The World Bank’s Approach to Public Sector Management

How the public sector is managed is an intensely practical concern for developing countries. Nigeria spends about four times as much for health per capita as Ethiopia, but more under-5s die every year in Nigeria than in Ethiopia. Ghana and Benin have similar per-capita income levels, but in Ghana, t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International review of administrative sciences 2013-09, Vol.79 (3), p.391-397
Main Authors: Manning, Nick, McCourt, Willy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Afghanistan
Banking
Benin
Bureaucracy
Developing countries
Ethiopia
Ghana
Income
India
Infant mortality
Investments
Literacy
Management
Nigeria
Prime ministers
Public management
Public Sector
Public services
Reform
Sweden
U.S.A
United States
World Bank
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:How the public sector is managed is an intensely practical concern for developing countries. Nigeria spends about four times as much for health per capita as Ethiopia, but more under-5s die every year in Nigeria than in Ethiopia. Ghana and Benin have similar per-capita income levels, but in Ghana, the literacy rate for young people is about 50 percent higher than in neighbouring Benin. Total health spending in the US is nearly twice as high as in Sweden, yet infant mortality in Sweden is less than half as high as in the US (World Bank, 2012c). In India, a malfunctioning bureaucracy has been seen as one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable growth by the Prime Minister himself (Singh, 2004). Whether post-conflict Afghanistan can build a public sector which can deliver services, as the international presence is about to be reduced significantly, has been identified as a key challenge with international ramifications (World Bank, 2012a). The way public services are managed is critical here. The Bank's Approach to Public Sector Management for 2011-2020 (World Bank, 2012b) ('the Approach') takes a fresh look at World Bank assistance to the public sector. The Bank's track record in achieving results through its investment lending for public sector management (PSM) reforms, at close to the average for the Bank's non-PSM projects, is better than is sometimes portrayed (Blum, forthcoming). Moreover, Pollitt suggests in this Special Issue that its bumpy progress is not that different from the experience of reform in the OECD countries. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]
ISSN:0020-8523
1461-7226
DOI:10.1177/0020852313501972