The State of State Capacity: a review of concepts, evidence and measures

  • This working paper is part of the research programme on Institutions, Governance and Longterm Economic Growth, a partnership between the French Development Agency AFD and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance Maastricht University UNUMerit. The research builds on the Institutional Profiles Database IPD, jointly developed by AFD and the French Ministry of the Economy since 2001.What is state capacity and how does it affect development The concept of state capacity acquired centrality during the late seventies and eighties, sponsored by a rather compact set of scholarly works. It later permeated through several disciplines and has now earned a place within the many governance dimensions affecting economic performance. The present article aims to provide a historical account of the evolution and usage of the state capacity concept, along with its various operationalizations. It examines in particular a the growing distance in the usage of the concept by different disciplinary and thematic fields; b the process of branching out of the concept from restricted to more multidimensional definitions; c the problems with construct validity and concept stretching, and d the generalized lack of clarity that exists regarding the institutional sources of state capacity.

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Metadaten
Document Type:Working Paper
Language:English
Author(s):Luciana Cingolani
Parent Title (German):MERIT Working Papers
Publication year:2013
Publishing Institution:Hertie School
Related URL:https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/abstract/?id=5017
Release Date:2019/05/07
Tag:bureaucracies; fiscal performance; neopatrimonialism; state capacity; statebuilding
Edition:#2013-053
Notes:
MERIT Working Papers 053, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
Licence of document (German):Metadaten / metadata
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