The Implementation Gap in Emerging Economies: A Theoretical Analysis of Policy Disconnects

Wanogho Owegbe Akpughe and Apinoko Raphael
Additional contact information
Wanogho Owegbe Akpughe: Federal Polytechnic Orogun, Delta State, Nigeria.
Apinoko Raphael: Federal Polytechnic Orogun, Delta State, Nigeria.

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This paper examines the troubling and enduring gap in the application of policies within developing nations, where even well-crafted programs often do not yield the desired outcomes. The research aims to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework that links principal-agent relationships, imitation of policies, weaknesses in institutions, and bureaucratic inertia—elements that are generally analyzed separately. To create a coherent model, the methodology involves the critical evaluation and conceptual analysis of current literature from public administration, political science, and development studies. The results show that the widespread implementation gap is a systematic outcome produced by the convergence of many principal expectations, indiscriminate adoption of outside policy models, continuing bureaucratic burdens, and poor institutional arrangements, all of which encourage symbolic compliance rather than real policy execution. The research concludes that effective solutions to implementation problems in developing countries require policies to be designed to match their specific administrative capacities and operational conditions. The study recommends that to overcome the implementation gap, governments in emerging economies should ensure better collaboration between policy makers and operational personnel while local stakeholders should be involved in all policy stages together with a complete pre-implementation assessment of local conditions and capacity building programs to overcome administrative obstacles. Moreover, the research recommends further study using mixed-method methods integrating surveys and qualitative interviews to empirically evaluate this framework using comparative case studies from several emerging economies.

Date: 2026-03-20
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Journal of Economics and Trade, 2026, 11 (1), pp.286-301

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05561554

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().