World Bank -------------------------------- A specialized agency of the United Nations, the World Bank (officially, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or IBRD) was established, along with the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), by the Bretton Woods Agreement (1944) to assist European postwar recovery. When this initial role was absorbed by the Marshall Plan, the focus shifted (1949) to loans and technical assistance to promote the balanced growth of international trade and economic development, especially in underdeveloped areas. With its affiliates--the INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION, created in 1956, and the INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, founded in 1960--the World Bank Group has become the single most important lending agency in international development. By 1983, membership consisted of 146 nations, including China, which replaced Taiwan in 1980. Most loans are made to member governments, but if a member will guarantee repayment, loans can be arranged for private firms. Funds from loans are used to support a variety of long-range projects in such fields as energy, agriculture, and transportation. From 1973 to 1982 loans increased from $3.4 billion to $13 billion annually. Of the $13 billion in loans dispersed in 1982, 23.7% was used for agriculture, 22.3% for energy, and 12.4% for transportation. Terms of the loans have ranged from near-commercial rates, lent by the Bank itself, to zero-interest loans, lent to the poorest countries by the IDA, with payment due within 10 to 40 years. In the late 1970s the Bank's lending policy changed from funding development projects aimed at helping a particular economic sector of a country to financing broad economic reform. The technical assistance program of the Bank works in two ways: it helps set up a project that may secure a loan, and it then aids recipients in utilizing the loan when it is granted. When members request a mission to survey their economies, other international organizations may be brought in; for example, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) added its own personnel to the Bank's missions to assist in agricultural and irrigation projects. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Bank is run by a president and a board of governors who meet annually to determine policies. Decisions on loans are made by the executive directors (20), who meet monthly. Voting on loans is weighted according to members' contributions (capital subscription), and therefore the organization is controlled by the wealthier nations. Recent presidents of the World Bank include Robert MCNAMARA, A. W. CLAUSEN, and Barber Conable. JOHN G. STOESSINGER
Bibliography: Heilbroner, Robert L., This Growing World: Economic Development and the World Bank Group, rev. ed. (1966); Mason, E. S., and Asher, R. E., The World Bank since Bretton Woods (1973); Reid, Escott, Strengthening the World Bank (1973); Van de Laar, J. M., The World Bank and the World's Poor (1976). 973); Reid, Escott, Strengthening the Worl