Evaluating Recipes for Development Success
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World Bank, Washington, DC
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This paper provides a review of the contradictions and conflicts in the literature on economic governance and sketches an approach to use some of the conceptual and empirical findings from that literature for development policy. The literature offers conflicting conclusions on big questions: whether history and geography preordain a country's economic fate, whether democracy or authoritarianism promotes growth; whether informal or formal mechanisms are best; whether "big bang" or gradual transitions promote growth; and whether disasters and demographics are stumbling blocks or stepping stones. The author finds recipes for success that are infeasible, contradictory and shifting, and that ignore the role of luck in development policy. While the researcher may ask, "What creates success on average across countries?" the policymaker needs to know, "What is going wrong in this country and how can we put it right?" The author suggests a preliminary approach to combine the practitioner's detailed knowledge of country conditions with the broader patterns uncovered by scholars, building on "growth diagnostics" that identify binding constraints to development. But he shifts from the sequential "decision tree" framework to a more directly "diagnostic" approach that recognizes that policymakers must deal with many factors simultaneously. The framework he suggests combines empirical information on potential causes, estimates of their probabilities, and observed effects. He proposes this framework as the foundation, not for another recipe, but for a broader mode of thought to tackle the complexity and variance in development processes and patterns across countries and time-one country at a time.
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AGRICULTURE, AUTHORITARIAN RULE, AUTHORITARIANISM, AUTHORITY, CAPITAL MARKETS, CITIZENS, COLONIALISM, COMMUNIST, COMMUNIST PARTY, CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT, CORRUPTION, COURTS, CRISES, CURRENT ACCOUNT, CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT, DEBT, DECISION-MAKING, DECISION-MAKING PROCESS, DEMOCRACY, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, DEMOCRATIC REGIMES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DIMENSIONS OF GOVERNANCE, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC POLICIES, ECONOMIC REFORMS, ELECTORAL RULES, EXCHANGE OF IDEAS, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FIXED COSTS, FOREIGN AID, FORMAL CONTRACTS, FORMAL INSTITUTIONS, FORMAL SYSTEM, FREE MARKET PRICES, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GOOD INSTITUTIONS, GOOD POLICIES, GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENT REVENUE, GROWTH MODELS, INCOME, INDUSTRIALIZATION, INEQUALITY, INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE, INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES, INSTITUTIONAL REFORM, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INVESTIGATION, JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS, JUDICIARY, LABOR MARKETS, LEGISLATION, LEGITIMACY, LITIGATION, LOCAL AUTHORITIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, MACROECONOMIC POLICY, MARGINAL COST, MARGINAL COSTS, MASS MEDIA, MEASUREMENT ERRORS, MIDDLE EAST, NATURAL RESOURCES, ORGANIZED CRIME, OUTPUT PER CAPITA, PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY, POLICY ACTIONS, POLICY CHANGES, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY REFORMS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL COMPETITION, POLITICAL FREEDOMS, POLITICAL POWER, PRICE SUBSIDIES, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, QUALITY INSTITUTIONS, QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE, REGULATORY AGENCIES, REVERSE CAUSATION, RULE OF LAW, SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE, SOCIAL NETWORKS, STATE AUTHORITIES, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, TAXATION, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, TRANSPARENCY, VIOLENCE, WAR