The World Bank: a changing organization in a changing world

The Bank is nearing its 80th anniversary and has grown in size and mandate since its inception. But how and in what ways has it adapted to its shifting authorizing and task environments? Has the Bank’s history largely been one of continuity or change? Scholars and practitioners come to different conclusions, painting a more nuanced picture of international organization (IO) change. We argue that the answer to these questions depends on how we define and measure change and whether we perceive such change as yielding good or bad results vis-à-vis the Bank’s core mandates and key constituents. Based on a review of IO theories, we offer a more refined mapping of IO change along three dimensions - triggers of change (why?), characteristics of change (how?), and location/level of change (where?) - to guide the readers in making their own assessment about the extent to which the World Bank has changed.