IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v33y2024ics2452292924000092.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ministerial musical chairs: Does leadership turnover undermine the effectiveness of World Bank education aid?

Author

Listed:
  • Bedasso, Biniam

Abstract

Government ministers can play such a significant role in the implementation of development projects under their portfolio that a high turnover of ministers may have implications for aid effectiveness. This paper examines the link between ministerial continuity in borrower governments and the performance of World Bank education projects implemented between 2000 and 2017 in 114 countries. I use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to trace the link between number of ministers during project implementation and project outcome ratings. There is a statistically significant and qualitatively meaningful negative correlation between ministerial turnover and project performance. Delays caused by transition and reshuffling of senior managers by new education ministers are shown to constitute possible causal mechanisms. There is some evidence that strong supervision by World Bank staff could mitigate the negative implications of ministerial turnover on project outcome.

Suggested Citation

  • Bedasso, Biniam, 2024. "Ministerial musical chairs: Does leadership turnover undermine the effectiveness of World Bank education aid?," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:33:y:2024:i:c:s2452292924000092
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2024.100572
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292924000092
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2024.100572?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raimondo,Estelle Rosine, 2016. "What difference does good monitoring&evaluation make to World Bank project performance ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7726, The World Bank.
    2. David Bulman & Walter Kolkma & Aart Kraay, 2017. "Good countries or good projects? Comparing macro and micro correlates of World Bank and Asian Development Bank project performance," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 335-363, September.
    3. Mirko Heinzel & Andrea Liese, 2021. "Managing performance and winning trust: how World Bank staff shape recipient performance," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 625-653, July.
    4. Kilby, Christopher, 2000. "Supervision and performance: the case of World Bank projects," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 233-259, June.
    5. Boone, Peter, 1996. "Politics and the effectiveness of foreign aid," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 289-329, February.
    6. Denizer, Cevdet & Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart, 2013. "Good countries or good projects? Macro and micro correlates of World Bank project performance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 288-302.
    7. Kilby, Christopher, 2015. "Assessing the impact of World Bank preparation on project outcomes," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 111-123.
    8. Ryan C. Briggs, 2020. "Results from single-donor analyses of project aid success seem to generalize pretty well across donors," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 947-963, October.
    9. Nyrup, Jacob & Bramwell, Stuart, 2020. "Who Governs? A New Global Dataset on Members of Cabinets," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(4), pages 1366-1374, November.
    10. Honig, Dan & Lall, Ranjit & Parks, Bradley C., 2022. "When does transparency improve institutional performance? Evidence from 20,000 projects in 183 countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113847, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Nicola Limodio, 2021. "Bureaucrat Allocation in the Public Sector: Evidence from the World Bank," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(639), pages 3012-3040.
    12. Huber, John D. & Martinez-Gallardo, Cecilia, 2008. "Replacing Cabinet Ministers: Patterns of Ministerial Stability in Parliamentary Democracies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(2), pages 169-180, May.
    13. Chauvet, Lisa & Collier, Paul & Duponchel, Marguerite, 2010. "What explains aid project success in post-conflict situations ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5418, The World Bank.
    14. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn & Basu, Swati, 1998. "Does Economic Analysis Improve the Quality of Foreign Assistance?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 12(3), pages 385-418, September.
    15. Shin, Wonkyu & Kim, Youngwan & Sohn, Hyuk-Sang, 2017. "Do Different Implementing Partnerships Lead to Different Project Outcomes? Evidence from the World Bank Project-Level Evaluation Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 268-284.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Silvia Marchesi & Tania Masi, 2021. "Delegation of implementation in project aid," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 655-687, July.
    2. Eilers, Yota & Kluve, Jochen & Langbein, Jörg & Reiners, Lennart, 2023. "Volume, Risk, Complexity: What Makes Development Finance Projects Succeed or Fail?," IZA Discussion Papers 16691, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mirko Heinzel & Andrea Liese, 2021. "Managing performance and winning trust: how World Bank staff shape recipient performance," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 625-653, July.
    4. Presbitero, Andrea F., 2016. "Too much and too fast? Public investment scaling-up and absorptive capacity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 17-31.
    5. Francesca G. Caselli & Andrea F. Presbitero, 2020. "Aid Effectiveness in Fragile States," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 158, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    6. Matthew S. Winters, 2019. "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? The Division of Financing in World Bank Projects and Project Performance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 117-126.
    7. Moll, Peter & Geli, Patricia & Saavedra, Pablo, 2015. "Correlates of success in World Bank development policy lending," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7181, The World Bank.
    8. Matthew S. Winters, 2019. "Too many cooks in the kitchen?: The division of financing in World Bank projects and project performance," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-6, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Christopher Kilby & Katharina Michaelowa, 2019. "What Influences World Bank Project Evaluations?," Springer Books, in: Nabamita Dutta & Claudia R. Williamson (ed.), Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development, chapter 0, pages 109-150, Springer.
    10. Feeny, Simon & Vuong, Vu, 2017. "Explaining Aid Project and Program Success: Findings from Asian Development Bank Interventions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 329-343.
    11. Limodio, Nicola, 2011. "The success of infrastructure projects in low-income countries and the role of selectivity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5694, The World Bank.
    12. Philip Keefer & Christopher Kilby, 2021. "Introduction to the special issue: In memoriam Stephen Knack," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 473-493, July.
    13. Hauke Feil, 2021. "The cancer of corruption and World Bank project performance: Is there a connection?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(3), pages 381-397, May.
    14. Silvia Marchesi & Tania Masi, 2019. "Allocation of Implementing Power: Evidence from World Bank Projects," Development Working Papers 447, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    15. David Bulman & Walter Kolkma & Aart Kraay, 2017. "Good countries or good projects? Comparing macro and micro correlates of World Bank and Asian Development Bank project performance," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 335-363, September.
    16. Geli,Patricia & Kraay,Aart C. & Nobakht,Hoveida, 2014. "Predicting World Bank project outcome ratings," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7001, The World Bank.
    17. McLean, Elena V., 2023. "Looking for advice: The politics of consulting services procurement in the World Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Kilby, Christopher, 2013. "The political economy of project preparation: An empirical analysis of World Bank projects," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 211-225.
    19. Huibo Pan & Lili Yao & Chenhe Zhang & Yuchi Zhang & Yuying Gao, 2024. "Research on Financial Poverty Alleviation Aid for Increasing the Incomes of Low-Income Chinese Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-24, January.
    20. Martorano, Bruno & Metzger, Laura & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2020. "Chinese development assistance and household welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:33:y:2024:i:c:s2452292924000092. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.