The World Bank’s Publication Record

The World Bank has produced a huge volume of books and papers on development -- 20,000 publications spanning decades, but growing appreciably since 1990. This paper finds evidence that many of these publications have influenced development thinking, as indicated by the citations found using Google Scholar and in bibliographic data bases. However, the authors also find that a non-negligible share of the Bank's publications have received no citations, suggesting that they have had little scholarly influence, though they may well have had influence on non-academic audiences. Individually-authored journal articles have been the main channel for scholarly influence. The volume of the Bank's research output on development is greater than that of any of the comparator institutions identified, including other international agencies and the top universities in economics. The bibliometric indicators of the quality and influence of the Bank's portfolio of scholarly publications are on a par with, or better than, most of the top universities.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ravallion, Martin, Wagstaff, Adam
Language:English
Published: 2010-07-01
Subjects:ACADEMIC ARTICLES, ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, ACADEMIC RESEARCH, ACCOUNTABILITY, ADVISORY SERVICE, AFFILIATES, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, ARTICLE, ARTICLES, AUTHORSHIP, BACKGROUND PAPERS, BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA, BIBLIOMETRICS, BOOK REVIEWS, BROADCASTING, CATALOG, CATALOGUE, CATALOGUING, CITATION, CITATION INDEX, CITATIONS, CIVIL SOCIETY, DEBT, DEVELOPMENT FINANCE, DISCIPLINES, DISSERTATIONS, DIVERSIFICATION, DOCUMENTS, ECONOMETRICS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS, FEDERAL RESERVE, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK, FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, HEADING, HEADINGS, HUMAN RESOURCES, IDS, INDEXES, INDICES, INDIVIDUALS, INEQUALITY, INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INVESTIGATION, LEARNING, LIMITED, LITERATURE, MACROECONOMICS, MEDICAL SCHOOL, MICROFINANCE, MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS, NATURAL RESOURCES, NUTRITION, ONLINE DATABASES, PAPERS, PRODUCTIVITY, PUBLISHERS, PUBLISHING, QUALITY ASSURANCE, READING, RESEARCH FINDINGS, RESEARCH INSTITUTE, RESEARCH INSTITUTES, RESEARCH METHODS, RESEARCH OUTPUT, RESEARCH REPORT, RESEARCHER, RESEARCHERS, SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS, SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, SCIENTIST, SCIENTISTS, SITES, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIAL SCIENCES, TEACHERS, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, UNIVERSITIES, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY FACULTY, UNIVERSITY PRESSES, USERS, WEB, WEBSITE,
Online Access:http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100722103917
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3859
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Summary:The World Bank has produced a huge volume of books and papers on development -- 20,000 publications spanning decades, but growing appreciably since 1990. This paper finds evidence that many of these publications have influenced development thinking, as indicated by the citations found using Google Scholar and in bibliographic data bases. However, the authors also find that a non-negligible share of the Bank's publications have received no citations, suggesting that they have had little scholarly influence, though they may well have had influence on non-academic audiences. Individually-authored journal articles have been the main channel for scholarly influence. The volume of the Bank's research output on development is greater than that of any of the comparator institutions identified, including other international agencies and the top universities in economics. The bibliometric indicators of the quality and influence of the Bank's portfolio of scholarly publications are on a par with, or better than, most of the top universities.