An Effective Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: A Bottom Up Approach

What is it about?

The China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) works very much like the World Bank: it channels money into economic development projects (for instance, by building roads, ports and railways). This article shows that the new institution can have a positive impact of global economic development by implementing staffing policies that prevent ideological rigidity and encourage broader consultation and learning by the organization's staff. Our research looks at attempts to accomplish these goals at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, explains the failures of these attempts and suggests what the AIIB can do to avoid such pitfalls.

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Why is it important?

The AIIB gives middle-income developing economies a greater voice in how global economic development is done. To be effective in this regard, the organization should focus on the most overlooked variable that impacts the effectiveness of global economic governance institutions: the staff of the organization. Because the staff and not the management or the Board of Directors have the most impact on lending policies and research at organizations like the AIIB, our research suggests that designing unique and targeted staffing policies at the organization can have potentially enormous impact on on the livelihoods of people in developing Asia.