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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Central banks around the world are researching and developing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Yet the motivations for issuance, policy approaches, and technical designs differ across countries. We set out a comprehensive database of CBDC projects and technical approaches, and investigate the economic and institutional factors that correlate with CBDC project efforts. Most projects are found in economies with high mobile phone use and a high capacity for innovation. Work on retail CBDCs is more advanced where the informal economy is larger. Many central banks are considering architectures in which a CBDC is a direct cash-like claim on the central bank, but the private sector handles all retail services.