The "knowledge bank" and the global development network

Why has the World Bank devoted funds and personnel to think tank activities through the Global Development Network? Some of the answers lie in broader objectives of the World Bank to become the ‘knowledge bank’. The GDN represents one program to operationalize this new discourse of knowledge and create the global public good of policy relevant research. The impact of ideas or discourses or knowledge can be greatly magnified when in coalition with broader social and economic forces. Consequently, the analysis also draws upon some current thinking on policy networks to suggest that creating public knowledge and sharing research with the aim to promote development serves the interests primarily of the institutions advocating the knowledge agenda and the researchers in their orbit. Researchers gain access to resources while an institution such as the World Bank can partner with a civil society organization that shares a similar outlook on poverty reduction research.