VISUALIZING UNCERTAINTIES, OR HOW ALBERT HIRSCHMAN AND THE WORLD BANK DISAGREED ON PROJECT APPRAISAL AND WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT THE END OF “HIGH DEVELOPMENT THEORY”

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Alacevich
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Development Economics ◽  
Development Theory ◽  
Project Design ◽  
Project Appraisal ◽  
Albert Hirschman ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S

Since its birth in 1944, the World Bank has had a strong focus on development projects. Yet, a project evaluation function was not made operational until the early 1970s. An early attempt to conceptualize project appraisal had been initiated in the 1960s by Albert Hirschman, whose undertaking raised high expectations at the Bank. Yet, Hirschman’s conclusions—published first in internal Bank reports and finally as a book in 1967—disappointed many at the Bank, primarily because they were found impractical. Hirschman attempted to offer the Bank a new Weltanschauung by transforming the Bank’s approach to project design, project management, and project appraisal. Instead, what the Bank expected from Hirschman was not a revolution, but rather an examination of the Bank’s projects and advice on how to make project design and management more measurable, more controllable, and more suitable for replication.The history of this failed collaboration gives useful insights on the unstable equilibrium between operations and evaluation within the Bank. In addition, it shows that the Bank was active in the development economics debates of the 1960s. These insights should be of interest for those development economists today who reflect on the future of the discipline and emphasize the need for a non-dogmatic approach to the study of development issues. It should also be of interest for the Bank itself, with its renewed attention to the importance of evaluation for effective development policies. The history of the practice of development economics, together with the use of archival material, can bring new perspectives that contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of this discipline.

Not a Knowledge Bank: The Divided History of Development Economics and Development Organizations

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Alacevich
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Development Economics ◽  
Development Theory ◽  
History Of Development ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

Development economics was born as a distinct disciplinary field in the aftermath of World War II, when the development of so-called Third World countries, due to the dynamics of decolonization and the Cold War, became an international priority. At the institutional level, the birth of development economics was paralleled by the reorientation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (so-called the World Bank) from the support of European reconstruction to funding development policies worldwide. Not surprisingly, the paths of the Bank and of pioneers of development economics often crossed, and it is fair to say that the Bank and the new discipline—from the perspective of the history and sociology of social sciences—are part of the same story. Indeed, one would think that the Bank was the natural place for the breeding of development economics. This seems coherent with the image we have of the Bank today: the reign of economists. Yet, for most of the years when development theory was shaped, the Bank, although very active in development policies worldwide, was remarkably silent in the field of development economics. This paper will connect the study of economic ideas and economists in international organizations with the history of economic policies. Based on previously untapped archival sources, it will discuss how the history of development economics and of development organizations—and especially the largest among them, that is, the World Bank—proceeded separated for a long stretch of time, and how they later converged.

Government Regulation on Trial: Expropriation Claims against Latin American States at icsid

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-416
Author(s):  
Tafadzwa Pasipanodya
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
International Agreement ◽  
Member States ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
American States ◽  
The World ◽  
The 1960S

In the 1960s, all Latin American member states of the World Bank rejected a resolution recommending an international agreement that would create a center for arbitration in which private foreign investors could settle their disputes with member states. Nevertheless, the resolution was approved and the icsid Convention was born. Ironically, Latin American states – which later became party to the icsid Convention – have had to defend themselves against more expropriation claims before icsid than any other region. This paper analyzes these expropriation claims with a twofold goal. First, to highlight the cases against Latin American states that have been most influential in defining expropriation. And, second, to draw attention to those cases that have revived apprehension about Latin American states’ consent to be adjudged by icsid tribunals.

The History of the World Bank

2002 ◽  
Vol 112 (477) ◽  
pp. F119-F135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Marcus
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Resettlement Caused by Jatigede Dam Project -Consequence of Long Delayed Implementation of a Project

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Opan Suhendi Suwartapradja ◽  
Ryo Fujikura ◽  
Sunardi Sunardi ◽  
Regina Hoi Yee Fu
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Dam Construction ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Cash Compensation ◽  
The World ◽  
The 1960S

Jatigede dam was constructed in Sumedang Regency of West Java Province, Indonesia. It was planned as early as the 1960s. The World Bank cancelled its financing for the reason of insufficient resettlement planning in 1986, but land acquisition for the dam continued and cash compensation was provided to affected villagers. In spite of the suspension of land acquisition in 1997, the Chinese Government became the new sponsor and dam construction started in 2005. Inundation began in 2015 and the villagers were resettled mainly to the vicinity of the reservoir. The construction was completed in 2015. Most of the cash compensation was provided during the mid-1980s. As three decades have passed since the provision of the compensation, resettlers who received the money conceived that the dam construction project has been cancelled. They spent the money at their original place and did not invest for the resettlement. Today, most of the resettlers are jobless and poor. Their incomes are below the international poverty line. Aquaculture at the reservoir is one of the possible options to improve local economy, but the local government prohibits it to avoid deterioration of water quality.

Gunboats and Diplomacy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor St John
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
British Government ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The World ◽  
The Icj ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Memories

Chapter two outlines antecedents of the ICSID Convention. The antagonisms emerging from the long history of investment dispute settlement are briefly discussed, in particular historical memories about separate courts and separate law for foreigners. Early twentieth-century efforts to replace the use of force with arbitration and later work to reframe foreign investment as a tool for development instead of a tool of imperialism provided more hopeful antecedents. Decolonization brought with it high expectations, but also disillusionment: disputes like Abadan (in which the British government sent gunboats, then asked the UN Security Council, the ICJ, and the World Bank to act, before ultimately staging a coup) made capital-importing governments wary and led many officials to believe the world needed new machinery to resolve disputes between investors and states.

scholarly journals Uncertainty Analysis in Project Appraisal*

1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
M. Meenakshi Malya
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Formal Approach ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Project Appraisal ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Methodological Problems

One of the inherent characteristics of capital investment projects is the presence of uncertainties in estimated outlays and future benefits. The concept of sensitivity analysis in project appraisal has been recently extended to include risk analysis. The assessment of the nature and magnitude of uncertainties poses methodological problems. The complexities arising out of interdependencies among the uncertainties necessitate a formal approach to risk analysis. A methodology for assessing the uncertainties, especially when they are interdependent, is outlined here. The application of the methodology is illustrated in the context of a project financed by the World Bank.

Capital at work

Focaal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 (49) ◽  
pp. 129-135
Author(s):  
Istvan Adorjan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New York ◽  
International Finance ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oxford University Press

David Harvey, A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, 247 pp., 0-19928-327-3 (paperback).Patrick Bond, Against the global apartheid: South Africa meets the World Bank, IMF and international finance. 2nd ed. London and New York: Zed Books, 2003. 326 pp, 1-84277-393-3 (paperback).

scholarly journals Pre-results Review at the Journal of Development Economics: Lessons learned

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Bogdanoski ◽  
Andrew Foster ◽  
Dean Karlan ◽  
Edward Miguel
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Development Economics ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
First Year ◽  
High Interest ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Positive Experiences

In this blog post originally published on the World Bank Development Impact blog, BITSS and the JDE Editorial Team reflect on lessons learned from the first year of pre-results review and offer perspectives on the future of pre-results review at the JDE and in the discipline as a whole. Given the high interest among authors and the largely positive experiences so far, the JDE has decided to make pre-results review a permanent track for article submission at the journal.

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