Beyond Institutions. Institutions and organizations in the politics and economics of poverty reduction - a thematic synthesis of research evidence.
Abstract
As IPPG comes to an end, this publication reports on its work between 2005-2010. It identifies and highlights the most important common themes and policy implications that flow from the evidence drawn from the work-streams and research projects of IPPG as well as other DFID-funded consortia.
The evidence from this research has suggested a number of key themes about the role of institutions in development and poverty reduction. The first is that institutions, as a set of rules, are not self-generating or self-sustaining – and they achieve little on their own. To be effective and sustained, they require legitimacy, consistency and compatibility with other institutions, maintenance, implementation and review.
Second, economic institutions, as with political and social institutions, are social and political constructions not simply matters of technical design or administrative arrangement. Understanding how institutions are forged, how they evolve, and the conditions which ensure their successful implementation, rather than avoidance or evasion, is therefore fundamental. This takes us into the territory populated by actors and organizations which is well ‘beyond’ many of the conventional approaches to institutional analysis.
The third central theme is therefore that the interaction of individuals, organizations and institutions is at the heart of the politics and political economy of development, where ‘organizations’ are understood to be the formally or informally co-ordinated vehicles for the promotion or protection of a mix of individual and shared interests and/or ideas.
These themes are elaborated and illustrated in this report, as are the important distinctions between institutions and organizations.
Citation
Research Programme Consortium for Improving Institutions for Pro-Poor Growth, Manchester, UK. ISBN-10: 1-905469-21-7. 68 pp.
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