Social Contracts in Sub-Saharan Africa: Concepts and Measurements

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

An Exploratory Study of the Social Contract of Research and Innovation in Africa

“…Chang et al ( 2016 ), refer to this as productive capability. More recently the World Bank (Independent Evaluation Group, 2019 ) has drawn attention to the growing interest in applying social contract theory to the problems of development, especially policy implementation failure, the wicked problem of binding constraints, and state resilience to fragility (Cloutier, 2021 ).…”

“…A means of quantifying the existence and character of the social contract is provided by Cloutier ( 2021 ) quantitative methodology. Following Hoogeveen ( 2018 ), who found strong correlation between the quality of a country's social contract and its statistical capacity, Cloutier proposes characterization of the social contract across three interconnected elements: the citizen-state bargain, social outcomes, and resilience and dynamism.…”

“…research and innovation, that with few African country exceptions, is a neglected topic. An eclectic methodology adapts Cloutier ( 2021 ) measurement of the political social contract to examining the social contract for research and innovation. The methodology probes the functionality of national innovation systems, with specific attention to STI policy instruments using Martin, 2015 categorization informed by Theory of Change.…”

“…The study commences with a general overview of the social contract for science before turning to Africa's post-independence modernizing agenda, and the roles ascribed to industrial policy and research and innovation policy. An eclectic methodology drawing on Cloutier ( 2021 ) is deployed to characterize and measure the social contract between research and innovation. The methodology adapts Cloutier ( 2021 ) to the functionality of national innovation systems.…”

“…An eclectic methodology drawing on Cloutier ( 2021 ) is deployed to characterize and measure the social contract between research and innovation. The methodology adapts Cloutier ( 2021 ) to the functionality of national innovation systems. The responsiveness of STI policy is further probed using Martin, 2015 categorization of innovation policy informed by Theory of Change.…”