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A Vision for Public Disclosure Authorized Development: Dialogues on the Work of Vinod Thomas Public Disclosure Authorized Ray C. Rist, editor Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized ©2011 The Independent Evaluation Group The World Bank Group 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-458-4497 Internet: http://ieg.worldbankgroup.org E-mail: [email protected] All rights reserved 1 2345 14 13 12 11 This volume, except for Part I and Part II, is a product of the staff of the Independent Evaluation Group (lEG) of the World Bank Group. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. This volume does not support any general inferences beyond the scope of the evaluation, including any inferences about the World Bank Group's past, current, or prospective overall performance. lEG does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank Group or lEG concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. lEG encourages dissemination of its work and permits this document to be copied or otherwise transmitted, with appropriate credit given to lEG as the authoring body. How to cite this report: Rist, Ray c., ed. 2011. A Vision for Development: Dialogues on the Work of Vinod Thomas. Washing ton, DC: Independent Evaluation Group. ISBN-13 978-1-60244-184-2 ISBN-lO: 1-60244-184-7 Printed on Recycled Paper Independent Evaluation Group Strategy, Communication, and Learning (lEGCS) E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 202-458-4497 Facsimile: 202-522-3125 Contents Foreword .................................................. v James D. Wolfensohn Introduction ................................................ ix Ray C. Rist Part I-An Emergent Vision for Development ..................... 1 Recent Lessons of Development ................................ 3 Lawrence H. Summers and Vinod Thomas Policies for Economic Development ............................ 21 Stanley Fischer and Vinod Thomas Paths to Development ....................................... 33 Vinod Thomas and others The Lessons of East Asia: An Overview of Country Experience ........ 83 Danny M. Leipziger and Vinod Thomas Assessi ng the Experience of Trade Pol icy Reform .................. 121 Vinod Thomas and John Nash, with Sebastian Edwards, Thomas Hutcheson, Donald Keesing, Kazi Matin, Garry Pursell, and Alexander]. Yeats Improving the Distribution of Opportunities ..................... 139 Vinod Thomas, Mansoor Dailami, Ashok Dhareshwar, Daniel Kaufmann, Nalin Kishor, Ramon Lopez, and Yan Wang Brazil's Agenda ........................................... 185 Vinod Thomas Part II-Reflections from Outside: Contributions to Shaping the Thinking on Development. ............................... 199 From Inside Brazil: Vinod Thomas's Vision ....................... 201 Joseph E. Stiglitz iii iv I A Vision for Development Brazil-Vision of a Developed Country and the Economy of Knowledge ..................................... 207 joao Paulo dos Reis Velloso VinodThomas and the Colombian Economy .................... 213 Roberto junguito Urbanization and Globalization in the 21 st Century: Emerging Challenges ....................................... 215 Rakesh Mohan Shaping the Development Debate: The Contributions of Vi nod Thomas ............................ 231 George S. Tolley Bracing for a Tumultuous Future .............................. 247 Kristalina Georgieva Central Asia's Trade-Rising to the Challenge .................... 257 Kazi M. Matin Part III-Reflections from Inside: The Transformation of the Independent Evaluation Group ............................ 271 New Directions in Development Evaluation ..................... 273 Daniela Gressani and Patrick Grasso On Strategy and Independent Evaluation ....................... 285 Hans-Martin Boehmer Evaluation for Results ....................................... 293 jira Tominaga Part IV-The Last Word • ..••••.••••.•.......•.••.••.••••..•• 307 Reflections on My World Bank Group Career .................... 309 Vinod Thomas Aboutthe Authors ......................................... 325 Foreword During my tenure as President of the World Bank Group, my Bank colleagues and I worked to make an increasing share of the attention and the resources of the institution available for the goal of reducing poverty and debt in devel oping countries. In the mid-1990s, after a decade of structural adjustment policies, it was clear that a new, more engaging development agenda was needed-one that promoted growth and social change in poor countries as the way to reduce poverty. To this end, financial aid and loans were not enough; the Bank also had to become a partner of client countries. For countries to achieve sustainable growth, four things would seem to be needed: government capacity, a legal system that protects property rights, an honest financial system, and vigilance against corruption. The World Bank Group is a unique institution, with enormous knowledge and experience in development and relationships with governments and institutions around the world. It is a knowledge organization-a premiere resource, singular in its ability to help countries build capacity, solve problems, and enable growth whose reach is extended through innovative use of technology for information systems and communication. The institution's role as a knowledge bank falls heavily on the work of the World Bank Institute. When I started at the Bank in 1995, Vinod Thomas was already the head of the Institute. Between 1994 and 2001 he sharpened the program's focus and quality and expanded its mandate and impact. Vinod led the Institute through much change and achievement, from its previous incarnation as the Economic Development Institute, which I endorsed, to its transformation in 1999 into the World Bank Institute, with its well-defined core courses, policy services, and knowledge networks. Iv vi A Vision for Development In recognition of the Institute's expanded role and greater audience reach, it was made a vice presidential unit in 2000 and Vinod Thomas its first Vice President, with responsibility for managing a $70 million program offering training, outreach, and scholarships. The World Bank Institute launched distance learning and, as a result, expanded its reach and connectivity several-fold. It has functioned as the Bank's principal vehicle for delivering timely knowledge in countries through seminars; conferences; and a variety of print, broadcast, and multimedia products. During this transition, the World Bank Institute's program was realigned more closely with World Bank and country priorities, shifting from stand-alone and sectoral courses to cross-sectoral and thematic programs that were more directly related to actual circumstances. The Institute began working jointly with the Bank's regions and networks to deliver cross-cutting, team-based thematic programs. I am thankful to Vinod for his leadership and transformative work at the Institute during seven years there before he moved on to become the Bank's Country Director for Brazil in 200 I. Vinod continued to move the Bank's development agenda forward while in his new position. In Brazil, between 2001 and 2005, he worked intensely with and oversaw developments in that country during a very difficult time, including a major public debt and currency crisis in 2002. As Country Director, he managed the Bank's large lending and nonlend ing portfolio in Brazil and helped shape the dialogue with the govern ment and the Brazil Country Assistance Strategy, anchoring the program not only on economic growth but also on human development as well as environmental sustainability. Vinod's directorship in Brazil ended at about the same time my presidency at the World Bank concluded. He subsequently returned to Washington to take up the position of Director-General of the Indepen dent Evaluation Group, where he again succeeded in reorganizing and expanding the impact and effectiveness of an entire vice presidential unit, this time one that cuts across the World Bank Group, including the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guaran tee Agency, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop ment/International Development Association. I commend his continued Foreword I vii service to the institution and his work on behalf of the world's poor and their social and natural environments. Through his work, Vinod has made a very real investment in people and achieved subsequent results in improving the quality and effectiveness of development programs. He is someone who has made an enduring contribution to the reputation and effectiveness of this great institution. James D. Wolfensohn President of the World Bank, 1995-2005 Introduction by Ray C. Rist, Editor The field of development is unsettled, contentious, and fractured. The cen ter does not hold, and paradigms are constantly accepted and then rejected. Indeed, for example, the notion of micro-enterprises as a means to lift the poor out of poverty has been widely admired and advocated in develop ment-until now, when we hear calls for a re-examination of these basic assumptions. This book examines the 35-year odyssey