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Dynamic Capacity Development: What Africa Can Learn from Industrial Policy Formulation in East Asia
Abstract
The essence of East Asian development experience should be sought in the methodology of policy formulation rather than individual policy measures whose applicability differs greatly across countries. East Asia approaches development as a joint process of political and economic factors. Policy formulation in East Asia is characterized by real-sector pragmatism, goal orientation, and aspiration for building the country's unique strength rather than removing general negatives. The problem of weak policy capability is overcome through focused hands-on endeavor to achieve concrete objectives, which we call dynamic capacity development, rather than trying to improve governance scores generally vis-à-vis the global standard. These features are sharply distinct from the dominant development thinking of Western donors which emphasize good governance and an early adoption of policies and institutions that copy international best practices. Examples of dynamic capacity development are presented, and four entry points for bringing this methodology to Africa are suggested.
... The problem of weak policy capability is overcome through focused hands-on endeavors to achieve concrete objectives, rather than trying to improve governance scores generally vis-à-vis the global standard with no specific goals. We call this approach "dynamic capacity development" (Ohno 2013, Ohno & Ohno 2012. Dynamic capacity development aims at improving policy capability through acquiring knowledge and skills by solving specific problems while working toward achieving concrete goals. ...
... Like Doing Business rankings, WGI serve as useful benchmarks to help understand the relative level of governance of a particular country and institutional reforms required for its development. But, these indicators tend to suggest comprehensive reforms that may not be implemented by developing countries with scarce resources (see Ohno & Ohno 2012). Similarly, the technical specification of roads and bridges to be built, the lot size and administrative supports in an industrial zone, and other details which are normally left to consultants and contractors are the proper concern of Japanese aid officials. ...
... One significant thing about leadership in Korea was its capacity to bring the population to subscribe to its vision and nationalist ideology that projected national pride and extolled material advancement, and advanced the imperatives of duty, dedication, pragmatism, and innovativeness and competitiveness (Ohno and Ohno, 2009). It often deployed militarist approaches to inculcating ethical discipline and effectiveness. ...
... It is in the area of the economy that most studies have devoted attention to explain the reasons for the widening economic disparities between Ghana and South Korea from a 1957 level of near equal per-capita income (Werlin, 1991;1994;Kalu and Kim, 2014;Kim, 2015;Afesorghor, 2014). South Korea was considered a basket case in the 1950s, with inept and corrupt officials, heavy dependence on US aid for survival, and poor prospects for investment (Ohno and Ohno, 2009 Apart from South Korea having development-oriented and transformational leaders and Ghana having transactional and short-sighted leaders with little or no vision, other factors explain the disparities in the economic trajectories of both countries. First is the model of development chosen by both countries. ...
... It can be used as a scientific technique to identify contextual interfaces between quantifiable components connected to the subject or problem under investigation. As the approach targets quality rather than the number of responses, as small as two knowledgeable and experienced participants are frequently needed [6,57,58]. The approach is group-discussion-oriented and especially adequate for research areas with few experts [40]. ...
Building Information Modelling (BIM) for life cycle sustainability assessment is an emerging development considered valuable given its importance in enhancing the environmentally friendly performance of buildings by delivering eco-efficient structures. However, despite its benefits, adoption is low. Thus, this study examines the key drivers of a building’s BIM-based life cycle sustainability assessment. An interpretive structural modelling approach and Matrice d’Impacts croises-multipication applique a classement (MICMAC) analysis were adopted for this study. Nineteen key drivers were categorized into a seven-level ISM model, which revealed that the successful implementation of the
driving factors for BIM-based LCSA would increase its adoption and encourage users to be proactive in exploring solutions, exerting best efforts, and advancing its usage. The primary drivers, such as organizational readiness, personal willingness to use, procurement methods, and organizational structure, amongst others, are crucial for discussing BIM-based LCSA adoption strategies and making guidelines and design decisions to guide the process. This paper therefore contributes to the growing
discussion on BIM from the viewpoint of an assessment of a building’s life cycle sustainability. The study concludes that organizational, governmental, and institutional support, as well as capacity development, are essential to driving BIM-Based LCSA.
... I argued this could be done with reasonable parsimony and without rendering the definition circular. Specifically, I proposed adding two things to long-term visionfirst, a commitment to economic inclusion, via investment in smallholder agriculture and/or labor-intensive manufacturing, and, second, the problem-driven learning suggested as a genuine universal by Ohno and Ohno (2012) and Oqubay and Ohno (2019) as well as by the Harvard state-capability group (Andrews, 2013;Andrews et al., 2017) and, on China, by Ang (2016). ...
Sub-Saharan Africa faces an alarming long-term outlook. With a massive demographic dividend in prospect, few countries have the means to turn this to their advantage by rapidly expanding employment-intensive economic sectors. Economic analysis is facing up to this challenge, with new attention to structural change, technology absorption and the capabilities of firms. However, this article argues, it has not got to the nub of the problem. Two connected issues have been under-examined: the productivity breakthrough in agriculture without which employment-intensive manufacturing will not take off; and the weak producer incentives generated by prevailing rural social-property relations. While most economists are ‘Smithian’ in their neglect of property relations, political science research has done less than it might to help. Responding energetically to ‘bringing the state back in’, it has generated a rich body of evidence on the configurations of power that make regimes effectively developmental. But these findings remain crucially incomplete. In future, the focus should be on the political economy of bringing productivity-enhancing social disciplines to the countryside.
An earlier version of the article was issued in the ESID Working Paper series in 2020.
... I argued this could be done with reasonable parsimony and without rendering the definition circular. Specifically, I proposed adding two things to long-term visionfirst, a commitment to economic inclusion, via investment in smallholder agriculture and/or labour-intensive manufacturing, and, second, the problem-driven learning suggested as a genuine universal by Ohno and Ohno (2012) and Oqubay and Ohno (2019) as well as by the Harvard group (Andrews, 2013;Andrews et al., 2017) and, on China, Ang (2016). ...
The forthcoming final conclusions of the Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID) programme are the impressive product of a decade of high-grade, multidisciplinary research steered by the ESID leadership at The University of Manchester. They are significant in their own right but also as the culmination of at least 20 years of cumulative work in a number of research centres that, as a whole, has radically improved the quality of academic and policy thinking about the governance, politics and political economy of development, not least in relation to the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. While celebrating this achievement, those who have been working in what might now be called the ESID tradition (hereafter 'we') should also be taking the opportunity to ask: what's next? To the extent that funding allows, what should be the top priorities for research in our tradition during the coming decade? This paper offers one answer, with particular reference to the part of the world whose future development seems least certain, sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter 'Africa'). My starting point is that we need to reflect broadly on the degree to which the social sciences generally are responding adequately to the challenge posed by future development trajectories in Africa, beginning with policy-oriented economics. The priority questions that more specialised research on politics and political economy should be asking should be derived from this. Sub-Saharan Africa faces an alarming long-term outlook. With a massive demographic dividend in prospect, few countries, if any, have the means to turn this to their advantage by rapidly expanding employment-intensive economic sectors. The best economic analysis is facing up to this challenge better than it was even a few years ago, with new attention to structural change, technology absorption and the capabilities of firms and other organisations. However, this paper argues, it is not clear that this thinking has yet got to the nub of the problem. The nub of the problem consists in two things: first, giving real effect to the changes in agriculture, without which employment-intensive manufacturing will not be able to take off; and second, focusing honestly on the perverse incentives generated by the prevailing social-property relations in agriculture. On the first issue, there is a continuing intellectual disconnect between the policy literatures on manufacturing and agricultural transformation, respectively. On the second, even the best discussion remains 'Smithian' (as per Brenner, 1977; 2007), in that it focuses on market opportunities and missing capabilities but neglects the changes in producer incentives-rooted in social-property relations-that are no less required if the necessary investments in productivity are to occur. It is hard to overstate the importance of getting policy and research to pay serious attention to these issues over the coming years. What next for the political economy of development in Africa? Facing up to the challenge of economic transformation 2 Mainstream economics has obvious blind spots when it comes to dealing with such matters. However, political economy research in the ESID tradition has helped less than it might have done. While our take on many significant issues in development has become vastly more sophisticated, we too have had our blind spots. Having responded energetically, and with good results, to 'bringing the state back in', we have lost sight of some of the critical interdependencies between state forms and prevailing social-property relations. At its best, 'political settlements' analysis has recognised these linkages, but it has been drawn by its interest in industrial policy, narrowly conceived, to neglect the social-property relations in agriculture as completely as mainstream economics. In setting future priorities for political-economy research, this should be corrected. On the one hand, we should give renewed attention to the important ways in which, following Hyden and Chabal among others, the strengths and limitations of African states reflect the kinds of socioeconomic systems in which they are embedded; states should not be expected to work as they do under capitalism until economies become capitalist. On the other, we should reconsider the qualities that make regimes 'developmental', placing far greater emphasis on their willingness and ability to enable productivity-enhancing social disciplines in the countryside. In looking for transferable lessons from Asia and elsewhere, we should be giving broader attention to the political processes and social changes that preceded industrial success.
... I argued this could be done with reasonable parsimony and without rendering the definition circular. Specifically, I proposed adding two things to long-term visionfirst, a commitment to economic inclusion, via investment in smallholder agriculture and/or labour-intensive manufacturing, and, second, the problem-driven learning suggested as a genuine universal by Ohno and Ohno (2012) and Oqubay and Ohno (2019) as well as by the Harvard group (Andrews, 2013;Andrews et al., 2017) and, on China, Ang (2016). ...
The forthcoming final conclusions of the Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID) programme are the impressive product of a decade of high-grade, multi-disciplinary research steered by the ESID leadership at the University of Manchester. They are significant in their own right but also as the culmination of at least 20 years of cumulative work in a number of research centres that, as a whole, has radically improved the quality of academic and policy thinking about the governance, politics and political economy of development, not least in relation to the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. While celebrating this achievement, those who have been working in what might now be called the ESID tradition (hereafter ‘we’) should also be taking the opportunity to ask: what’s next? To the extent that funding allows, what should be the top priorities for research in our tradition during the coming decade?
This paper offers one answer, with particular reference to the part of the world whose future development seems least certain, sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter ‘Africa’). My starting point is that we need to reflect broadly on the degree to which the social sciences generally are responding adequately to the challenge posed by future development trajectories in Africa, beginning with policy-oriented economics. The priority questions that more specialised research on politics and political economy should be asking should be derived from this.
Sub-Saharan Africa faces an alarming long-term outlook. With a massive demographic dividend in prospect, few countries, if any, have the means to turn this to their advantage by rapidly expanding employment-intensive economic sectors. The best economic analysis is facing up to this challenge better than it was even a few years ago, with new attention to structural change, technology absorption and the capabilities of firms and other organizations. However, this paper argues, it is not clear that this thinking has yet got to the nub of the problem.
The nub of the problem consists in two things: first, giving real effect to the changes in agriculture without which employment-intensive manufacturing will not be able to take off; and second, focusing honestly on the perverse incentives generated by the prevailing social-property relations in agriculture. On the first issue, there is a continuing intellectual disconnect between the policy literatures on manufacturing and agricultural transformation respectively. On the second, even the best discussion remains ‘Smithian’ (as per Brenner, 1977; 2007), in that it focuses on market opportunities and missing capabilities but neglects the changes in producer incentives – rooted in social-property relations – that are no less required if the necessary investments in productivity are to occur. It is hard to overstate the importance of getting policy and research to pay serious attention to these issues over the coming years.
Mainstream economics has obvious blind-spots when it comes to dealing with such matters. However, political-economy research in the ESID tradition has helped less than it might have done. While our take on many significant issues in development has become vastly more sophisticated, we too have had our blind spots. Having responded energetically, and with good results, to ‘bringing the state back in’, we have lost sight of some of the critical interdependencies between state forms and prevailing social-property relations. At its best, ‘political settlements’ analysis has recognised these linkages, but it has been drawn by its interest in industrial policy, narrowly conceived, to neglect the social-property relations in agriculture as completely as mainstream economics.
In setting future priorities for political-economy research, this should be corrected. On the one hand, we should give renewed attention to the important ways in which, following Hyden and Chabal among others, the strengths and limitations of African states reflect the kinds of socio-economic systems in which they are embedded; states should not be expected to work as they do under capitalism until economies become capitalist. On the other, we should reconsider the qualities that make regimes ‘developmental’, placing far greater emphasis on their willingness and ability to enable productivity-enhancing social disciplines in the countryside. In looking for transferable lessons from Asia and elsewhere, we should be giving broader attention to the political processes and social changes that preceded industrial success.
... They were guided by principles of urgency, outreach and expediency, principles that are not widely observed in the governance of low-income countries (Henley, 2010;2015). As Routley (2014: 171) emphasises, citing Evans (1998) and the Ohnos (Ohno and Ohno, 2012) among others, the only generally shared feature of Asian models of development success to date, including China, is the absence of a model, a focus on urgent action to address problems and a willingness to employ trial and error in the search for applicable solutions. ...
Currently available concepts of the developmental state are not fit for the purpose of making sense of the diversity of regime types in Africa today. Extant concepts bear too many of the marks of their origins in a very specific set of debates about then newly industrialising countries in East Asia in the 1980s. In view of the comparative evidence now available on both Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, it is time to revisit the question, paying attention only to genuinely generic features. This paper proposes a concept of what should count as a developmental state, or rather developmental regime, in Africa. This says: 1) policy content matters-but with the qualification that raising productivity in peasant agriculture is an essential first step; 2) sound policies come from an iterative, problem-solving type of policy process; and 3) a precondition for all of this is a political settlement or elite bargain that allows a national leadership to focus on things beyond winning the next short-term political struggle. The concept, including the causal hierarchy linking policies with the quality of the policy process, and in turn with the political settlement, is illustrated with reference to Rwanda.
... In the top-down approach policy makers should intervene in some policy culture in the local state. For example, Ohno quoted, lack of coordination among cabinet members in statue and gaps in budgeting and execution also weaken the intensive training [29]. ...
These papers present the push and pull policies as two sides of the same coin and these become the force that drives and encourages the outflow of talent towards a goal. Like many developing countries, Iran has suffered from the phenomenon. The main objectives of this study are examined the key policy factors in cultural, economic and political conditions that contribute to Iranian talented people migration. The principal aim of this study is to propose ideas that can contribute to specific changes in public policies, to curb further outflow and may encourage Iranian expatriates to return to their homeland. This study, however, examines in depth the policy interventions related to the migration of talented Iranians. Interviews were conducted on educated talented Iranians living in six industrialized advanced nations to obtain their views on reasons for their migration. A predominant theme emerging from the study is that unfavorable political conditions have been the key reason for the migration of talented Iranians from their homeland.
... However, scholars like [11] and [12] argues that the concept of the developmental state also exists as an abstract generalisation which is usually photosynthesised from specific East Asian cases on how they form a productive developmental state. The approach has been criticised by [13] - [15] due to its closed similarities to the dissimilar East Asian states experiences. ...
Over the past fifty years in developing world, the role of the state intervention in promoting economic growth and social progress has been a subject of disputing among political elites, international development experts and policy analysts. Recognition of the economic growth success of East Asia has led to new thinking on what developmental states idea should be accomplished. The observable optimism performance of East Asian Tigers on the contextual of developmental states is keen in the fact that economic growth can be achievable when states commitment is concerned with respect to capitalist based economy. Since Tanzania is in a unique position of possessing some resources in which other East Asian Tigers did not posses thou their commitment and high standard of responsibility were imperative to their success. It is in this line therefore this paper attempts to draw attentions of Tanzanian Elites and Policy makers on how they can learn from the story of development states in East Asia so as to invent it into the development agenda in building sustainable development for the people of Tanzania.
... Given the diversity of the countries studied, developmental state scholars differ in the precise concept of a developmental state and the conditions which allow such an entity to emerge (Routley, 2014). Nevertheless, there is a general agreement that economic development is a paramount concern for the developmental state and its elites cultivate progrowth state-society relations and deploy the relevant bureaucratic measures to achieve such a goal (see Hsieh, 2011;Ohno & Ohno, 2012). One of the most important bureaucratic tools available to the developmental states is the deployment of a set of industrial policy to promote technological growth and economic progress. ...
This paper examines Vietnam's international trade competitiveness in the telecommunication goods industry. Comparing Vietnam's performance to those of its more advanced ASEAN-3 rivals (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand), the paper argues that Vietnam has overcome its initial technological backwardness. Nevertheless, Vietnam's continued ability to climb the technological ladder depends on the efficacy of its industrial policy as well as the vitality of its overall science and technological base. To this end, Vietnam should implement a more robust industrial policy to fully realize its current advantage in the telecommunication goods industry. It should “push” its cohort of state-owned enterprises to climb the technological ladder by tying state support to their export performances. In addition, Vietnam needs to strengthen its overall science and technological base. It would do well by investing in research and development activities, and cultivating a larger share of tertiary graduates in engineering and other technological fields.
... Building a developmental state and reform are multi-faceted processes that require multiple stakeholders and actors collaborating and co-ordinating concurrently. In the developmental state the role of private organisations is well recognised (Hirata, 2002;Ohno and Ohno, 2012). For example, the Asian Tigers nurtured a strong government-business relationship that helped them develop economically. ...
Public sector reforms continue to preoccupy governments all over the world, compelled by the need to 'get the state right' through better policy development and implementation. Developing countries see this as the path to a developmental state. This article examines Ghana's quest to build such a state through its new public sector reforms, originally hailed in hyperbolic terms. We argue that the rejection of a top-down and bottom-up synergy in favour of an exclusively top-down approach dooms this effort to failure.
... This more pragmatic approach concentrating on the feasibility of interventions is in some ways very welcome, in terms of development agencies getting to grips with the limitations of their interventions (Dahl-Ǿstergaard et al., 2005). Politics is, in our understanding, about much more than feasibility, yet it is in danger of becoming used in such a manner within a development context as illustrated in recent work by Ohno and Ohno, 'Here, the politics of development refers broadly to what can be done under the political landscape of the country as well as the administrative capacity of the government, whereas the economics of development refers to what should be done in terms of policy content to move the economy to higher level given its initial conditions.' (Ohno and Ohno, 2012, p.225). Whilst Ohno and Ohno are not writing on PEA this understanding of the role of politics as feasibility -what can be done -does seem dominant in much of the PEA literature. ...
This paper examines the take up of Political Economic Analysis (PEA) tools and approaches by development agencies. It charts the emergence of PEA, reviews the embryonic literature on this phenomenon and asks whether this approach assists donors and development agencies to comprehend politics and the impact of politics on the effectiveness of their programmes. There are distinct limits to what PEA can achieve in terms of development agencies fully engaging with politics due to their own political-economy and institutional constraints. The real impact of close to a decade of increasing numbers of PEAs remains unknown. In conclusion we propose further research which will examine the effects of PEA approaches on development agencies and on the governments and societies which have been subject to PEAs and the resultant changes in development agencies policies and practices. www.effective-states.org
... The GRIPS policy dialogue team strongly supports the expansion of policy scope of Ethiopia accompanied by enhanced policy capability. This is in line with Dynamic Capacity Development, the idea we put forward in another paper that internal capabilities should be selectively and strategically built up to attain concrete industrial objectives rather than generally and randomly (Ohno and Ohno, 2008). It should be emphasized that causality between policy capability and policy scope is mutual. ...
Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic, the entire world has transformed
in many aspects. The services sectors are affected largely. The
The global education sector is geared up towards complete
transformation. Educational institutions faced many challenges but
the way they have overcome them is a real case example. Many
USA’s academic institutions have implemented the Hyflex format.
Hylex is a combination of Hybrid and flexible. Our Indian
educational institutions have adopted various online platforms and
the teaching-learning process has been digitized in a true sense.
The role of students, as well as teachers, is getting changed
tremendously in the new normal.
This article has tried to explore the success factors of East Asian economic development by highlighting seven "stylized realities," which include the contributions of structural change and technological change to industrialization and growth, as well as the functions of governments, productivity, investment, and exports. This piece of writing also highlights what other emerging nations such as Bangladesh can learn from the history of East Asian economic development. This is a theoretical study that relied on secondary data. Reference journals, books, local and foreign articles, working papers, websites of relevant organizations, and local and international newspapers were used to compile the data. This essay contends that Bangladesh can learn valuable lessons from East Asia's development experience. However, "development" cannot be directly copied from elsewhere because it is the result of specific socially structured conditions and the process of changing those conditions. Different economies and institutions may learn different lessons from East Asia, depending on the problems they face, their desire and ability to address problems, as well as the circumstances under which they do so.
Amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic, the entire world has transformed in many aspects. The services sectors are affected largely. The Global educations sector is geared up towards complete transformation. Educational institutions faced many challenges but the way they have overcome them is a real case example. Many USA’s academic institutions have implemented the Hyflex format. Hylex is a combination of Hybrid and flexible. Our Indian
educational institutions have adopted various online platforms and the teaching-learning process has been digitized in a true sense. The role of students, as well as teachers, is getting changed tremendously in the new normal. Keywords: Hyflex, Pandemic, transformation, global education
Policies to move African economies from growth to transformation are urgently needed, but are they feasible, given typical political-economic constraints? Drawing on a multidisciplinary literature, this paper warns against the twin errors of ignoring such constraints and treating them as insuperable. There is no doubt that typical patterns of power and interest undermine the credible commitments, adequate public good provision, investment coordination, and provisions for joint learning that are crucial in economic transformation. Moreover, efforts to tackle poor economic governance comprehensively have generally failed. However, history tells us that successful economic transformation occurs in steps and is often achieved by targeted measures and focused institutional improvements in priority areas, with a good deal of context-sensitive trial and error. What is needed is a politically smart approach to the conditions for economic transformation, one that is based conceptually on the form/function distinction, empirically on the growing body of fine-grained case studies of experience at sector level, and a problem-driven learning approach to policy implementation.
The skewed migration of highly educated people particularly from the developing world to the advanced economies has, in recent years, generated much concern since such talented people are already in short supply in many of these developing countries. The literature is rich with accounts on the ‘push-pull factors’ for these flows of people, which include among others, disenchantment with socio-cultural, economic and political conditions in the host countries. This study examines the case of Iran, whe
Africa has entered a new era of economic growth after decades of sustained efforts to promote reforms. During the 1980s, it was recognized that the economic strategies implemented during the first two decades of the post-colonial period had largely failed. Economies were stagnant or in decline, core institutions were eroding, and there was a steady outflow of intellectual talent and financial resources. An economic recovery became apparent in the mid-1990s and has strengthened over the past 15 years, matching the last sustained period of growth in Africa that began in the mid-1950s (Radelet, 2010). Accompanying the economic downturn was political stasis and decay. Competitive party systems eroded and few countries were even minimally democratic in 1990. The economic and political quandary heightened concerns about the legitimacy, efficacy and even coherence of the nation-state systems bequeathed to Africa by colonialism (Joseph, 1999; Herbst, 2000).
Most economists would agree that governance is one of the critical factors determining the growth prospects of countries. However, there is considerable controversy about governance priorities and the types of governance capabili- ties that are critical. These disagreements are related to fundamental disagree- ments on the role of markets versus other social, political and technological characteristics that need to be fulfilled for sustainable growth to take off. The contemporary good governance agenda is based largely on governance capa- bilities that are required to create the conditions for markets to be efficient. While these are important and desirable conditions, we argue that they are sec- ond order conditions, in the sense that without other state capacities that directly promote sustainable growth, market conditions for efficiency are on their own insufficient and ultimately unsustainable.
We study the causes of low growth in El Salvador, a country with an impressive record of political, macroeconomic, and structural reform. We apply a growth diagnostic methodology and conclude that market failures in the process of “self-discovering” the country’s productive potential is a main obstacle to investment and growth. We propose a set of policies to tackle this constraint.
Many low-income developing countries are caught in a trap. The private sector is small and weak, and lacks skills, technology, funds, trust, and management capability. Local producers can hardly compete with global giants in open markets. Under these circumstances, the government is expected to lift the country out of poverty, but the government itself also faces a multitude of problems such as inefficiency, corruption, lack of talent and information, bureaucratic formalism, and political pressure. Bad policy, stagnant economy, and social instability exacerbate one another. Countries must break away from this vicious circle before they can initiate an economic take-off. The question is how to do this, and East Asian experiences in the last several decades may provide some clues for latecomer countries which are not yet on a path of robust growth. East Asia's success pattern was very different from the current popular think- ing in the ODA donor community. Countries in East Asia did not start the "breaking away" process by drafting a poverty reduction strategy paper or minding governance, transparency and grass-roots participation. As a matter of highest priority, they had to cope with the life-or-death problem posed by
The good governance agenda is unrealistically long and growing longer over time. Among the multitude of governance reforms that “must be done” to encourage development and reduce poverty, there is little guidance about what's essential and what's not, what should come first and what should follow, what can be achieved in the short term and what can only be achieved over the longer term, what is feasible and what is not. If more attention is given to sorting out these questions, “good enough governance” may become a more realistic goal for many countries faced with the goal of reducing poverty. Working toward good enough governance means accepting a more nuanced understanding of the evolution of institutions and government capabilities; being explicit about trade-offs and priorities in a world in which all good things cannot be pursued at once; learning about what's working rather than focusing solely on governance gaps; taking the role of government in poverty alleviation seriously; and grounding action in the contextual realities of each country.
Asia has become a global center of manufacturing during the last quarter of the 20th century. First, Japan was the only major
exporter of manufacturing goods from Asia. Then, yen was rapidly appreciated after The Plaza Accord in 1985, and newly industrialized
economies (NIES) such as Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore emerged as exporters of relatively standardized goods. Japanese
manufacturing firms also started to shift their production facilities mainly in ASEAN countries.
This is the twentieth in the annual series assessing major development issues. The report is devoted to the role and effectiveness of the state: what it should do, how it should do it, and how it can improve in a rapidly changing world. Governments with both centrally-planned and mixed economies are shrinking their market role because of failed state interventions. This report takes an opposite stance: that state's role in the institutional environment underlying the economy, that is, its ability to enforce a rule of law to underpin transactions, is vital to making government contribute more effectively to development. It argues against reducing government to a minimalist state, explaining that development requires an effective state that plays a facilitator role in encouraging and complementing the activities of private businesses and individuals. The report presents a state reform framework strategy: First, focus the state's activities to match its capabilities; and second, look for ways to improve the state's capability by re-invigorating public institutions. Successful and unsuccessful examples of states and state reform provide illustrations.
The Myth of Monozukuri: Manufactured Manufacturing Ideology
- Mon-Han Tsai
Tsai, Mon-Han (2006), "The Myth of Monozukuri: Manufactured Manufacturing Ideology," ITEC
Working Paper Series 06-04, Doshisha University, March.
True Ownership and Policy Autonomy: Managing Donors and Owning Policies, GRIPS Development Forum, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- Izumi Ohno
Ohno, Izumi, ed (2005), True Ownership and Policy Autonomy: Managing Donors and Owning
Policies, GRIPS Development Forum, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
Industrial Policy Formulation in Thailand, Malaysia and Japan: Lessons for Vietnamese Policy Makers
- Kenichi Ohno
Ohno, Kenichi, ed (2006a), Industrial Policy Formulation in Thailand, Malaysia and Japan:
Lessons for Vietnamese Policy Makers, Vietnam Development Forum, 2006 (English and
Vietnamese).
Supporting Industries: A Review of Concepts and Development
- Xuan Nguyen Thi
- Thuy
Nguyen Thi Xuan Thuy (2007), "Supporting Industries: A Review of Concepts and Development,"
chapter 2, Ohno ed (2007).
Nihon no Monozukuri Tetsugaku (Japan's Monozukuri Philosophy)
- Takahiro Fujimoto
Fujimoto, Takahiro (2004), Nihon no Monozukuri Tetsugaku (Japan's Monozukuri Philosophy),
Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha.
Building Supporting Industries in Vietnam
- Kenichi Ohno
Ohno, Kenichi, ed (2007), Building Supporting Industries in Vietnam, vol.1, Vietnam Development
Forum (English and Vietnamese).
A Public Development Program for Thailand, Report of a Mission organized by the IBRD at the request of the Government of Thailand
- World Bank
World Bank (1959), A Public Development Program for Thailand, Report of a Mission organized by
the IBRD at the request of the Government of Thailand, The Johns Hopkins Press.
Architecture-based Analysis of Chinese Manufacturing Industries
- Takahiro Fujimoto
- Junichiro Shintaku
Fujimoto, Takahiro, and Junichiro Shintaku (2005), Architecture-based Analysis of Chinese
Manufacturing Industries, Toyo Keizai Shimposha.
Vietnam-Japan Monozukuri Partnership for Supporting Industries: For Leveling Up Vietnam's Competitiveness in the Age of Deepening Integration
- Kenichi Ohno
Ohno, Kenichi (2008b), "Vietnam-Japan Monozukuri Partnership for Supporting Industries: For
Leveling Up Vietnam's Competitiveness in the Age of Deepening Integration," Vietnam
Development Forum, August.
The Quality and Productivity Improvement Project in Tunisia: A Comparison of Japanese and EU Approaches
- Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
Kikuchi, Tsuyoshi (2008), "The Quality and Productivity Improvement Project in Tunisia: A
Comparison of Japanese and EU Approaches," chapter 7, GRIPS Development Forum (2008).
The Role of Governance in Development Revisited: A Proposal of an Alternative View
- Yasutami Shimomura
Shimomura, Yasutami (2005), "The Role of Governance in Development Revisited: A Proposal of an
Alternative View," FASID Discussion Paper on Development Assistance, no.5, March.
Shinseiki Asia no Koso (Designing Asia for the New Century), Chikuma Shinsho, Tokyo. Partly translated and published as chapter
- Toshio Watanabe
Watanabe, Toshio (1995), Shinseiki Asia no Koso (Designing Asia for the New Century), Chikuma
Shinsho, Tokyo. Partly translated and published as chapter 11 in Ohno and Ohno (1998).
Development and Dynamic Efficiency: 'Framework Approach' versus 'Ingredients Approach
- Toru Yanagihara
Yanagihara, Toru (1992), "Development and Dynamic Efficiency: 'Framework Approach' versus
'Ingredients Approach'," chapter 4, Ohno and Ohno (1998).
- R Hausmann
- D Rodrik
- A Velasco
Hausmann, R., D. Rodrik, and A. Velasco (2005), "Growth Diagnostics," Harvard University.
Japan's Development Cooperation in Vietnam: Supporting Broad-based Growth with Poverty Reduction
- Japanese English
GRIPS Development Forum (2002), Japan's Development Cooperation in Vietnam: Supporting
Broad-based Growth with Poverty Reduction, May (English, Japanese, and Vietnamese).
Managing the Development Process and Aid: East Asian Experiences in Building Central Economic Agencies
- Izumi Ohno
- Masumi Shimamura
Ohno, Izumi, and Masumi Shimamura (2007), Managing the Development Process and Aid: East
Asian Experiences in Building Central Economic Agencies, GRIPS Development Forum, March.
The Economic Development of Japan: The Path Traveled by Japan as a Developing Country
- Kenichi Ohno
Ohno, Kenichi (2006b), The Economic Development of Japan: The Path Traveled by Japan as a
Developing Country, GRIPS Development Forum.
Industrialization of Developing Countries: Analyses by Japanese Economists
- Kenichi Ohno
- Takahiro Fujimoto
Ohno, Kenichi, and Takahiro Fujimoto, eds (2006), Industrialization of Developing Countries:
Analyses by Japanese Economists, 21st Century COE Program, National Graduate Institute for
Policy Studies.
- World Bank
World Bank (1997), World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World, Oxford
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