Episode 3 - Assessing the Assessment, a look at the World Bank’s CPIA

By Ioana Puricel and Nick Muller This episode builds on the previous theme by zooming in on the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) score. The scoring is based on what the Bank considers to be ideal policies and institutional qualities that contribute to growth, poverty reduction and thus aid effectiveness. We discuss criticisms and reforms for the CPIA with two prominent development scholars: Erik Thorbecke and Yusi Ouyang. Notes and references: 1. IEG (2009). The World Bank's Country Policy and Institutional Assessment: An IEG Evaluation 2. OECD (2020). External financing to Least Developed Countries (LDCs): where we stand 3. Thorbecke, Erik. and Ouyang, Yusi (2016). Is Sub-Saharan Africa Finally Catching up?