In the World Bank the most important person in the project
management cycle is the “Task Team Leader” (TTL), who has
overall responsibility for the project from inception to completion.
Selected on the basis of experience and professional
expertise, the TTL determines the early identification of risks
and project objectives, decides whether to build any political
analysis into the project identification or preparation phases,
and is free to request the ad hoc advice of thematic expert networks
within the Bank (OPSPQ, 2013c). Overall, the TTL is
also responsible for mainstreaming governance and
anti-corruption issues and concerns at the project level
(OPCS, 2009, p. 18). Given the relative discretion of TTLs,
their personal valuation of political economy analysis and
their willingness to include public sector specialists in their
teams – or at least request their advice – often has an enormous
impact on the institutionalization of PEA at the project
management level. But perhaps the single most important factor
affecting the adoption of political analysis in World Bank
operations is what one practitioner called the “overwhelming
pressure to get money out of the door,” the fact that “task
teams are paid to ensure that the money is disbursed.” And
in the process of ensuring disbursement a task team leader
cannot solve all problems: usually there is concern only for
the “20% of recommendations that ensures 80% of results”.
Our interviews showed that there are simply no clear rewards
for knowledge production, just for publishing reports and getting
projects approved quickly, which does not ensure effectiveness
over the long term.