An Evaluation of World Bank Research, 1998-2005
This evaluation of World Bank research between 1998 and 2005 was carried out by a panel consisting of Abhijit Banerjee (MIT), Angus Deaton (Princeton, chair), Nora Lustig (UNDP), and Kenneth Rogoff (Harvard.) The panel selected a large random sampl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/09/19231943/evaluation-world-bank-research-1998-2005 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17896 |
| Summary: | This evaluation of World Bank research
between 1998 and 2005 was carried out by a panel consisting
of Abhijit Banerjee (MIT), Angus Deaton (Princeton, chair),
Nora Lustig (UNDP), and Kenneth Rogoff (Harvard.) The panel
selected a large random sample of research projects, which
were read and assessed by a team of 25 evaluators. Panel
members also solicited views from current and past Bank
staff, as well as from policy makers and academics in
developing countries. Based on the evidence the authors
assembled, the interviews the authors conducted, and their
own consideration, the panel concluded that the World Bank
needs a research department, and that its research needs
cannot be fully met by hiring in from the outside. Research
is a central part of quality control in the Bank, and is
crucial to its claim to be 'Knowledge Bank.'
Without a research-based ability to learn from its projects
and policies, the Bank could not maintain its role as the
world's leading development agency. The 2.5 percent of
its administrative budget that the Bank spends on research
is surely too low given the multiplicity of tasks that
research is expected to fulfill, including the generation of
new knowledge about development, the collection and
dissemination of data, the generation of knowledge to
support guide Bank strategy, operational support, and
capacity building in client countries. As the world becomes
richer, and already today among middle income countries, the
need for high-quality, research-based advice will only
become stronger as the need for Bank lending diminishes. |
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