capacity, and funding still constrain the scope and relevance of IEs in the World Bank as well as at IFC. As described earlier, strategic IE selection, financing, and coordination have improved in recent years, led by SIEF and DIME. Partly as a result of this, recent IEs at the World Bank are better linked with project design and M&E framework, and project teams and clients (namely, governments/borrowers) are more involved in the IE initiation and design process. Meanwhile at IFC, where the IE agenda is relatively new, there has been no systematic selection strategy to identify IEs, although the recently approved IFC Evaluation Strategy plans to roll out a strategic selection framework. However, in both institutions, issues related to staff incentives, capacity, and funding persist and continue to constrain the scope and relevance of Bank Group IEs. Indeed, in IEG surveys, the three main factors identified by evaluators and team leaders as currently constraining the conduct of IEs in the World Bank Group relate to funding, staff incentives, and staff capacity (figure 3.3).39 Interviews with Bank Group management are consistent with these survey findings.
Staff Incentives and Capacity Lack of staff incentives is perceived as one constraint to the conduct of IEs at the World Bank Group. In both the World Bank and IFC, almost half of evaluators and team leaders of evaluated projects who were surveyed cited lack of staff incentives as constraining the conduct of IEs. Similarly, the majority of World Bank managers and directors interviewed (13 of 21) considered staff incentives as a constraining factor to the preparation of IEs in their regions or sectors.40 Based on surveys and/or interviews with senior management and Bank Group staff, the incentive issues that emerge are the following:
Box 3.4
Complexities of the Procurement Process: Cases of Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Vietnam
The IEs of the Kecamatan Development Program in Indonesia, the Coffee Value Chain Project in Central America, and the Scaling Up Hand Washing Project in Vietnam illustrate how cumbersome and complex procurement processes can affect the conduct of IEs. In Indonesia and Vietnam, the local capacity for conducting high-quality surveys is limited to very few institutions, which are pre-identified. Yet in both countries, the institutions had to go through a lengthy selection process even though competition was almost nonexistent. This contributed to delays in the start of data collection. In the Coffee Value Chain Project, the selection of a survey firm was delayed because of two prior unsuccessful bid openings, wherein none of the bidders fulfilled the requirements of the contract. Consequently, baseline data collection was delayed until after the project started. Some stakeholders indicated that the lengthy IFC process and delayed collection of the baseline information affected the quality of the IE. Sources: IEG country case studies.
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World Bank Group Impact Evaluations: Relevance and Effectiveness