Voting Power in Multilateral Development Banks

C. Emlen Fischer, Department of Economics

Haverford College

 

Christopher Kilby, Department of Economics

Vassar College

September 2, 2003

 

This paper presents panel data for several measures of member voting power computed for the five major MDBs from the start of operations to 2001.  In addition to explaining the voting power measures, data sources and methods, we present comparative analysis of the different measures and institutions including the degree of voting power concentration and its variation over time.  The research and the data set should be of interest to a wide range of economists and political scientists including those specializing in the study of international institutions, donor behavior, and aid performance.  The complete data set will be available on our website.