Public sector management issues in structural adjustment lending

Barbara Nunberg

No 217, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper reviews the Bank's experience in implementing public sector management reforms through structural adjustment lending. The study focuses on those institutional aspects of adjustment that deal with"macro-management"issues related to improvements in the management performance of core central government institutions and to systemic changes in public adminstrations. The paper reached the following broad conclusions; (a) public sector management components of SALs progressed unevenly and outcomes varied with diverse political, administrative and economic conditions; (b) reforms for which routinized methodologies and systems were introduced and those that could be linked to actionable steps were more likely to be sustained over time; (c) short time horizons of SALs posed severe constraints on the effective implementation of public sector management reforms; and (d) reforms through SALs are more successful when supported by specific technical assistance projects. It also concluded that: (e) the haste of SAL schedules and the lack of dynamism and focus of traditional technical assistance argues for the creation of a new lending instrument; (f) country economic and sector work is crucial to successful reforms undertaken through SALs; and (g) monitoring and supervision of institutional components of SALs needs to be systemized and the quality of documentation improved.

Keywords: Public Sector Economics&Finance; National Governance; Banks&Banking Reform; Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Economic Policy; Institutions and Governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1990-03-31
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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