Supporting effective public sector reform is a major challenge that the World Bank and other agencies and stakeholders have been grappling with. It is increasingly recognized that political economy factors play a crucial role. However, beyond this broad proposition, specific questions arise:...

This note is based on presentations and comments by Francois Bourguignon, Frances Stewart, Leonard Wantchekon, and Nancy Birdsall (chair) at the 2008 PREM Conference session on political economy of inequality: implications for inclusive growth and focuses on actions that the World Bank may...

Politics and the political economy matter for whether and how reforms happen in developing as well as in developed countries. The World Bank as an institution and its individual country and task teams has been grappling with this issue for many years. The good practice framework described here...

Problem-driven political economy analysis holds considerable promise to help development practitioners identify what policies and strategies are most likely to succeed in addressing difficult and persistent development challenges. This volume is the result of a systematic effort to take stock of...