ETD

• ADB
• banche multilaterali di sviluppo
• imprenditoria femminile
• SDGs

From the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the fight against state fragility and violent conflict, from responses to migratory crises to the global reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have emerged as pivotal actors in tackling a wide array of global challenges. Since the establishment of the World Bank, the MDB model has experienced steady proliferation and growth, resulting, to date, in the creation of approximately thirty such institutions. At least part of their success can be attributed to a distinctive business model that sets them apart from other international organisations: MDBs simultaneously operate as development agencies and as financial institutions. In their capacity as development organisations, they pursue economic policy objectives aimed at fostering long-term structural transformation; as financial institutions, they raise capital on international markets to fund economically and socially significant projects while ensuring financial soundness and creditworthiness.
The purpose of this dissertation is to examine these institutions from an organisational perspective and to assess their contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The work is structured in four chapters.
Chapter 1 analyses Multilateral Development Banks by focusing on the inherent tension between two sometimes conflicting imperatives: promoting development in low-income countries and maintaining the ability to raise substantial financial resources on capital markets. This dual mandate requires MDBs to balance the concessionality needed for the poorest borrowers with the financial discipline required to preserve their preferred-creditor status and triple-A (or near triple-A) ratings.
Chapter 2 offers a comprehensive review of the state of the art and the existing scholarly literature on Multilateral Development Banks. Particular attention is devoted to three core themes: their evolving role in the international development architecture, their governance structures, and their economic potential both as lenders and as catalysts of private-sector investment. The chapter aims to identify persisting gaps in the literature and to highlight promising avenues for future research.
Chapters 3 and 4 present two in-depth case studies drawn from the portfolio of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Established in 1966, the ADB plays a critical role in supporting economic and social development across Asia and the Pacific, with a particular emphasis on poverty reduction and gender equality. Chapter 3 examines the project entitled “Improving Energy-Based Livelihoods for Micro-Entrepreneur Women”, while Chapter 4 analyses the “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Project”. Both initiatives recognise that sustainable poverty reduction and the narrowing of gender disparities are inconceivable without the active economic empowerment of citizens, especially the poorest and most vulnerable women. By expanding entrepreneurial opportunities and access to productive resources, these programmes seek to mitigate the adverse effects of poverty and gender inequality while fostering inclusive growth.
The selection of these ADB case studies is deliberate and theoretically grounded. Globally, women’s entrepreneurship constitutes a powerful engine of economic growth and job creation. In the Asia-Pacific region, closing gender gaps in economic participation could add an estimated USD 4.5 trillion to regional GDP by 2025 – a figure that underscores the macroeconomic significance of gender-responsive development finance (McKinsey Global Institute, 2018). Beyond aggregate growth, female entrepreneurship carries profound social and political implications: it strengthens women’s rights, enhances their voice in decision-making processes at household, community, and national levels, and serves as a cornerstone of economic empowerment.
Within this broader framework, the Asian Development Bank strives to support women by financing innovative interventions of the kind illustrated in the two case studies and by systematically disseminating knowledge and lessons learned. By making detailed project documentation and evaluation reports publicly available, the ADB enables peer learning, facilitates the replication of successful practices, and contributes to the continuous refinement of gender-sensitive development approaches across the multilateral system.
Ultimately, few objectives are more noble or more urgent than the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities in all their forms. It is my sincere hope that this dissertation, however modest its scope, may offer a useful contribution to the ongoing work of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners who devote their energies to these vital causes.