GLOBAL: Assessing the Welfare and Distributional Impacts of the Maximizing Finance for Development Approach

This Reference Paper aims to help World Bank Group (WBG) teams assess the welfare and distributional impacts of private sector participation in interventions in infrastructure sectors. It serves as a background and detailed reference for the “Technical Guidance Note on Assessing the Welfare and Distributional Impacts of Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure Interventions.” The proposed theory of change and methodologies are relevant for projects when they are funded entirely by the government, entirely by the private sector, have a combination of both public and private finance, or are funded by the government and managed by the private sector. Assessing both types of impact is important, as the extent to which infrastructure improves the welfare of the target population can vary depending on people’s income, gender, age, connectivity, vulnerability, access to land, and other factors. This paper focuses on infrastructure sectors because bridging the infrastructure gap is essential to achieve the WBG’s twin goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.