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Records of the Office of the Chief Economist
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Subject Files Relating to Major Issues of Interest to the Vice President and Chief Economist (DECVP)

This series contains files on major issues of interest to the Vice President and Chief Economist and his staff. Most files contain documents compiled by DECVP Michael Bruno and by Mark Baird, Director of Development Policy in DEC, but some are from the administrations of former DECVPs Stanley Fischer and Lawrence Summers. Among the topics covered are: aid effectiveness; plans to relaunch and reform the Economic Development Institute in 1995; planning for the 50th Anniversary of the World Bank; and DEC presentations made to the Board and to President Wolfensohn.

Specific documents include: comments on drafts of a paper on aid effectiveness, prepared by the staff of the World Bank, in collaboration with the staff of the International Monetary Fund, for the 49th meeting of the Development Committee on October 3, 1994; memoranda on research proposals on aid effectiveness; a copy of Mark Baird's presentation to the IDA Deputies at a February 1995 meeting in Paris to discuss the Eleventh Replenishment of IDA; a DEC paper, dated April 1, 1994, on the contribution of research and training (EDI) to the work of the World Bank (filed under 50th Anniversary); summaries of brainstorming sessions, held in 1994 in conjunction with plans for the 50th Anniversary, on future issues facing the Bank; a copy of the DEC information package provided the Executive Directors when DEC made a presentation to the Directors on December 2, 1994 as part of the Executive Directors' Information Program; background notes used to prepare for a strategy meeting with President Wolfensohn on November 22, 1995 (filed under DEC strategy note); DEC memoranda and a February 1995 DEC report regarding the DEC review process of loans and country strategies (filed under lending); an October 1994 DEC Proposal to Restructure Funding of Non-Lending Services (filed under Non-lending Services); comments from Mark Baird and other DEC staff on items discussed at Loan Committee meetings; Michael Bruno's correspondence with the Deputy Director-General and the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO); briefing materials prepared for President Wolfensohn's July 6, 1995 meeting with the head of the WTO and the IMF; summaries of meetings the Chief Economist and DEC staff had with WTO staff; and comments on drafts of the guidelines for World Bank staff cooperation with the WTO.

Subject Files of the Research Advisers

This series contains the subject files of Research Advisers Ernest Stern (originally titled Senior Adviser) and, beginning in April 1974, Benjamin B. King. After King left the position in March 1977, Ian M.D. Little and Bela Belassa served as acting Research Adviser until the appointment of Shankar Acharya in July 1979. The files include the advisers' correspondence with President McNamara, the Vice President of Development Policy, the directors and staff of the Development Policy departments, members ofthe Research Committee, and non-Bank research professionals. This series also includes some correspondence of the Research Committee secretary. A file on the early administration of the World Bank's research program, 1971 - 1974, includes a history and description of the research program, outlines of research priorities, and memoranda on the policy of long-term consultant appointments funded from the External Research Budget.

Other files contain: tables and correspondence regarding the research budget and the funding of specific projects, July 1971-June 1973; correspondence on rejected proposals, October 1971 - May 1974, including comments on the project proposals and memoranda explaining why specific research proposals were rejected; agenda (May 1971 - June 1979) and minutes ( April 1971 - October 1974; January 1975 - March 1979) of Research Committee meetings; minutes of Review Panel meetings, 1972 - 1978; correspondence regarding the size and membership of the Research Committee, 1971 - 1979; correspondence regarding research proposals (instructions and deadlines for submitting proposals, memoranda conveying the decisions of the Research Committee, lists of proposals each department planned to submit in the coming fiscal year), 1972 - 1974; comments on drafts of the annual report to the Executive Directors on the research program and memoranda summarizing the response of the Directors to the report, 1973 - 1974; correspondence regarding the evaluation of urban development projects and the financing of these evaluations, 1972 - 1975; correspondence with non-Bank personnel, 1971 - 1974 (filed under Outside Correspondence); excerpts from Research Committee minutes and memoranda on funding the sector research program, 1973 - 1977; and information regarding the Development Policy staff's participation and attendance at the International Meetings of the Directors of Development Research and Training Institutes, OECD [Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, August 1972, and in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, August 1974.

Subject Files of the Office of the Special Representative to the U.N. Organizations in Geneva

Most of these files appear to have been created while Wolfgang Siebeck (1986-1989) and Jean Baneth (1989-1992) served as Special Representative. A few files contain documents of earlier Representatives who served during the 1980s (Mahmud Burney and L. Peter Chatenay) and of Jean Baneth's successor in 1992, Sorsa Piritta. Documents placed in these files include not only memoranda, electronic messages, speeches, and statements prepared or received by the Representatives but also memoranda and other documents prepared by members of their staffs and other Bank officials.

A few files (Women, North/South Roundtable on Trade) contain only a single document but others are more substantive. The International Labor Organization (ILO) files (1982 - 1990) contain considerable correspondence of both Siebeck and Baneth covering coordination between the World Bank and ILO. In some of the correspondence, Siebeck is identified as Director, International Relations Department, Geneva Office (IRDGO). Much of the correspondence in the Human Rights file pertains to Baneth's participation as Bank representative at meetings of the U.N. Centre for Human Rights and preparations for the 1993 U.N. Conference on Human Rights. The file also contains some correspondence of earlier Representatives concerning human rights issues. The Gulf Crisis file (26 October 1990 - 16 July 1991) includes Baneth's (and his Administrative Assistant's) correspondence concerning United Nations Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO) efforts on behalf of displaced persons in the Middle East during the crisis. Correspondence was exchanged during the crisis with the Vice President, Corporate Planning and budget Robert Picciotto; the Senior Vice President, Policy Research and External Affairs Wilfred Thalwitz; and the Director, External Affairs Alexander Shakow.

Subject Files of the Director, Policy and Review Department (PRDDR)

This series contains both the incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Director, Policy and Review Department (PRDDR) and his immediate staff. Much of the incoming correspondence is heavily hand annotated by Director Paul Isenman with his reply and/or his comments regarding the disposition of the incoming document. The files also contain agenda and minutes of meetings; drafts of reports, papers, and publications; and Isenman's handwritten notes from meetings. The series consists of the following four parts:

  1. The first and largest (8.83 linear feet) segment is the main subject file, January 1990 - November 1991. It consists largely of files on draft policy papers that the PRD staff reviewed. These files contain Isenman's copies of the correspondence, comments, and minutes of meetings relating to the policy paper throughout the drafting process. Policy subjects covered include: forestry, governance, guarantees (i.e. expanding Bank guarantee instruments for private sector development), human development, military expenditure, poverty, the Soviet economy, technical assistance for the Soviet Union, and policy guidelines on tobacco. Also included are files regarding the review of the Report of the Technical Assistance Review Task Force (TARTF); files documenting the development of Business plans for units in PRE [Policy, Research and External Affairs]; and memoranda and other correspondence, dated January - October 1990, on the transition to establish PRD from the Strategic Planning and Review Department (filed under New Department). Filed under President's Council are agenda and minutes of meetings of the President's Council (PC) along with PRD staff comments on documents that were to be discussed at the meetings.
  • The second segment, Isenman's working file, 1989 - 1991, contains many documents that Isenman annotated as working file or file W. Most of the files relate to subjects that were of short-term interest to PRD, but filed under Policy Research and External Affairs (PRE) Committee are schedules for PRE meetings and minutes and agenda for meetings of the PRE Committee on which Isenman served. Some items filed under lunches and people are dated as early as 1989 when Isenman was director of the Africa-South Central and Indian Ocean Department (AF3).

  • The third segment, January 1990 - August 1991, contains PRD's correspondence with and notes from meetings with PRE managers and the staff in PRD's Program Management Unit (PRDPM) concerning the drafting and monitoring of budgets and work programs for all PRE units. Also included are files on the FY 91 retrospective reviews for PRE units and the FY 92 PRE management contract.

  • The final segment appears to be another working file pulled together as PRD was being abolished. It contains a number of files pulled from the first segment, but the bulk of it consists of thick accordion files in which Isenman filed background materials on topics of current interest or in preparation for attendance at a meeting on the topic. Many include Isenman's handwrittennotes from meetings.

Subject Files of the Director, International Economic Department (IECDR)

This series contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, draft articles and papers, and other records maintained by the Directors of the International Economics Department. Most of the correspondence is with staff in the IEC divisions and with the Vice President and Chief Economist (DECVP). The files concern: external access to the IEC's Bank Economic and Social Database System (BESD); data management issues in IEC; the distribution and marketing plans for IEC products (filed under Dissemination Task Force Electronic Data including CD-Rom Project and External Dissemination of IEC Products); the Socio-Economic Data Division's (IECSE's) participation in the International Comparison Project (ICP); intra-IEC discussions on the rebasing of national accounts and on statistical capability building; the methodology for preparing trade data tables; and the 1990 and 1991 work program and budget of the Debt and International Finance Division (IECDI).

Specific documents include: IEC correspondence on drafting its September 1991 report on The Management of Commodity Price Risk and the Bank's Role; copies of computer-generated slides from the January 27, 1992 IEC Seminar on Information Management Opportunities; copies of background papers and IEC staff comments on papers prepared for Long-Term Prospects Paper, 1990; status reports and correspondence regarding the development of the Revised Minimum Standard Model - Extended (RMSM - X) in IECSE; a February 1993 draft research agenda for IECSE (filed under Unified Survey'); and IEC correspondence and comments on the World Development Indicators (WDI) production process.

Subject Files of Masood Ahmed, Director, International Economics Department (IEC), Relating to EDI and the 50th Anniversary of the World Bank

This series contains files that IEC Director Masood Ahmed compiled on the Economic Development Institute (EDI) and the 50th Anniversary of the World Bank. Ahmed agreed in November 1993 to be a member of an informal network to review and comment on some of the internal Bank work regarding plans for the 50th Anniversary. The network was directed by Sarwar Lateef, who was also head of the secretariat to coordinate the Bank-wide 50th anniversary program. The 50th Anniversary files include correspondence withSarwar Lateef, staff in DECVP, and other members of the informal network; agenda for network meetings; comments on drafts of The World Bank at the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century: Learning from the Past/Embracing the Future; and copies of various background articles and papers prepared for the Committee on the Future of the Bretton Woods Institutions and for the 50th Anniversary of the World Bank. In October 1994 Ahmed was tapped to be a member of the Advisory Committee to EDI. The records relatingto EDI in this series include Ahmed's correspondence with the Director of EDI and other members of the Advisory Committee regarding the relaunching of EDI, copies of minutes of meetings of the Advisory Committee, and copies of various issuances regarding EDI from its establishment in 1955.

Subject Files of Masood Ahmed, Director, International Economics Department (IEC) Concerning the Office of the President and the Board of Executive Directors

This series consists of six parts and contains records related to Masood Ahmed's collaboration, communications, reporting, and presentations to the Office of the President (EXC) and the Board of Executive Directors. The first part of the series includes chronological files related to the EXC kept by Ahmed from January 1994 to December 1996. Records consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Ahmed, IEC staff, DEC Vice President, and EXC; presentation slides, speech drafts, and reports intendedfor EXC; memoranda, meeting minutes, and monthly EXC reports; and scattered Executive Board reports.

The second part of the series contains files titled "Board General" from April 1994 to December 1997, and these consist of agendas and meetings minutes, memoranda, and correspondence as well as Executive Board reports and biographies of Executive Directors. IEC reported regularly to the Board and this series contains memoranda and correspondence related to this activity. In addition to those found in the "Board General" records, Executive Director biography files were kept by Ahmed that dated January 1994 to December 1997.

The third part of the series consists of records from the Induction Program for Executive Directors and Alternates, 20-21 November 1996, in which DEC officials gave a presentation to incoming Executive Directors on the roles, functions, and activities of DEC and its departmental units. The records include correspondence and memoranda between the DEC Vice President, IEC senior officials,and other Bank units discussing preparations and planning for the presentation. Copies of the presentation slides are also included.

The fourth part of the series concerns records related to the World Development Report (WDR), 1997. IEC was responsible for providing and drafting much of the analytical and statistical data in this report. Ahmed's WDR records include memoranda, and correspondence with attached draft WDRs that discuss revisions, edits, updates, and other issues related to the report. The correspondence and memoranda are between EXC, the DEC Vice President, IEC senior officials, and the Staff Director of the WDR. Other memoranda and correspondence discuss the presentation of the WDR to the EXC and the Board, and subsequent Executive Directors discussion of the report.

The fifth part of the series consists of readings compiled by Ahmed for World Bank President James Wolfensohn from January 1995 to December 1995. These include various articles, reports, and other publications. Most of the readings are publications external to the Bank, and discuss international finance, debt, and trade.

The sixth part of the series includes records related to Wolfensohn's Change Management Group, a Bank-wide initiative that organized 30 focus groups from selected individuals in offices and units across the Bank to assess management issues and draft strategies for potential re-organization of management in the Bank. The records are dated August 1995 to May 1996. The records consist of agenda and meeting minutes from meetings and retreats; correspondence with various individuals in different Bank units who participated in the multi-unit focus groups; and published articles related to business and management change.

Subject Files of Masood Ahmed, Director, International Economics Department (IEC) Concerning the Development of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM)

In early 1996, Masood Ahmed began a transition from the position of the Director of International Economics Department (IEC) to Vice President of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM). The IEC was terminated within the DEC Vice-Presidency in July 1997, and PREM was launched in July 1997. The DEC VP oversaw much of Ahmed's transition into PREM, primarily because a large portion of IEC, its subordinate department, was absorbed by the new network, and DEC was re-organized as a result. This series consists of records from this transition period, and Ahmed's involvement in planning and implementing PREM.

The series consists of chronological files, including communications between Ahmed and the DEC Vice-President Joseph Stiglitz. The records primarily relate to: the re-organization of DEC with the closure of IEC; PREM's possible collaboration with or inclusion in DEC; updates on the planning of PREM; and what functions and actions will be mapped into potential sector departments in PREM. These records date from December 1996 to June 1997. Additional chronological files consist of correspondence and memoranda related to various discussions, topics, and meetings concerning PREM's launch, and administrative structure. Ahmed's handwritten notes are also interfiled among the chronological files. These records date from November 1996 to December 1997.

The second part of the series contains records related to PREM planning meetings and retreats. These records concern the Operations Vice Presidents (OVPs) -meetings and retreats attended by Network Heads from other newly launched networks. The OVP meetings records contain: agenda and meeting minutes; correspondence; memoranda; budgeting reports; business plan reports for each network; and network update reports for various meetings and retreats from December 1996 to August 1997. Separate subject files for the other two networks involved in the OVP meetings (Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network [ESSD] and the Human DevelopmentNetwork [HDN]) are also included. Other planning materials relate to: development of sector departments and boards; development of PREM functions; short-term outputs for the PREM launch; development of PREM technical standards; budgeting for PREM; development of PREM knowledge and information infrastructure; and development of PREM evaluation and monitoring. These meeting records include agenda and meeting minutes, memoranda, correspondences, and handwritten notes. PREM produced reports, business strategy plans, and printed presentation slides are also included. These records date from January 1997 to December 1997.

The last part of this series includes records related to selection of management for PREM and mapping of staff for potential sector departments. These records consist of Ahmed's handwritten notes; potential candidate lists; background information, including CVs and biographical information; memoranda; agenda and meeting minutes from selection management meetings; and correspondence discussing candidates. Some of the records relate to the Poverty and Social Policy Department (PSP). This department briefly fell under the IEC's supervision following the closure of the Human Capital Development Vice Presidency (HCD) in December 1996. The PSP became the Poverty, Gender, and Management Units (PGP) during this short period in the first half of 1997. PGP staff was eventually mapped into the new sector departments of PREM. The PSP records discuss this staff mapping from PGP into PREM and also the absorption of past PSP functions and activities into PREM. Similarly, mapping and management selection records discuss disbursement of staff from Ahmed's own IEC, which was closed in mid-1997. PREM additionally mapped and selected candidates from other sources. Records related to the Bank Human Resources and management selection meetings discuss potential candidates and selection procedures. The mapping and management selection records are dated January 1997 to December 1997.

Subject Files of Masood Ahmed, Director, International Economics Department (IEC)

The series consists of seven parts. The first part contains correspondence and other records dated May to December 1995 and relating to plans for the issuance of Global Economic Prospects 1996 (GEP'96). Included are intra-IEC memoranda concerning overall plans for GEP '96; various drafts of the initiating brief for GEP '96; production schedules; copies of draft chapters with comments from IEC staff; and copies of DEC Notes regarding GEP '96.

The second part consists of memoranda and other records dated March 1994 to March 1995 and relating to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Filed under "OECD" are: Ahmed's correspondence with OECD staff and with Bank staff regarding OECD and DAC matters, March 1994 -March 1995; and memoranda, letters, schedules dated October 21, 1994 to November 15, 1994 regarding Ahmed's attendance at meetings of the OECD Economic Policy Committee, November 8 -10, 1994

The third part consists of agenda and minutes of meetings of the Departmental Management Team (DMT) which included the Director of IEC, the IEC Division Chiefs and other key staff. The records cover the period April 1990 to June 1997 and include minutes and agenda for the periods when D.C. Rao was Director from 1990 to 1993 and when Masood Ahmed was Director from 1993 to 1997. The files also include some background papers that were discussed at meetings and memoranda regarding follow-up actions from DMT meetings.

The fourth part includes agendas and minutes of meetings, memoranda, and correspondence related to administrative actions and planning initiatives by the DEC Vice President's Office from 1994 to 1997. This includes records related to: budget; reporting of department activities; and DEC-wide initiatives. Other records relate to the DEC Communication Strategy from 1995 to 1996, which sought to develop a cross-department communication policy and strengthen its partnership with the Bank's Office of External Affairs (EXT). These records consist of: correspondence between the DEC Vice President, DEC senior managers, other department staff, and EXT; approach paper drafts; agendas; minutes of meetings; and memoranda. Additional communications between the DEC VP, DEC department managers and staff, and EXT are included for the years 1994 to 1996 on a variety of topics.

The fifth part includes records related to a Bank-wide initiative to create an Information Services (IS) and Information Technology (IT) Task Force from 1995 to 1997 to help upgrade and centralize the Bank's IT Systems. Records consist of: correspondence sent to DMT, IEC Division staff, and DEC senior officials; reports, surveys, and audits of Bank IT systems and architecture; and agenda, minutes, and printed presentation slides related to Bank-wide IT development and management. The initiative proposed an Information Management Group (IMG), and sought representatives from units and departments across the Bank, including DEC and IEC.

The sixth part consists of records related to ongoing IEC collaboration with other national, multi-lateral, and external agencies through: attendance at seminars and meetings; exchange and sharing of research, data, and analysis through data systems, publications, and presentations; and policy advisement for international finance, debt, and trade issues. The records include agenda, meeting minutes, memoranda, correspondence, and reports from October 1995 to October 1996 related to the ongoing interaction between Ahmed of the IEC and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Most records relate to Ahmed's participation in UNCTAD meetings, and exchanging of global trade statistics through UNCTAD produced reports and IEC publications such as Global Economic Prospects (GEP). Other records in this part include agenda, memoranda, and correspondence related to the Bank-funded initiative International Comparisons Program (ICP) dated 1993 to 1997, which partnered with other national, bi-lateral, and multi-lateral institutions to conduct a massive survey of purchasing power parities (PPPs) among countries. IEC played a significant role in providing technical resources to conduct surveys and research, and led data processing and analysis activities. Records of meetings and seminars related to multilateral debt on severely and heavily indebted countries attended by Bank senior officials, or representatives from DEC or IEC are also included. These records consist of agenda, memoranda, meeting minutes, correspondence, briefings for senior officials, and external reports and papers for a variety of meetings, including: the OXFAM international meetings and seminars, 1995; the G-7 Summit-Halifax, 1995; and the G-7 Summit-Lyon, 1996. The bulk of correspondence in these records is internal communications between IEC, DEC, and the Office of the President (EXC) regarding: the content of the meeting and seminars; responses to papers, reports, and speeches related to multilateral debt; and the Bank's potential actions for multilateral debt. Lastly, records from the G-24 Group dated 1995 to 1996 contain external joint G-24 and IMF papers and reports related to various topics on international finance, debt, and trade issues.

The seventh part filed under "Miscellaneous" are memoranda and other records dated 1994 to 1995 concerning: 1) the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), May 1 -2, 1995, including memoranda regarding the drafting of the keynote speech; 2) Back-to-Office Reports and other records from DEC staff who attended the UN Symposium on Trade Efficiency that met in Columbus, Ohio, October 17 -21, 1994; and 3) a memorandum concerning guidelines for the Working Paper Series, December 5, 1994.

Subject Files of Geoffrey B. Lamb, Adviser, Policy Development Unit (PRDPD), Policy and Review Department

This series contains files compiled by Geoffrey B. Lamb while he was an adviser in the Strategic Planning Division (SPRSP) of the Strategic Planning and Review Department and, after July 1, 1990, an adviser in and later head of the Policy Development Unit (PRDPD) of the Policy and Review Department (PRD). SPRSP had the major responsibility for generating and drafting the President's addresses to the Annual Meetings of the Bank and the Fund, and more than two thirds of this series consists of files Lamb compiled while drafting the speeches that President Conable delivered at the 1987, 1988, and 1989 annual meetings. These speech files contain numerous drafts of the speeches, much intra-Bank correspondence containing suggestions for the speeches and comments on the many drafts, copies of Bank publications used as background materials, Lamb's handwritten notes from meetings at which the drafts were discussed, and intra-Bank memoranda regarding follow-up action required to ensure that policies and programs outlined in the speeches were, in fact, accomplished.

Other files in the series contain records concerning the Group of Thirty's Study Group on Financing Eastern Europe which issued a 1991 report on the outlook for capital flows into Eastern Europe and the policy issues affecting them. Included is Lamb's correspondence with Richard A. Debs, the chair of the study group; Charles Taylor, the Executive Director of the Group of Thirty; and Wilfried Thalwitz, the World Bank's Senior Vice President, Policy, Research and External Affairs (PRESV), who was a member of the study group. A copy of the published report is included in the files. Items filed under President's Retreat 1989 concern the drafting of a work program and other follow-up work emanating from the January 6, 1989 retreat on the Strategic Agenda Framework. Another file contains intra-Bank memoranda and reports on the relationship between the U.S.S.R. and the Bretton Woods institutions and copies of and comments on a draft of the 1989 article The Soviet Union and the Bretton Woods Agencies written by the Executive Vice President and Director of the Overseas Development Council Richard E. Feinberg. There is also a file concerning the drafting of briefing materials compiled in November 1990 for President Conable prior to his visit to the U.S.S.R.

At the end of the series is a small file (under Guarantees) containing seven memoranda and papers, June 1990-September 1991, from Alfred J. Watkins, a senior economist in the Policy Development Unit, outlining howthe World Bank could use its guarantee powers to facilitate private capital flows to private sector entities in developing countries.

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