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Public Sector Reform: What Works and Why? An IEG evaluation of World Bank Support

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  • 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Independent Evaluation Group, 2008. "Public Sector Reform: What Works and Why? An IEG evaluation of World Bank Support," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6484, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbpubs:6484
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Roll, Michael, 2021. "Institutional change through development assistance: The comparative advantages of political and adaptive approaches," IDOS Discussion Papers 28/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    2. Moll, Peter & Geli, Patricia & Saavedra, Pablo, 2015. "Correlates of success in World Bank development policy lending," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7181, The World Bank.
    3. Jumanne, Bilali Basesa & Keong, Choong Chee, 2017. "Foreign Direct Investment and Public Sector Management and Institutions: The Acquaintances in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Low-Income Economies," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 5(2), July.
    4. Mccourt, Willy, 2012. "Can Top-Down and Bottom-Up be Reconciled? Electoral Competition and Service Delivery in Malaysia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2329-2341.
    5. Anil Hira, 2016. "Broken Windows: Why Culture Matters in Corruption Reform," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 32(1), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Gulrajani, Nilima, 2009. "The future of development management: examining possibilities and potential," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24206, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. McCourt, Willy, 2013. "Models of public service reform : a problem-solving approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6428, The World Bank.

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