Dynamics of evaluation use as organizational knowledge. The case of the World Bank

This dissertation is about the use of evaluation for improving public organizations' performance through better design of governance structures and more entrepreneurial managerial efforts. This study focuses on the World Bank as an international organization that has institutionalized the evaluation function since the 1980s and set out organizational arrangements to carry out this function to fulfill both accountability requirements and learning needs. The study addresses the following five research questions: (1) What organizational and institutional factors encourage, or discourage, the use of World Bank evaluations by its intended users—policy-makers and managers? (2) How is the utility of evaluations shaped by users' role and position within the institution? (3) What specific evaluation-based information is found most/least useful? (4) What methodological changes do users recommend to increase the (perceived) usefulness of evaluations? (5) What are the implications in terms of evaluation practice and development policies?; The study methodology draws upon four case studies on specific evaluations regarding: (i) the cost-benefit analysis of large dams, (ii) the implementation of forestry lending, (iii) the logic of anticorruption initiatives, and (iv) the impact of public expenditure reviews. 56 semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers, decision makers, and evaluators to gather perceptions on evaluation usefulness for decision-making and reconstruct the context of the organization.; The major findings are following: (1) Governance structures have a bearing on the potential for evaluation to play as a check and balance within the organization and enforce results-accountability. (2) Leadership of the evaluation department helps evaluation be accepted and valued for strategic planning at the apex of the organization. (3) Lack of interaction between managers and evaluators discourages information sharing and mutual trust at the lower level of the organization. (4) Managers discount evaluation for their own work, and ascribe higher salience for their subordinates. (5) Most interviewees endorse the symbolic role of evaluation to legitimize a position or decision. (6) Actionable and evidence-based recommendations are useful for future planning. (7) Participatory and field studies stimulate socialization of tacit knowledge. (8) Theory-driven evaluations help externalize this tacit knowledge to reflect critically on program design and implementation logical and empirical weaknesses.