Relevance of the World Bank            Group’s Early Response to COVID-19

Naeher, Dominik; Narayanan, Raghavan; Ziulu, Virginia

Relevance of the World Bank Group’s Early Response to COVID-19

Autores

Naeher, Dominik

Narayanan, Raghavan

Ziulu, Virginia

Editor

Washington, DC: World Bank

Descripción

Evaluating the relevance of development interventions is a complex task because many different dimensions must be considered. This study focuses on one particular, quantifiable aspect of relevance and proposes a method for generating data-driven evidence that can be used to assess the relevance of past interventions and guide decisions about future strategic priorities. For the purpose of this study, relevance is defined as the match between the types and scopes of provided support and the types and scopes of support that are most needed in each country. The latter is estimated based on a multidimensional vulnerability score, which is constructed using data on various empirical indicators that have been argued in the economic literature to proxy vulnerability to shocks at the country level. Comparing the vulnerability score with the sector-specific allocation of support yields two empirical measures of relevance, one at the country level and one at the sector level within each country. The proposed method is designed and applied to evaluate the relevance of the World Bank Group’s early response to COVID-19. At the same time, many of the modeling insights are more broadly applicable and may also be useful in informing evaluations of development programs beyond the specific application considered here.

Palabras clave

HIGH PUPIL-TEACHER RATIO; SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE; MEASURE OF USE; QUALITY HEALTH CARE; QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE; COUNTRY CASE STUDY; VULNERABILITY TO SHOCK; CONTENT AND CONTEXT; POINT OF DEPARTURE; CAUSE OF DEATH; DEBT SERVICE RATIO; POVERTY AND EQUITY; ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT; QUALITY OF DATA; SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEM; RESILIENCE OF ECONOMIES; DISASTER RISK REDUCTION; TOTAL LABOR FORCE; NET OPEN POSITION; COMPOSITE MEASURE; OTHER SECTORS; ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY; FIXED EFFECT; LINEAR REGRESSION; HOSPITAL BED; VULNERABILITY INDEX; EMPIRICAL MEASURE; EMPIRICAL INDICATOR; VALUE ADDED; DATA AVAILABILITY; POSITIVE CORRELATION; FOREIGN EXCHANGE; RICHER COUNTRIES; PROXY MEASURE; FITTED VALUE; REFERENCE POINT; GEOGRAPHICAL REGION; COMPOSITE INDEX; ECONOMIC STIMULUS; SMALLER NUMBER; MISSING DATA; SMALL STATES; FIRST YEAR; PUBLIC FINANCE; GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE; BASELINE ESTIMATES; REGRESSION RESULTS; GLOBAL SHOCKS; FINANCING NEED; INFECTION RATE; INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT; COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE; FINANCIAL LIQUIDITY; TESTING STRATEGY; MACROECONOMIC EFFECT; FIRM-LEVEL SURVEY; WEIGHTED AVERAGE; OPTIMAL PORTFOLIO; EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP; INDUSTRY SECTOR; ENTERPRISE SURVEY; SOCIAL DOMAIN; FINANCIAL SOUNDNESS; GINI INDEX; HEADCOUNT RATIO; POVERTY POVERTY; BUSINESS PERFORMANCE; FINANCIAL SECTOR; SEVERAL SECTORS; FINANCIAL MARKET; DATA CAPTURE; OTHER DEVELOPMENT; EQUAL WEIGHT; AVAILABLE DATA; FIRM LEVEL; REGRESSION LINE; EDUCATION DIMENSION; ALTERNATIVE SPECIFICATION; MACRO LEVEL; EVALUATION STUDY; HEALTH PROTECTION; SECTOR ANALYSIS; RELATIVE MAGNITUDE; AGRICULTURAL SECTOR; RESEARCH SUPPORT; ECOLOGICAL STUDY; REAL SECTOR; DEVELOPMENT POLICY; OPEN ACCESS; DEVELOPMENT STUDY; SOCIAL SCIENCES; ECONOMIC POLICY; SOCIAL VULNERABILITY; FIRM PERFORMANCE; GLOBAL POLICY; PORTFOLIO REVIEW; COLORED SEGMENTS; SEVERAL APPROACHES; QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON; RATING AGENCY; VULNERABILITY MEASURE; SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS; AVERAGE SCORE; PRIVATE INVESTMENT; EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE