Public Sector Reform in Central Asia and the Caucasus

ABSTRACT

Many developing countries are constantly seeking to reform their public services as part of a wider agenda which supports moves to a market economy and better governance arrangements. Some have embraced public management reforms as the template for their activities with limited success. This paper considers existing research on the impact of public sector reform in developing countries and offers an alternative approach, through case studies of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, based on two keys elements: an agenda which attempts to shift developing countries to an outcomes based accountability approach operationalized through a “quality of life” framework; and, peer‐to‐peer learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Public sector reform; Quality of Life; Central Asia; Caucasus; Outcomes based accountability

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Yernar Zharkeshov, Artur Akhmetov and Kuralay Baibatyrova for their comments on the research.

Notes

^1. The nine themes in the UK Quality of Life framework are: Community cohesion and involvement; community safety; culture and leisure; economic well-being; education and life-long learning; health and social well-being; environment; housing; and transport and access. More recently the Carnegie Trust and OECD has published guidance on developing a well-being framework in developing countries (Carnegie Trust, 2016).

Additional information

Funding

The research for this article was supported under the UNDP Innovative Solutions Scheme and British Academy International Partnership and Mobility Scheme.