Relevance of the World Bank Group’s Early Response to COVID-19 : A Cross-Country Sector Analysis

Evaluating the relevance of development interventions is a complex task because manydifferent dimensions must be considered. This study focuses on one particular, quantifiable aspect of relevance andproposes a method for generating data-driven evidence that can be used to assess the relevance of past interventionsand guide decisions about future strategic priorities. For the purpose of this study, relevance is defined as the matchbetween the types and scopes of provided support and the types and scopes of support that are most needed in eachcountry. The latter is estimated based on a multidimensional vulnerability score, which is constructed using data onvarious empirical indicators that have been argued in the economic literature to proxy vulnerability to shocks at thecountry level. Comparing the vulnerability score with the sector-specific allocation of support yields two empiricalmeasures of relevance, one at the country level and one at the sector level within each country. The proposed method isdesigned 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 ofdevelopment programs beyond the specific application considered here.