Modernization of the state

The IDB has been a pioneer in providing loans and technical assistance to Latin American and Caribbean countries that want to improve the efficiency of public administration and public services. Since 1995, the Bank has devoted more than $5 billion in loans for programs to reorganize, streamline or decentralize key government agencies and services in its borrowing countries. Many additional loans have supported modernization programs in areas such as taxation, fiscal management, justice, customs and government regulation.

The IDB also serves as a catalyst for such efforts by sponsoring seminars and conferences where public and private sector experts compare experiences and discuss best practices. In January 1999, for example, the Bank hosted the International Conference on Reinventing Government. “The debate on the state has lost the ideological bitterness of the past,” IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias told the meeting’s delegates. “Today the issue is not whether we need more or less state intervention but about the quality of government. It is not a matter of ‘downsizing’ but rather of ‘rightsizing’.”

IDB specialists and consultants also publish books and research papers on modernization of the state. One recent title, available only in Spanish, is ¿De burócratas a gerentes? Las ciencias de la gestión aplicadas a la administración del Estado (From bureaucrats to managers? Management science applied to the administration of the state). Here editor Carlos Losada i Marrodán gathers insights on marketing, customer service and management from experts in public administration. And in Budget and Control: Reforming the Public Sector in Latin America, Humberto Petrei explains how the process of preparing and evaluating a public budget is at the root of modernization efforts, using six Latin American countries as case studies.

Both books can be ordered at the IDB’s website, which also offers an online version of this special report and links to related papers and sites.