Resource information
This paper provides an overview of the
history of development research at the World Bank and points
to new future directions in both what we research and how we
research. Six main messages emerge. First, research and data
have long been essential elements of the Bank's country
programs and its contributions to global public goods, and
this will remain the case. Second, development thinking is
in a state of flux and uncertainty; it is time to reconsider
both the Bank's research priorities and how it does
research. Third, a more open and strategic approach to
research is needed -- an approach that is firmly grounded in
the key knowledge gaps for development policy emerging from
the experiences of developing countries, including the
questions that policy makers in those countries ask. Fourth,
four major sets of problems merit high priority for our
future research: (i) securing economic transformation; (ii)
broadening opportunities to participate in the benefits of,
and contribute to, such transformation; (iii) dealing with
emerging risks at all levels; and (iv) assessing the results
of development efforts, including external assistance.
Fifth, a new multi-polar world requires a new multi-polar
approach to knowledge; the Bank must learn from, and
collaborate with, developing-country researchers and
institutes. Sixth, greater emphasis must be given to
producing the data and analytic tools for others to do the
research themselves and providing open access to those
tools. And open data initiative needs to be extended to open
knowledge. This will better inform development policy
debates and allow for deeper engagement with the direct
stakeholders in the outcomes of those debates.
