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What Influences World Bank Project Evaluations?

In: Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Kilby

    (Villanova University)

  • Katharina Michaelowa

    (University of Zurich)

Abstract

In 2011, the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group made its project ratings database public. With broad geographic and sectoral coverage, this database is a valuable resource for research on development effectiveness, what works and what does not. This chapter first provides an overview for scholars interested in evaluation but unfamiliar with the World Bank evaluation system. Next we examine whether geopolitical or institutional factors influence ratings. We focus on how projects are selected for performance assessments and what factors influence project ratings. We find evidence that bureaucratic factors influence selection and that one geopolitical variable—nonpermanent United Nations Security Council membership—impacts ratings. Nonetheless if researchers control for potential biases, World Bank project ratings can provide a valuable way to measure project quality in many applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Kilby & Katharina Michaelowa, 2019. "What Influences World Bank Project Evaluations?," Springer Books, in: Nabamita Dutta & Claudia R. Williamson (ed.), Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development, chapter 0, pages 109-150, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-22121-8_6
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-22121-8_6
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    Cited by:

    1. Eilers, Yota & Kluve, Jochen & Langbein, Jörg & Reiners, Lennart, 2023. "Volume, Risk, Complexity: What Makes Development Finance Projects Succeed or Fail?," IZA Discussion Papers 16691, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Wood, Terence & Howes, Stephen, 2025. "The impact of independence on reported aid performance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Erasmus Kersting & Christopher Kilby, 2019. "The rise of supplemental lending at the World Bank," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1655-1698, November.
    4. Erasmus Kersting & Christopher Kilby, 2021. "Do domestic politics shape U.S. influence in the World Bank?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 29-58, January.
    5. Mirko Heinzel, 2023. "Vytautas Jankauskas and Steffen Eckhard. 2023. The Politics of Evaluation in International Organizations (Oxford: Oxford University Press)," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 777-781, October.
    6. Ryan C. Briggs, 2020. "Results from single-donor analyses of project aid success seem to generalize pretty well across donors," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 947-963, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations
    • O22 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Project Analysis

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