Using Sportslike Rankings To Guide Development Goals – The Scandal Involving World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ Index
Fernanda G Nicola, American University
The World Bank, a behemoth of an organization that provides tens of billions of dollars in aid to mostly developing countries, is in the middle of one of its biggest scandals since being founded in 1944.
The crux of the crisis relates to its Doing Business Index, which ranks the ease of opening and operating companies in 190 countries. In September 2021, an investigation alleged that senior leadership at the bank manipulated the index’s data in response to pressure from China and Saudi Arabia.
The scandal has already caused the bank to suspend publication of the index and prompted calls for further investigations. Some have also demanded the resignations of officials identified in the report, such as Kristalina Georgieva, who was formerly CEO at th...