit boxes. the bank even delivered more than 15, 000 water bottles and offered more than 1, 500 respirators for local residents at its branches. small businesses value that level of commitment to local customers. and they recognize the benefits of working with local community banks that understand their regions and businesses. the relationship - based nature of community bank lending helps small businesses that often lack the detailed balance sheets or detailed income statements required by larger banks. 13 even when small businesses do have the right paperwork, large banks are still less likely to engage in lending at small bank levels. that ’ s because the transaction costs for underwriting a $ 100, 000 loan are comparable to a $ 1 million loan. none of this is lost on small businesses, which, according to the federal reserve ’ s small business credit survey, continue to express greater satisfaction with small banks compared to both big banks and fintech lenders. 14 see lou whiteman, “ how the ‘ best banks ’ handle the wrath of mother nature, ” american banker, september 4, 2018 ), https : / / www. americanbanker. com / news / how - the - best - banks - handle - the - wrath - of - mother - nature. see also brooke holland, “ in case of emergency

continental free trade agreement would be a step in the right direction. in view of economies ’ increased synchronization, the world bank may also want to consider multi - country interventions. the western balkans trade and transport facilitation project is a promising example of how to address issues that are common within a region. we are encouraged that countries are responding to the human capital project with concrete action, taking steps to build consensus and awareness, coordinate across sectors, improve measurement, and adopt reforms. it is also encouraging that some countries are trying to achieve better results with a more efficient allocation of existing levels of spending. we strongly support the effort to provide a finer disaggregation of the human capital index ( hci ), which may help in designing more informed policy solutions. a national aggregate hci value can mask significant disparities in outcomes within a country — across regions, socioeconomic groups, gender. it is equally critical to take steps to improve measurement, as a lack of reliable data risks jeopardizing the index ’ s credibility. the jobs and economic transformation agenda is of key importance in supporting governments to undertake policy reforms that will incentivize the private sector to invest and generate jobs. to this end we need to focus on reforms that can catalyze a shift from informal to formal employment and that can induce productivity - enhancing practices and processes, within and across sectors and firms. the emphasis on “ creating and connecting to markets ” and “ building capabilities and connecting workers to jobs ” is particularly relevant to heightening job creation in ida countries, where the largest labor force growth will take place in the coming years. as rightly stated in the background paper, different models are needed for different countries because of disparities in endowments, exposure to external factors, and varying development stages. the challenge will be how to make those models operational, building on country platforms that include all development partners. as the largest global concessional donor, ida has a unique role to play in tackling the root causes of poverty and deprivation and promoting inclusive, sustainable, and balanced development. the upcoming ida replenishment must be supported and we hope that a larger group of countries will consider participating, so that ida will have adequate resources to fulfil its mission. we favor the confirmation of ida - 18 special themes and the focus on new cross - cutting areas. to address the fundamental determinants of fragility, we support a stronger engagement of ida in regional programs, including