Publication: 2003 Annual Review of Development Effectiveness : The Effectiveness of Bank Support for Policy Reform
Date
2004
ISSN
Published
2004
Author(s)
Operations Evaluation Department
Abstract
The Annual Review of Development
Effectiveness (ARDE) 2003, examines the effectiveness of
Bank support to borrower countries, in particular, the help
to foster reform policies, and institutional frameworks. The
Review focuses primarily, although not exclusively, on the
years from 1999 through 2003. This is done to facilitate the
juxtaposition of recent evaluation evidence with trends in
policy indicators. Recent trends in developing countries
' policies suggest that the various
dimensions of policy, and institutional performance have, on
average, improved modestly, although recent reforms have
touched most areas of development policy. In most countries
that accomplished strong reform over the period 1999-2003,
change was driven by necessity, or opportunities such as
transition from socialism, economic crisis, European Union
accession, and change of government. Development research
suggests that such factors tend to galvanize support for
change, and thus make the politics of policy reform easier.
Countries whose policies improved over the period 1999-03,
grew on average, at more than twice the rate of those that
did not. Evaluation evidence links Bank support to recent
improvements in policy. At the project level, good country
policy ratings tend to be associated with good evaluation
ratings on project outcomes. The Bank was less successful in
linking its support to policy reform, in countries with no,
or weak track records, or with deteriorating policy
environments. The uncertainties associated with policy
reform are reduced, when the Bank ' s support is
aligned with country priorities that have been validated
through country-led, inclusive political processes. A start
has been made through the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP)
process. However, the PRSP ' s potential as a vehicle
for fostering country ownership is undermined, according to
some borrowing countries, by its role as condition for
access to external financial assistance. And, in countries
where recent outcomes of Bank assistance were evaluated as
satisfactory, high quality, relevant, and timely, Economic
and Sector Work (ESW) generally made a substantial
contribution. Therefore , it is suggested the Bank should
not normally engage in lending, before ESW has established a
base of county and sector knowledge.
Citation
“Operations Evaluation Department. 2004. 2003 Annual Review of Development Effectiveness : The Effectiveness of Bank Support for Policy Reform. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/4b153d5d-c423-5826-a084-dd53e1ba47a2 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”