Publication: Too Global to Fail : The World Bank at the Intersection of National and Global Public Policy in 2025
Loading...
Published
2015
ISSN
Date
2014-12-02
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report is about global public goods (GPGs), particularly those related to the environment, in the context of the global development process. This concerns the long-term sustainability of development, as the distinction between developing and developed countries is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This report contends that global sustainability depends (indeed, consists of) the provision of certain GPGs, and that the prevailing approach to development assistance does not sufficiently recognize this fact. A key question is whether the country-ownership model is even compatible with global sustainability. A second key question is whether the political will exists to make the provision of GPGs an explicit and central objective of official development assistance, especially in the face of objections from those who believe aid should be solely concerned with the eradication of poverty through national or community-level interventions. A third key question concerns the mobilization and use of resources for the World Bank's work to support the provision of GPGs. The Bank is a major player on many regional and global issues, but its work at these levels is usually enabled by donor contributions, most often in the form of grants, targeted for a particular purpose. International development assistance needs to undergo a major transition, such that it takes as an explicit and principal objective the provision of GPGs important for development. The World Bank can play a leadership role in this transition, working within new kinds of coalitions but not abandoning the fundamentals of its operating model. Some of the most important GPGs are provided through the separate and cumulative actions of multiple countries, so the challenge for the Bank is to find ways of investing strategically and sharing knowledge across countries, while keeping faith with their national development strategies, so as to achieve maximum global impacts. The World Bank can also play a unique role in stimulating the private provision of GPGs through risk-sharing and market creation.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Evans, J. Warren; Davies, Robin. Evans, J. Warren; Davies, Robin, editors. 2015. Too Global to Fail : The World Bank at the Intersection of National and Global Public Policy in 2025. Directions in Development--Environment and Sustainable Development;. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20603 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Democratic Republic of Congo Urbanization Review(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018)The Democratic Republic of Congo has the third largest urban population in sub-Saharan Africa (estimated at 43% in 2016) after South Africa and Nigeria. It is expected to grow at a rate of 4.1% per year, which corresponds to an additional 1 million residents moving to cities every year. If this trend continues, the urban population could double in just 15 years. Thus, with a population of 12 million and a growth rate of 5.1% per year, Kinshasa is poised to become the most populous city in Africa by 2030. Such strong urban growth comes with two main challenges – the need to make cities livable and inclusive by meeting the high demand for social services, infrastructure, education, health, and other basic services; and the need to make cities more productive by addressing the lack of concentrated economic activity. The Urbanization Review of the Democratic Republic of Congo argues that the country is urbanizing at different rates and identifies five regions (East, South, Central, West and Congo Basin) that present specific challenges and opportunities. The Urbanization Review proposes policy options based on three sets of instruments, known as the three 'I's – Institutions, Infrastructures and Interventions – to help each region respond to its specific needs while reaping the benefits of economic agglomeration The Democratic Republic of the Congo is at a crossroads. The recent decline in commodity prices could constitute an opportunity for the country to diversify its economy and invest in the manufacturing sector. Now is an opportune time for Congolese decision-makers to invest in cities that can lead the country's structural transformation and facilitate greater integration with African and global markets. Such action would position the country well on the path to emergence.Publication Strengthening Competitiveness In Bangladesh—Thematic Assessment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-07-15)This is volume 2 of a three-volume publication on Bangladesh’s trade prospects. Bangladesh’s ambition is to build on its very solid growth and poverty reduction achievements, and accelerate growth to become a middle income country by 2021, and share prosperity more widely amongst its citizens. This includes one of its greatest development challenges: to provide gainful employment to the over 2 million people that will join the labor force each year over the next decade. Moreover, only 54.1 million of its 94 million working age people are employed. Bangladesh needs to use its labor endowment even more intensively to increase growth and, in turn, to absorb the incoming labor. The Diagnostic Trade Integration Study identifies the following actions centered around four pillars to sustain and accelerate export growth: (1) breaking into new markets through a) better trade logistics to reduce delivery lags ; as world markets become more competitive and newer products demand shorter lead times, to generate new sources of competitiveness and thereby enable market diversification; and b) better exploitation of regional trading opportunities in nearby growing and dynamic markets, especially East and South Asia; (2) breaking into new products through a) more neutral and rational trade policy and taxation and bonded warehouse schemes; b) concerted efforts to spur domestic investment and attract foreign direct investment, to contribute to export promotion and diversification, including by easing the energy and land constraints; and c) strategic development and promotion of services trade; (3) improving worker and consumer welfare by a) improving skills and literacy; b) implementing labor and work safety guidelines; and c) making safety nets more effective in dealing with trade shocks; and (4) building a supportive environment, including a) sustaining sound macroeconomic fundamentals; and b) strengthening the institutional capacity for strategic policy making aimed at the objective of international competitiveness to help bring focus and coherence to the government’s reform efforts. This second volume provides in-depth analysis across seven cross-cutting themes that underpin most of the findings of pillars 1 and 2 above.Publication An Investment Framework for Nutrition(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-04-12)The report estimates the costs, impacts and financing scenarios to achieve the World Health Assembly global nutrition targets for stunting, anemia in women, exclusive breastfeeding and the scaling up of the treatment of severe wasting among young children. To reach these four targets, the world needs $70 billion over 10 years to invest in high-impact nutrition-specific interventions. This investment would have enormous benefits: 65 million cases of stunting and 265 million cases of anemia in women would be prevented in 2025 as compared with the 2015 baseline. In addition, at least 91 million more children would be treated for severe wasting and 105 million additional babies would be exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life over 10 years. Altogether, achieving these targets would avert at least 3.7 million child deaths. Every dollar invested in this package of interventions would yield between $4 and $35 in economic returns, making investing in early nutrition one of the best value-for-money development actions. Although some of the targets—especially those for reducing stunting in children and anemia in women—are ambitious and will require concerted efforts in financing, scale-up, and sustained commitment, recent experience from several countries suggests that meeting these targets is feasible. These investments in the critical 1000 day window of early childhood are inalienable and portable and will pay lifelong dividends – not only for children directly affected but also for us all in the form of more robust societies – that will drive future economies.Publication At a Crossroads(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-05-02)Higher education (HE) has expanded dramatically in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) since 2000. While access became more equitable, quality concerns remain. This volume studies the expansion, as well as HE quality, variety and equity in LAC. It investigates the expansion’s demand and supply drivers, and outlines policy implications.Publication Leveraging the Potential of Argentine Cities(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-10-18)Argentina’s path to economic prosperity is through efficient, sustainable and economically thriving cities. Not only are cities a spatial concentration of people, but also they generate agglomeration economies by concentrating ideas, talent, and knowledge. Argentina is one of the most urbanized countries in Latin America, with 90 percent of Argentine people currently living in cities. Argentina’s cities are geographically and economically diverse, and its largest urban area – Metropolitan Buenos Aires – is one of Latin America’s urban giants. Argentine cities need to address three main challenges to leverage their economic potential. Argentina’s current patterns of urban development are characterized by (a) high primacy and unbalanced regional development, (b) limited global economic footprint of urban economies, with employment concentrated in nontradable and resource intensive sectors, and (c) unplanned low-density urban expansion. Argentine cities thus face the challenges of moving toward a more balanced regional development, transitioning from local to global cities, and from urban sprawl to articulated densities to take full advantage of the benefits of agglomeration economies. To address these challenges, Argentina needs the leadership of the federal government; the coordinating power of provinces; and the capacity of empowered, financially sound municipalities. Argentine cities also need system-wide policy reforms in areas such as territorial planning, municipal finance, housing, urban transport, and local economic development. Leveraging the Potential of Argentine Cities: A Framework for Policy Action aims to deepen our empirical understanding of the interplay between urbanization and agglomeration economies in Argentina by asking the following: (a) What are the main trends and spatial patterns of Argentina’s urbanization that underlie agglomeration economies?, (b) Are urban policies leveraging or undermining the benefits of agglomeration economies?, and (c) Are Argentine cities fully reaping the benefits of agglomeration economies to deliver improvements in prosperity and livability? By addressing such questions and exploring their implications for action, this study provides a conceptual framework, empirical data, and strategic directions for leveraging the potential of Argentine cities.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Global Public Policies and Programs : Implications for Financing and Evaluation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-06)These are the proceedings from a World Bank workshop on global public policies, and programs, assembled from transcripts, and accompanying papers. The combination of market failure, and limited institutional capacity to influence economic, and social change across national borders, underlies public discontent with aid. This formed the basis for discussions, looking for new approaches to the development assistance business, taking into account the growing integration of the global economy, and arguing that, beyond supporting market-friendly reforms, aid strategies must be designed to overcome social, and structural constraints to sustainable development. The broad range of cases examined include efforts to craft commonly accepted standards for the design, and operation of large dams; they address issues of global financial instability; explore the implications of intellectual property rights protection for developing countries; describe the promotion of international agricultural research; probe the implementation of international public health programs; and, identify the dilemmas associated with the financing, and evaluation of global public policies, and programs. Such programs have become center stage because of irreversible processes associated with globalization, and, similar initiatives will dominate the development scene for years to come.Publication Strengthening Environmental Institutions and Governance : What Should be the Role of the World Bank Group?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-11-03)In order to inform the 2010 Strategy, and suggest what role the World Bank Group (WBG) can realistically play in strengthening environmental institutions and governance, this paper takes stock of WBG operations in this area since the 2001 Strategy. Looking across the spectrum of lending and nonlending operations, the first task is to identify the approaches which have been used to engage with clients. The analysis then evaluates whether these approaches have incorporated lessons from past WBG experience, and reflect current understanding of how best to enable environmental institutions and governance reforms. The analysis indicates that the WBG has undertaken two main types of activities in the area of environmental institutions and governance: assessments (of environmental conditions, and institutional and governance structures) and lending operations geared towards technical capacity development. The chief point of entry for these operations has been government ministries, and secondarily civil society organizations.The analysis also indicated that a new approach would be needed to ensure a long-term commitment on the part of the WBG, particularly when undertaking capacity development operations. The average length of environmental institutions and governance projects in the period under study was five years. While such a length is appropriate for reforms of formal rules, activities such as capacity development have been argued to require longer-term engagements. It is recommended that the WBG consider utilizing instruments such as Adaptable Program Loans (APL) and Additional Financing which allow for sustained engagement. Forming strategic alliances with bilateral and multilateral partners will also be critical in this area. The results of the content analysis indicated that the critical institutional ability of accountability requires more attention in WBG. Development Policy Loans (DPLs) could be applied more directly to strengthen institutional accountability. These loans could also be made more effective by fully incorporating recommendations from Country Environmental Assessments (CEA) and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA).Publication Facets of Globalization : International and Local Dimensions of Development(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-10)The chapters in this volume underscore the transformative role of globalization and urbanization, and show the interplay between these forces. Trade reform and liberalized foreign investment regimess have contributed to the spatial reallocation of economic activity toward cities, especially those cities that can attract and nurture human capital and strong connections to other markets. Global factors have, therefore, reinforced agglomeration economies in shifting economic clout toward cities, and in so doing they may be exacerbating regional disparities in incomes. The rise of cities is changing political dynamics in developing nations. It is forcing a reappraisal of existing constitutional structures and center-local relations, as well as the important--and perhaps more mundane-- arrangements for funding and organizing investment by subnational entities. At the same time, democratization is reinforcing the pressures for local autonomy. This perspective shifts the debate away from whether or not globalization is undermining the role of the central state and toward one about the appropriate allocation of responsibilities and resources to different layers of government. Strong arguments support the position that municipalities can, with the appropriate resources and political structures to ensure their responsiveness to local needs, make substantial improvements in the well-being of urban residents. Experience suggests that some state functions ought to remain with government.Publication Environmental Sustainability : An Evaluation of World Bank Group Support(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)The purpose of this evaluation is threefold. First, it seeks to assess how, and how well, the World Bank Group has supported its public and private sector clients in their efforts to achieve greater environmental sustainability over the past 15 years. Second, it attempts to identify the principal external and internal constraints on Bank Group effectiveness. And third, it seeks to suggest how some of these constraints, particularly the internal ones, can be reduced.Publication Tanzania: Country Brief(World Bank, 2009)The name Tanzania is a portmanteau of Tanganyika, the mainland, and Zanzibar, the nearby archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The two united to become the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. With a surface area of 947,300 square kilometers, Tanzania is comparable in size to Nigeria and is slightly more than twice the size of the U.S. state of California. Tanzania's population of approximately 40.4 million (as of 2007) is the second largest in East Africa, after Ethiopia's. Dar es Salaam, the most populous city, contains approximately 2.7 million people and accounts for most commercial activity. Swahili (or Kiswahili) and English are the two official languages of Tanzania. A large number of local languages are also spoken. In Zanzibar, Arabic is commonly used. Agriculture remains the mainstay of Tanzania's economy, accounting for one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) and approximately 80 percent of employment. Tanzania is endowed with mineral and natural resources, including gold, diamonds, and several other precious and semiprecious stones. The blue gemstone tanzanite is found only in Tanzania. Tanzania accounted for almost two percent of world gold production as of 2006. Tanzania has a long history of hosting refugee's fleeing civil wars in nearby countries. As of January 2008, there were more than 380,000 refugees living in Tanzania, predominantly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tanzania is an up-market tourism destination. The country is endowed with a variety of tourism assets, including seven United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites and numerous wildlife parks, beach resorts, coral reefs, and spectacular scenic mountain views.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Empowerment in Practice : From Analysis to Implementation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)This book represents an effort to present an easily accessible framework to readers, especially those for whom empowerment remains a puzzling development concern, conceptually and in application. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 explains how the empowerment framework can be used for understanding, measuring, monitoring, and operationalizing empowerment policy and practice. Part 2 presents summaries of each of the five country studies, using them to discuss how the empowerment framework can be applied in very different country and sector contexts and what lessons can be learned from these test cases. While this book can offer only a limited empirical basis for the positive association between empowerment and development outcomes, it does add to the body of work supporting the existence of such a relationship. Perhaps more importantly, it also provides a framework for future research to test the association and to prioritize practical interventions seeking to empower individuals and groups.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03-01)This primer responds to central banks’ growing demand for knowledge on social, governance, and environmental considerations (ESG) in the investment process. This area has gained traction in the last two decades. More recently, central banks’ interest in ESG has increased, but much of the information available is aimed at investors with different investment objectives and broadly diversified portfolios. The authors fill that information gap by reviewing the definitions of ESG and the main ESG investment approaches, including their applicability to asset classes. The authors then examine how foreign reserve managers can apply ESG investing in their reserve management operations. The authors find limited scope for implementing ESG strategies in reserve management, given that most central banks still invest primarily in sovereign bonds of major economies. Yet, the authors also identify opportunities and critical considerations for central banks interested in implementing ESG investing in their reserve management operations.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises : A Toolkit(Washington, DC, 2014-10-04)This Toolkit provides an overall framework with practical tools and information to help policymakers design and implement corporate governance reforms for state-owned enterprises. It covers the key elements of corporate governance, including legal and regulatory framework, state ownership arrangements, performance management systems, financial and fiscal discipline, boards of directors, transparency and disclosure, and protection of shareholders in mixed ownership companies. Experience shows that no one approach is universally applicable and the choice of measures depends on country and enterprise circumstances. The Toolkit thus provides a range of frameworks, concepts, case examples, checklists, and model documents that together aim to help government officials make the appropriate choices for their circumstances. The Toolkit concludes with guidance on managing the reform process, in particular how to prioritize and sequence reforms, build capacity, and engage with stakeholders.