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The New Role of the World Bank - Working Paper 421

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  • Michael Clemens and Michael Kremer

Abstract

The World Bank was founded to correct failures in international capital markets. That role has shifted over the past 70 years. Modern analyses should proceed from the premise that the Bank’s central goal is and should be to reduce extreme poverty. We show that the vast majority of donor subsidies to the Bank go to its funding vehicles aimed at the poorest nations. We argue that the Bank’s principal impact arises through its influence on national policies, and that economic theory suggests such influence is often best exerted multilaterally. This view implies new ways to structure and evaluate the institution.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Clemens and Michael Kremer, 2016. "The New Role of the World Bank - Working Paper 421," Working Papers 421, Center for Global Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:cgd:wpaper:421
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    File URL: http://www.cgdev.org/publication/changes-funding-patterns-latin-american-banking-systems-how-large-how-risky-wp420
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Fuchs, Andreas & Dreher, Axel & Hodler, Roland & Parks, Bradley C. & Raschky, Paul, 2015. "Aid on Demand: African Leaders and the Geography of China s Foreign Assistance," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112838, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Dang, Hai-Anh H. & Serajuddin, Umar, 2020. "Tracking the sustainable development goals: Emerging measurement challenges and further reflections," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Daoud, Adel & Reinsberg, Bernhard & Kentikelenis, Alexander E. & Stubbs, Thomas H. & King, Lawrence P., 2019. "The International Monetary Fund’s interventions in food and agriculture: An analysis of loans and conditions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 204-218.
    4. William Perraudin & Andrew Powell & Peng Yang, 2016. "Multilateral Development Bank Ratings and Preferred Creditor Status," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 94656, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Hodler, Roland & Parks, Bradley C. & Raschky, Paul A. & Tierney, Michael J., 2019. "African leaders and the geography of China's foreign assistance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 44-71.
    6. Briggs, Ryan C., 2018. "Poor targeting: A gridded spatial analysis of the degree to which aid reaches the poor in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 133-148.
    7. Cole,Shawn Allen & Melecky,Martin & Molders,Florian & Reed,Tristan, 2020. "Long-run Returns to Impact Investing in Emerging Market and Developing Economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9366, The World Bank.
    8. Marta Halina Gebska, 2021. "Implications for Economic Security of the Three Seas Initiative Countries Resulting from Membership in the World Bank," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 486-505.
    9. Knack,Stephen & Parks,Bradley Christopher & Harutyunyan,Ani & DiLorenzo,Matthew, 2020. "How Does the World Bank Influence the Development Policy Priorities of Low-Income and Lower-Middle Income Countries ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9225, The World Bank.
    10. Michael Kremer & Jack Willis & Yang You, 2021. "Converging to Convergence," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2021, volume 36, pages 337-412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Richard Clark & Lindsay R. Dolan, 2021. "Pleasing the Principal: U.S. Influence in World Bank Policymaking," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 36-51, January.
    12. M. Rodwan Abouharb & Erick Duchesne, 2019. "Economic Development and the World Bank," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-30, May.
    13. Ferreira,Francisco H. G., 2022. "The Analysis of Inequality in the Bretton Woods Institutions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10149, The World Bank.
    14. Tsuchiya, Yoichi, 2023. "Assessing the World Bank’s growth forecasts," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 64-84.
    15. Peter Moll & Lodewijk Smets, 2020. "Is It the Journey That Matters? A Fresh Look at the Impact of World Bank Policy Lending," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(7), pages 1194-1228, October.
    16. Ileana Daniela Serban & Ani Harutyunyan, 2021. "The European Union as an International Donor: Perceptions from Latin America and the Caribbean," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1820-1839, December.
    17. Perraudin, William & Powell, Andrew & Yang, Peng, 2016. "Multilateral Development Bank Ratings and Preferred Creditor Status," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7686, Inter-American Development Bank.
    18. Selim Jahan, 2017. "Human Development Report 2016 - Human Development for Everyone," Working Papers id:12021, eSocialSciences.
    19. V. Antropov V. & В. Антропов В., 2019. "Многосторонние банки развития в мировой экономике: особенности деятельности и перспективы сотрудничества с Россией // Multilateral Development Banks in the World Economy: Business Specifics and Prospe," Экономика. Налоги. Право // Economics, taxes & law, ФГОБУ "Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации" // Financial University under The Government of Russian Federation, vol. 12(1), pages 98-109.
    20. Hannah C. Gabriel, 2024. "Bankruptcy and international intervention: The case of Addiko bank," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 339-357, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    World Bank; extreme poverty; multilateralism; evaluation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations

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