IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg/v27y1996i3p415-431.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Political Economy of Inappropriate Technology: Industrialization in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Jeffrey James

Abstract

The failure of public sector investment projects in Sub‐Saharan Africa can often be described in large measure as a technological one, where technology is defined not just in the narrow sense of alternative factor proportions, but in the wider terms of scale and import intensity as well. In confining itself mainly to the economic dimensions of the problem, the existing literature fails to consider the reasons for the extraordinarily rapid and widespread expansion of the public sector in Sub‐Saharan Africa and it hence ignores the possibility that this expansion might itself be related to the observed patterns of technological behaviour in the sector. Such a possibility, I suggest, resides in the political and institutional compulsions that drive industrial firms in the public sector to increase the size of their operations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey James, 1996. "The Political Economy of Inappropriate Technology: Industrialization in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 415-431, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:27:y:1996:i:3:p:415-431
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1996.tb00597.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1996.tb00597.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1996.tb00597.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Niskanen, William A, 1975. "Bureaucrats and Politicians," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 617-643, December.
    2. Kornai, Janos, 1981. "Some properties of the Eastern European growth pattern," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 9(9-10), pages 965-970.
    3. Lacey, Robert, 1989. "The management of public expenditures : an evolving Bank approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 46, The World Bank.
    4. Ahiakpor, James C. W., 1986. "The capital intensity of foreign, private local and state owned firms in a less developed country : Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 145-162.
    5. Steel, William F, 1972. "Import Substitution and Excess Capacity in Ghana," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 212-240, July.
    6. Jeffrey James, 1995. "The State, Technology and Industrialization in Africa," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37719-6, October.
    7. Leonard, David K., 1987. "The political realities of African management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 899-910, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeffrey James, 1999. "Trait-taking versus trait-making in technical choice: the case of Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 797-810.
    2. James, M.J., 1999. "Trait-taking versus trait-making in technical choice : The case of Africa," Other publications TiSEM dc21b360-4eee-4e80-b315-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Deller, Steven C. & Hinds, David G. & Hinman, Donald L., 2001. "Local Public Services In Wisconsin: Alternatives For Municipalities With A Focus On Privatization," Staff Papers 12658, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3573-3630 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Randall Holcombe, 2005. "Government growth in the twenty-first century," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 95-114, July.
    6. Ando, Amy, 1998. "Delay on the Path to the Endangered Species List: Do Costs and Benefits Matter," RFF Working Paper Series dp-97-43-rev, Resources for the Future.
    7. Cooter, Robert D., 1997. "Commodifying Liability," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt9pq4m8ts, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    8. David H. Good, 1992. "Productive Efficiency and Contract Management: Some Evidence From Public Transit Agencies," Public Finance Review, , vol. 20(2), pages 195-215, April.
    9. Christian Bjørnskov & Axel Dreher & Justina Fischer, 2008. "Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: exploring different determinants across groups in society," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 30(1), pages 119-173, January.
    10. António Afonso & Ana Venâncio, 2020. "Local territorial reform and regional spending efficiency," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(6), pages 888-910, November.
    11. Lindemann, Henrik, 2015. "Regulatory Objectives and the Intensity of Unbundling in Electricity Markets," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-544, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    12. Crès, Hervé & Gilboa, Itzhak & Vieille, Nicolas, 2024. "Bureaucracy in quest of feasibility," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    13. Samarth Vaidya, 2004. "Bureaucratic Provision: Influencing vs. Lying," Econometric Society 2004 Australasian Meetings 251, Econometric Society.
    14. Thomas Braendle & Alois Stutzer, 2013. "Political selection of public servants and parliamentary oversight," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 45-76, February.
    15. Lassou, Philippe Jacques Codjo & Hopper, Trevor, 2016. "Government accounting reform in an ex-French African colony: The political economy of neocolonialism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 39-57.
    16. Richard Wagner, 2012. "Remembering Bill Niskanen: pursuing economics as a public science in the service of liberty," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 1-7, October.
    17. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Is the Median Voter Decisive? Evidence of 'Ends Against the Middle' From Referenda Voting Patterns," Working papers 2009-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised May 2010.
    18. Forand, Jean Guillaume, 2019. "Civil service and the growth of government," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Florian Dorn, 2021. "Elections and Government Efficiency," ifo Working Paper Series 363, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    20. David L. Sollars & Bruce L. Benson & David W. Rasmussen, 1994. "Drug Enforcement and the Deterrence of Property Crime Among Local Jurisdictions," Public Finance Review, , vol. 22(1), pages 22-45, January.
    21. Vernon Ruttan, 1980. "Bureaucratic productivity: The case of agricultural research," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 35(5), pages 529-547, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:27:y:1996:i:3:p:415-431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0012-155X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.