Publication Details

Bureaucratic Effects: 'Weberian' State Structures and Poverty Reduction

Jeffrey Henderson
David Hulme
Hossein Jalilian
Richard Phillips
2003

Abstract

Work developed broadly within the Weberian tradition has argued, for a long time, that there is a link between effective bureaucratic institutions and economic development. In a widely cited article, Evans and Rauch (1999) have demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between a national state's bureaucratic capacities (what they refer to as its 'Weberianness') and its record on economic growth. Drawing on their work, this paper examines an equally crucial relation: that of state bureaucratic capacities to poverty reduction. Using the Evans-Rauch data set and the best available data sets on income poverty for the period 1970-90, the paper analyses data for 29 developing and middle income countries. On the basis of this work, the paper concludes that, in general, there is indeed a strong relationship between states with effective 'Weberian' public institutions and their ability to reduce poverty.

Publication Type(s)

CPRC Working Paper

Keywords

growth international comparisons data

ISBN: 1-904049-30-3

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