Evaluation of World Bank Support for Public Sector Reform

The effectiveness and efficiency of a country's public sector is vital to the success of development activities, including those the World Bank supports. Sound financial management, an efficient civil service and administrative policy, efficient and fair collection of taxes, and transparent operations that are relatively free of corruption all contribute to good delivery of public services. Although a majority of countries that borrowed to support public sector reform experienced improved performance in some dimensions, there were shortcomings in important areas and in overall coordination. The frequency of improvement was higher among International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) borrowers than among International Development Association (IDA) borrowers. Performance usually improved for public financial management, tax administration, and transparency, but performance did not usually improve with respect to civil service. Direct measures to reduce corruption such as anticorruption laws and commissions rarely succeeded. Recommendations to the Bank focus on improving guidelines for civil service and anticorruption reforms and on setting realistic objectives and sequencing for reforms. The Bank has helped develop tools to improve transparency and reduce bureaucratic corruption, such as the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS), quantitative service delivery surveys, and the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS).

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Thomas, Vinod
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-02
Subjects:ACCESS TO INFORMATION, ACCOUNTABILITY, ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING, ANTICORRUPTION, ANTICORRUPTION EFFORTS, ANTICORRUPTION LAWS, ANTICORRUPTION MEASURES, ANTICORRUPTION REFORMS, AUDITING, BANK LENDING, BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS, BORROWER, BORROWING, BUDGET CYCLE, BUDGET EXECUTION, BUDGET FORMULATION, BUDGET PLANNING, CASH ACCOUNTING, CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS, CIVIL SERVICE, CORRUPT, CORRUPTION, COUNTRY PROCUREMENT, COUNTRY PROCUREMENT ASSESSMENT, CREDITS, DECENTRALIZATION, DIAGNOSTIC WORK, ENTRY POINT, ENTRY POINTS, EVIDENCE DOES, FINANCES, FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, FISCAL CRISIS, INITIATIVE, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENT, JUDICIAL SYSTEM, JUDICIARY, LAWS, LOAN, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORRUPTION, ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, PATRONAGE, PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, POVERTY REDUCTION, PROCUREMENT, PROGRAMS, PUBLIC, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, PUBLIC BUDGETING, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE REVIEWS, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE TRACKING, PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE, PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY, PUBLIC SERVICES, QUANTITATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY, REFORM PROJECTS, SALARY, SERVICE DELIVERY, SOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, TAX, TAX ADMINISTRATION, TAXPAYERS, TRANSPARENCY, TREASURY, VALUABLE, WAGE, WORTH,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/02/9089042/evaluation-world-bank-support-public-sector-reform
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/10621
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Summary:The effectiveness and efficiency of a country's public sector is vital to the success of development activities, including those the World Bank supports. Sound financial management, an efficient civil service and administrative policy, efficient and fair collection of taxes, and transparent operations that are relatively free of corruption all contribute to good delivery of public services. Although a majority of countries that borrowed to support public sector reform experienced improved performance in some dimensions, there were shortcomings in important areas and in overall coordination. The frequency of improvement was higher among International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) borrowers than among International Development Association (IDA) borrowers. Performance usually improved for public financial management, tax administration, and transparency, but performance did not usually improve with respect to civil service. Direct measures to reduce corruption such as anticorruption laws and commissions rarely succeeded. Recommendations to the Bank focus on improving guidelines for civil service and anticorruption reforms and on setting realistic objectives and sequencing for reforms. The Bank has helped develop tools to improve transparency and reduce bureaucratic corruption, such as the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS), quantitative service delivery surveys, and the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS).