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Publication
The Road to Results : Designing and Conducting Effective Development Evaluations
(World Bank, 2009-12-01)The analytical, conceptual, and political framework of development is changing dramatically. The new development agenda calls for broader understandings of sectors, countries, development strategies, and policies. It emphasizes learning and continuous feedback at all phases of the development cycle. As the development agenda grows in scope and complexity, development evaluation follows suit. Development evaluator are moving away from traditional implementation and output-focused evaluation models toward results-based evaluation models, as the development community calls for results and embraces the millennium development goals. As the development community shifts its focus away from projects in order to comprehensively address country challenges, development evaluators are seeking methods with which to assess results at the country, sector, theme, policy, and even global levels. As the development community recognizes the importance of not only a comprehensive but also a coordinated approach to developing country challenges and emphasizes partnerships, development evaluators are increasingly engaged in joint evaluations. These joint evaluations, while advantageous in many respects, add to the complexity of development evaluation (OECD 2006). Additionally, development evaluators increasingly face the measurement challenge of determining the performance of an individual development organization in this broader context and of identifying its contribution. This text is intended as a tool for use in building development evaluation capacity. It aims to help development evaluators think about and explore the new evaluation architecture and especially to design and conduct evaluations that focus on results in meeting the challenges of development. -
Publication
Low Carbon Growth Country Studies--Getting Started : Experience from Six Countries
(Washington, DC, 2009-09)Six emerging economies, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa, are proactively seeking to identify opportunities and related financial, technical, and policy requirements to move towards a low carbon growth path. With the help of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), the governments of these countries have initiated country-specific studies to assess their development goals and priorities, in conjunction with greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation opportunities, and examine the additional costs and benefits of lower carbon growth. Mitigation actions today are expected to reduce future expenditure on adaptation. These actions can help attract international concessional funding to co-finance programs in energy, industry, transport, and natural resource management, which have carbon reduction implications. This paper illustrates the framework and the steps to perform a comprehensive assessment of GHG mitigation options, highlighting the central importance of sustained communication with stakeholders in the study process. -
Publication
Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing : A Practical Guide for Bank Supervisors
(World Bank, 2009-03-01)This book is specifically designed for bank supervisors, some of whom may be looking for ways to devise a program of anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision. Others may have encountered difficulties in elements of their systems of supervision and are looking for alternatives. Supervisors may also come to recognize even more efficient ways to carry out AML/CFT supervision. The objective of this book is therefore to provide a "how to" reference for practitioners of financial regulation and supervision. The authors have attempted to conceive a practical guide, with the purpose of resolving strategic and operational supervisory issues. They cover the entire spectrum of supervision, ranging from supervision objectives to the design and carrying out of onsite and offsite inspection programs, and from cooperation with other domestic and international AML/CFT authorities to sanctions and enforcement. The international community recognizes that under-regulated or unsupervised entities have the potential to undermine confidence in financial markets and hamper economic recovery. Better transparency, enhanced oversight, and stronger cross border cooperation among regulators and supervisors in all areas of risks, including money laundering and terrorist financing, are necessary to ensure that financial institutions always remain sound, sustainable, and vigilant. This task is even greater during difficult times. -
Publication
The Moral Compass of Companies: Business Ethics and Corporate Governance as Anti-Corruption Tools
(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2009-02-15)This publication targets private sector stakeholders who want to reduce a company s risk and vulnerability to corruption. It aims to provide guidance and recommendations for integrating ethics programs into corporate governance mechanisms to safeguard against corruption. Anti-corruption attitudes have changed significantly over the past two decades. Corruption is no longer regarded as a subject to be avoided and is now widely condemned for its damaging effect on countries, industries, governments, and the livelihoods of individual citizens. More importantly, the view of the private sector in the corruption equation is changing. Companies are no longer viewed only as facilitators of corruption - they are increasingly recognized as victims and a valuable source of working solutions, and anti-corruption efforts seen as integral to good corporate governance, Predictable, competitive, and fair economic environments free of corruption are central to sustainable business, economic growth and national development. It has been an easier task to raise this awareness than to reduce the corrosive effects of corruption, especially its worst manifestation of state capture. And though the challenge defies simple solutions, significant progress is being made. Today we have in place numerous international conventions and global collective action initiatives that set higher standards of transparency and accountability in corporate and public governance. More importantly, such standards are buttressed by a growing convergence of ethical values that set the tone for 'doing the right thing' in both the public and private sectors. -
Publication
The Political Economy of the World Bank : The Early Years
(Stanford: Stanford University Press and the World Bank, 2009)This book covers the early years of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), commonly known as the World Bank when it first confronted the issue of development as a fundamental part of its mission. The book is mainly concerned with how the Bank interpreted its mission and, more specifically, how its mission was born: what events shaped it, what cultural and ideological background influenced it and what was the historical context in which it arose. So this book is a contribution to the study of the prehistory of development, understood in its social and economic context. In this respect, the study of the early years of the World Bank offers excellent context for observation for three reasons. First, during its history there is a clear separation between the growth phase and the phase of social objectives. Second, in the first years of activity already the Bank could hear murmurs of opposition. Finally, there was a sudden change in the mandate of the institution changed from supporting the reconstruction of Europe after the war, to help developing countries. The transition from one phase to another was a formative one and redefined the institution. The upshot of the foregoing was to set a fertile ground for exploring the signs of conflict between the different approaches to development. The first chapter deals with the historiography that underlies the writing. It refers to a wide literature using periods of transition or crisis in the history of the institution to understand its dynamics and mechanisms. Reducing its support for European reconstruction, the Bank focused on the development of countries. The internal tensions that arose and led to a complete break between the Bank and the director of the mission (the economist Lauchlin Currie) are very useful for understanding better the evolution of the institution. The third chapter explores the tensions between Currie and the Bank and particularly, between Currie and the economist Albert Hirschman, who the Bank replaced as envoy to Colombia. The final chapter focuses again on the International Bank and particularly in lending mechanisms for developing countries. -
Publication
From Privilege to Competition : Unlocking Private-Led Growth in the Middle East and North Africa
(Washington, DC, 2009)The report starts with an introductory chapter that sets the stage for the issues and provides a short historical background on the development of the private sector in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), drawing on anecdotes and stories heard from many entrepreneurs and public officials consulted throughout the region during the preparation of this report. The core of the analysis is then presented in three parts. Part one assesses the performance of private sector development in the region from a macroeconomic and microeconomic standpoint (chapter two). It then presents the framework that is used to explain the identified performance gap (chapter three) and uses this framework in (chapter four) to claim that the lack of private sector dynamism in MENA is not necessarily due to insufficient reforms, but rather to the discretionary way in which rules and policies are implemented, and the lack of credibility of governments to really level the playing field when applying their policies and reforms. Part two then illustrates how this issue of poor implementation of the policies translates in three key policy areas in the business environment of the region: access to finance (chapter five), access to land (chapter six), and the conduct of industrial policies (chapter seven). The aim is to show how the role of the state and its institutions, when diverted from their regulatory and administrative missions by special interests and when subject to discretionary influence, can distort policies that may otherwise be well designed and well intended. Part three analyzes the political economy of reforms in MENA (chapter eight) and uses this analysis to offer a set of strategic recommendations and concrete policy actions that take into account the region's diversity and political economy (chapter nine). -
Publication
The SME Banking Knowledge Guide
(Washington, DC, 2009)Can small and medium enterprises (SME) be banked profitably, and is the market today an attractive one? How do banks overcome the challenges and capture the opportunities offered by the SME segment, particularly in developing countries? What is the difference between SME lending and SME banking? How can banks successfully expand their SME banking operations? These are the types of questions explored in the SME Banking Knowledge Guide. This Guide provides an overview of the current state of SME banking, and then breaks down the approaches that banks are using to unlock the potential opportunity in a challenging, but growing market. It concludes with guidance for banks that want to begin to strategically engage the SME market. -
Publication
MIGA Annual Report 2009
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009)For Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the challenge this year has been promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries at a time when investment flows are slumping. While many investors shied away from projects because of the difficult investment climate, those who have been doing business recognized the need for the kind of political risk guarantees MIGA provides. This year, MIGA provided $1.4 billion in guarantees for a range of projects, down from the agency's banner year of $2.1 billion in guarantees in 2008. But MIGA also experienced far fewer cancellations of existing coverage this year than in previous years. MIGA is also supporting projects to help the most vulnerable. This year, the agency entered into an innovative contract to facilitate up to $100 million of investments to small and medium-size enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa, businesses which account for most of the continent's jobs. MIGA has also focused on internal changes. At a time of financial crisis, promoting FDI depends on moving quickly to meet the emerging needs of clients. This will enhance MIGA's operational flexibility and procedural efficiency, and should lead to more business while strengthening MIGA's position as a self-standing enterprise. -
Publication
The World Bank Annual Report 2009: Year in Review, Volume 2. Financial statements
(Washington, DC, 2009)The World Bank group, among the world's largest development institutions, is a major source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. In fiscal 2009, the World Bank group sponsored 767 projects with a total commitment of $58.8 billion, distributed in credits, loans, grants, and guarantees. This fiscal year's funding marks a 54 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record high for the Bank group. The Bank group's investment projects are aimed largely at improving infrastructure services associated with poverty reduction and enhanced growth. In fiscal 2009, the Bank group committed $20.7 billion to infrastructure, a critical sector to provide the foundation for rapid recovery from the crisis and to support job creation. The sustainable infrastructure action plan, launched in July 2008, will leverage up to $72 billion to provide additional financing of up to $149 billion in public and private investments over fiscal 2009-11. The Bank group's investment projects are aimed largely at improving infrastructure services associated with poverty reduction and enhanced growth. -
Publication
The World Bank Annual Report 2009: Year in Review, Volume 1
(Washington, DC, 2009)The World Bank group, among the world's largest development institutions, is a major source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. In fiscal 2009, the World Bank group sponsored 767 projects with a total commitment of $58.8 billion, distributed in credits, loans, grants, and guarantees. This fiscal year's funding marks a 54 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record high for the Bank group. The Bank group's investment projects are aimed largely at improving infrastructure services associated with poverty reduction and enhanced growth. In fiscal 2009, the Bank group committed $20.7 billion to infrastructure, a critical sector to provide the foundation for rapid recovery from the crisis and to support job creation. The sustainable infrastructure action plan, launched in July 2008, will leverage up to $72 billion to provide additional financing of up to $149 billion in public and private investments over fiscal 2009-11. The Bank group's investment projects are aimed largely at improving infrastructure services associated with poverty reduction and enhanced growth.