The Reform Of Multilateral Development Banks: Best Practices And Lessons Learned

This thesis,“The reform of Multilateral Development Banks: best practices andlessons learned”, focuses on the key role of the5major Multilateral DevelopmentBanks (MDBs) in the realm of development finance, their approaches, contentions andreforms. A vast and broad academic literature is used, comprising scholarly books aboutthe MDBs and their reforms as well as journal articles and the numerous authoritativepublications of the MDBs themselves. In addition, interviews were conducted withleading political representatives in Beijing to gain insights from the diplomaticviewpoints and argumentations.The hypothesis is that the MDBs have significantly contributed in the past andcontinue to contribute enormously to the development around the globe, but noteverything has been smooth and reforms remain insufficient. The present day MDBsappear to be better positioned, healthier equipped and supposedly operate on a broaderscope and scale than ever before in the institutions’ history. They can possibly functionas platforms and forums for international cooperation of member states due to theirmultilateral structure and be catalysts for development. However, the shareholders’courses of dealing with the MDBs, and hence the banks themselves, fall short in somekey characteristics, ultimately hampering the institutions’ functioning.The author examines and carves out the best practices and lessons learned of theMDBs’ reforms since their establishments by analyzing all five key institutions throughan International Relations’ perspective (mutual-and conflicting interests of membercountries), while linking their historical and ongoing reforms to the changingdevelopment concepts at different times, thus contributing valuable insights for a furtheralteration of the MDBs. Proving the hypothesis, the author argues for a fundamentallynew approach of member countries towards the MDBs and some essential institutionalreforms to let the MDBs function at the center of development finance to achieve their,and ultimately mankind’s, missions and visions of economic prosperity, including theelimination of poverty and decent standards of living for every human being.