Comparative Analysis of Multilateral Development Bank Safeguard Frameworks using Natural Language Processing

This research studies the harmonization process of multilateral development banks' (MDB) safeguard frameworks. With increasing amounts of joint financing, there is a tendency to harmonize the safeguard frameworks in order to simplify the loan application process. There are several existing reports and studies discussing the similarities between MDB’s safeguard frameworks. However, most of the existing literature adopts narrative methods, and is insufficient to cover a significant number of major MDBs. By using natural language processing techniques, this research captures the tendency, and answers the question of which sectors in the safeguard frameworks are increasingly more similar than the others. This research focuses on the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s safeguard framework and uses it as a reference point for the comparative analysis. This study provides a novel approach to the analysis of the EU environment risk regulation by investigating the significant actors in the public financial sector.