The Stunted Global Accountability: The Case of the World Bank Inspection Panel

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the role of an external accountability mechanism like the World Bank Inspection Panel in enhancing accountability of the international institution. As the result of globalization, transnational issues have arisen and it has become impossible to ask certain countries to take responsibilities for those issues. With the establishment of international institutions such as the United Nations and the Bretton Woods Institutions, the concept of global governance and global accountability became hot topics. The World Bank Inspection Panel is one of the earliest mechanisms established by an international institution with the sole intention to enhance accountability of the institution. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of the World Bank Inspection Panel to evaluate its performance in enhancing accountability of the World Bank. In doing so, this paper analyses the structure and process of the Inspection Panel to find accountability deficit within the institution. At the same time, it examines 80 Requests received by the Panel from 1994 until 2012 to see the overall history of the Inspection Panel. Based on the research, this paper presents two important implications. First, it argues that the internal accountability deficits in the structure and process of the Inspection Panel have constrained the World Bank from strengthening its external accountability. Secondly, it also argues that the World Bank is failing because of Path Dependence. In summary, this paper argues that the Inspection Panel fails to enhance the World Banks accountability as the institutions external accountability mechanism due to lack of internal accountability and Path Dependence.