The aforementioned IE initiatives have been associated with an increase in the production of IEs at the World Bank over the past decade. Figure A shows that the annual production of IEs at the World Bank increased markedly after 2005, from an average of 16 initiated per year in the 1999–2004 period to an average of 57 per year in 2005–10. Since the creation of DIME in 2005, the advent of other notable IE initiatives has further accelerated IE production at the World Bank. The IE agenda at IFC is in its early developmental stage, producing 26 completed IEs between 2005 and 2010. The proportion of World Bank IEs assessing lending operations has also grown over time, from 59 percent of IEs initiated in 2005–08 to 75 percent initiated in 2009–10. Most IFC IEs evaluate advisory service projects, which are similar to some of the interventions being evaluated by World Bank IEs (for example, training, microfinance, and reform support). More recently, two investment operations have been subject to an IE. At the World Bank, there is also an increasing trend toward IEs adopting a randomized design, consistent with the focus of initiatives like DIME and SIEF. For instance, more than 80 percent of IEs initiated in 2007–10 use randomization, compared with 57 percent in 2005–06 and a modest 19 percent in the years before (figure 1). The increase in the number of IEs and the introduction of new IE initiatives at the World Bank is associated with broader regional and sector coverage. Until 2005, most World Bank IEs were in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region and in the education, local development (mainly social funds), and social protection sectors. Since then, IEs have greatly expanded in the Africa region, in part due to IE efforts targeted to the region, such as the Africa Impact Evaluation Initiative. In addition, recent IEs have started to cover new themes, such as malaria, and have rapidly grown in areas where IE work was scarce, such as agriculture, HIV, finance and private sector development, in part because of the advent of IE thematic programs in these areas. These trends notwithstanding, few IEs have been conducted in some regions (such as the Middle East and North Africa and Europe and Central Asia) and on some topics (for example, energy and transport). Meanwhile, IFC IEs have been concentrated in the Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia Regions, and in the Sustainable Business and Access to Finance business lines. Client involvement in different stages of IE production has been modest, but it is increasing. The increase in proportion of World Bank IEs initiated by the government or borrower (defined as the client) has been small, but there is evidence of growing involvement of the client in the design of IEs. A survey of World Bank staff found that three-fifths of the IEs initiated in 2007–10 involved the client in the design stage compared with 40 percent in 2005–06, and 22 percent in the years before. Clients have been less active in the review and discussion of findings (39 percent of completed IEs), based on survey data. However, evidence also suggests that among completed IEs, those initiated in
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