Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- Executive Summary -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- 1 Development Policy Reform -- Policy Reform Is Difficult Business -- Are Developing Countries' Policies Improving? -- Why and How Does the Bank Support Policy Reform? -- 2 Ownership: Linking Bank Support to Policy Reform -- Is Bank Support Linked to Policy Reform? -- How Does the Bank Handle the "Tough Cases"? -- Are Partnership Approaches Working? -- 3 Country Fit: Adapting Bank Support to Country Conditions -- Do Bank Country Strategies "Fit"? -- Is the Bank Effective in Advancing Corporate Advocacy Priorities and Harnessing Global Knowledge? -- 4 Conclusions -- The Bank Has Been Reasonably Good at Aligning Its Support with Countries That Are Improving Their Policies -- The Bank's Record In Customizing Its Support for Reform to Client Needs Is Mixed -- Implications for the Future -- Appendix: Project Performance Results -- Annexes -- A: Indicators of Economic Policies -- B: Technical Notes -- C: World Bank Operational Instruments -- D: Outcomes and Bank Contributions to Country Cases Listed in Figure 2.2 -- E: Effectiveness of Bank Support for Policy Reform: An Overview from the CODE Chairperson -- Endnotes -- Bibliography -- Boxes -- 1.1 Indicators of Country Policies -- 1.2 Yemen Improved Its Macroeconomic Policies after Emerging from Conflict -- 1.3 Brazil's Policies Were Highly Rated, but Its Growth Was Disappointing -- 1.4 Customizing Policies to Country Contexts -- 2.1 The Bank Definition of a "Relatively Good" Policy Environment -- 2.2 Bank Support Contributed to Improved Educational Outcomes in Ghana -- 2.3 Conflicting Incentives Sometimes Make Conditionality Difficult to Enforce -- 2.4 Outcomes-Based Conditionality Shows Promise in a Pilot in Burkina Faso -- 2.5 CDF Principles Foster Country-Owned Strategies.

3.1 The Uncertainties of Policy Reform Depend on the Policy Area -- 3.2 Adapting Support to Policy Reform Styles in Tunisia -- 3.3 Bank Support for Policy Reform in China Relies Primarily on Dialogue and Demonstration -- 3.4 Fostering Ownership of Education Reforms -- 3.5 Specific Country Knowledge Is Necessary for Project Success -- 3.6 Inadequate Debt Sustainability Analysis Can Contribute to Excessive Accumulation of Debt -- 3.7 New Paradigms: Private Sector Participation in Water and Sanitation -- 3.8 Electricity Development in Ukraine: Good Idea, Bad Fit -- Figures -- 1.1 Developing Countries Have Made Gradual But Definite Progress in Improving Their Policies -- 1.2 Policies Improved in All Regions -- 1.3 Countries with Relatively Large and Consistent Recent Changes in Policy Indicators (1999-03) -- 1.4 Most Areas of Developing-Country Policies Improved -- 1.5 Countries with Better/Improving Policies Grew Faster -- 1.6 World Bank Instruments Available to Support Policy Reform -- 2.1 Bank Lending Is Concentrated in Countries with Good Policy Environments -- 2.2 Good Outcomes of Bank Assistance Are Associated with Progress in Policy Reform -- 2.3 Improved Project Outcomes Are Associated with Improvements in Related Policies -- 3.1 High-Quality, Timely ESW Contributes to the Bank's Impact on Policy Reform.