Choosing the Next Managing Director of the IMF
The resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has sparked a global debate about the choice of the next IMF managing director. To help inform this debate, CGD has launched an online survey gathering views on the selection process, the desired qualifications, and perceptions of the qualifications of some of the possible candidates mentioned in press reports. Responses are anonymous and results will be published daily. To access the results, please take the survey.
Invitations to complete the survey are being sent to several thousand people on the CGD mailing list. People who are not on the list and wish to participate may take the survey on the CGD website. The survey mirrors the design and methodology of a May 2007 survey on the selection of the president of the World Bank. The results of that survey are available in a CGD working paper by David Wheeler.
"Online technologies have made it easier than ever before to aggregate the views of concerned individuals," said CGD president Nancy Birdsall. "While the survey does not use a randomized sample, and is therefore not scientifically valid as a representation of the views of the international community, we hope that it can nonetheless be a catalyst for a lively, informed discussion of the process of selecting the heads of important international financial institutions."
The survey includes five statements about possible changes in the selection process (respondents are asked whether they agree or disagree, and how strongly), six types of qualifications and experience (to be ranked as not important, somewhat important, and very important), and the names of individuals that have appeared most often in press reports as potential candidates.
For each name, respondents are asked to report their perceptions of the individual's experience (on a scale of 0 to 3, where 0=none, and 3=excellent). When the respondent has no knowledge or opinion, the field may be left blank.
In addition to making the raw survey results available online, researchers at the Center will analyze the results and explore potential lessons for future leadership selection at international institutions. Issues that could be examined include candidate identification, selection criteria, preference weightings, and the selection process itself.
About the Possible Candidates Included in the Survey
Potential candidates included in the survey are listed below with links to their Wikipedia biographies where available. CGD staff did not consult with any of the individuals listed and arbitrarily limited the number of names to make the survey manageable; inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement by CGD. Survey respondents are invited to suggest and score additional possible candidates.