![]() ![]() The difficulties of changing behaviors, including among donors, were significant. He started piloting the CDF in several World Bank client countries. ![]() Jim Wolfensohn presented his ideas to the World Bank Board in 1999 and received their formal endorsement. We did not see clearly how to operationalize the concept, we could not find strong evidence to link these sociocultural measures with economic growth in a convincing fashion, and the evidence that did exist-such as the Acemoglu-Robinson finding on the role of institutions-seemed to suggest that colonial traditions, which could not be readily changed in the present day, were a root cause of underdevelopment in some places. But among economists, myself included as a newly appointed director for economic policy, there was less enthusiasm. The environmentalists also found much that resonated with their views on the need to build sustainability into development. There were certainly those who cheered the idea of taking on corruption more centrally, although the skeptics kept asking how to do that effectively. ![]() Within the World Bank, the CDF was met with a mixture of skepticism and belief. ![]() With hindsight, it is clear that Jim Wolfensohn’s antennae had picked out the core elements of sustainable development fully two decades before the rest of the world came around to understanding them. The CDF starts with a call for good and clean government and goes on to articulate the need for better management of the environment, for a stronger role for cities and the private sector, for more inclusion and stronger safety nets, for better partnerships. Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Center for Sustainable Development ![]()
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