02 June 2008

GPPi commissioned to evaluate the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA)

In a short study to be finished by early September 2008, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have commissioned GPPi to review the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA).

Based on sixteen criteria, the CPIA is a diagnostic tool used by the World Bank to measure the extent to which a given developing country’s policy and institutional framework supports sustainable growth and poverty reduction. To ensure its grants and loans are used effectively to promote development, the International Development Association (IDA), a part of the World Bank Group, has adopted a Performance Based Allocation system (PBA). Within this system, the CPIA rating is a major factor determining how much support a country receives. First developed and employed in the mid-1970s, the World Bank has periodically updated and improved the CPIA to reflect the lessons of experience and the evolution in development thinking.

In the context of a possible further revision, GPPi has been commissioned to conduct a study to review the current CPIA criteria and their use in the Performance Based Allocation system. The study will analyze the key characteristics of the CPIA, including: Are the criteria internally consistent? Do they cover all relevant aspects of a country’s policy and institutional framework? Do they reflect any particular development paradigm? Do they take into account country specific circumstances and dynamics? Based on this, the study will present possible reform options for the CPIA and discuss their advantages as well as downsides. In its conclusion, the study will present a set of consistent and concrete policy recommendations for the adaptation of the CPIA criteria and indicators as well as their integration into the PBA.

For further information visit the project website by clicking here, or contact Julia Steets or Robert Marten.

Back to: News Archive