The use of impact evaluations (IEs) to assess the causal impacts of development projects has expanded rapidly. Along with major innovations in statistical methods and econometrics, the recent impetus in IE has its roots in the debate about whether development programs achieve their objectives of...

This year's annual review of development effectiveness focuses on assessing the World Bank's development effectiveness, with special attention to global public goods. It notes some encouraging developments. Project performance has improved over the medium term; country programs have worked...

The pace of change in the overall performance of the developing world has not altered markedly over the past 20 years. The number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 1.5 billion in 1980 (40 percent of population), to 1.2 billion in 1990 (28 percent of population), to 1.1 billion in...