IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bwp/bwppap/esid-119-19.html

The politics of bureaucratic ‘pockets of effectiveness’ - Insights from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance

Author

Listed:
  • Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai
  • Giles Mohan

Abstract

Ghana’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been identified as a ‘pocket of effectiveness’,both in relation to other state agencies and in terms of delivering on its mandate. However, this effectiveness has not been constant over the post-independence period, which requires us to explain how and why effectiveness is generated, but also why it can falter. We argue that the effectiveness of the MoF’s performance derives from the coupling of changing features in Ghana’s wider political settlement with the internal organisational features of this key ministry. Using historical analysis and data collected from recent interviews and reports, we focus on the MoF’s performance over the past five years, even as we situate this in the longer-term context of the Ministry’s ups and downs.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & Giles Mohan, 2019. "The politics of bureaucratic ‘pockets of effectiveness’ - Insights from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-119-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:esid-119-19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.effective-states.org/wp-content/uploads/working_papers/final-pdfs/esid_wp_119_abdulai_mohan_POE.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levy, Brian, 2014. "Working with the Grain: Integrating Governance and Growth in Development Strategies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199363810.
    2. Yaw Ansu, 2013. "Industrial Policy and Economic Transformation in Africa: Strategies for Development and a Research Agenda," International Economic Association Series, in: Joseph E. Stiglitz & Justin Lin Yifu & Ebrahim Patel (ed.), The Industrial Policy Revolution II, chapter 6, pages 492-528, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Sara Fyson, 2009. "Sending in the consultants: development agencies, the private sector and the reform of public finance in low-income countries," International Journal of Public Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(3/4), pages 314-343.
    4. World Bank, 2011. "Ghana - Joint Review of Public Expenditure and Financial Management," World Bank Publications - Reports 2833, The World Bank Group.
    5. Francis Owusu, 2006. "On Public Organizations in Ghana: What Differentiates Good Performers from Poor Performers?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 18(3), pages 471-485.
    6. Joseph E. Stiglitz & Justin Lin Yifu & Ebrahim Patel (ed.), 2013. "The Industrial Policy Revolution II," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-33523-4.
    7. Whitfield,Lindsay & Therkildsen,Ole & Buur,Lars & Kjær,Anne Mette, 2015. "The Politics of African Industrial Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107105317.
    8. Whitfield,Lindsay, 2018. "Economies after Colonialism," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108426145.
    9. Paul Mosley & Blessing Chiripanhura, 2016. "The African Political Business Cycle: Varieties of Experience," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(7), pages 917-932, July.
    10. Grindle, Merilee S., 1997. "Divergent cultures? When public organizations perform well in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 481-495, January.
    11. Asem, Freda & Domfe, George & Osei, Robert, 2013. "The Political Economy Dimensions of Macroeconomic Management of Aid in Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series 106, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Sam Hickey, 2019. "The politics of state capacity and development in Africa - Reframing and researching ‘pockets of effectiveness’," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-117-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    13. Sam Hickey & Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & Angelo Izama & Giles Mohan, 2015. "The politics of governing oil effectively: A comparative study of two new oil-rich states in Africa," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-054-15, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    14. Vasco Molini & Pierella Paci, 2015. "Poverty Reduction in Ghana—Progress and Challenges," World Bank Publications - Reports 22733, The World Bank Group.
    15. Yvonne M. Tsikata, 2001. "Owning Economic Reforms: A Comparative Study of Ghana and Tanzania," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-53, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Martha C. Johnson, 2015. "Donor Requirements and Pockets of Effectiveness in Senegal's Bureaucracy," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 33(6), pages 783-804, November.
    17. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & David Hulme, 2015. "The Politics of Regional Inequality in Ghana: State Elites, Donors and PRSPs," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 33(5), pages 529-553, September.
    18. Robert Darko Osei & Freda Asem & George Domfe, 2013. "The Political Economy Dimensions of Macroeconomic Management of Aid in Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-106, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Vasco Molini & Pierella Paci, 2015. "Poverty Reduction in Ghana," World Bank Publications - Reports 22732, The World Bank Group.
    20. repec:bla:devpol:v:24:y:2006:i:6:p:693-705 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2017. "Competitive clientelism and the political economy of mining in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-078-17, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2017. "The Political Economy of Regional Inequality in Ghana: Do Political Settlements Matter?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 213-229, January.
    3. Calabrese, Linda & Wang, Yuan, 2023. "Chinese capital, regulatory strength and the BRI: A tale of ‘fractured development’ in Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Sam Hickey & Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai & Angelo Izama & Giles Mohan, 2015. "The politics of governing oil effectively: A comparative study of two new oil-rich states in Africa," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-054-15, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    5. Sam Hickey, 2019. "The politics of state capacity and development in Africa - Reframing and researching ‘pockets of effectiveness’," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-117-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    6. Matt Andrews, 2013. "Explaining Positive Deviance in Public Sector Reforms in Development," CID Working Papers 267, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    7. Sam Hickey & Badru Bukenya, 2021. "The politics of promoting social cash transfers in Uganda: The potential and pitfalls of “thinking and working politically”," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(S1), pages 1-20, August.
    8. Andrews, Matt, 2013. "Explaining Positive Deviance in Public Sector Reforms in Development," WIDER Working Paper Series 117, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Adam S. Harris & Brigitte Seim & Rachel Sigman, 2020. "Information, accountability and perceptions of public sector programme success: A conjoint experiment among bureaucrats in Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(5), pages 594-612, September.
    10. Chinsinga, Blessings & Weldeghebrael, Ezana Haddis & Kelsall, Tim & Schulz, Nicolai & Williams, Timothy P., 2022. "Using political settlements analysis to explain poverty trends in Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    11. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2018. "The political economy of maternal healthcare in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-107-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    12. Cascade Tuholske & Kwaw Andam & Jordan Blekking & Tom Evans & Kelly Caylor, 2020. "Comparing measures of urban food security in Accra, Ghana," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 417-431, April.
    13. Odusola, Ayodele & Lal, Radhika & Dhliwayo, Rogers & Sabo, Isiyaka & Neuhaus, James, "undated". "Drivers of Income Inequality in Burkina Faso, Ghana and the United Republic of Tanzania: A comparative analysis," UNDP Africa Reports 270551, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    14. Gill,Indermit S. & Revenga,Ana L. & Zeballos,Christian, 2016. "Grow, invest, insure : a game plan to end extreme poverty by 2030," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7892, The World Bank.
    15. Fabiani, Michele, 2024. "Wealth polarization in western countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 557-567.
    16. Andrews, Matt, 2013. "Explaining Positive Deviance in Public Sector Reforms in Development," Working Paper Series rwp13-040, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    17. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2018. "Rethinking elite commitment to social protection in Ghana: Insights from an adapted political settlements approach," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-112-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    18. F. Clementi & A. L. Dabalen & V. Molini & F. Schettino, 2020. "We forgot the middle class! Inequality underestimation in a changing Sub-Saharan Africa," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(1), pages 45-70, March.
    19. Pritish Behuria, 2019. "African development and the marginalisation of domestic capitalists," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-115-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    20. UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa & Ayodele Odusola & Radhika Lal & Rogers Dhilwayo & Isiyaka Sabo & James Neuhaus, "undated". "Drivers of Income Inequality in Burkina Faso, Ghana and the United Republic of Tanzania: A comparative analysis," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2017-15, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:esid-119-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rowena Harding (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wpmanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.