1. An Overview of Research at the World Bank
Jean-Jacques Dethier
DEC, The World Bank
Presentation at Researchers’ Alliance for Development Annual Meeting,
The Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam,
Sunday, May 22, 2005

2. OUTLINE 1. What kind of research does the World Bank do?
How much research does the World Bank do?
Evidence on research output in 2003
3. What is the impact of World Bank research? Evidence
Complementarity between DEC and non-DEC
research within the World Bank
5. Synergies between Bank and non-Bank research

4. Analysis
DEC Research
Prospects
Data
Data

5. Research Website

6. Examples of Research done at the Bank
Number of people living below US$1 a day
1-2-3 General equilibrium model
Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys
Investment Climate Surveys
Gender Policy Research Report
Conflict and Development
Evaluation of Progresa, Bolsa Escola & other conditional cash transfers
Culture (book edited by Rao and Walton)
Political Economy (Keefer, Knack et al.)

7. World Bank Research Output, 1998-2003

8. Impact of Research
Impact on Bank operational activities: Data and analytic tools developed for poverty analysis
Research sometimes leads to new lines of Bank business
Research sometimes instrumental in moving the Bank away from some forms of intervention
Advocacy role on global issues: Trade, Doha Round
DEC research has influenced world opinion and shaped policy priorities.
Evidence of impact
Quality & effectiveness of Bank operations increased by high-quality analytical work
Research has often contributed directly to shaping lending strategies and operations.
Bank staff outside research rely heavily on DEC’s outputs.
Impact on policy makers in developing countries.
Impact of Bank research on academic community

9. Citations Per Article. Economics, Business and Social Sciences Journals

10. Distribution of Bank staff engaged in research, papers and citations

11. Main themes of DEC research program
Growth and Equity
Global Issues
Evaluation

12. Theme 1: Growth and Equity
Investment Climate
Public Services for the Poor
Provider Behavior
Political Economy
Progress toward the MDGs
Equity and Development

13. Theme 2: Global Issues International Trade Migration
Trade Policy Reform
Trade, Technical Change and Growth
Trade, Development and Poverty Reduction
Migration
Measuring the flows
Remittances
Brain Drain
Security and Development
Development, terrorism and drug trafficking
Conflict and Post-conflict development

14. Theme 3: Policy Evaluation
New evaluation tools, based directly or indirectly on randomized trials, becoming available for evaluating the development impact of projects in education, health, infrastructure, or cash transfers
Tools to be developed for ex ante evaluation of policies with economy-wide impact (e.g. trade, financial reforms)—exploring links between macroeconomic conditions and households and firms.
Impact evaluation = establishing causal links between interventions and outcomes in critical development areas—by comparing results of an intervention with those of a counterfactual (what the situation would have been without the intervention).
The methodological and operational challenge is to identify the most appropriate counterfactual.
Bank-wide effort led by Chief Economist to improve effectiveness of our projects and programs (Development Impact Evaluation -- DIME)

15. Useful sources: J. Wolfensohn and F
Useful sources: J. Wolfensohn and F. Bourguignon, Development and Poverty Reduction. Looking Back, Looking Ahead, Washington, DC: The World Bank, N. Stern, J.J. Dethier and F.H. Rogers, Growth and Empowerment. Making Development Happen, Cambridge: The MIT Press, The World Bank, Report on the World Bank Group Research Program Fiscal 2002 and 2003 and Future Directions, Washington, DC, The World Bank, I am grateful to Francois Bourguignon, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, and Alan Winters, Director of Research, DEC, for sharing with me their views on research and giving me access to useful materials.