The World Bank and Good Governance: Decline or Readjustment?

The World Bank has promoted governance reforms in developing countries since the mid-1990s. This ambitious agenda reflects a renewed emphasis on institutions in development theory and has advocated comprehensive, though often contested, reforms in policy domains as diverse as anti-corruption, rule of law and public expenditure management. However, the share of governance-related lending in World Bank commitments has declined noticeably since the global crisis, with many large borrowers altogether avoiding loans that explicitly target governance themes. This paper focuses on two questions: (1) What explains this relative decline of the governance reform agenda? (2) What are the implications for development policy and practice, especially given a global landscape marked by new lenders and increased competition? The paper will approach these questions by combining fresh interviews with World Bank officials at Washington, DC with an extensive document and literature survey. Particular attention will be placed on overlapping staff and borrower preferences in a fast-evolving context of development finance. The findings will advance our understanding of the current trajectory of North-South development cooperation while providing new insight into the life cycle of policy norms in international organisations. [Actual author is: Ali Burak Güven (Birkbeck, University of London) - a.guven@bbk.ac.uk]