The hypocrisy of the World Bank

International organizations such as the World Bank appear perpetually caught in the act of saying one thing but doing something quite different. This apparent hypocrisy is not only pervasive, but often predictable, rational and even desired responses to the highly politicized and complex financial and normative environments in which IOs work. In my previous work, I identified the sources of the Bank’s hypocrisy as rooted in constructivism’s understanding of IOs’ culture, behavior, and change. Here, I seek to reprise my original IO hypocrisy model with a more ecumenical theoretical approach, integrating the insights of rationalist, principal-agent theories to illuminate how hypocrisy stems from both state-centric material relationships and broader social structures. This expanded framework enables us to see how the changing authorizing and task environment of the Bank in the 21st century may amplify the pressures leading to hypocrisy and exacerbate the Bank’s apparent legitimacy and relevance crisis.