TY  - BOOK
AU  - Ralston,Laura
AU  - Ralston,Laura
TI  - Success in Difficult Environments: A Portfolio Analysis of Fragile and Conflict-Affected States 
PY  - 2014///
CY  - Washington, D.C.
PB  - The World Bank
KW  - Banks and Banking Reform
KW  - Communities & Human Settlements
KW  - Country Strategy & Performance
KW  - Finance and Financial Sector Development
KW  - Fragile And Conflict-Affected States
KW  - Gdp Growth
KW  - Housing & Human Habitats
KW  - Poverty Monitoring & Analysis
KW  - Poverty Reduction
KW  - Project Complexity
KW  - Project Outcome Ratings
KW  - Project Performance
KW  - Rural Development
KW  - Rural Portfolio Improvement
N2  - The World Bank Group has identi?ed support to fragile and con?ict-affected states as a strategic priority. This paper provides a systematic portfolio review of the International Development Association-funded projects in fragile and conflict-affected states during 2001 to 2013 and a detailed empirical analysis of the correlations between project and country-level characteristics with project outcome ratings. The portfolio review identi?es a decline in the proportional amount of resources directed to fragile and conflict-affected states and a decline in the number of internationally recruited staff based in these countries. The empirical analysis ?nds no statistical difference in whether projects obtain at least a moderately satisfactory outcome rating between countries that are fragile and conflict-affected states and those that are not. Examination of the distribution of project outcome ratings indicates that projects in fragile and conflict-affected states obtain slightly lower ratings conditional on being unsatisfactory or satisfactory. Detailed cross-section regression analysis ?nds that indicators of project complexity, such as supervision costs, staff time, preparation time, and ?nancing, are correlated with lower outcome ratings. Project leader characteristics are correlated with project outcome ratings, but to a lesser degree in fragile and conflict-affected states, potentially indicating that it is more difficult for project leaders to in?uence project outcomes in these environments. Last, a new approach to control for unobservable project characteristics, such as inherent complexity or ambition, shows preliminary evidence that changes in the project leader and increases in the supervision budget are correlated with improvements in project performance
UR  - http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/book/10.1596/1813-9450-7098
ER  -