is commented on by peer reviewers—those meetings occur less than 30 days before delivery to the client, as shown in Figure 4.3. It is implausible that substantive peer review critiques of a sophisticated piece of analytical work can be adequately addressed by such a large share of ESW in such a short period of time. Furthermore, decision meetings are held within 10 days of delivery to the client for more than 15 percent of these studies. Some studies are even shared with the client the day of the meeting. The June fiscal year deadline in effect “cuts off” the period in which a task team can make significant improvements before sharing analytical work with a client, causing much of the problem. Budget rules create considerable uncertainty for task teams: allocations for a product in a given fiscal year must be disbursed that year, and there is no guarantee additional resources will be made available in subsequent years. A very large share of ESW products—over 40 percent—is delivered in June, the final month of the fiscal year. Among those products delivered within 30 days of the decision meeting, more than 60 percent over FY00-FY11, and more than 70 percent in FY11, were delivered in June. In focus groups and interviews, staff indicated that review meetings for products facing a fiscal year deadline are perfunctory—in practice everyone in the room is aware of the fiscal year crunch, and no one has an incentive to slow down the process unless deficiencies are extreme. Peer reviewers have also been known to self-censor their comments so that they might be addressed within the time available.
The Role of Network Anchors and Sector Boards on Quality Although the matrix system had envisaged that sector units would perform the primary role of ensuring technical excellence and quality services, the network
Share of ESWs with a decision meeting
Figure 4.3
The Quality Assurance System Has Little Time to Influence Many Studies
45% 40% 35% Less than 30 days between dicision meeting and delivery to client, 3-year centered average
30% 25% 20% 15% 10%
Less than 10 days between dicision meeting and delivery to client, 3-year centered average
5% 0%
FY00 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Source: World Bank databases.
Delivering Quality Services
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