Independent Evaluation Group Studies

Unlock the potential of small enterprises in driving economic growth. This evaluation from the World Bank Group examines its targeted support for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, offering insights for policymakers and development practitioners. Discover how targeted interventions can effectively address market failures, build sustainable markets, and enhance economic opportunity. Learn about the importance of access to finance, business development services, and regulatory reforms in fostering a thriving SME sector. This report provides practical recommendations for improving the design and implementation of SME support programs. - Clarify approaches to targeted support. - Enhance relevance and additionality. - Institute a tailored research agenda. - Strengthen guidance and quality control. For those seeking to understand the role of SMEs in development, this report offers an analytical and strategic framework for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.

Unlock effective state-level development strategies in large federal countries. This insightful study analyzes the World Bank's 10-year engagement in Brazil, India, Nigeria, and Russia, offering valuable lessons for policymakers and development practitioners. Explore the evolution of Bank strategies, the challenges of balancing reformist goals with poverty reduction, and the importance of public finance management. Discover how knowledge transfer and donor coordination can enhance development outcomes. This report is essential for anyone seeking to improve the effectiveness of subnational development initiatives.

The World Bank Group is currently engaged in reflection and debate on how to improve the delivery of development support. Part of this debate concerns strengthening the knowledge agenda. The findings of this evaluation are particularly relevant because they speak directly to questions that the institution is deliberating. In particular, they address four key aspects of the "science of delivery": the role of local partners or local knowledge hubs; consultation with clients and other stakeholders in the process of designing knowledge services; delivery of knowledge on issues that are relevant to the client; and improving the way the Bank Group learns from upper-middle-income countries and intermediating this knowledge to other countries. The evaluation assesses knowledge-based activities in nine country programs selected from 48 knowledge-intensive programs supported by the Bank Group. It identifies the factors in the success or failure of those activities as they contribute to policy making or development outcomes. It also identifies areas of strength for the Bank Group as well as areas of weakness or risk. The main objective of the evaluation is to learn lessons from practices in a focus group of high-income and upper-middle-income countries that have knowledge-based programs with the Bank Group. The findings have implications for the Bank Group's knowledge work, including governance and incentives. Over the past 15 years, Bank Group country programs have shifted toward more intensive delivery of knowledge services relative to lending, and this trend is expected to continue. The evaluation was done on economic and sector work and non-lending technical assistance activities selected from a purposive sample of knowledge-intensive country programs. In addition, the evaluation assessed International Finance Corporation Advisory Services for their synergy with the Bank's analytical and advisory activities. The lessons from this evaluation could help leverage the Bank Group's global knowledge to meet the needs of countries that mainly rely on knowledge services and are not pressed for financing.

The unanticipated spike in international food prices in 2007-08 hit many developing countries hard. International prices for food and other agricultural products increased by more than 100 percent between early 2007 and mid-2008. Prices for food cereals more than doubled; and those for rice doubled in the space of just a few months. The food price increases were particularly hard on the poor and near-poor in developing countries, many of whom spend a large share of their income on food and have limited means to cope with price shocks. An estimated 1.29 billion people in 2008 lived on less than $1.25 a day, equivalent to 22.4 percent of the developing world population. In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 923 million people were undernourished in 2007. Simulation models suggested that poverty rose by 100-200 million people and the undernourished increased by 63 million in 2008. The World Bank organized rapidly for short-term support in the crisis, launching a fast-track program of loans and grants, the Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP). The GFRP mainly targeted low-income countries, and provided detailed policy advice to governments and its own staff on how to respond to the crisis. The Bank also scaled up lending for agriculture and social protection to support the building of medium-term resilience to future food price shocks. The International Finance Corporation responded by sharply increasing access to liquidity for agribusinesses and agricultural traders in the short and medium term, as well as new programs to improve incentives for agricultural market participants. This evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the World Bank Group response in addressing the short-term impacts of the food price crisis and in enhancing the resilience of countries to future shocks.

Good public procurement practices are a major determinant of the effectiveness of public expenditure. Effective policies enable better use of government budgets and are therefore an essential element of the poverty reduction focus of the World Bank. More effective public procurement in countries may also allow procurement practices in the World Bank lending to be unified and harmonized with other donors. Two overarching questions form the core of this evaluation: To what extent has the World Bank helped countries develop better procurement capacity and improve their public procurement systems? And to what extent does the application of World Bank procurement policies in its investment lending help support its own development objectives? World Bank contributions to the procurement process in countries have taken the form of both advisory services and support through lending. IEG reviews the nature and quality of diagnostic work as well as loans focused on procurement reform - and the impact in terms of results. IEG's findings lead to a number of recommendations that focus on developing plans and projects in the context of country strategies and implementing changes along prevailing best practices. The recommendations are specific to World Bank systems, although the challenges and issues of effective and transparent procurement are not. Lessons from this evaluation can be applied to improve procurement practices in any system.

Fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS) have become an important focus of World Bank Group assistance in recent years as recognition of the linkages between fragility, conflict, violence, and poverty has grown. Addressing issues of recurring conflict and political violence and helping build legitimate and accountable state institutions are central to the Bank Group's poverty reduction mission. This evaluation assesses the relevance and effectiveness of World Bank Group country strategies and assistance programs to FCS. The operationalization of the World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development (2011 WDR) is also assessed, to see how the framework has been reflected in subsequent analytical work, country assistance strategies, and the assistance programs. The evaluation framework was derived from the concepts and priorities articulated in recent WDRs, policy papers, and progress reports issued by Bank Group management, to draw lessons from FCS. The framework is organized around the three major themes emerging from the 2011 WDR: building state capacity, building capacity of citizens, and promoting inclusive growth and jobs. The evaluation focuses on International Development Association (IDA)-only countries, which are deemed to have certain characteristics such as very low average income and no access to private finance, making them eligible for special finance tools and programs. As the benchmark for measuring results, Bank Group performance is evaluated in 33 fragile and conflict-affected states against that of 31 IDA-only countries that have never been on the FCS list. Six new country case studies; analyses of Bank Group portfolios; human resources and budget data; secondary analysis of IEG evaluations; background studies including those on aid flows, gender, private sector development, and jobs; and surveys of Bank Group staffs and stakeholders are also included in the evaluation.

The World Bank finances about US$720 million in training every year, through both its lending projects and its in-house World Bank Institute (WBI). The evaluation found that while most of the training reviewed resulted in demonstrable participant learning, this learning frequently did not lead to real change in participants' workplace performance. Poor training outcomes most often resulted from training content that wasn't relevant to the needs and goals of the target institutions, or from the trainees' lack of incentives or resources to apply learning in their workplaces. These findings highlight how important it is for training to be embedded in broader capacity-building programs that identify and address organizational and institutional capacity constraints alongside human ones.

Unlocking Infrastructure Potential Through Public-Private PartnershipsWorld Bank Group Support to Public-Private Partnerships examines the effectiveness of the World Bank Group's assistance to developing countries in utilizing public-private partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development. This evaluation assesses the relevance, success, and coordination of the Bank Group's PPP initiatives, offering valuable lessons and recommendations. This study is for government officials, policymakers, development practitioners, private sector investors, and academics interested in: - Overcoming infrastructure deficits - Mobilizing private sector finance - Improving project preparation and execution - Creating enabling environments for PPPs - Achieving sustainable development outcomes Discover how the World Bank Group's strategic framework, resource deployment, and inter-institutional collaboration can drive successful PPPs and foster economic growth in client countries.

Can innovation and entrepreneurship drive economic growth in developing countries? This independent evaluation from the World Bank Group examines the effectiveness of its support for innovation and entrepreneurship in developing countries. The report identifies key challenges and opportunities for the Bank Group to enhance its support, including: - Developing a consistent strategic framework - Improving risk financing for early-stage start-ups - Facilitating knowledge sharing This evaluation is for policymakers, development practitioners, and researchers seeking insightful analysis and actionable recommendations for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the developing world. It offers a comprehensive review of the World Bank Group's efforts and provides valuable lessons for improving their effectiveness.

Improving Development through Effective EvaluationThe development paradigm has shifted toward private investment, and the private sector has become central in development strategies. The International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency are developing and refining their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) efforts. This report from the Independent Evaluation Group takes stock of the evolution of the M&E systems in the two organizations, assessing their adequacy, coverage, and quality. IEG acknowledges progress by the two institutions. IFC has advanced its systems for gathering and applying project information and has strengthened its coverage of indicators that measure results. MIGA has introduced self-evaluation of its projects and started gathering some standard development indicators. - Discover the importance of IFC and MIGA managements continuing their efforts to deepen M and E. - Learn about key areas that need improvement. - Find recommendations for IFC regarding quality, verification of data, and tracing effects. - Explore how MIGA needs to adapt and streamline its evaluation approach to fit its business practices. This book is for development professionals, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders in international finance and private sector development.

This independent evaluation of the Doing Business Indicators assesses the methods and processes used to construct the indicators, their relevance to development outcomes, and their usefulness to policy makers and other stakeholders. It makes recommendations for improving the collection and presentation of data and for greater clarity in communicating what the indicators can and cannot capture.

The World Bank Group has remained an important partner for the government of Brazil in addressing many key policy challenges. The World Bank adapted its program effectively to meet shifting country needs, which moved to subnational government support in the mid-2000s. The overall outcome of the Bank Group program is rated as moderately satisfactory, with some important variability across themes. The Bank Group made significant contributions when it served as an advisor, providing analytical input and exchanging views on relevant policy issues. Advisory support for structuring public-private partnership projects leveraged IFC's global expertise in project financing. The Bank Group's convening power provided diverse stakeholders with a platform to examine issues and trade-offs that cut across organizational boundaries. In addition, the Bank helped reduce deforestation in the Amazon through support for a major expansion of protected areas and indigenous territories, as well as for building the capacity of national and state environmental agencies. Results were less satisfactory in addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, particularly in logistics and the cost of doing business. These areas remained critical constraints to Brazil's growth and a key government concern. A question regarding the overall country strategy is whether the use of a few very large operations with opportunity cost relative to the IBRD exposure limit was appropriate. The strong demand for Bank Group financial and knowledge support in Brazil is likely to continue. To ensure efficient use of operational resources, the Bank Group must maximize its contribution per dollar loaned and per dollar of Bank Group budget resources. IEG recommends that the Bank Group make catalytic impact a major criterion in the design of its future strategy in Brazil. This means that in selecting the programs and projects to support, the emphasis should be on work that has benefits beyond the individual intervention.

This Peru Country Program Evaluation for the World Bank Group, 2003-2009 is part of IEG's country program evaluation series. To date, IEG's in-depth country evaluations have comprised IEG-WB Country Assistance Evaluations (CAEs) and IEG-IFC Country Impact Reviews (CIRs). Both the CAEs and CIRs have involved comprehensive evaluations of the respective institutions' activities in a country. In a pilot approach, this evaluation was prepared by a single IEG team that looked at development interventions across the three WBG institutions. The evaluation draws on WBG documents, external literature, and on interviews with government officials, representatives of the private sector and civil society, nongovernmental organizations, bilateral and multilateral development partners, and Bank, IFC, and MIGA staff in Washington and in Peru. An IEG mission visited Peru in September 2009. IEG also cooperated with the Evaluation Office of the Global Environment Facility that was conducting a parallel evaluation in Peru.

Development patterns, increasing population pressure, and the demand for better livelihoods in many parts of the globe all contribute to a steadily deepening global water crisis. Development redirects, consumes, and pollutes water. It also causes changes in the state of natural water reservoirs, directly by draining aquifers and indirectly by melting glaciers and the polar ice caps. Maintaining a sustainable relationship between water and development requires that current needs be balanced against the needs of future generations. The development community has transformed and broadened its approach to water since the 1980s. As stresses on the quality and availability of water have increased, donors have begun to move toward more comprehensive approaches that seek to integrate water into development in other sectors. This evaluation examines the full scope of the World Bank's lending and grant support for water activities. More than 30 background papers prepared for the evaluation have analyzed Bank lending by thematic area and by activity type. IDA and IBRD (the Bank) have supported countries in many water-related sectors. The evaluation, by definition, is retrospective, but it identifies changes that will be necessary going forward, including those related to strengthening institutions and increasing financial sustainability. Lessons and results from nearly 2,000 loans and credits, and work with 142 countries are identified.

The Independent Evaluation Group's (IEG) Results and Performance of the World Bank Group (RAP) is a comprehensive assessment of World Bank Group performance, drawing on recent IEG evaluations. The report also examines how effectively the World Bank Group addressed current and emerging development challenges. This year's RAP focuses on gender integration in World Bank Group operations, building on previous examinations of World Bank Group approaches to risk management (RAP 2013) and the Millennium Development Goals (RAP 2014). 'No country, community, or economy can achieve its potential or meet the challenges of the 21st century without the full and equal participation of women and men, girls and boys.' This statement from the World Bank Group website's topic page on gender states the essential importance of gender for development. In line with that view, the World Bank Group made considerable progress in addressing gender issues during the past 15 years. Gender has been a prominent corporate objective since the first World Bank Group strategy, introduced in 2001. This year, a new World Bank Group gender strategy has been launched-the first joint World Bank–International Finance Corporation (IFC) strategy to focus on gender. It is an important step toward sharpening the corporate focus on gender and improving the approach to gender mainstreaming. This report describes how mechanisms for integrating gender in projects and country strategies are working, and to what extent they provide meaningful information about progress and results on gender. The analysis aims to inform World Bank Group efforts to strengthen the approach to documenting, assessing, and evaluating results as part of the new strategy rollout. The report also reviews how effectively the World Bank Group's portfolio and country programs deliver results, and its system for monitoring the implementation of IEG's recommendations.

Private firms are at the forefront of the development process, providing more than 90 percent of jobs, supplying goods and services, and representing a significant source of tax revenues. Their ability to grow, create jobs, and reduce poverty depends critically on a well-functioning investment climate--defined as the policy, legal, and institutional arrangements underpinning the functioning of markets and the level of transaction costs and risks associated with starting, operating, and closing a business. The World Bank Group has provided extensive support to investment climate reforms. This evaluation by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) assesses the relevance, effectiveness, and social value of World Bank Group support to investment climate reforms as it relates to concerns for inclusion and shared prosperity. IEG finds that the World Bank Group has supported a comprehensive menu of investment climate reforms and has improved investment climate in countries, as measured by number of laws enacted, streamlining of processes and time, or simple cost savings for private firms. However, the impact on investment, jobs, business formation, and growth is not straightforward. Regulatory reforms need to be designed and implemented with both economic and social costs and benefits in mind; IEG found that, in practice, World Bank Group support focuses predominantly on reducing costs to businesses. In supporting investment climate reforms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation use two distinct but complementary business models. Despite the fact that investment climate is the most integrated business unit in the World Bank Group, coordination is mostly informal, relying mainly on personal contacts. IEG recommends that the World Bank Group expand its range of diagnostic tools and integrate them in the areas of the business environment not yet covered by existing tools; develop an approach to identify the social effects of regulatory reforms on all groups expected to be affected by them beyond the business community; and exploit synergies by ensuring that World Bank and IFC staff improve their understanding of each other's work and business models.

'The Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2009' presents evidence on the World Bank's efforts in two areas. Part I tracks the outcomes of Bank projects and country programs and the evolution of monitoring and evaluation (M and E). Part II examines the Bank's support for environmentally sustainable development compatible with economic growth and poverty reduction. The Bank's project performance rebounded in 2008, allaying concerns about the weakened performance in 2007. As previous ARDEs have shown, project performance has been improving gradually for 15 years according to the traditional measure-percent of projects with satisfactory (versus unsatisfactory) outcomes. But IEG ratings of M and E quality for completed projects indicate considerable room for progress. Information to assess impacts continues to be lacking although preliminary data suggests improvements in baseline data collection. Bank support for the environment has recovered since 2002 due to new sources of concessional finance. The outcomes of environment projects have improved in recent years. A growing number of regional projects are addressing the shared use of water resources. New global partnerships are deepening the Bank's involvement in climate change issues. But M and E remains weak: three-quarters of environment-related projects-those managed by sectors other than environment-lack reporting of environmental outcomes.

The World Bank Group was a principal founding partner of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in its pilot phase in 1991, and of the restructured GEF in 1994. The Bank plays three different roles in the GEF: (a) as trustee of the GEF and related trust funds, (b) as implementing agency, including the implementation of private-sector GEF projects by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and (c) as the host organization of the functionally independent GEF secretariat. Focusing primarily on the role of the Bank as an implementing agency, this review documents how the partnership that the GEF and the World Bank Group established in the early 1990s has evolved over time, offers explanations for observed changes, and draws a number of lessons. The review addresses the following issues: * The mutual relevance of the World Bank Group and the GEF * Inter-organizational coordination along the World Bank Group-GEF project cycle * The introduction of the GEF's resource allocation systems in 2006 and 2010 * The evolution and effectiveness of the Bank Group's GEF portfolio * Catalytic approaches in the Bank Group-GEF partnership: co-financing, blending, and mainstreaming * The World Bank's corporate activities as a GEF implementing agency. The principal purposes of this review are (a) to help improve the relevance and effectiveness of the Bank Group's partnership with the GEF, and (b) to draw lessons for the Bank Group's partnership with the GEF and other large global partnership programs.