Why Most Developing Countries Should Not Try New Zealand's Reforms

Abstract

During the past decade New Zealand has introduced far-reaching reforms in the structure and operation of government departments and agencies. This model has attracted interest in developing countries because it promises significant gains in operational efficiency. But developing countries, which are dominated by informal markets, are risky candidates for applying the New Zealand model. The author suggests that basic reforms to strengthen rule-based government and pave the way for robust markets should be undertaken first.

Public sector management accounting in emerging economies: A literature review

“…First, the adoption of 'new public management' (NPM, see Hood, 1991Hood, , 1995 in public-sector organisations in EEs, often inspired by the preferred market-based 'development discourse' and sponsored by international donor agencies, has been receiving increasing attention from academics and policy makers over the last two decades (Allen, 2009;Annisette, 2004;Manning, 2001;Polidano, 1999;Reichard, 2004;Schick, 1998). NPM has been severely criticized.…”

Implementing Results-Based Budgeting in the Ministry of Defense of Peru

“…Conditional on this approach, of course, is the ability to tie funding to outputs. In developing countries, Schick (1998) cites the dangers of replicating the New Zealand approach in countries that still have to build up the basics of a budget system and other essential pre-conditions. In Peru and other developing countries, classifying expenditures relative to the output or activity for which they were made remains difficult.…”

The Impact of Culture on Performance Appraisal Reforms in Africa: The Case of Uganda’s Civil Service

“…However, it is argued that their success depends on the context. Despite several efforts to reform public service organisations in developing countries, tangible improvements are few and far between (Polidano 1999;Schick 1998). One cannot undermine the ability of cultural variables because "Social arguments tied to organisational culture can potentially have an instrumental side, that is, informal norms and values can be useful.…”