Msl 2019 90.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Msl 2019 90.Pdf Management Science Letters 9 (2019) 1037–1046 Contents lists available at GrowingScience Management Science Letters homepage: www.GrowingScience.com/msl Does institutional quality matter in fostering social progress: A cross national examination Nesrin Almatarneha* and Okechukwu Lawerence Emeagwalia aGirne American University, Cyprus C H R O N I C L E A B S T R A C T Article history: The first Social Progress Index (SPI) report was released in 2013; a handful of studies examined Received: March 1, 2019 the determinants of social progress at country level as an instrument in evaluating nation’s prosper- Received in revised format: March ity. This study focuses on determining the relationship between institutional quality measured by 16, 2019 the World Governance Index (WGI) and social progress measured (SPI).The results are based on Accepted: April 2, 2019 Available online: the secondary data from 107 countries over a four year period (2014-2017), after controlling Gross April 2, 2019 Domestic Product per capita, innovativeness and trustworthiness. The result was in favor of the fixed effect model. The findings illustrate that institutional quality was consistently significant in Keywords: GDP fostering social progress. This study is unique in that, it is the first that examined the role of formal Governance institutional quality in promoting social progress at country level by using SPI as a measurement Institutional quality of social progress. Social progress Social development © 2019 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada 1. Introduction Welfare, quality of life, happiness and wellbeing at country level are indicators used to measure a nation’s prosperity as oppose to Gross domestic product (GDP) (Osberg, 2001). Traditionally Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been utilized as an economic indicator in the context of social progress. GDP was considered the most effective method to measure the progress of a nation’s prosperity, and its develop- ment (Herrmann, 2012). Nonetheless, many academics posit the need to move away from economic growth indicators and prioritize equity and wellbeing. The GDP cannot be considered as a tool for as- sessing the performance of nations in the context of serving citizens (Osberg, 2001; Greve, 2017), as it focuses only on monetary aspects and excludes the social and environmental priorities of citizens lives (Fleurbaey, 2009). Furthermore, politicians have also recognized that GDP is no longer a sufficient tool in assessing societal progress as it was not originally developed to capture the social facet of develop- ment. For example in 2008, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy commissioned Joseph E. Stiglitz to chair a commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (Yee & Chang, 2011). The report conclusively determined that for governments to comprehend the performance of the economy and society, comprehensive indicators were needed to accurately assess wellbeing. Social Pro- gress is one of the modern concepts considered as a prosperity indicator that can fill the GDP deficiency, * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (N. Almatarneh) © 2019 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada doi: 10.5267/j.msl.2019.4.002 1038 as a wellbeing and environmental indicator. Social progress is defined as “the capacity of society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their potential” (Social Progress Imperative, 2018). Countries have unique conditions, characteristics and features that may play an important role in many aspects of its prosperity. Prosperity can be classified economically and socially. In the context of eco- nomic development, institutions can be classified as formal and informal institutions (North 2006), they are considered crucial if they are defined as good or efficient institutions, which is based on the outcome quality measured by governance in six areas (voice and accountability, control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability, rule of law and regulatory quality). Institutions proved it’s effective role in the area of foreign direct investment (Bailey, 2018; Bouchoucha & Benammou, 2018), entrepreneur- ship (Aparicio et al., 2016), and economic development (Knack & Keefer, 1995). Furthermore, good institutions can contribute to the social needs of citizens and societal progress. In the context of social development, the relationship between institutional quality and social development on society has been examined in the context of wellbeing (Bjørnskov et al., 2010; Helliwell & Huang, 2008), quality of life (Nikolova, 2016), and national happiness (Ott, 2010; Ott, 2011; Rode, 2013). As it is not enough to improve the monetary side of citizens lives, policymakers in developed countries have a clear under- standing of the importance of institutions in enhancing the output of their policies, which is evident in the findings of the SPI (2013-2018) over a six year period. Since the first edition of (SPI) in 2013, most of the attention has been given to measure this type of development, although little attention or empirical research in the area of the determinants has been conducted. Grounded in transaction cost theory and intuitional theory, we assume that institutions, through adopting good governance, will improve the economic development and act as a motive for policy makers to manage and invest rationally to improve citizens conditions and their progress in both aspects of devel- opment (economic and social). Furthermore institutional theory holds the view that institutions drive and shape the behavior of firms and individuals (Alsaad et al., 2018). The main purpose of this study was to examine the impact of institutional quality in enhancing social progress through examining if a country’s governance has a role in fostering its social progress position. To analyze the relationship between institutional factors and social progress at country level, a panel data method was utilized for 107 countries over four years from 2014 to 2017. This study contributes in dif- ferent ways: firstly, according to our knowledge this study is unique in that it is the first that examined the role of formal institutional quality in promoting social progress at country level by using (SPI) as a measurement of social progress. Secondly, the research was comprised of a large amount of data; con- sisting of 107 nations. Thirdly, the research employed principle component analysis (PCA) to summarize the shared variation of governance indices into one synthesis variable. Finally two types of controlling variables (economic factors consisted of GDP per capita and, social control variables represented by trustworthiness and innovativeness) were used. This paper is structured into four sections. Firstly it introduces the concept of social progress, institutions and institutional quality proxied by the World Governance Index. Secondly the research will describe the data and methodology used. Finally the results and findings are discussed with relevant conclusions made, research limitations and future research recommendations proposed. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Social Progress Social progress as defined by the Social Progress Imperative 2018 is “the capacity of society to meet the basic human needs of citizens, establish the building blocks that allow and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their potential”. In the same vein Este (1984) stated that the adequacy of social pro- vision “refers to the changing capacity of governments to provide for the basic social, material, and other N. Almatarneh and O. L. Emeagwali / Management Science Letters 9 (2019) 1039 needs of the people living within their borders for food, clothing, shelter, and access to at least basic health, education, and social services”. Citizen needs are recognized not only as material needs but as social needs as well (Estes & Morgan 1976). In relation to these needs, previous studies confirmed the deficiency of gross domestic product (GDP) as a tool to measure it (Osberg, 2001; Greve, 2016). The measurement of these needs using GDP is limited in scope and not comprehensive (Bečić et al., 2012) and is not considered a valuable tool in measuring social progress and society’s wellbeing (Greve, 2016; Decancq & Schokkaert, 2016). Although GDP deficiencies are evident it can still play an important role in assisting governments serve their citizens, as GDP is a tool used in assessing citizens quality of life (Sen, 1999; Agarwal & Samanta, 2006). The Social Progress Report (2017) shows that the relation- ship between GDP and social progress is bidirectional which means that the outcomes of social progress works as essential conditions for more productivity and, without good economic performance govern- ments lack the capacity to invest in health, education and technology, thus indicating an interdependent relationship. On the other hand, there is no correlation between economic growth and social progress (Agarwal & Samanta, 2006). To explain this contradiction we use the classifiction of policy makers of Bruno and Faggini (2017) which classified policymakers into two types: selfish policy makers and un- selfish policy makers. This classification reflects the relationship between economic growth and social progress and illustrates that a positive relationship exists in relation to unselfish policy makers only. 2.2 Social progress measurement Some
Recommended publications
  • Relationships Among World Governance Indictors and National Per Capital Income Weighted by Environmental Sustainability
    Relationships among World Governance Indictors and National Per Capital Income Weighted by Environmental Sustainability Barry A. Friedman, Pamela L. Cox, Thomas Tribunella Governance consists of the “processes by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them” (World Bank, 2006). We hypothesize that the World Governance Indictors (WGI) of voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory effectiveness, rule of law and control of corruption contribute to National Per Capita Income (NCPI) weighted by the nation’s ability to maintain environmental sustainability (weighted NPCI). Weighted NPCI is a new dependent variable intended to measure a nation’s ability to co-manage economic concerns with efforts to maintain their environment. In a study of 142 nations, we found that WGI dimensions consistently predicted weighted NPCI from 2003 to 2005. We discuss implications of these fi ndings and future research. Keywords: environmental sustainability, national per capita income, world governance indictors. During the last two decades, there has been more emphasis placed on a nation ability to increase wealth and increase effectiveness. Arndt and Oman (2006) propose that this increased emphasis is driven by increased foreign investment in developing countries (e.g., minimize risk by invest- ing in countries that are politically stable and effective) and the decision by the World Bank to provide aid to countries with effective governments. Barry A. Friedman, Pamela L. Cox, Thomas Tribunella, State University of New York at Oswego.
    [Show full text]
  • Does Governance Influence Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa?
    Global Journal of HUMAN-SOCIAL SCIENCE: E Economics Volume 18 Issue 1 Version 1.0 Year 2018 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Online ISSN: 2249-460x & Print ISSN: 0975-587X Does Governance Influence Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa? By Salawu M.B., Yusuff A.S, Salman K.K., Ogunniyi A.I & A.M Rufa Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology Abstract- Poor governance in Sub-Saharan Africa has been a major hindrance to economic growth of the region compared to other regions in the rest of the world. To examine the influence of governance on economic growth of Sub-Saharan Africa, panel data on growth rate of Gross Domestic Product, governance indicators and other indicators of the three selected Sub-Saharan Africa countries namely Nigeria, South- Africa and Ghana for the period of 1996-2015 were sourced from World Development Indicators of the World Bank and World Governance Indicators. The data were analyzed using Descriptive statistics, Principal Component Analysis, Ordinary Least Square Regression and Generalized Method of Moments. The result revealed that South Africa and Ghana enjoyed better governance than Nigeria. It was also found that governance impacts positively on the economic growth of South Africa and Ghana however a negative impact was experienced by Nigeria. The disaggregated governance indicators regression showed that political stability and control of corruption increase economic growth in South- Africa and Ghana while voice and accountability as well as control of corruption had negative influence on economic growth of Nigeria. The study thus recommends freedom of speech to citizens, accountability of leaders, political stability as well as control of corruption to enhance effective governance and economic growth in the region.
    [Show full text]
  • Water Sector Governance in Africa, Vol. 2
    WATER SECTOR GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA Vol.2.Couv.qxd:wpp charte en cours COVER 23/10/10 11:23 Page2 Water Sector Governance in Africa Volume 2 Assessment Guidelines WATER SECTOR GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA volume 2.qxd:Mise en page 1 23/10/10 11:11 Page1 Water Sector Governance in Africa Volume 2 Assessment Guidelines ISBN 978-9973-071-49-1 WATER SECTOR GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA volume 2.qxd:Mise en page 1 23/10/10 11:11 Page2 his document was prepared by the Water Partnership Program (WPP) of the African TDevelopment Bank. While every effort has been made to present reliable information, the African Development Bank accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequences arising out of its use nor is any opinion expressed in this publication necessarily the opinion of the Bank. The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission of the African Development Bank may be a violation of the applicable law. Acknowledgements This study was coordinated by Thomas Roberts, Senior Water and Sanitation Engineer, with support from OWAS / AWF during review of the study outputs during the three stages of its development. The Bank acknowledges the authors Michael McGarry, Silver Mugisha, Luc Hoang-Gia, Per Unheim and Meghan Myles from Cowater. The African Development Bank Group undertook the study with the financial support of its Water Partnership Program donors i.e. the Government of Denmark, the Netherlands and Canada (CIDA). Publication date September 2010 Logo African Development Bank, External Relations and Communication Unit, Yattien-Amiguet L.
    [Show full text]
  • The Smart Governance Index – a New Alternative to the World Governance Index
    Journal of Public Administration, Finance and Law THE SMART GOVERNANCE INDEX – A NEW ALTERNATIVE TO THE WORLD GOVERNANCE INDEX Alexei STURZA Academy of Public Administration, National Institute for Economic Research, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova [email protected] Abstract: Measuring governance performance, in particular of different countries, is indispensable for increasing its effectiveness, efficiency and quality. There were developed many such indicators, but they are rather unilateral. The WGI, launched in 2008 by the Forum for a new World Governance and covering 179 countries of the world, made up of 5 aggregate indicators, is possibly the first attempt to build such a complex and in the same time practical index. Unfortunately, the WGI wasn’t updated since 2011, although it would be very useful both for theoreticians and practitioners. We propose an alternative index – the SGI, calculated for 151 countries in 2010 and 155 countries in 2015, made up of 10 sub-indexes. Both the WGI and SGI aren’t perfect, but are good analytical tools for governance actors / players. While the WGI is based on the idea of sustainable development, the SGI suggest smart development focused on knowledge- intensive factors. Considering this paper’s limitations, we selected a sample of 6 countries and 7 regions for comparison and exemplified 10 best and 10 worst performers for both indexes. We concluded that top performers are the most developed countries, in particular Scandinavian ones, while the least developed African and Asian states have the poorest ranks. On the other hand, a weak score even of a sub-index may result in losing overall leadership, as in case of the USA or Japan.
    [Show full text]
  • Development Through Empowerment: Delivering Effective Public Services - a Literature Review
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Xu, Guo Working Paper Development through Empowerment: Delivering Effective Public Services - A Literature Review ADB Economics Working Paper Series, No. 382 Provided in Cooperation with: Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila Suggested Citation: Xu, Guo (2013) : Development through Empowerment: Delivering Effective Public Services - A Literature Review, ADB Economics Working Paper Series, No. 382, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, http://hdl.handle.net/11540/4228 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/128525 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ www.econstor.eu Development through Empowerment: Delivering Effective Public Services – a Literature Review _____ About the Asian Development Bank ADB’s vision is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty.
    [Show full text]
  • Explaining Water Governance in Egypt: Actors, Mechanisms and Challenges
    EXPLAINING WATER GOVERNANCE IN EGYPT: ACTORS, MECHANISMS AND CHALLENGES A thesis submitted by WESAM MAHMOUD MOHAMED LASHEEN To the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics January 2019 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. ..................................... (Signature) 1 | P a g e بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم " َو َعلَّ َم َك َما لَ ْم تَ ُك ْن تَ ْعلَ ُم ۚ َو َكا َن فَ ْض ُل َّ َِّللا َعلَ ْي َك َع ِظي ًما" صدق هللا العظيم سورة النساء اﻵية113- "And Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom and has taught you that which you did not know. And ever has the favor of Allah upon you been great". SURAH AN NISA 113 2 | P a g e Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my beloved husband, my greatest supporter, my strongest motivation, Ahmed. Without your devotion and selflessness, I could not have done it. I could not be more proud to be your wife. I also dedicate this thesis to my wonderful children, Adham, Sara and Hazem without whom, I could have finished this thesis two years earlier! 3 | P a g e Abstract This thesis adopts a governance theoretical framework to analyse and explain the complex and non-linear nature of water governance arrangements in Egypt.
    [Show full text]
  • Control of Corruption, Regulatory Quality, Political Stability and Environmental Sustainability: a Cross-National Analysis
    Journal of Accounting Auditing and Business - Vol.1, No.2, 2018 10.24198/jaab.v1i2.18344 Control of Corruption, Regulatory Quality, Political Stability and Environmental Sustainability: A Cross-National Analysis Sofik Handoyo Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Padjadjaran Fury Khristianty Fitriyah Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Padjadjaran Abstract: The study aims to reveal the correlation between governance attributes of the government and national environmental sustainability. The governance attributes of government in this study refer to the index of control of corruption, regulatory quality, and political stability. Meanwhile, national environmental sustainability refers to the index of national environmental performance. The period of investigation is the year of 2014 and involves 177 countries. Person correlation analysis was applied in this study to identify the degree of correlation between independent variables (control of corruption, regulatory quality, and political stability) dependent variable (environmental sustainability). Independent variables were measured using the World Governance Index (WGI) published by the World Bank. Environmental Performance Index (EPI) issued by The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (YCELP) was proxied for measuring environmental sustainability. The results indicate that the state’s control of corruption, the national regulatory quality, and national political stability are positively associated with national environmental sustainability. The correlation coefficients are 0.230 (p<0.01), 0.193 (p<0.01), and 0.167 (p<0.01), respectively. Even though there is a positive correlation between public governance attributes and national environmental sustainability, however, the degree of correlation is weak. It implies that national governance is not a powerful instrument to predict national environmental sustainability.
    [Show full text]
  • Indicators for Measuring Event Governance Performance
    Event Management, Vol. 18, pp. 387–403 1525-9951/14 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3727/152599514X14038805493437 Copyright © 2014 Cognizant Comm. Corp. E-ISSN 1943-4308 www.cognizantcommunication.com PRINCIPLES TO PRACTICE: INDICATORS FOR MEASURING EVENT GOVERNANCE PERFORMANCE MICHELLE WHITFORD,* GIANG THI PHI,* AND DIANNE DREDGE† *Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia †Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark Governments are increasingly involved in public–private partnerships to attract, support, and/or stage events. This involvement often leads to governments becoming embroiled in highly politicized battles that focus on issues including community benefit, mitigation of impacts, transparency in deci- sion making, and lack of consultation before, during, and after the event. To date, minimal attention has been paid to the public–private governance arrangements underpinning events. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a set of indicators that can be operationalized to improve event governance. The article proposes an indicators framework for event governance designed to reflect the event policy-making process. It contributes to the literature by facilitating greater understanding of the significance and influence of event governance indicators. Future application of the framework in research and practice will provide governments with a new management tool, which will enhance democratic decision making and facilitate competitive advantage in a globalized marketplace. Key words: Events; Governance; Indicators; Decision making Introduction in events, particularly over the last two decades (Gamage & Higgs, 1996; Lowes, 2004; Warren, Globally, governments at all levels continue to 2002).
    [Show full text]
  • Geg Working Final Design.Indd
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Olarinmoye, Omobolaji Working Paper Accountability in faith-based development organizations in Nigeria: preliminary explorations GEG Working Paper, No. 2011/67 Provided in Cooperation with: University of Oxford, Global Economic Governance Programme (GEG) Suggested Citation: Olarinmoye, Omobolaji (2011) : Accountability in faith-based development organizations in Nigeria: preliminary explorations, GEG Working Paper, No. 2011/67, University of Oxford, Global Economic Governance Programme (GEG), Oxford This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/196327 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen
    [Show full text]
  • Monitoring Systems of Good Governance
    Action for Good Governance in International Sports Organsiations Monitoring systems of good governance By Simona Kustec Lipicer, Damjan Lajh and Ivana Grgić, University of Ljubljana, Centre for Political Sciences Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia The aim of this first draft report on the role of monitoring and indicators, prepared by the research team from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences is three-fold: 1. To give a general theoretical overview of the role of monitoring and monitoring systems, on the basis of which it will be possible to tailor the monitoring alterna- tive for the AGGIS project’s purposes; 2. To present the EU’s so-called soft law tool, the open method of coordination (OMC), in which the monitoring-like approaches, as described in the theoretical introduction of this report, can be traced in practice; 3. To present a general overview of the three system broad approaches for monitor- ing governance issues that are already established and applied worldwide, with a future aim of selecting those indicators/variables that could possibly be directly used for AGGIS monitoring purposes. Theoretical insight Why monitor? Each organisation, institution, as well as the state and all the sub-systems that embody them, strive for feedback about their making. This feedback represents the basis for their future attitudes and orientations, as well as the attitudes and orientations of the environments around them. This is why the public’s pursuit of existing and implemented practices and patterns in democratic societies and institutions is of fundamental importance. Monitoring is a special analytical procedure used to produce information about the results of the work of organisations or policies that they implement – either in the private or the public sector.
    [Show full text]
  • Proposals for a New World Governance
    Proposals for a New World Governance Working Paper for the International Workshop Biocivilization for the Sustainability of Life and the Planet in the run-up to the Rio+20 Conference Rio de Janeiro, 9 to 12 August 2011 Which architecture of power is needed, from the local to global level" Proposed b# the Foru for a New World Governance I – Introduction1 Processes active in the develop ent and e ergence of a new world governance • %he conte porar# for of an age&old question • Glo!alization re'uires an architecture that !oth incorporates and transcends the nation&state • %he urgent and co ple) nature of pro!le s is out of step with our governance echanis s • Factors pro oting and hindering the e ergence of a new world governance • A first and vital step: what sort of world societ# do we want" II – Proposals for a New World Governance +rganize multi-actor foru s b# sector, the ke#stone of effective world governance • For geopolitical groups at the regional level • -reate a world governance inde) • .et up an International Court for the Environ ent • Put together a volunteer world ar #, independent fro states and governed !# international law • Pro ote local industrial and service networks, connected to the regional and transnational levels via a syste of regional currencies 1 %his document draws on the work carried out by the world governance group of the French Rio120 collective. 2 / 12 The contemporary form of an age-old question How should we organize" How can we organize in a fair and sustaina!le anner" How can we govern effectivel#"
    [Show full text]
  • GEG WP 2011 67 Olarinmoye-FBO-Accountability
    • GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME • Global Economic Governance Programme Centre for International Studies - Department for Politics and International Relations The Global Economic Governance Programme was established at University College, Oxford in 2003 to foster research and debate into how global markets and institutions can better serve the needs of people in developing countries. The three core objectives of the programme are: ! to conduct and foster research into international organizations and markets as well as new public-private governance regimes; ! to create and maintain a network of scholars and policy-makers working on these issues; ! to influence debate and policy in both the public and the private sector in developed and developing countries. The Programme is directly linked to Oxford University’s Department of Politics and International Relations and Centre for International Studies. It serves as an interdisciplinary umbrella within Oxford drawing together members of the Departments of Economics, Law and Development Studies working on these issues and linking them to an international research network. The Programme has been made possible through the generous support of Old Members of University College. 1 Abstract Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) are important service providers in Nigeria, hence their attractiveness to international development actors. As service organizations, FBOs are accountable to their funder, domestic service regulators and their clients/beneficiaries who have at their disposal legal, financial, service provision oversight and peer regulation mechanisms for ensuring the accountability of FBOs. An assessment of these mechanisms shows that due to political and structural inadequacies born out of the weak nature of the Nigerian state and inconsistencies in the enabling legislations for each mechanism, these mechanisms are unable to ensure adequate internal accountability of funds released to FBOs by international agencies.
    [Show full text]