Research

NGO participation

Human development

Gender

Social development

Environmentally sustainable development

A fundamental improvement in knowledge management has been critical to the Bank's strategic agenda in fiscal 1997, and generating that knowledge is the goal of Bank research. Efforts to improve results and effectiveness are based on enhancing understanding of all aspects of development; making information generated by the Bank's activities accessible; and improving staff capacity to adapt knowledge to meet different country circumstances.

In fiscal 1997, the research programs focused on:

· increasing flexibility to analyze urgent and newly arising issues;

· fostering partnerships with national and international research agencies;

· making research reports understandable to the wide membership in the development community; and

· opening new communication channels to reach the range of audiences in that community.

These elements are also key to implementing the Strategic Compact and will be high on the agenda in coming years.

Increasing flexibility

The Development Economics Vice-Presidency, which is responsible for the Bank's research, was restructured in fiscal 1997 to facilitate fast reallocation of resources to address critical policy questions and problems as they emerge. Several studies focused on development issues needing new approaches, such as work on the role of the state and environmental regulation. World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World examines how the institutional capability of the state can be enhanced to implement much needed social and economic reforms. The report recognizes the need for a more effective, although not a minimalist, state. It outlines a two-part strategy that requires governments to (i) identify from the increasingly broad reform agenda those priority activities that are consistent with the state's institutional capability; and (ii) incorporate strategies to strengthen that capability by establishing incentives that encourage officials to do their jobs better and procedures that constrain arbitrary and corrupt behavior. WDR97 also analyzes issues such as collapsed states and the need for greater international collective action in today's more integrated nation-state system.

Another Bank research program elaborated innovative incentive systems to compensate for limited institutional capacity in environmental regulation and enforcement. Public disclosure of information on firms' industrial emissions is at the heart of the program. While the small group of serious polluters that should be targeted for formal regulatory action are identified, the research shows that public information on pollution damage mobilizes powerful community participation and facilitates negotiation about harmful emissions among a much wider range of local firms. Public disclosures also trigger market responses, including investor wariness to finance firms facing regulatory penalties, community intervention in production, and related consumer resistance.

Working with partners. Bank researchers are establishing networks of partners with other development research agencies. The Development Research Group has created a program of interchange with researchers in several agencies in Japan, for example. The Bank's Research Committee fostered increased research capacity and was instrumental in establishing a research program in Russia and a center for economics training in Ukraine. The Bank provided further support to the China Center for Economic Research, which was established in fiscal 1996. And the African Economic Research Consortium, which the Bank helped to found in 1988, is receiving financial support from the Bank's Special Grants program.

Partnerships in sector research programs and projects are drawing together analysts from both local and international agencies. A major research program on the role of government in AIDS mitigation and prevention is illustrative. It is a product of collaboration between the European Union and UNAIDS, which is itself a joint program of the World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Bank. The institutional ties established in this work will provide a basis for further cooperation in other research on public health issues.

A Bank research team working on industrial emissions has developed a similarly wide range of collaborating institutions in client countries. Initiated in Indonesia in collaboration with the Indonesian Environmental Impact Management Agency, the project has been extended, with work going on in cooperation with national and local agencies in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Mexico and the Philippines. The research program, the implementation of disclosure programs, and the channels of cooperation will all serve as precedents for further work on environmental issues.

Global Knowledge 97. In June 1997 the World Bank and the government of Canada hosted Global Knowledge 97, an international conference held in Toronto, Canada. The role of knowledge and information technology in economic and social development was examined through seven themes: empowering the poor with information and knowledge; the state's role in developing regulatory frameworks for information; infrastructure and capacity building; fostering science and technology in developing countries; promoting knowledge, civic dialogue, and informed citizenship; utilizing distance education and technology for learning; and partnerships. EDI served as secretariat for the conference, which brought together leaders from government, the private sector, and NGOs and individuals from IDA-eligible countries.

Improving communication. The Bank is improving the way it presents and channels its communication--through paper, electronic, and broadcast media--to more clearly present the importance of research findings for policymakers, analysts, and Bank operational staff. The EDI's Global Links television series, for example, produced and marketed for national broadcast, is now in nearly two dozen of the Bank's client countries. Global Links highlighted three documentaries covering research on the economic impact of education reform in fiscal 1997. EDI drew on a wide range of Bank research on the implementation and implications of economic reform in its learning programs for non-economist audiences, including parliamentarians, labor union members, and journalists.

World Development Indicators 1997, which presents the most comprehensive data series on developing countries, were produced in a CD-ROM format this year. The program allows easy access and review and straightforward comparisons of countries' relative positions on a wide range of indicators. The format also allows researchers to perform sophisticated econometric analysis. One-time studies are providing easier and more useful access to research data: the Industrial Pollution Projections System, for example, provides data drawn from related research that is accessible through Internet sites, a CD-ROM, and diskettes for personal computers.