Multilateral Banks and the Development Process

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When the links in the chain represent development projects, if individual projects fail to achieve their purpose, the development program's effectiveness is compromised. When the chain's links are strong and well-connected, the results are improved for the sector, country, and region. The role of multilateral banks is crucial; they inform the impact of development operations and support policymakers in decision making. This volume emphasizes that some crucial links in development tend to be systematically overlooked. In these matters, preoccupation with the immediate exigencies seems to come at the expense of attention to enduring problems-at a great cost to society. Development practitioners should apply policies that have produced results over time, ensuring that the links in the chain are strong, but too often they overlook those links-because of myopia, complexity, tradition, or special interests. This book will help policy makers and practitioners focus on the links that measure progress, apply lessons, and matter for lasting results.

Vinod Thomas is Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore, and Distinguished Fellow at the Asian Institute of Management, Manila. Previously he was director general of independent evaluation at the Asian Development Bank. Prior to that he was senior vice president at the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank Group where he had also served as vice president of the World Bank Institute. His books include Economic Evaluation of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Natural Disasters, and The Quality of Growth. Xubei Luo is a senior economist at the World Bank Group. She has conducted country work in the East Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and Africa Regions. Her areas of interest include poverty and inequality, economic growth, digital economy, labor market, spatial economy, value chains, business environment, and results chain. She has over 50 publications, including in peer-reviewed journals and as chapters of Handbooks, and has presented guest lectures at Columbia University.

Eight Lessons, 1. The Results Chain, Part I: Aim to Get Results, 2. Let Not the Urgent Divert the Important, 3. Connect Links that Strengthen Results, Part II: Measuring Results, 4. Composite Indicators Can Mislead 5. Go from Averages to Targeted Segments, 6. Align Intermediate and Final Goals, Part III: Applying Lessons to Boost Results, 7. New Challenges Call for Shifts in Direction, 8. Capture Opportunities, 9. Tarry Not-For Timing Is (Almost) Everything, 10. Conclusion