Aid and power: the World Bank and policy-based lending

The term “good governance” is unsettled in its meaning. Through the 1980s and 1990s, donor countries and institutions trended to make aid conditional upon reforms in the recipient country, which was found largely ineffective in encouraging real policy changes. More recently, donors, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the United States, are increasingly insisting upon performance and good governance as a prerequisite for aid, a practice called “selectivity.” This is a means of requiring a recipient state to demonstrate the seriousness of its commitment to economic and social reforms. There are no objective standards for determining good governance: some aspects include political stability, the rule of law, control of corruption, and accountability. High levels of poverty and weak governance are linked, making selectivity difficult to implement. For reforms to succeed, domestic support, ownership, and commitment are crucial, as are the recipient's cultural context and history.

The “Good Governance” Concept Revisited:

Almost all major development institutions today say that promoting good governance is an important part of their agendas. Despite this consensus, ‘good governance’ is an extremely elusive objective: it means different things to different organizations and to different actors within these organizations. This study provides a review of donor approaches and discusses good governance as a concept. While methodological discussions are often esoteric, the study argues that this one has real world relevance to development policy because donor agencies regularly measure and assess the quality of governance, condition assistance on these measurements, seek to design evidence-based policies, and justify their focus on good governance partly on the basis of claims that better governance promotes economic development. The weakness of the good governance concept calls into question each of these projects. Future work would do well to disaggregate the concept of good governance and refocus attention and analysis on its various disaggregated components, as defined here (e.g., democracy, the rule of law, efficient public management).

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/81039/1/688432662.pdf

Good Governance as a Concept, and Why This Matters for Development Policy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to survey current academic and policy debates on combating corruption and the implications of the various international initiatives on social and economic development in both developing and transition economies.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews a range of published articles (1967‐2005), which provide theoretical and practical research on corruption and development. Themes discussed ranged from: conceptualization of corruption, causes of corruption, effects of corruption, perception and measurement of corruption, aid and corruption, and international efforts at combating corruption.Findings – Provides information on each author's perspectives on corruption, aid and development. The paper generally concedes the wastefulness of corruption. Corruption directly impedes progress towards the common poverty reduction objectives of both donor agencies and aid recipient countries.Practical implications – A very useful source of information drawing on thoroughly r...

The fight against corruption and its implications for development in developing and transition economies

The slum is not only a manifestation of mismanaged urban planning in the countries of the South. The existence of slums worldwide is also a sign that the slum is a crucial element of contemporary urbanisation. This article will attempt to define this phenomenon and understand its causes. Adequate policy responses are then suggested. Without finding appropriate solutions to the housing problems of a majority of urban dwellers, public and private decision makers will not be able to meet the challenges of sustainable development.

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Slums and Urban Development : Questions on Society and Globalisation

Prompted by concerns over the effectiveness of aid, the World Bank has significantly stretchedits policy frontiers by endorsing “good governance” as a core element of its developmentstrategy. Governance, which captures the manner in which power is exercised in themanagement of a country’s economic and social resources for development, is a multifacetedconcept. Limited by its restrictive mandate and institutional ethos, the Bank has adopted arestrictive approach, confining itself to the economic dimensions of governance. Nevertheless,this evolution represents an ambivalent enterprise with both promises and dilemmas, as theinherent tension between the economic and political dimensions of governance appears themost contentious issue. While democracy tends to refer to the legitimacy of government, goodgovernance refers to the effectiveness of government. This article assesses the Bank’s approachfor promoting good governance in developing countries. It argues that that the

Good Governance and Aid Effectiveness: The World Bank and Conditionality

Does digitalization reduce corruption? What are the benefits of data-driven digital government innovations to strengthen public integrity and advance the Sustainable Development Goals? While the correlation between digitalization and corruption is well established, there is less actionable evidence on the effects of specific digitalization reforms on different types of corruption and the policy channels through which they operate. This paper unbundles the integrity dividends of digital reforms that the pandemic has accelerated. It analyses the rise of integrity-tech and integrity analytics in the anticorruption space, deployed by data-savvy integrity institutions. It also assesses the broader integrity dividends of government digitalization for cutting redtape, reducing discretion and increasing transparency in government services and social transfers. It argues that digital government can be an effective anticorruption strategy, with subtler yet deeper effects. There nevertheless needs to be greater synergies between digital reforms and anticorruption strategies.

Trust with integrity: Harnessing the integrity dividends of digital government for reducing corruption in developing countries

Abstract Does digitalization reduce corruption? What are the integrity benefits of government digitalization? While the correlation between digitalization and corruption is well established, there is less actionable evidence on the integrity dividends of specific digitalization reforms on different types of corruption and the policy channels through which they operate. These linkages are especially relevant in high corruption risk environments. This article unbundles the integrity dividends of digital reforms undertaken by governments around the world, accelerated by the pandemic. It analyzes the rise of data-driven integrity analytics as promising tools in the anticorruption space deployed by tech-savvy integrity actors. It also assesses the broader integrity benefits of the digitalization of government services and the automation of bureaucratic processes, which contribute to reducing bribe solicitation risks by front-office bureaucrats. It analyzes in particular the impact of digitalization on social transfers. It argues that government digitalization can be an implicit yet effective anticorruption strategy, with subtler yet deeper effects, but there needs to be greater synergies between digital reforms and anticorruption strategies.

Carlos Santiso

Papers

Good Governance and Aid Effectiveness: The World Bank and Conditionality

Trust with integrity: Harnessing the integrity dividends of digital government for reducing corruption in developing countries

Govtech against corruption: What are the integrity dividends of government digitalization?