Working Paper: NBER ID: w29163
Authors: Timothy J. Besley; Robin Burgess; Adnan Khan; Guo Xu
Abstract: In recent years, there has been increasing interest in whether and how bureaucratic effectiveness contributes to development. Just what makes for an effective bureaucracy and what are the building blocks of state capacity remain subject to debate. This paper reviews the arguments connecting contemporary research using administrative data and field experiments to wider discussions of the origins of state capacity. Most current research has been focused on understanding specific features of the environment in which bureaucrats operate. We connect this to discussions of bureaucratic systems, specifically the relationship to politics, citizens, firms and NGOs.
Keywords: Bureaucracy; Development; State Capacity; Economic Growth; Public Administration
JEL Codes: D72; D73; H83; O11; O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bureaucratic quality (D73) | Economic development (O29) |
| Improvements in bureaucratic capacity (D73) | Economic growth (O00) |
| Bureaucratic quality (D73) | GDP per capita (O49) |
| Improvements in bureaucratic quality (D73) | Economic growth (O49) |