HCP Lahore Event
“Building State Capability: A New Approach” by Dr. Lant Pritchett, Harvard Kennedy School
Lahore Economic Development Research Seminars (LEDRS)
IDEAS – Institute for Development and Economic Alternatives
CERP - Center for Economic Research in Pakistan
in collaboration with
The Harvard Club of Pakistan and
Lahore University of Management Sciences
is pleased to invite you to a seminar in the Lahore Economic Development Research Seminars (LEDRS) series:
“Building State Capability: A New Approach”
by Dr. Lant Pritchett, Harvard Kennedy School
Tuesday, 4 August, 2015
2:30 - 4 PM
Saeed Saighol auditorium (main academic block)
Lahore University of Management Sciences
Sector U, DHA, Lahore
Abstract
Economists study policies, but without the capability to implement policies may not matter. But levels of state capability for policy implementation are, in many countries, low and stagnant (or falling). We argue this is the results of "techniques of successful failure" that have allowed states to maintain legitimacy even while failing at core functions and at building capability. Our new approach, PDIA (problem driven iterative adaption) attempts to build capability by delivering results and differs from mainstream approaches to both policy formulation, evaluation, and capacity building.
About the speaker
Lant Pritchett is currently Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Masters in Public Policy in International Development (MPA/ID) program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. His career as an economics researcher and development practitioner has produced three kinds of outputs. He has been a co-author and team member in producing books by the World Bank, including two World Development Reports (Infrastructure in 1994, and Making Services World for Poor People in 2004), Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn't and Why in 1998, Better Health Systems for India's Poor: Findings, Analysis, and Options in 2003, and most recently Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reforms in 2005. He has published widely in economics journals and in specialized journals on demography, education, and health. He has authored (alone or with one of his 22 co-authors) over 100 papers in refereed journals, chapters in books, or articles, as least some of which are widely cited. Finally, he has been engaged in policy dialogue and projects with governments and civil society around the world, both with the World Bank and as a consultant while at Harvard, including some time as adviser to Google.org.
About the LEDRS Seminars
The LEDRS seminars are a series of informal academic seminars with two primary purposes. First, they aim to allow Lahore-based and development economics researchers, including early-career researchers, to present work in progress in an informal setting and get constructive feedback and ideas from a larger group of colleagues beyond their own institutions. Second, they will provide a forum for visiting development economics researchers to present their research, and thus facilitate continuing exposure for Lahore-based researchers to current research topics and methods. The seminar series will also aim to strengthen links among researchers in Lahore and between Lahore-based and visiting researchers, and to generate more extensive discussion of policy implications of research and brainstorm channels for policy impact.
We look forward to you joining the conversation. Kindly RSVP here if you wish to attend.