World Bank Group to Discontinue Doing Business Report
worldbank.org
worldbank.org
Management tried to change the model to raise the rankings of China and Saudi Arabia, partly in order to sell more services. Even the CEO was involved in trying to raise China’s ranking.
As WilmerHale concludes:
> Finally, the specter of the Bank’s advisory services program hung over the irregularities in both reports. The vast majority of Bank employees that we spoke to raised the issue of the inherent conflict of interest that advisory services creates. In the aftermath of China’s performance in Doing Business 2018, senior leadership at the Bank worked with Chinese officials to introduce a series of advisory projects focused on improving the country’s Doing Business results. And with respect to Saudi Arabia, the Bank had significant engagement with the country following its disappointment with the Doing Business 2019 results through a “central RAS unit” that had been in place for several years to support the country’s myriad RAS projects. More generally, Doing Business team members detailed accounts of being lobbied for reforms by Bank advisory service colleagues on behalf of the countries for which they were advising.