IEG Findings and Conclusions In IFC: The evidence indicates that IFC IEs were often used by the project teams, while their use beyond the project has been less common. In particular, the link between IEs and learning has not been established fully. The evidence indicates that there is a limited awareness of IE applicability to operational work and policy which constrains wider uptake and use of IEs.
IEG Recommendations • Effectively communicating IE evidence to the global audience through maintaining a central repository of IEs and undertaking thematic syntheses of existing IE evidence. • Building capacity of project teams and other local counterparts to understand and integrate IE evidence in program and policy decisions.
4. Adoption of quality standards In the World Bank: Over half of completed IEs were of high quality and another two-fifths of IEs met medium quality standards. World Bank IEs go through varying degrees and types of quality assurance processes, especially IEs not initiated under IE initiatives, such as SIEF, which has formal and standardized quality review controls. In addition, there is low availability of IE data for replication, which can help to ensure quality.
Adopt and consistently apply good practice quality standards to the conduct of all IEs at the World Bank and IFC, including independent peer review protocols. Additionally, ensure data availability for replication.
In IFC: Around half of 26 IFC IEs met the medium or high quality standards. The main limitations of the low quality IEs were low sample sizes and the weak reliance on evaluation designs that affect the credibility of IEs to claim causal results. The absence of peer review standards and processes to ensure high technical quality is a contributing factor. IE data for replication to ensure high quality is not publicly available. 5. Incorporating analytical elements that enhance operational relevance In the World Bank and IFC: There has been mixed coverage of analytical elements relevant for operational needs, such as analysis of distribution of program impacts; cost-benefit or cost effectiveness analysis of interventions; mapping of the causal chain from program inputs to outputs to outcomes; and measuring the contribution to impacts of individual components of program design. At the World Bank, IEs initiated in recent years appear to pay greater attention to some of these dimensions, and this trend should be sustained in future IE efforts. Similarly, these elements should be included in the design of future IFC IEs.
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Regularly incorporating, where feasible, analytical elements, such as analysis of heterogeneous program impacts and cost-benefit analysis, in the design of all World Bank and IFC IEs.
World Bank Group Impact Evaluations: Relevance and Effectiveness