World Bank Group management welcomes Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) review of innovation and entrepreneurship. The global financial crisis required developing economies to actively seek new sources of economic growth. Natural resource-intensive economies are pursuing new ways to diversify...

The unanticipated spike in international food prices in 2007-08 hit many developing countries hard. The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association) organized rapidly for short-term support in the crisis, launching a fast-track...

Good public procurement practices are a major determinant of the effectiveness of public expenditure. On behalf of their citizens, governments typically spend as much as 5-20 percent of their gross domestic product on procurement of goods and services, and effective procurement policies enable...

The goal of Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs), introduced in early 2001 under World Bank Interim guidelines, was to help countries implement comprehensive, country-owned development strategies to promote growth, improve social conditions, and reduce poverty. PRSCs were intended to ease...

Over the past year, the response to the global financial crisis has continued to dominate development and the work of international institutions, including the World Bank Group. Challenges of poverty and fragile states, environment, and climate change remain daunting. But the manner in which...

This evaluation is the first of a series that seeks lessons from the World Bank Group's experience on how to carve out a sustainable growth path. The World Bank Group has never had an explicit corporate strategy on climate change against which evaluative assessments could be made. However, a...

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) assessed the effectiveness of Bank support for decentralization between fiscal 1990 and 2007 in 20 countries, seeking to inform the design and implementation of future support. Given the difficulties of measuring the results of decentralization, the...

The World Bank committed $30.6 billion in transport-related projects during the past decade, making it one of the largest sectors. The evaluation looks into the Bank's experience in the sector, and assesses the institution's interventions, the impact of rapid transport sector expansion, and its...

This evaluation examines the track record of the regional development programs that the World Bank has supported over the past 10 years. While these are relatively few in number, together they offer valuable lessons for how such programs can be designed and implemented to deliver good outcomes....