Matt Andrews Harvard Kennedy School Observations informing this work Many reforms in development are limited Clear to see in PFM domain Three Ds De facto Downstream Deconcentrated ID: 473020
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Slide1
Has Swedish aid injected realism into public financial management reforms in development?
Matt Andrews
Harvard Kennedy SchoolSlide2
Observations informing this work
Many reforms in development are limited
Clear to see in PFM domain
Three D’s: De facto, Downstream,
Deconcentrated
gaps
Better laws, not better practice
Better budgets, not better execution
Better central agencies, not better
deconcentrated
agencies
Why is this the case?
One argument: Reforms lack realism
Not enough attention to the realities of getting things done
Politics, capability constraints, uncertainty, etc.Slide3
What can be done?
Change the process of aid and support
More adaptive processes
Anchoring reform in context, allowing reforms to emerge and adapt to contextual realities
Doing Development Differently, PDIA
A greater emphasis on learning about the realities of doing reform
Peer learning
IN PFM through PEMPAL, CABRI, ESAAG, and more
Donors who leverage their own country experience?Slide4
A ‘realism comparative advantage’
Various authors suggest that bilateral donors might enjoy a comparative advantage in areas where their countries have tacit experience
Like PFM reforms in Sweden
Having been through reform means:
There is know-how, experience, etc. with fostering change, in complex political and administrative setting
Including persuading authorizers, choosing reforms, experimenting and learning, and more
Do donors like Sweden leverage this experience when supporting reforms in developing countries?Slide5
Study approach:
E
xamine experience to see if Swedish aid worked in this way, or was more normally technicalSlide6
Looking through time, using systematic process analysis at global level, in Mozambique, and in CambodiaSlide7
Findings
There are efforts to inject realism into PFM reform
But these tend to be driven by Swedish development experts working in a more DDD process
Less so through bringing Swedish experience into the discussion
Although there are examples of this in Mozambique and Cambodia, especially earlier in the trajectory
The space for realism seems to have declined over time, in development generally
More focus on generic reform scripts, dominance by larger donorsSlide8
How you inject realism in development:
Swedish lessons point to 4 roles
1. Own-country experts with tacit lessons;
2. Adaptive development specialists;
3. Strategic country counterparts
4. Technical expertsSlide9
Conclusions
Limits of the work, method, sources, etc.
But an interesting story line emerges
About how a donor like Sweden engages, builds on its own experiences, fosters realism
About how the development arena allows realism (decreasingly so)
With recommendations
Build a lore of Swedish experience (in providing the various roles, and in its own reforms)
Foster communication across boundaries in govt.
Establish its comparative advantage where possible (possibly narrow and focused, like audit in PFM)