Is Good Governance Good for Development? (The United Nations Series on Development) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780932227 ISBN 13: 9781780932224

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2012

Synopsis

While good governance is a worthy goal, this book argues that it is not a prerequisite for economic growth or development. The book exposes the methodological shortcomings of the commonly-used governance indicators developed within the World Bank. The authors argue that donors should not impose onerous good governance conditions, expecting the developing world to simulate now-developed countries. They contend that most poor countries lack the administrative and financial capacity to achieve these reforms or institutions - so donor conditionality often becomes a recipe for failure.

In place of grand government reforms aimed at enhancing market efficiency, the book's position is that the reform agenda should target strategic bottlenecks for development and enhance the state's capacity to deal with these disruptions. Bringing together contributions from leading political scientists, political economists and development practitioners, this is the first book to provide a systematic critical perspective on received notions of good governance.

About this title

About the Author

Jomo Kwame Sundaram has been Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations since 2005. Recently awarded the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought, he has served on the Board of the UN Research Institute on Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva, and has been G24 Research Coordinator since 2006.

Anis Chowdhury is Senior Economics Officer in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), and Professor of Economics at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He was Editor of the Journal of the Asian-Pacific Economy and has published many books.

They co-edited Poor Poverty: The Impoverishment of Analysis, Measurement and Policies (Bloomsbury Academic, 2011).
Contributors: Rita Abrahamsen, Associate Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada
Matthew Andrews, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA
Arthur Goldsmith, Associate Dean of the College of Management, University of Massachusetts, USA
Mushtaq Khan, Professor of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK
Marcus Kurtz, Associate Professor of Political Science, Ohio State University, USA
Martin Painter is Chair and Professor of Public Administration, City University of Hong Kong
Andrew Schrank, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, University of New Mexico, USA
Brian van Arkadie, Development economist and consultant

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1780932227
• ISBN 13: 9781780932224
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 206
• Editor: Sundaram Jomo Kwame