Cambridge University Press eBooks· 2013· Book chapter
The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development
- 530citations
- 2013year
Short summary
Institutional reforms in developing countries often fail because they adopt unrealistic 'best practices' as signals for short-term support, leading to new forms that don't function.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Reforms in developing countries often fail to improve government effectiveness.
- Failure stems from adopting unrealistic 'best practices' as signals for short-term support.
- These adopted practices are not relevant to the local context or implementing agents.
- Successful reform requires focusing on problem-solving via an incremental process with multiple agents.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Developing countries commonly adopt reforms to improve their governments yet they usually fail to produce more functional and effective governments. Andrews argues that reforms often fail to make governments better because they are introduced as signals to gain short-term support. These signals introduce unrealistic best practices that do not fit developing country contexts and are not considered relevant by implementing agents. The result is a set of new forms that do not function. However, there are realistic solutions emerging from institutional reforms in some developing countries. Lessons from these experiences suggest that reform limits, although challenging to adopt, can be overcome by focusing change on problem solving through an incremental process that involves multiple agents.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: Development
DevelopmentSocial Sciences