Orchestrating private investors for development

How the World Bank revitalizes

Bibliographic Data

ID6377441
AuthorsEugénia C Heldt (0000-0003-4077-840X), Thomas Dörfler (0009-0002-5705-4686)
Year2022
Volume16
Issue4
Pages1382-1398
Publication date2022-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRegulation & Governance (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-5983 • E-ISSN: 1748-5991
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/rego.12432
OpenAlexW3189598576
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited50

Confronted with a new wave of criticism on the in effectiveness of its development programs, the World Bank embarked on a revitalization process, turning to private investors to finance International Development Association projects and widening its mandate. To explain these adaptation strategies of the World Bank to regain relevance, this piece draws on organizational ecology and orchestration scholarship. We contend that international organizations rely on two adaptation mechanisms, orchestration and scope expansion, when they lose their role as focal actors in an issue area. We find that the World Bank has indeed lost market share and has relied on these two mechanisms to revitalize itself. We show that the World Bank responded to changes in the environment by orchestrating a private sector‐oriented capital increase, prioritizing private funding for development through a “cascade approach,” and expanding the scope of its mandate into adjacent domains of transnational governance, including climate change and global health

Business · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Mandate · Orchestration · Political science · Private sector · Relevance (law · Scholarship · Scope (computer science · Community Development and Social Impact · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · International Development and Aid · Finance

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Open DOIOpen Access