Alacevich, Michele2012-06-012012-06-012008-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6840Until the late 1960s, the World Bank presented itself as an institution devoted to making sound and directly productive project loans. Yet, during its very early years, some discussions developed inside the Bank regarding the possibility of issuing different types of loans, namely (i) loans aimed at tackling social issues ("social loans"), and (ii) loans aimed at providing foreign currency to address disequilibria in the balance of payments ("impact loans"). This paper brings together historical analysis and theories of organization development to study the housing issue as a case in point. The analysis reveals that the Bank was unwilling to lend for housing programs not because these were not sound - in fact, they were - but because they were geared toward achieving social welfare objectives and were not directly linked to productive investment projects, such as dams, power stations, and railroads. This early decision had a significant impact on the subsequent development of the Bank's view of policy-making: it locked the institution into a particular lending pattern, and deprived it of important intellectual resources. It was not until the late 1960s that the Bank began to take social issues into consideration, rather late compared with other multilateral institutions.CC BY 3.0 IGOBALANCE OF PAYMENTSBANK LENDINGBANK LOANSBANK OFFICIALBANK OFFICIALSBASIC NEEDSBONDSBORROWINGBUSINESS COMMUNITYCONSUMERCONSUMER GOODSCONTRIBUTIONSCORPORATIONCREDITSCREDITWORTHINESSDEBTDEFICITSDISPOSABLE INCOMEECONOMIC CONDITIONSECONOMIC COOPERATIONECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC POLICYEMPLOYERSEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEXCLUSIONEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESEXTERNALITIESFEDERAL AGENCYFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFISCAL YEARSFOREIGN CURRENCYFOREIGN EXCHANGEFULL EMPLOYMENTHOUSINGHOUSING LOANSINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME GROUPSINCOMESINCORPORATEDINDIVIDUALSINFLATIONINITIATIVEINSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTMENT PROGRAMLACK OF INTERESTLAWYERLEADERSHIPLENDING POLICIESLOANLOAN APPLICATIONLOAN POLICYLOCAL CURRENCYLOCAL GOVERNMENTMANAGERSMIGRATIONMONETARY POLICIESMONETARY POLICYMORTGAGEMORTGAGE LOANSNATIONAL BANKNATIONAL ECONOMYORGANIZATIONAL CHANGEPATH DEPENDENCEPATH DEPENDENTPRIVATE SAVINGSPRODUCTIVITYRATE OF GROWTHREORGANIZATIONREPAYMENTRESPONSIBILITIESSAVINGSSENIORSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL STRUCTURESOCIAL WELFARESOURCE OF FUNDSSPONSORTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETRADE UNIONSTYPES OF LOANSUNEMPLOYMENTURBAN DEVELOPMENTURBAN POPULATIONURBAN SERVICESURBANIZATIONWORTHWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4670