Publication: Using Knowledge to Improve Development Effectiveness : An Evaluation of World Bank Economic and Sector Work and Technical Assistance, 2000-2006
Loading...
Date
2008
ISSN
Published
2008
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
In 1996, the World Bank committed itself to becoming a 'global knowledge bank,' using knowledge to improve the development effectiveness of its work. In fiscal 2008, the Bank reiterated its focus on knowledge and learning, naming it as one of its six strategic directions. This evaluation focuses on two of the analytical and advisory activities through which the Bank provides knowledge to its client countries: economic and sector work (ESW) and nonlending technical assistance (TA). This evaluation found that the majority of ESW and TA met their objectives at least to an average extent during fiscal 2000-06, although there were substantial differences across countries and tasks. ESW and TA of higher technical quality were clearly more effective in meeting their objectives. Close collaboration with clients during the process mattered for effectiveness, whether clients actually produced part of the task or not. Sustained follow-up after the completion of the tasks was important for effectiveness. Whether clients requested the tasks did not matter for effectiveness, although all tasks needed to be tailored to client needs and interests to be effective. ESW and TA were less effective in countries where government capacity was lower. Clients in middle-income countries prefer nonlending to lending services, and clients in all countries prefer TA over ESW.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Independent Evaluation Group. 2008. Using Knowledge to Improve Development Effectiveness : An Evaluation of World Bank Economic and Sector Work and Technical Assistance, 2000-2006. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6317 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Poverty Reduction Support Credits(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010-09)Vietnam, a one-party socialist state dominated by the Communist Party of Vietnam, has in recent years moved towards a pragmatic growth-oriented approach to economic policy. Early reform measures in 1986 with the doi moi, or new way, introduced a series of market-oriented reforms in industry and trade, as well as agriculture. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 hastened the pace of reform, as the authorities intensified monetary, banking, and structural reforms and set the stage for substantial trade and investment liberalization, and as Vietnam's arrears with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were settled in 1993. Key lessons that emerge from the Vietnam study include: a) the Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) process is strengthened through rigorous analytic underpinnings (for example, Vietnam development reports, public expenditure reviews, and other analytical and advisory services) that provide a shared vision of the development agenda and a menu of policy actions linked to the thematic pillars of the poverty reduction strategy; b) even in a context of high government commitment, fostering a connection to an external anchor (such as world trade organization accession) can help maintain momentum in the PRSC process and reform generally; c) PRSCs can function as an effective complement to, and catalyst for, sector operations including the development of sector-wide approaches and sector budget support; and d) with large numbers of international and government participants, it becomes increasingly important for both Government and the Bank that responsibilities for coordinating inputs and consultation and maintaining a policy overview be closely linked, defined, and adequately funded.Publication A Guide to the World Bank(Washington, DC, 2003)This book is intended for the wide range of people around the world who need basic information about the work of the Bank Group. This audience includes people working in all aspects of development, students, members of the general public, and staff members of the Bank Group itself. Because this audience is so broad, the text emphasizes the organizational and conceptual divisions of the Bank Group's activities and guides readers to potential sources of more-detailed explanations of the development work in progress. The annual reports of the Bank Group institutions provide more details on the volume and types of development assistance. The annual World Bank Group Directory lists telephone contacts for individuals and departments. The following chapters explain how the World Bank Group is organized; how it operates; and how its work focuses on countries, regions, and specific topics in development. Appendixes provide further information on Bank Group contacts, on the organization's history, on country membership and the voting shares in the institutions, on the sector and thematic categories for the Bank Group's activities, and on Bank Group resources in individual countries.Publication Poverty Reduction Support Credits : An Evaluation of World Bank Support(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010)The goal of Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs), introduced in early 2001 under World Bank Interim guidelines, was to help countries implement comprehensive, country-owned development strategies to promote growth, improve social conditions, and reduce poverty. PRSCs were intended to ease conditionality and to make annual flows to recipient countries predictable and integrated with their budgets. To reduce fiduciary risks associated with budget support, PRSCs were intended to strengthen domestic budget processes. They were seen as providing a framework for donor harmonization and were meant to focus on achieving clearly defined results.Publication Financial Sector Policy in Practice : Benchmarking Financial Sector Strategies around the World(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-01)Policy makers use financial sector strategies to formulate a holistic policy for their national financial sectors. This paper examines and rates financial sector strategies around the world based on how well they formulate development targets, arrangements for systemic risk management, and implementation plans. The strategies are also rated on whether they consider policy trade-offs between financial development and systemic risk management. The rated strategies are then benchmarked against a wide range of country characteristics. The analysis finds that the scope and quality of national strategies for the financial sector are influenced by the country's type of legal system, its level of income and macroeconomic stability, the existing financial depth and inclusion, the share of foreign ownership in the national financial sector, and the experience of past financial crises. Giving due consideration to policy trade-offs, particularly between financial development and systemic risk management, remains the weakest part of these strategies. Countries with civil- and religious-based law and those with a higher share of foreign ownership in their financial system address the policy trade-offs more often.Publication The World Bank Annual Report 2001(Washington, DC, 2001)This Annual Report covers the period from July 1, 2000, to June 30, 2001, and details the World Bank strategy for meeting the poverty challenge. After the Introduction, Chapter 1 provides an overview of Bank activities in 2001 that focused on multi-dimensional support, improved development effectiveness, increased funding volume, formalized the country business model, evolved country assistance strategies by preparing them in consultation, developed investment vehicles to support low-income countries, created a task force to consider the response to the needs of middle-income countries, developed an innovative IBRD and IDA program and project lending to support strong national programs, assessment of the Strategic Compact, the use of the World Bank Institute to empower through knowledge and setting out a strategic framework for future directions. Chapter 2 describes the role of the Board of Executive Directors. Chapter 3 examines the thematic issues the Bank is tackling, such as addressing the social, institutional, and economic dimensions of poverty; investing in people; supporting private sector development; building strong financial systems; and building effective legal and judicial systems. Chapter 4 discusses the Bank's role in fighting poverty and aiding development region by region. Chapter 5 looks at Bank project performance. Chapter 6 focuses on Bank partnerships, Chapter 7 sums up approved projects, and Chapter 8 provides organizational information. This report is in 2 volumes. Volume 2 comprises the complete Management's Discussion and Analysis, audited financial statements, and appendices.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication The Use of Detailed Statistical Data in Customs Reform(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04)To carry out their various missions (collecting revenue, facilitating trade, and ensuring security), many customs administrations have established a risk management unit. In developing countries, however, because of the lack of dedicated human and material resources, intelligence and risk analysis remain insufficiently developed. In view of the lack of resources, this paper proposes a simple methodology aiming at detecting risky import operations. The mirror analysis first helps to identify and target products or sectors with the greatest risk. Based on the examination of customs declarations patterns (data mining), it is possible to identify and target higher risk economic operators (importers and customs brokers). When implemented in Madagascar, this method has helped to reveal probable fraud cases in the present context of customs reform. Estimates suggest that, in 2014, customs fraud reduced non-oil customs revenues (duties and import value-added tax) by at least 30 percent.