MANAGE-WB is a recursive dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model implemented in GAMS, developed by the World Bank for economy-wide policy analysis across a wide range of country contexts.
Given a country-specific Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) — built from the GTAP database and optionally refined with national accounts or other macro data sources — MANAGE-WB simulates how external and policy shocks such as trade policy changes, carbon taxes, public investment programs, or climate damages propagate through production, trade, labor markets, and household income over a multi-year horizon, producing year-by-year macroeconomic and sectoral projections relative to a baseline scenario.
The model is operated through a graphical user interface that guides users through database preparation, baseline calibration, and scenario simulation, with an extensible shock-file architecture that lets new policy scenarios be defined without modifying the core model code.
Full documentation is available at https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/economicpolicy-macro-modeling/cge.
- A computer with a Windows-based operating system
- A working installation of GAMS, version 39 or higher
- Install GitHub Desktop.
- From https://github.com/worldbank/MANAGE-WB, create a local copy of the repository. One way to do this is as follows:
- In GitHub Desktop, select File and then Clone Repository.
- Enter the URL
https://github.com/worldbank/MANAGE-WBand choose a local path (for example, create a new folder). - Select Clone.
- Press Fetch origin.
- Open the folder you created. You should see a subfolder named
MANAGE-WB. - The
MANAGE-WBfolder should contain the following subfolders and files.
Figure 1: Contents of the cloned MANAGE-WB folder.
Note: The exact layout of the folder shown might depend on your Windows settings.
- GUI – Graphical User Interface
- GTAP – Global Trade Analysis Project (the source database)
- SAM – Social Accounting Matrix
- BaU – Business as Usual (the baseline scenario)
- CCDR – Climate Change and Development Report
- AEZ – Agro-Ecological Zone
- GDX – GAMS Data Exchange (GAMS's native data file format)
- CNS – Constrained Nonlinear System (a GAMS model/solve type)
- MCP – Mixed Complementarity Problem (a GAMS model/solve type)
- DNLP – Nonlinear Program with Discontinuous Derivatives (a GAMS model/solve type)
Throughout this manual, xxx denotes the ISO three-letter country code (e.g., GHA for Ghana), and yyy denotes the suffix you assign to a GTAP database when loading it (see Loading GTAP Data, step 1b) — for example 9, 11c, or 12.
- Refer to Section 3, Model Implementation, in MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
- Run
manage.batby double-clicking it. This opens the following window:
Figure 2: Window that opens when manage.bat is run.
- Selecting OK opens the MANAGE-WB graphical user interface (GUI):
Figure 3: The MANAGE-WB graphical user interface.
- Refer to the section on the Graphical User Interface in MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
- The screenshot above shows that there are 2 options under Manage worksteps:
- Build data base
- Simulation
- Currently, Build data base is selected, which has 3 options under Manage tasks:
- Load GTAP data, currently selected in the above screenshot
- Prepare GTAP SAM
- Match to macro SAM, not currently visible in the above screenshot
- Select Settings to open the following window:
Figure 4: The Settings window.
- Under the User Settings tab, you can choose one of five user types:
- Exploiter
- Runner
- Administrator
- Developer
- Debugger
- Under the GAMS tab, enter the path to
GAMS.exeif the field is empty.
Figure 5: The GAMS tab in Settings.
- Under the Other options tab, replace the default text editor (
notepad.exe) in the Path to Editor field with your preferred editor. In the example below, GAMS Studio is selected.
Figure 6: The Other options tab in Settings, with GAMS Studio selected as the editor.
- These changes, along with any other updates you make in this window, are written to
manage.iniwhen you select Save and close the window. - You are now ready to load GTAP data and build a country-specific SAM. For more details, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
- The screenshot below shows that you can load GTAP data, which could be GTAP11, GTAP12, and their other variations like Power.
- The ZIP files with GTAP Base Data, including AEZ data, can be selected from the stored location and loaded by pressing
. - Fill in the Suffix to GTAP data field, such as 11c or 12. This is the suffix (
yyy) that will later appear in downstream file names such asBaseBridge_xxx_GTAP_yyy.xlsx. - By pressing Start GAMS, GAMS will create the GTAP database.
Figure 7: The Load GTAP data screen.
- The result will be a GDX file such as
gtapData11c.gdxorgtapData12.gdx. gtapData9.gdxis already included in the package.
- Now select Prepare GTAP SAM. The following screenshot should be seen.
- Select your database from the dropdown menu under the GTAP data base input field — i.e., gtapData12, gtapData11c, or gtapData9.
- gtapData9 is included in the package, so it is selected as seen.
Figure 8: The Prepare GTAP SAM screen, with gtapData9 selected as the input database.
- In the Region(s) field, enter the ISO three-letter code for the country of interest, such as GHA for Ghana.
- You can also review and adjust the other options available in this window.
- Selecting Start GAMS generates the bridge file containing a SAM for the selected country, based on whichever GTAP database you chose above (gtapData9, gtapData11c, or gtapData12).
- You should then see the following message in the GUI:
Figure 9: Completion message after Prepare GTAP SAM finishes successfully.
-
If this message appears, a folder for the selected country is created in the
…\MANAGE-WB\regfolder. For example, a GHA folder is created with:BaseBridge_GHA_GTAP_9.xlsxSAM_GHA_GTAP.xlsx
both in
…\MANAGE-WB\reg\GHA. Status: Normal completion. -
Inside the GHA folder, you should see the following contents:
Figure 10: Contents of the country-specific GHA folder.
- For the contents of
BaseBridge_xxx_GTAP_yyy.xlsxandSAM_xxx_GTAP.xlsx, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
- You can update the SAM by selecting Match to macro SAM in the GUI.
- Make the required changes in
SAM_xxx_GTAP.xlsx(the file created in the previous step). The options could be:- Macro SAM – update the macro SAM to a more recent year, for example.
- SplitShr – split a sector into multiple sectors, for example. In that case, you will need to update Sets.
- Fixes – fix certain entries in the SAM.
- Select Start GAMS in the GUI. This reads your edits in
SAM_xxx_GTAP.xlsxand uses them to update and rebalanceBaseBridge_xxx_GTAP_yyy.xlsx.
Under the menu Manage worksteps, the next option is Simulation.
Figure 11: The GUI with the Simulation workstep selected, showing the Manage tasks panel and the General settings tab for Baseline.
Simulation has 4 options under Manage tasks:
- Baseline
- Simulation (not to be confused with the Simulation workstep above — this is a task within it)
- Stochastic simulation (only available when User Type is set to Developer under Settings)
- Sensitivity analysis (only available when User Type is set to Developer under Settings)
The Baseline screen has the following tabs:
- Always visible: General Settings, Baseline, Output, GAMS
- Conditionally visible, depending on choices made under General Settings: Options for damages, CCDR shock, Invest Link
The screenshot above (Figure 11) shows the controls for the baseline simulation under the General Settings tab:
- Country and time
- Shock
- Options
- GDP Composition dynamics
Under the Baseline tab, you will see the following options for baseline building, as shown in the screenshot below:
- Data and checks
- Model configuration
- Productivity
Figure 12: The Baseline tab, showing Data and checks, Model configuration, and Productivity options.
To activate the Options for damages tab, select Climate change damages under Options, under the General Settings tab. You will then see the following:
Figure 13: The Options for damages tab.
To activate the CCDR shock tab, select ccdr as a shock file from the Shock File dropdown menu under Shock, under the General Settings tab. You will then see the following. For more information, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
Figure 14: The CCDR shock tab.
To activate the Invest Link tab, select Invest Link under Options, under the General Settings tab. You will then see the following. For more information, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
Figure 15: The Invest Link tab.
The Output tab has the following information. For more information, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation.
Figure 16: The Output tab.
The GAMS tab gives many built-in options related to GAMS, organized into 4 main columns:
- Options for listing
- Initialization
- Solver control
- Options for solve outputs
Figure 17: The GAMS tab, showing the four columns of built-in GAMS options.
For instance, Solve Algorithm has options including CNS, MCP, and DNLP. For more information, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation.
After making your choices across these tabs, press Start GAMS. The result will be produced in …\MANAGE-WB\res\xxx as a GDX file — e.g., …\MANAGE-WB\res\GHA\GHA_BaU.gdx.
The baseline results stored in xxx_BaU.gdx can now be used for various counterfactual simulations. Choosing Simulation under Manage tasks shows the following:
Figure 18: The Simulation task screen.
GHA_BaU.gdxis selected as the BaU file (gdx).- Shock file (inc) defaults to
none.inc, which is included in the package and found in…\MANAGE-WB\reg\xxx\sim, along with several other ready-made shock files in the same location. - You can select a different shock file from the dropdown menu, or alter any existing shock file for your own purposes.
none.incandempty.incare both provided as starting points for creating your own shock file.- The counterfactual simulation results are stored in the
resfolder under the country name as GDX files. - For more information about shock files, refer to MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
You can see and compare your simulation results by selecting the Exploit results button. More information is given in MANAGE-WB Model Documentation by Beyene, Britz, Christensen, Dudu, and Galindev (2025).
For questions or feedback, please reach out to manage_wb@worldbank.org.
This project is licensed under the MIT License together with the World Bank IGO Rider. The Rider is purely procedural: it reserves all privileges and immunities enjoyed by the World Bank, without adding restrictions to the MIT permissions. Please review both files before using, distributing, or contributing.