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Resistance to multilateral influence on reform : the political backlash against private infrastructure investments

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  • Henisz, Witold J.
  • Zelner, Bennet A.

Abstract

Coercive isomorphism is a prominent source of institutional change. The literature to date has emphasized how actors that are powerful and legitimate (for example, a national government) may coerce the adoption of reforms by dependent actors (for example, state governments and other organizations whose activities are governed by the federal government). The authors observe that an actor's power alone may be sufficient to promote reform, regardless of the actor's legitimacy. But such reforms are more susceptible to subsequent change than those that emerge from processes not subject to the influence of external actors whose sway derives from their power alone. They develop and test their arguments in the context of the worldwide electricity provision industry by analyzing countries'adoption of reforms in response to conditional lending practices by multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The authors find that reforms adopted in response to coercive pressures exerted by these organizations encounter much greater resistance, and that the incidence of financial and economic crises, the absence of checks and balances in established political institutions, and the inexperience of investor coalitions dramatically increase the predicted level of resistance.

Suggested Citation

  • Henisz, Witold J. & Zelner, Bennet A., 2005. "Resistance to multilateral influence on reform : the political backlash against private infrastructure investments," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3690, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3690
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    Cited by:

    1. Jensen, Olivia & Blanc-Brude, Frederic, 2006. "The handshake : why do governments and firms sign private sector participation deals ? Evidence from the water and sanitation sector in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3937, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

    National Governance; Health Monitoring&Evaluation; ICT Policy and Strategies; Politics and Government; Governance Indicators;
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