Local management of aid-funded projects

Local management means giving responsibility for the implementation and management of development projects to people and institutions in the recipient country. The main arguments for local management are that it offers the potential to increase the responsibility and accountability of national institutions and should help to build a cadre of experienced local project managers. These are all important contributions to sustainable development. There are, however, some constraints on the effectiveness of local management, including the limited supply of good managers and the difficulty of ensuring adherence by those implementing projects to donors' procedures and regulations. The role of donor agencies under local management is yet to be clearly defined. Donor agencies will face difficult professional judgments on whether, when and how to intervene where projects are not being competently managed by national institutions.     

我国教师专业化浅析

从教师专业化的源起出发,介绍了教师专业化的内涵,我国教师专业化的现状,针对我国教师专业化不足的情况提出建立和健全国家教师专业化制度,将教师教育纳入法制化轨道。     

Empowerment and the challenge of applying transition management to ongoing projects

This article explores the relation between empowerment and long-term policy design. More specifically, it studies the empowerment aspect of a specific long-term policy design, transition management (TM), both theoretically and empirically. First, the respective bodies of literature on empowerment and TM are synthesized and four theoretically (dis)empowering aspect of TM are discussed. On that basis, four research questions are distilled as a framework for empirical analysis. Second, an empirical account is given of challenges that came up during the application of TM in ongoing projects, and these challenges are analyzed in terms of (dis)empowerment, following a critical line of argument. Third, a more instrumental line of argument distils lessons for TM, by applying empowering insights to design strategies on how to deal with the upcoming challenges of TM. The challenges, analyses, and lessons are summarized in a table at the end. In conclusion, the theoretical and empirical findings are related to a discussion on long-term policy design more generally.     

Introducing administrative reform through the application of computer-based information systems: A case study in India

Administrative reform in a number of developing countries has recently been directed at achieving decentralization through the diffusion of information technology to local areas. However, despite these efforts, the main objective of improving the effectiveness of development planning and monitoring systems remains unfulfilled because of poor integration between the process of technology adoption and the context within which the technology is implemented. There is a paucity of literature that aims to make explicit the nature of this integration. This paper aims to offer a contribution in this direction by describing the case of the computerized rural information systems project (CRISP) in India. The results show that during the first few years of implementation information technology served to reinforce existing inefficiencies within the bureaucracy. Information technology was later used as a vehicle for promoting change within the administration as local administrators acquired the flexibility to direct the technology towards their own requirements.     

The district and support for primary health care: The management experience from large-scale projects

With the implementation of primary health care policies the need for more effective management support at the intermediate or district level has become apparent, but experience is poorly documented. This article reviews the management experience of large-scale district-level projects in Ghana, India, Iran, Korea, Philippines, Thailand and Zaïre. The lessons point to a strong need to strengthen district-level management and for greater decentralization. These in turn will require a review of the present organizational health structures and the strengthening of national-level planning and management capacity.     

Institutional boundaries and common‐pool resource management: A comparative analysis of water management programs in California

Policymakers and academics often identify institutional boundaries as one of the factors that shape the capacity of jurisdictions to manage natural resources such as water, forests, and scenic lands. This article examines two key bodies of literature—common‐pool resource management theory and local public economy theory—to explain how the boundaries of political jurisdictions affect natural resource management. Two empirical methods were used to test hypotheses from the literature, using a study of water management programs in California. The results demonstrate that institutional boundaries that coincide with natural resources are likely to be associated with the implementation of more effective resource management programs. At the same time, where jurisdictions can control through coordination, they can also facilitate more effective resource management where jurisdictions do not match resource boundaries. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Policy implications of climate forecasts for water resources management in the Pacific Northwest

The Columbia River Basin management system suffers from conflicts over water use and allocation, and vulnerability to climate variability that disrupt hydropower, fisheries, irrigation, water supply, and other vital activities. Climate forecasts have the potential to improve water resource management in this system supporting management decisions that decrease its vulnerability to droughts, floods, and other crises related to climate variability. This study shows that despite the potential utility, managers do not use climate forecasts except for background information. The barriers to managers' use of climate forecasts include low forecast skill, lack of interpretation and demonstrated applications, low geographic resolution, inadequate links to climate variability related impacts, and institutional aversion to incorporating new tools into decision making. To realize the potential of climate forecasts for water resources management, we recommend strategies that include technical improvements to the forecast products, and joint efforts between forecast producers and the management community to develop and demonstrate climate forecast applications through reciprocal and iterative education.     

The implementation of decentralization: A case study of district planning in Agra District,Uttar Pradesh,India

Though the literature on decentralization has clarified some issues, it has left unsettled the question of the administrative structure for its implementation: who should take what decisions, and at what level? There are limits to the conventional methods of classification. where answers have been sought in terms of Western experience, participation and management. and a legal perspective has been adopted with decentralization seen in terms of fully elected local governments. semi-autonomous local governments. or coordinating committees. Rather than stress procedures of participation. the substantive content of decision-making needs to he analysed. A classification of rural development programmes provides an alternative model for the reallocation of functions within the system of government to meet development needs. The case of district planning in Agra District. India. illustrates the process of decentralization. underlines its composite character. and shows the importance of the budget in initiating reform in the political-administrative system. Since decentralization is now motivated by different factors than in the past. the requirements of the anti-poverty programmes will move the decision-making process closer to the cutting edge of the village level, with even greater responsiveness to demands from below.     

Public policy and competition amongst foreign investment projects: A case study of the Daya Bay economic development zone in South China

By the second half of the 1980s, economic reform in China had produced differentiated interests between regions and a decentralized authority in the country. The central government had increasingly delegated its powers over funding, foreign exchange, resources and investment to local governments, and local governments in different regions had gained more autonomy to control the resources. This situation resulted in the proliferation of power centres at local levels where independent policies were generated to protect and pursue regional interests and resist the general policies of the centre. Conflicts of interest and competition intensified and became more popular than during previous periods. This tendency particularly manifested itself in local policy making concerning the introduction of foreign investment and projects. The case of the founding and evolution of the Daya Bay economic development zone in South China indicates the extent to which the competition between different coastal regions, and between the coastal regions and the central government had been generated. In this case study, the contextual changes that created a competitive environment will be reviewed briefly; the general conditions and motivation to establish the zone will be introduced; then the focus will be on analysing a series of policy formulations surrounding the competition for foreign investment projects. The case study is concluded by an assessment of the ‘incremental’ nature of Chinese policy making.     

Credit management for rural development: Albania,a special case

Lack of rural credit in north‐eastern Albania is one of the most important challenges facing the peasants in the area. In order to overcome the ineffective credit infrastructure prevailing after the break‐up of the communist system in 1991, the Government of Albania, with the support of the World Bank, designed a project for the alleviation of this area's rural poverty. The project, which started in 1995, is co‐financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Islamic Bank for Development and the Government of Albania. One of the project components is small scale credit for rural farmers. In the light of the experiences of the above project, this article reflects upon the future of rural credit in Albania by developing a theoretical framework which identifies the characteristics and principles to be addressed when attempting to rehabilitate the system. The framework examines the desirable preconditions, the strategic considerations, the optimum credit delivery systems and operational requirements to address the current constraints. The conjectural framework developed around some assumptions which, as the political situation was still uncertain at the time of writing, were not tested in the field. The conclusion of the study reflects the need to test these assumptions and to discuss the feasibility of using the policy framework with those empowered to implement the strategies. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing organizations in the third world: A case study of management control in a Bangladeshi jute mill

This article reports on a study of the operation of management control systems in a large nationalized jute mill of Bangladesh. The study seeks to describe how ‘control’ operated in practice and to explain why the systems of control worked in these ways. Investigations revealed a number of significant factors. First, the organization operated in both competitive and regulated environments; it had little authority over its operational activities and, head office and the sponsoring ministry were prominent in organizational planning and control. Second, the accounting system in the mill was mainly a response to external legitimacy (e.g. stewardship and tax matters). Third, although budgeting was perceived as part of the formal structure of control, it was not a dominant mode of control in the organization; the budgeting system was created to comply with head office and state requirements. Fourthly, the mill managers used a variety of social/informal control and mechanisms to cope with the complexity and uncertainty around the mill's operations. This study reinforces the conclusions of other research claiming that the wider social, economic, political and institutional contexts govern the ways management control operates in an organization.     

A planning-centred approach to project evaluation: Women in mainstream development projects

This article describes the process and outcomes of a “planning-centred” approach to three development projects in the Caribbean. A planning-centred approach to research involves the collaboration of planners and researchers in evaluation research, special attention to the dissemination and use of information and the promotion of contact between planners, sector specialists and recipients of development plans. The planning-centred approach to research is also conducive to understanding the role of gender in distributive processes. The paper describes the methodology of this form of project evaluation, alternative evaluation procedures and selected evaluation guidelines used by the agencies involved in the three Caribbean projects. The outcomes of a planning-centred approach are assessed. In the Caribbean projects the approach resulted in the better use of research information, better communication among planners, officials and project participants, greater sensitivity to women's participation in development and improved consciousness of the significance of gender for redistribute development programmes.     

Interstate Tax Disharmony in India: A Comparative Perspective

Interstate tax disharmony arising from the states' attempt to"free-ride" on other states can cause distortions and inequityin a federal system. In this article, an attempt is made toanalyze interstate disharmony in the Indian tax system, providea quantitative measure of disharmony, examine its trend overtime, and compare the degree of disharmony in India with threeother important federations. The major conclusions are that(1) India has a higher degree of interstate tax disharmony thanAustralia, Canada, and the United States; (2) tax disharmonyin India has increased over lime unlike in the other three federations;and (3) tax disharmony in respect of individual state taxesis higher than the taxes taken in aggregate.