Publication:
What Is State Capacity?

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dc.contributor.authorKhemani, Stuti
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-13T17:22:36Z
dc.date.available2019-02-13T17:22:36Z
dc.date.issued2019-02
dc.description.abstractReform leaders who want to pursue technically sound policies are confronted with the problem of getting myriad government agencies, staffed by thousands of bureaucrats and state personnel, to deliver. This paper provides a framework for thinking about the problem as a series of interdependent principal-agent relationships in complex organizations, where one type of actor, the agent, takes actions on behalf of another, the principal. Using this framework to review and forge connections across a large literature, the paper shows how the crux of state capacity is the culture of bureaucracies -- the incentives, beliefs and expectations, or norms, shared among state personnel about how others are behaving. Although this characterization might apply generally to any complex organization, what distinguishes agencies of the state is the fundamental role of politics -- the processes by which the leaders who exercise power over bureaucracies, starting from the lowest village levels, are selected and sanctioned. Politics shapes not only the incentives of state personnel, but perhaps more importantly, it coordinates their beliefs and expectations, and thereby the performance of government agencies. Recognizing these roles of politics, the paper offers insights for what reform leaders can do to strengthen state capacity for public goods.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/336421549909150048/What-Is-State-Capacity
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-8734
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/31266
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper;No. 8734
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subjectSTATE CAPACITY
dc.subjectPUBLIC POLICY
dc.subjectBUREAUCRACY
dc.subjectSERVICE DELIVERY
dc.subjectPUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT
dc.subjectPOLITICIANS
dc.titleWhat Is State Capacity?en
dc.typeWorking Paperen
dc.typeDocument de travailfr
dc.typeDocumento de trabajoes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleWhat Is State Capacity?
okr.date.disclosure2019-02-11
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-07T08:19:53.309495Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-08T16:09:08.933606Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-09T02:56:03.455077Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Policy Research Working Paper
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/336421549909150048/What-Is-State-Capacity
okr.guid336421549909150048
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-8734
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b08696b1f4_2_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum30824404
okr.identifier.reportWPS8734
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/336421549909150048/pdf/WPS8734.pdfen
okr.statistics.combined13535
okr.statistics.dr336421549909150048
okr.statistics.drstats9110
okr.topicPublic Sector Development::Public Sector Administrative and Civil Service Reform
okr.topicPublic Sector Development::Public Sector Management and Reform
okr.topicPublic Sector Development::State Owned Enterprise Reform
okr.unitDevelopment Research Group, Development Economics
relation.isAuthorOfPublication315c439c-aed7-40cf-b8fe-27ff72a00529
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery315c439c-aed7-40cf-b8fe-27ff72a00529
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
relation.isSeriesOfPublication.latestForDiscovery26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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