IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/emeeco/v8y2016i2p247-270.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Building Effective Institutions—The Biggest Challenge

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore Ahlers
  • John Nellis

Abstract

This article discusses the importance of institutional capital for future well-being, seeks to assess current institutional performance, and identifies drivers of change and areas for priority action. The thesis of this article is that the economic and political institutions must evolve as much over the next 35 years as they have since the breakup of the Soviet Union, if Vision 2050 is to be realized and sustained. Whether these institutions evolve to the desired level or not, and whether the necessary change comes as a swift, continuous adaptation or as disruptive breaks, depends on many things. The long time required for institutional evolution and the vested interests opposed to institutional change make sustained political commitment essential for successful change. Most important will be the foresight of Central Asia’s leaders and the deepened involvement of the people of Central Asia in the political and economic life of their countries. This article examines how institutions, and intangible capital more generally, generate growth and identify the changes required—over a 35-year horizon—in the asset composition of Central Asian countries to realize Vision 2050. It benchmarks the institutions of Central Asian countries against world averages and comparators in East Asia and Central Europe. Additionally, this article identifies drivers of change that could be leveraged to promote the desired institutional evolution. The final section discusses areas requiring concerted attention if Central Asia’s institutions are to deliver the future to which citizens of the countries aspire.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore Ahlers & John Nellis, 2016. "Building Effective Institutions—The Biggest Challenge," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 8(2), pages 247-270, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:emeeco:v:8:y:2016:i:2:p:247-270
    DOI: 10.1177/0974910116634471
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0974910116634471
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0974910116634471?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. Harinder S. Kohli & Ashok Sharma & Anil Sood, 2011. "Realizing the Asian Century: A Strategic Framework," Book Chapters, in: Harinder Kohli & Ashok Sharma & Anil Sood (ed.), Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century, edition 1, chapter 6, pages 63-70, Emerging Markets Forum.
    2. Harinder Kohli & Ashok Sharma & Anil Sood & Haruhiko Kuroda, 2011. "Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century: Overview," Other Working Papers asia2050overview, Emerging Markets Forum.
    3. Acemoglu, Daron, 2005. "Politics and economics in weak and strong states," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(7), pages 1199-1226, October.
    4. Mary M. Shirley, 2008. "Institutions and Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12524.
    5. Indermit S. Gill & Ivailo Izvorski & Willem van Eeghen & Donato De Rosa, 2014. "Diversified Development : Making the Most of Natural Resources in Eurasia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 17193.
    6. World Bank, 2011. "The Changing Wealth of Nations : Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2252.
    7. Harinder S. Kohli, 2011. "Realizing the Asian Century: Asia's Role in the World," Book Chapters, in: Harinder Kohli & Ashok Sharma & Anil Sood (ed.), Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century, edition 1, chapter 15, pages 275-281, Emerging Markets Forum.
    8. Mary M. Shirley, 2008. "Institutions and Development," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, chapter 24, pages 611-638, Springer.
    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. Rajag M. Nag & Johannes F. Linn & Harinder S. Kohli (ed.), 2016. "Central Asia 2050: Unleashing the Region's Potential," Books, Emerging Markets Forum, edition 1, number centasia2050, July.
    2. Prema-chandra Athukorala, 2017. "China’s evolving role in global production networks: Implications for Trump’s trade war," Discussion Paper Series 34, Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg, revised Jun 2017.
    3. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West (ed.), 2012. "Regional Cooperation for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: South and South-West Asia Development Report 2012-2013," SSWA Books and Research Reports, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West Asia Office, number brr4, May.
    4. Theodore Ahlers & Harinder S. Kohli & Anil Sood, 2013. "Africa 2050," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 5(3), pages 153-213, September.
    5. Theodore Ahlers & Hiroshi Kato & Harinder S. Kohli & Callisto Madavo & Anil Sood (ed.), 2014. "Africa 2050: Realizing the Continent's Full Potential," Books, Emerging Markets Forum, edition 1, number africa2050, July.
    6. Kumagai, Satoru, 2014. "The middle-income trap from the viewpoint of trade structures," IDE Discussion Papers 482, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    7. Shanawez Hossain & Tapan Sarker, 2013. "Resource constraints and Asia’s growth: regional cooperation for enhancing energy security," Chapters, in: Moazzem Hossain & Tapan Sarker & Malcolm McIntosh (ed.), The Asian Century, Sustainable Growth and Climate Change, chapter 3, pages 54-82, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2018. "Inefficient Growth," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(2).
    9. Boettke, Peter J. & Coyne, Christopher J., 2009. "Context Matters: Institutions and Entrepreneurship," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 5(3), pages 135-209, March.
    10. Rajat M. Nag, 2012. "Transforming Asia: Realizing the Asian Century through Good Governance," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 1(1), pages 1-9, January.
    11. Ralitza Dimova & Kevwe Pela, 2018. "Entrepreneurship: structural transformation, skills and constraints," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 203-220, June.
    12. Connelly, J. Thomas & Limpaphayom, Piman & Nguyen, Hien T. & Tran, Thanh D., 2017. "A tale of two cities: Economic development, corporate governance and firm value in Vietnam," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 102-123.
    13. Javed, Omer, 2013. "Determinants of Institutional Quality: A Case Study of IMF Programme Countries," MPRA Paper 51344, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Costantini, Valeria & Liberati, Paolo, 2014. "Technology transfer, institutions and development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 26-48.
    15. Christopher J. Coyne & Claudia R. Williamson, 2012. "Purpose – This paper seeks to analyze empirically the net effect of trade openness on “economic culture”, measured by indicators of trust, respect, level of self-determination, and obedience. Openness," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 1(4), pages 22-49, April.
    16. Aktoty Aitzhanova & Shigeo Katsu & Johannes F. Linn & Vladislav Yezhov (ed.), 2014. "Kazakhstan 2050: Toward a Modern Society for All," Books, Emerging Markets Forum, edition 1, number kazakh2050, July.
    17. Veerayooth Kanchoochat & Patarapong Intarakumnerd, 2014. "Tigers Trapped: Tracing the Middle-income Trap through the East and Southeast Asian Experience," Competence Centre on Money, Trade, Finance and Development 1404, Hochschule fuer Technik und Wirtschaft, Berlin.
    18. John Joseph Wallis, 2010. "The Other Foundings: Federalism and the Constitutional Structure of American Government," NBER Chapters, in: Founding Choices: American Economic Policy in the 1790s, pages 177-213, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Bat Batjargal, 2013. "Institutional Polycentrism, Entrepreneurs??? Social Networks, And New Venture Growth," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1060, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    20. Czeglédi, Pál, 2009. "A tulajdonjogi biztonság szerepe a technológia elterjedésében [The role of property-law security in the spread of technology]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 790-813.

    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:sae:emeeco:v:8:y:2016:i:2:p:247-270. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.emergingmarketsforum.org/ .

    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.