Policies in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: dominance or diversity?

Abstract

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) were introduced in 1999 by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as a requirement for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) to gain access to debt relief and concessional loans. They signalled a new focus by including a participatory framework of “nationally driven” policies. Employing 81 PRSPs for 58 countries, published during 2000–2008, this paper develops a unique scorecard to evaluate the alignment of policies in PRSPs with three dominant development paradigms. It finds that the New York Consensus, which was forged around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is driving the content of PRSPs, while the Washington Consensus and Post-Washington Consensus have become secondary influences. This could be the first step in breaking down the hegemony of perceived ideas in the development policy landscape.

Résumé

Les documents de stratégie pour la réduction de la pauvreté (DSRP) ont été introduits en 1999 par la Banque mondiale et le Fonds monétaire international comme exigence à l’égard des Pays pauvres très endettés (PPTE) en contrepartie d'un allègement de leur dette et de prêts à des conditions avantageuses. En mettant l'accent sur un cadre participatif pour la définition de politiques pilotées par le pays lui-même, ces documents annonçaient un changement d'approche. Cet article analyse 81 DSRP de 58 pays publiés entre 2000 et 2008 à l'aide d'une fiche de notation conçue pour évaluer l'alignement des politiques ainsi définies sur trois grands paradigmes de développement. Les résultats montrent que le consensus de New York, qui s'est forgé autour des les Objectifs du développement pour le millénaire, constitue la force principale qui guide le contenu des DSRP tandis que l'influence du consensus de Washington et post-Washington est devenue secondaire. Cela pourrait marquer une première étape dans l'effondrement de l'hégémonie des idées reçues dans le paysage des politiques de développement.

Keywords:

• PRSPs
• MDGs
• Washington Consensus
• Post-Washington Consensus
• New York Consensus

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their helpful comments. The authors are also grateful to John King, Ranjan Ray, David Fielding and Alberto Posso for helpful comments and advice, as well as conference participants at the 2011 Joint European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI)-Development Studies Association (DSA) Conference (York, 19–22 September). The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

1 James Wolfensohn, the President of the World Bank, stated in May 2004 that the Washington Consensus was now dead and replaced by several consensuses. Maxwell (2005) identified which consensuses were appearing in place of the Washington Consensus.

2 Serbia-Montenegro's 2004 PRSP was most aligned to the Washington Consensus and Post-Washington Consensus paradigms. High GDP per capita, long life expectancy and virtual achievement of the MDGs are strong features of this country. It was not eligible for debt reduction under the HIPC initiative and undertook a PRSP without the requirement to do so. The high alignment score illustrates a desire to create a fully functioning market economy. The strong uptake of Washington Consensus and Post-Washington Consensus policies is driven by Serbia-Montenegro's objective to integrate into the European Union. The government is developing its national strategy, emphasising both economic growth and poverty reduction in equal measure.

3 Rwanda's 2008 PRSP has the greatest alignment to the New York Consensus paradigm. PRSP policies were targeted towards agriculture in the form of irrigation projects, agro-processing plants and land planning projects. Government spending was clearly directed towards achieving MDG targets for education, health, employment, safe drinking water, and sanitation infrastructure. Governance indicators, anti-corruption plans and public expenditure review strategies were also evident to increase the likelihood of achieving these targets. Despite Rwanda being classified as a low income nation with a GDP per capita of USD490, there is evidence of significant progress towards the MDG targets. School enrolment rates, access to water in rural areas and infant mortality rates have surpassed other sub-Saharan African nation's trends (World Bank 2011). The Democratic Republic of Congo's PRSP for 2007 was least aligned with the New York Consensus, although its index score was influenced by weak institutional capacity and experiencing conflict.

4 The governance index is calculated as the sum of Kaufman, Kraay, and Zoido-Lobaton's (1999) six governance indicators: voice and accountability, political stability, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, control of corruption and the rule of law.

5 Examining differences between bilateral and multilateral aid remains an area for further work.

Additional information

Biographical notes

Meg Elkins is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Her research interests include policy evaluation in developing economies, in particular reviewing Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and the Millennium Development Goals. Further areas of interest are social protection and poverty and wellbeing. She has recently published in the Journal of International Development (2014).

Simon Feeny is an Associate Professor in development economics at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. His research interests include the allocation and effectiveness of foreign aid, the Millennium Development Goals, poverty and wellbeing and the impacts of global economic shocks. He has published widely in leading development studies journals and has recently edited a book entitled Household Vulnerability and Resilience to Economic Shocks: Findings from Melanesia (Ashgate, 2014).