Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
4-2020
Pages
1-55 pp.
Abstract
This study investigates the World Bank’s use of lending and non-lending instruments to affect the policy priorities of developing countries. In a typical year, the World Bank lends more than $30 billion to its client countries. It also spends approximately $200 million on the provision of analytical and advisory products each year. However, insufficiently granular data on the nature, timing, and distribution of these analytical and advisory products and the policy priorities of client countries has made it difficult for policymakers and scholars to understand which World Bank instruments are most useful for effectuating change in the direction of government policy. With new data on the delivery of analytical and advisory products and microlevel survey data from 1,244 public sector officials in 121 developing countries, this study demonstrates that the organization’s non-lending instruments are more effective than its lending instruments at influencing the policy priorities of client countries. The World Bank’s analytical and advisory products not only affect the direction of government policy, but also its design and implementation.
Rights
This paper is a product of the Development Research Group, Development Economics. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://www.worldbank.org/prwp. The authors may be contacted at bparks@aiddata.wm.edu.
Original Publication Citation
Knack, S., Parks, B.C., Harutyunyan, A., & DiLorenzo, M. (2020). How does the World Bank influence the development policy priorities of low-income and lower-Middle income countries? (Policy Research Working Paper No. 9225). World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/74f73989-2ca4-59c6-9d35-0e3cefa147cf/content
Repository Citation
Knack, Stephen; Parks, Bradley C.; Harutyunyan, Ani; and DiLorenzo, Matthew, "How does the World Bank Influence the Development Policy Priorities of Low-Income and Lower-Middle Income Countries?" (2020). Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications. 85.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/politicalscience_geography_pubs/85
Included in
Development Studies Commons, Economic Policy Commons, Growth and Development Commons, International Relations Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Public Policy Commons
Comments
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.