A Guide to the World Bank is a reference guide to the five institutions that make up the World Bank Group: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). This book serves as a general overview of the World Bank's history, organization, mission, and purpose.

The book begins with the basic facts about the World Bank Group. It then describes the World Bank's operations, giving a brief overview of policies, projects, and procedures. An introduction to the wealth of information resources produced by the World Bank will help readers understand and navigate the types of documents, statistics, and reports that are available from the World Bank, on its Web site, and in print publications.

A chapter on Topics in Development summarizes the hot issues in development economics today and the World Bank's response to each. A chapter on organization explains what the different units within the World Bank Group are and how they work together to help reduce poverty.

A good introduction for anyone interested in understanding what the World Bank does and how it does it, this book shows readers who want to learn more where to begin.