A few research entry points on policy coherence Duncan Campbell - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A few research entry points on « policy coherence »

Duncan Campbell

Policy coherence =

• « the systematic promotion of mutually

reinforcing policies across government departments and agencies creating synergies towards achieving the defined

• bjective. »
• For present discussion, coherence equals

integration equals coordination, etc.

Question One: if PC is such an obvious public good why are we only now talking about it?

• the « philological » answer reveals a distinction between

« policy coherence » and « policy coherence for development ».

• The latter is from mid-1990s, refers to aid effectiveness

debates, donor coordination, and domestic policies of OECD and their effect on developing countries

• Complexity: proliferation of policy domains
• Erosion of discrete policy spheres with globalization,

e.g. trade policy becomes employment policy, or without globalization, e.g. environmental policy becomes part of industrial policy and employment policy

Question Two: if PC is such an obvious public good, then why doesn’t it just happen?

• …sometimes it perhaps ought not to, e.g. the

Washington consensus

• A plethora of disciplinary approaches to the answer:

– Bounded rationality in economics – Territory (turf protection) in economic anthropology – Organization and inter-organization theory (e.g. bureaucracy, and cultural misunderstanding) – Information asymmetries (i.e. different constituencies with different perceptions of self-interest) – Governance incentives, e.g. ministerial power in Nepal

Distinguishing between intended and unintended policy incoherence

• Intended incoherence: the North favours development;

trade leads to development; trade from developing countries is impeded by various barriers imposed by the

• North. (key issues here are (1) implied policy priority

arising from budget constraint or, (2) from vested interests (hostage)

• Unintended incoherence: examples would include the «

negative correlation » between neediest and beneficiaries of a successful Doha (showing policy sequencing), or the fate of isolated good policy, e.g. anti- discrimination

The effort in South Africa

• First, define decent work as the primary

policy objective

• Accommodating, jobs-friendly

macroeconomic policies:

– Fiscal policies (EPWP, Jobs Fund, DFIs) – Debate over exchange rate policy – Reforming monetary policy – shelter IDC from commercial balance sheet constraints

Continued …

• Industrial policy with discrete sector-level

support, a major criterion of which is labour-absorptive capacity

• Trade policy: expand geography and

promotion of exports

• Supply-side strategy, revamp STBs, and

innovations such as training layoff scheme

Sri Lanka

• Promotion of garment industry through tax holidays
• Resulting fiscal deficit crowding out (job-creating) private

investment elsewhere

• Fiscal deficit meant no investment in rural infrastructure,

thus no investment in labour-intensive agriculture

• Need to increase productivity in garments, meanwhile,

facing global competition, job-reducing

• Subsidizing capital investment – distortion of cost

structure resulting in fewer jobs

• No obvious plan for economic diversification (70 %) in

service sector

Nepal (and Integration)

• Paramount importance is employment

creation (sector 2)

• One key is investment, impeded by labour

market reform (sector 2 and 4)

• Key to reform is sector 3 (social

protection)

• Sector 4 (social dialogue) now includes

maoists (sector 1 – FoA)