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Records of the Office of the Chief Economist
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Records of the Office of the Chief Economist

  • WB IBRD/IDA DEC
  • Fonds
  • 1946 - 2003 (predominant 1972 - 1993)

Records created by the Office of the Vice President (later Senior Vice President), Development Economics and Chief Economist (DECVP) comprise the bulk of the records in Fonds 14. Prior to the creation of DECVP in 1987, responsibility for directing economic research to provide insights into the development process rested with the persons serving as the Economic Adviser to the President in the 1960s and early 1970s, and later with the offices of the Vice President, Development Policy (VPD) and the Vice President, Economics and Research Staff (VPERS) whose records are part of this fonds. Files for both approved and rejected research projects in planning and development policy, population and human resources, industry and trade, and sector studies that were maintained in the offices of VPD, VPERS, and DECVP are included in this fonds.

This fonds also contains a small volume of records of the Bank's Economic Development Institute and records of the Bank's representatives to international organizations concerned with the development process: the Berne Union, the Paris Club, and U.N. organizations at Geneva, Switzerland. Also included are records of economist Bela Belassa who served from September 1966 to May 1991 as consultant to the Economic Advisers to the President, VPD, VPERS, and DECVP.

The following officials served during the period 1964 to 2003 in predecessor organizations or positions whose functions became part of DECVP in the 1987 Bank reorganization and as DECVP following that reorganization:

Economic Advisers

  • Irving Friedman: 1964 - 1970

  • Hollis B. Chenery: 1970 - 1972

Vice President, Development Policy (VPD)

  • Hollis B. Chenery: November 1972 - February 1982

Vice President, Economics and Research Staff (VPERS)

  • Hollis B. Chenery: February 1982 - August 1982

  • Anne Krueger: August 1982 - December 1986

  • Benjamin B. King (Acting): January 1987 - May 1987

Vice President and Chief Economist (DECVP)

  • Stanley Fischer: 1988 - 1990

  • Lawrence Summers: 1991 - 1993

  • Michael Bruno: 1993- 1996

  • Joseph E. Stiglitz: 1997 - 2000

  • Sir Nicholas H. Stern: 2000 - 2003.

Office of the Chief Economist

Records of the Office of the Vice President, Development Policy (VPD) and the Development Policy Staff

Sub-fonds consists of records created in the Development Policy Vice Presidency (VPD). Many of the records were created by the Director, Development Policy; these relate to the Development Committee; the Policy Review Committee, and commodity policy work in the department. Other records in this sub-fonds relate to specific research projects and, generally, the World Bank's research program. Also included are records related to the external General Research Advisory Panel (GRAP). Correspondence and other records of the Development Policy Staff, Departments, and Divisions are also included in this sub-fonds.

Records of the Office of the Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist and later Senior Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist (DECVP)

Sub-fonds consists of the records of the Office of the Vice President, Development Economics (DECVP) and Chief Economist and the Senior Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist. These records take the form of Vice President's chronological and subject files as well as briefing books and travel documents. Records of DEC's Front Office staff included in this sub-fonds include reading files, work program and budget records, and reports of periodic review. Records of numerous DEC units are also included in this sub-fonds. They include: the Policy and Review Department (PRD); Development Policy Group (DPG, and its predecessor units: the Economic Advisory Staff [EAS] and the Country Policy Department [CPD]); the International Economics Department (IEC); the Country Economics Department (CEC); the Development Research Group (DECRG); the Policy Review Department (PRD); the Research Advisory Staff (RAD); and the Economic Developing Institute (EDI). The records of noted economist Bela Balassa who served as a consultant with DEC and predecessor organizations from 1966 to 1991 are also included.

Records of the Economics and Research Staff (ERS)

Sub-fonds consists of the records of Economics and Research Staff (ERS) department and division records, including the Economic Analysis and Projects Department (EPD). Records of the Research Policy Council (RPC), the Bank Research Advisory Group (BRAG), and the Research Projects Approval Committee (REPAC) are also included. Records related to the research, publication, and dissemination of research papers and other products are included as are articles, lectures and speeches authored by Vice President of ERS Anne Krueger.

Front Office Work Program and Budget Records for Fiscal Years 1993-1998

These copies of DEC annual work programs and budgets, usually accompanied by Department and EDI [Economic Development Institute] feeder work programs and budgets, were maintained by Lesley Davis (Lesley Davis Arnold) who was Program Coordinator for Administration in DEC's Front Office. Copies of DEC's FY 93 Mid-Year and Retrospective Review Reports were maintained with the FY 93 work program and budget. Background materials for the FY 93 work program and budget include correspondence concerning positionsand funds associated with a proposed downsizing of the Geneva Office and concerning the impact on staffing of the acceptance into Bank and Fund membership in 1992 of most of the Republics of the former Soviet Union. Found with the FY 94 work plan and budget is correspondence concerning the merger of the budget of the Development Policy Group (former Economic Advisory Staff [EAS]) with that for the rest of DEC and copies of monitoring and Mid-Year Review Reports. The FY 94 - FY 96 Business Plan for DEC accompanies these records. A new format was adopted for the FY 95 work plan and DEC units' submissions were entered into the Resource Planning System (RPS). Accompanying documents relating to the FY 95 work program are FY 95 - FY 97 and FY 96 - FY 98 Business Plans for DEC (including EDI). Found with documents pertaining to the FY 96 work program is correspondence concerning development of a new Country Assistance Strategy or Country compact and a copy of the Third Quarter FY 97 Monitoring Report of the DEC work program and budget which was prepared for the first time in a new format in line with implementation of the Bank's new Strategic Compact - the plan for fundamental reform to make the Bank more effective in delivering its Regional program and achieving its basic mission of reducing poverty. Correspondence concerning DEC's proposed involvement in the Bank's program of technical cooperation, expanded volunteer efforts, and modest funding of activities related to education, employment, poverty alleviation, and municipal services for Washington, DC is found with guidance documents for preparation of the FY 98 work programs and budgets.

Front Office Business Plans for Fiscal Years 1991-2000

These copies of DEC Business Plans were maintained by Lesley Davis (Leslie Davis Arnold) who was Program Coordinator for Administration in DEC's Front Office. Prior to the 1992 reorganization, DEC Business Plans were submitted to the Senior Vice President, Policy, Planning and Research (PPRSV). After the reorganization of that year, they were submitted to the Director, Planning and budgeting Department (PBD). The plans were submitted for all DEC units. The Business plan was a major component of Bank budget cycles and provided information from DEC that would become part of priorities and framework papers presented to the Board. The Business plan also served as the basis for DEC's next fiscal year work program and budget, described each DEC organization's plans for the following two or more fiscal years, described each organization's underlying strategy and work program, and indicated plans for special emphases and topics that cut across department and other organizational boundaries. Included in files aredraft and final Business plans, submissions for each DEC unit, background correspondence, data relating to the preparation of the plans, and copies of monitoring reports. The FY 1998 - 00 [2000] DEC Business Plan was prepared in April 1997 in anticipation of the Bank reorganization by July 1 of that year which would form as major parts of DEC a new Research, Data and Prospects Group and an Economic Development Institute and Leadership Center (EDI) in alliance with the Bank's new Strategic Compact.

Research File of Bela Balassa

Most of the correspondence in this series covers the period when Balassa reported both to the Vice President, Development Policy Staff (VPD, later Vice President, Economics and Research [VPERS)] and to the Director of the Development Research Center (DRC), and, after the 1987 Reorganization, the Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist (DECVP). He also served during this period as Chairman of the Development Policy Staff Trade Advisory Committee. The files are loosely organized around Balassa's projects while serving as consultant to the Bank during this period.

Included are Balassa's completion reports for some of the projects he personally carried out, his comments on proposals and research projects conducted by others in the Bank, and correspondence with the Research Projects Approval Committee (REPAC) and the head of the Research Administration Unit in VPERS. Some files contain background materials, including statistical data, used in Balassa's research. Specific documents include: Terms of Reference (TOR) for a May-June 1983 mission to Tunisia led by Balassa that constituted the first phase of a study on employment creation; his TOR and Back-to-Office (BTO) Report for a January 1985 Industrial Policy Mission he led to Tunisia; and his report on his coordination of a Latin American development strategy study (introduced by David Rockefeller) while on leave from Johns Hopkins University. Correspondence, including a BTO Report, for a mission to Venezuela Balassa led from January to October 1987 to hold discussions with the Venezuelan government on the economy and possible resumption of Bank lending is also part of the series.

Also included in the series are copies of talking points and papers Belassa prepared at the request of high-level Bank officials and correspondence with DECVP. Belassa's handwritten notes and drafts can be found throughout the series.

Correspondence and Reports of the Office of the Special Representative to the U.N. Organizations in Geneva Concerning Negotiation of General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for the Uruguay Round

Most of the records were maintained by Special Representatives Wolfgang Siebeck and Jean baneth who were also referred to as Directors of the Geneva office from 1986 to 1992. Baneth was succeeded by Pritta Sorsa in 1992. Beginning in 1987, the Geneva Office reported as SPRGE to the Senior Vice President, Policy Research and External Affairs (SVPRE). After the restructuring of the Policy, Planning, and Research Complex (PPR), the Geneva Office reported to the Senior Vice President, Policy, Planning and External Affairs (PRESV). As the GATT negotiations gained momentum, the Geneva Office was upgraded and transferred to the Front Office of PRESV, reporting as PREGE. Following the termination of all Senior Vice Presidencies in the Bank, the Geneva Office was transferred to the Front Office of DEC on December 12, 1991 and began reporting as DECGE to the Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist (DECVP).

The Uruguay Round, the eighth GATT multilateral trade negotiation, was launched in September 1986 in Punta del Este and was completed in 1994. This series includes correspondence with Headquarters of the Representatives and others designated as observers at various Trade Policy and GATT Council meetings. Subjects include: general progress of the Uruguay Round; development of a handbook on multilateral trade negotiations to support developing countries in the Uruguay Round; Bank participation in seminars and workshops to provide technical assistance and support to developing countries in the Uruguay Round; Bank access to country trade and tariff data; and arrangements for visits of the Director General and the Personnel Director of GATT to the Bank in Washington, DC.

With the correspondence are documents provided to the Special Representatives by the GATT Secretariat headquartered in Geneva including Trade Policy Review reports (1989 - 1993) documenting reviews of trade policies and practices by the GATT Council. Also included are documents furnished by the GATT Secretariat concerning acceptances(Protocol of Accession) to GATT of Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, and Nepal (1987 - 1992) and Romania, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Venezuela (1990 and 1992). Documents concerning the renegotiation of Terms of Accession for Poland (1991 - 1992) and working papers and notes of meetings at the Uruguay Round and the mid-term review of the Round completed in Geneva in 1989 were also furnished by the GATT Secretariat.

The Geneva Office continued to represent the Bank in the GATT negotiations in the Uruguay Round and in meetings of UNCTAD and other U.N. organizations at Geneva. As the Uruguay Round negotiations came to an end, the Geneva Office was closed on June 30, 1993. After the Geneva Office closed, its functions were provided through a combination of Geneva-based consultants and Headquarters staff sent to Geneva.

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.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Files of the Special Representative to the U.N. Organizations in Geneva Relating to Least Development Countries (LDCs)

Included in the series is the 1982 correspondence between L. Peter Chatenay while assigned to the International Relations Department (IRD) and Representative Mahmud Burney regarding Bank/UNDP/UNCTAD cooperation on Least Developed Countries (LDC) issues and meetings attended on LDC issues. Correspondence between the two concerning LDCs continued after Chatenay succeeded Burney as Representative and Burney was designated Senior Adviser, U.N. Affairs, IRD. Also in the series is Chatenay's correspondence with other IRD officials and Representatives Siebeck and Baneth's correspondence with Bank Headquarters and U.N. officials on various LDC issues and the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries held in Paris on 3 March 3 1990 - 14 March 1990. Copies of statements made by Bank officials at the Conference are part of the series.

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.

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