Evaluation of the World Bank's Support for Public Sector Reform

The World Bank's 'Independent Evaluation Group' (IEG) is undertaking an evaluation of the Bank's support for public sector reform (PSR). The main objective of the evaluation is to help the World Bank learn how to contribute more effectively to PSR in its member countries. The intended audience also includes government officials and other stakeholders that want to see what lessons are available for improving project and program design and for better using the Bank's support for PSR. The themes of the evaluation include (1) public expenditure and financial management, (2) civil service and administrative reform, (3) tax administration, and (4) anti-corruption and transparency. It focuses on what has been learned from the 1999-2006 experiences, but also looks back to the 1990s to cover the full trajectory of World Bank support for these reforms. The three main areas of work for the evaluation team are country case studies, thematic analyses of the four areas mentioned above, and statistical analysis of the pattern of public-sector issues, interventions and outcome in a large country sample. CMI is responsible for the anti-corruption and transparency component of the evaluation covering 19 developing and transitionary countries.