Publication: Public Sector Reform: What Works and Why? An IEG evaluation of World Bank Support
Date
2008
ISSN
Published
2008
Author(s)
Independent Evaluation Group
Abstract
The World Bank support for public sector
reform has grown notably in recent years. To address the
questions of what is working and why in this area, the
Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has examined Bank lending
and other support for public sector reform in four areas:
public financial management, administrative and civil
service, revenue administration, and anticorruption and
transparency. A majority of countries that borrowed to
support public sector reform improved their performance in
some dimensions, but there were shortcomings in important
aspects. Middle-income borrowers saw improvements in their
public sector quality more frequently than low-income
borrowers, even though the low-income group usually had
greater needs for public sector improvement. Performance
usually improved for public financial management, tax
administration, and transparency, but not for civil service.
Direct measures to reduce corruption, such as anticorruption
laws and commissions, rarely succeeded, as they often lacked
the necessary support from political elites and the judicial system.
Citation
“Independent Evaluation Group. 2008. Public Sector Reform: What Works and Why? An IEG evaluation of World Bank Support. © Washington, DC : World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/6484 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”