May 2008

Greetings from Cambridge, Massachusetts!  The first day of the 2 ½ day workshop on the Roles of the News Media in the Governance Reform Agenda is wrapping up.  We are thrilled to report that we’ve had a series of rich and engaging discussions among some of the world’s best scholars and most seasoned practitioners.  So far, we have had debates, at times heated, but mostly civil, among practitioners, policymakers, and scholars on the normative underpinnings of the role of media in the governance agenda, the types of diagnostic media indicators available from around the world as well as performance metrics that have yet to be developed.  We delved into the need to clarify media assessment on multiple levels: theory, concept, method, practice, and policy.  We also talked about the roles of media in natural crises

A view of Beijing's traffic gridlock from my office.

These days, the news in Beijing is of course all about the Sichuan earthquake: threats from ‘quake lakes’, the mammoth relief and recovery effort, and the many, many human stories of survival, loss and compassion. Inevitably, though, attention will turn back to China’s other environmental problems – the ones that are related to the country’s rapid growth and its emergence as the world’s second largest energy user.

The word "governance" was made up by the donors.  In most countries I have worked in there is no satisfactory translation for the word governance.  Indonesians sometimes use the expression "tata pemerintahan yang baik" but that's such a mouthful that most people, regardless of how little English they actually know, end up just sprinkling the English word governance into their Indonesian sentences.  I can't tell you how many times in governance seminars, governance workshops and governance conferences in all of the countries I have worked in, someone invariably stands up, takes a self-satisfied sigh and says, "And what exactly do you mean by the word governance?" Before I came to the World Bank, I taught political science for years at Columbia and Harvard and yet I never came across the word governance in any serious academic literature (and to this day, you will rarely find the term in any major political science journals).  And yet here I am in Jakarta as a "Governance Adviser."

It often seems to me that in international development today a bifurcated reality exists when it comes to the potential or actual role of the news media in the governance agenda. For instance, in the great bilateral and multilateral agencies, many officials will, if asked, tell you that there is no doubt that the news media are a fundamental part of the architecture of good governance in their own countries. There is in these countries a tradition of thinking about the media as – collectively – the fourth estate of the realm, as co-participants in governance. But ask these same officials what role the news media can play, if supported and developed, in securing improved governance outcomes in developing countries and, suddenly, the conversation gets complicated. Why? Lots of reasons.

From  Raj Nallari and Breda Griffith's lecture notes.

Empirical studies of gender inequalities and economic growth

Turning to the empirical studies, we note that the real value-added lies in the derivation of a correctly specified econometric model that examines the relationship between gender equalities and economic growth.  The simultaneity bias makes it difficult however to fully isolate the effect of gender equality on economic growth and vice versa, given the likely coincidence of variables explaining both growth and gender equality. Varying estimation techniques offers a way of getting around the simultaneity problem but often many of the techniques, for example the use of two stage least squares (2SLS) depends on rich sources of data that may not always be available, especially in developing economies, see Box below.

The past decade has witnessed a sea change in the public's awareness of governance issues. These were no longer seen through the prisms of  ethics or politics: they became everybody’s business.

This explosion in interest has occured in both developed and developing countries. It has also permeated the donor community, including the World Bank – where, until the mid nineteen nineties, the subject was still officially taboo.

Since then, significant progress on governance has taken place in some countries and institutions, in contrast with others. Many aid agencies have integrated good governance and anti-corruption in their programs. Evidence was gathered, research was carried out, reforms were implemented, and some  lessons were learnt -- yet many more remain to be learnt.

The governance puzzle is far from solved; many questions are waiting to be answered. Others are subject to ongoing debate.  At the same time, the evidence increasingly points toward one basic finding: good governance does matter. It matters for development, for growth, and for poverty alleviation. 

Yet this finding is only the beginning of a long quest for knowledge. We still need to learn whether governance matters more in particular countries or institutions, or whether it only matters in the longer term. Whether it influences other major determinants of development. Which concrete factors and measures account for improved governance and corruption control. Which practical measures work better than others. Why some countries and institutions have improved, others deteriorated, and others just stagnated.  For instance, is developing stronger institutions to put some checks and balances on the executive more important than adopting anticorruption decrees and laws?

A lot has been going on recently at the World Bank in the area of governance. Some of that has been taking place at the institutional level.  Following extensive public consultations in nearly fifty countries, the Bank has developed and adopted a new Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) strategy and implementation plan last year.  So what will be different, as a consequence of this? I envisage five key areas where the Bank will need to change the way it approaches governance issues: 

First at the country level, a key emphasis will be placed on systematically addressing governance issues in the Bank assistance strategy with its client countries (the Bank calls these the Country Assistance Strategies, or CAS).  The Bank identified 26 pilot countries for this systematic exercise, a principal priority of which is to facilitate learning among teams working with these countries. 

Second, the Bank is mainstreaming governance in all its sectoral work, building on successful existing programs: for instance, transferring school grants directly to school councils in Mozambique, publicizing bidding information in Pakistan’s water sector, developing transparent and collaborative governance arrangements in the pharmaceuticals and construction sectors in the way of EITI, and encouraging systematic use of existing actionable governance indicators such as the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) indicators. 

For a few years now, I have been developing a theory of media reform in post-conflict environments. It is a reading of the facts, nothing grand. I want to trot it out and see how you react to it. My sense is that when a developing country succumbs to conflict and finds the will to come out of it, or the combatants are simply too exhausted to continue the quarrel, donors rush in to help put Humpty Dumpty back together again. One of the things donors sometimes do is re-build the media system.

BusinessWeek reports that an annual study by one of Europe's top business schools indicates that Asian economies are overtaking the U.S. and Northern Europe to become the most competitive in the world. Singapore, in position #2, trails the U.S., but the author of the report expects it to take the top spot next year.

The 20th World Competitiveness Yearbook, released May 15 by IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland, also points to the fact that Asia has proven relatively immune to the U.S. financial crisis. Also, among the top 20 economies out of the 55 ranked, those in Asia-Pacific posted the greatest gains compared with last year. A few examples: Malaysia climbed four spots to #19, Thailand rose six spots, and the Philippines went up five (see all rankings here).

The report also indicates that Asian economies are developing not only domestic markets but also regional ones. Growing investment and trade among Asian nations "is creating a very strong level of confidence in the region," IMD professor and report author Stéphane Garelli said. He added that the emerging economies of Vietnam and Kazakhstan will join the rankings before long.

I went to New York with a colleague last week to visit the Open Society Institute (OSI). At CommGAP we are always seeking to win friends and influence networks. We met the Open Society Justice Initiative team. It was a useful and productive meeting. In the course of it, we were given books and reports about the work of the Justice Initiative and OSI generally. This is what happens when you visit organizations working in development: they give you their stuff to read. We do it too. Most of the publications you are asked to take home with you are things you probably will not touch once they find a place of honor on your bookshelf. Of course you intend to read them all; it is just that you hardly ever do.

In the wake of the massive and horrific natural disasters in Myanmar and China, it is important to examine how the provision of humanitarian relief relates to issues of voice and accountability. In a general sense, communication should be an absolutely vital element of any relief effort. Broadcasting or otherwise circulating crucial information about unsafe areas, survivor resources, and important health and public safety issues can help prevent further outbreaks of disease and post-disaster traumas. Apart from providing humanitarian information, an independent media sector (in tandem with civil society) can ensure that rebuilding efforts are consultative, transparent and accountable.