World Bank Group to discontinue ‘Doing Business’ report
The World Bank Group has announced that it was discontinuing the publication of the annual ‘Doing Business report’ after data regularities were discovered in its Doing Business 2018 and 2020 reports.
The announcement comes on the heels of an investigation of Data Irregularities in Doing Business 2018 and Doing Business 2020 report, where law firm WilmerHale discovered irregularities in data for China, Saudi Arabia and UAE, and Azerbaijan’s placement in the Doing Business reports.
Excerpts from the investigation findings and reports by WilmerHale submitted to the World Bank executive directors revealed that the changes to China’s data in Doing Business 2018 appear to be the product of two distinct types of pressure applied by the Bank leadership on the Doing Business team.
According to the report, pressure – both direct and indirect – was applied by senior staff in the Office of the President, presumably at the direction of President Kim, to change the report’s methodology in an effort to boost China’s score.
The report noted that pressure was also applied by CEO Georgieva and her advisor, Mr Djankov, to make specific changes to China’s data points to increase its ranking at precisely the same time the country was expected to play a key role in the bank’s capital increase campaign.
For Saudi Arabia and UAE’s data in ‘Doing Business 2020,’ the report highlighted that a senior member of the World Bank’s staff altered the data to achieve a desired outcome and reward Saudi Arabia for the important role it played in the bank’s community, including an ongoing RAS project.
In the case of Azerbaijan, the report said, “The chain of cause-and-effect is more direct with respect to the data changes affecting Azerbaijan in Doing Business 2020: Mr Djankov ordered the Doing Business team to alter the country’s data based on his own belief that the government had not actually implemented the reforms the Doing Business team had credited.
“Indeed, multiple employees told us that Mr Djankov appeared to harbour a personal animus against the country, unwilling to believe that the reforms the Doing Business team recognised – and confirmed – were legitimate.
“Despite the team’s effort to convince him otherwise, Mr Djankov overruled the team and demanded that it refrain from recognising three Azeri reforms in Doing Business 2020.”
Following the revelations of the investigation, the World Bank, in a statement on its website, said, “Trust in the research of the World Bank Group is vital. World Bank Group research informs the actions of policymakers, helps countries make better-informed decisions, and allows stakeholders to measure economic and social improvements more accurately.
“After data irregularities on Doing Business 2018 and 2020 were reported internally in June 2020, World Bank management paused the next ‘Doing Business report’ and initiated a series of reviews and audits of the report and its methodology.
“In addition, because the internal reports raised ethical matters, including the conduct of former board officials as well as current and/or former bank staff, management reported the allegations to the bank’s appropriate internal accountability mechanisms.
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“After reviewing all the information available to date on Doing Business, including the findings of past reviews, audits, and the report the bank released today on behalf of the Board of Executive Directors, World Bank Group management has decided to discontinue the Doing Business report.
“The World Bank Group remains firmly committed to advancing the role of the private sector in development and providing support to governments to design the regulatory environment that supports this.
“Going forward, we will be working on a new approach to assessing the business and investment climate.”
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Another critical insight from the report found that International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who was the World Bank’s Chief Executive Officer at the time, directly applied pressure to boost China’s score in a ranking of economies, according to Bloomberg.
A review released by World Bank, last December, showed that China’s ranking in the 2018 report should have been seven places lower at position 78 instead of 85.
The IMF managing director has disagreed with the findings of the probe, saying, “I disagree fundamentally with the findings and interpretations of the Investigation of Data Irregularities as it relates to my role in the World Bank’s Doing Business report of 2018.”
She added that she had already briefed the IMF’s executive board on the matter.
