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. Jomo Kwame Sundaram was United Nations Assistant-Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations during 2005-2012. He was awarded the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought in 2007. Anis Chowdhury is Chief of the Macroeconomic and Development Division of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations. He was Senior Economic Affairs Officer in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), and Professor of Economics at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Cover design: Burge Agency Cover image © UN Photo/Yutaka Nagata www.bloomsburyacademic.com
Good Governance_pb.indd 1
united nations
IS Good governanCe GOOD FOR DEVELOPMENT? JOMO AND Chowdhury (Eds)
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.
IS GOOD GOVERNANCE GOOD FOR DEVELOPMENT?
edited by Jomo Kwame Sundaram AND Anis Chowdhury
united nations
T h e U n i t e d N at i o n s S e r i e s o n D e v e l o p m e n t
Also by Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury (eds.) in this series: Poor Poverty: The Impoverishment of Analysis, Measurement and Policies (2011)
26/06/2012 13:35