IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v13y2019i3p321-339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Restraining Gulliver: Institutional reform and the strengthening of state capacity and compliance

Author

Listed:
  • Kimberly A. Nolan García
  • Mark Aspinwall

Abstract

Governance in the developing world is fraught with problems of corruption, weak institutions, and inadequate expertise among bureaucrats. Failing to enforce laws and regulations is one way in which these problems manifest themselves. In this paper, we evaluate changes across three institutions charged with oversight or administration of labor justice in Mexico. We find that both autonomy from the executive and professionalization are necessary to improve compliance with labor law over time. Our study shows that professionalization can occur in several ways, including through training, merit hiring, and introducing experienced external administrators. The implications of the study are that reforms that increase the independence and legal authority of oversight institutions should be complemented by efforts to strengthen the professionalism of bureaucrats.

Suggested Citation

  • Kimberly A. Nolan García & Mark Aspinwall, 2019. "Restraining Gulliver: Institutional reform and the strengthening of state capacity and compliance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(3), pages 321-339, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:13:y:2019:i:3:p:321-339
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12181
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rego.12181?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. Rauch, James E. & Evans, Peter B., 2000. "Bureaucratic structure and bureaucratic performance in less developed countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 49-71, January.
    2. Francis Fukuyama, 2013. "What Is Governance?," Working Papers 314, Center for Global Development.
    3. Grindle, Merilee, 2010. "Constructing, Deconstructing, and Reconstructing Career Civil Service Systems in Latin America," Working Paper Series rwp10-025, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Grindle, Merilee Serrill, 2010. "Constructing, Deconstructing, and Reconstructing Career Civil Service Systems in Latin America," Scholarly Articles 4448871, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    5. Agnafors, Marcus, 2013. "Quality of Government: Toward a More Complex Definition," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(3), pages 433-445, August.
    6. Merilee S. Grindle, 2010. "Constructing, Deconstructing, and Reconstructing Career Civil Service Systems in Latin America," CID Working Papers 204, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    7. Bertelli, Anthony M. & Whitford, Andrew B., 2009. "Perceiving Credible Commitments: How Independent Regulators Shape Elite Perceptions of Regulatory Quality," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 517-537, 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. Quaresima, Federico, 2019. "Patronage Appointments between Politics and Public Governance: a Review," MPRA Paper 94650, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Grassi, Davide & Memoli, Vincenzo, 2016. "Political Determinants of State Capacity in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 94-106.
    3. Badru Bukenya & Pablo Yanguas, 2013. "Building state capacity for inclusive development. The politics of public sector reform," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-025-13, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    4. Devlin, Robert & Moguillansky, Graciela, 2012. "What's new in the new industrial policy in Latin America ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6191, The World Bank.
    5. Calabrese, Linda & Wang, Yuan, 2023. "Chinese capital, regulatory strength and the BRI: A tale of ‘fractured development’ in Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Momi Dahan & Michel Strawczynski, 2020. "Budget institutions and government effectiveness," Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 217-246, April.
    7. Cingolani, Luciana & Thomsson, Kaj & de Crombrugghe, Denis, 2015. "Minding Weber More Than Ever? The Impacts of State Capacity and Bureaucratic Autonomy on Development Goals," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 191-207.
    8. Mauricio Olavarría-Gambi & Andrés Dockendorff, 2016. "Implementing Meritocracy in Senior Public Administration: the Dilemma for Chilean Politicians," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 561-582, December.
    9. Cingolani L, 2013. "The State of State Capacity : a review of concepts, evidence and measures," MERIT Working Papers 2013-053, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. Tobin Im & Youngmi Choi, 2018. "Rethinking National Competitiveness: A Critical Assessment of Governmental Capacity Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 515-532, January.
    11. Cristina Bicchieri, 2002. "Covenants without Swords," Rationality and Society, , vol. 14(2), pages 192-228, May.
    12. Sen, Kunal, 2013. "Governance and Development Outcomes in Asia," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 384, Asian Development Bank.
    13. Sameen A. Mohsin Ali, 2022. "Networks of Effectiveness? The Impact of Politicization on Bureaucratic Performance in Pakistan," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 733-753, April.
    14. Alejandro Rodriguez, 2019. "Defining Governance in Latin America," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 5-19, March.
    15. Blackburn, Keith & Forgues-Puccio, Gonzalo F., 2009. "Why is corruption less harmful in some countries than in others?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 797-810, December.
    16. Ahmet Faruk Aysan & …mer Faruk Baykal & Marie-Ange Véganzonès–Varoudakis, 2011. "The Effects of Convergence in Governance on Capital Accumulation in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Countries," Chapters, in: Mehmet Ugur & David Sunderland (ed.), Does Economic Governance Matter?, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Bethencourt, Carlos & Perera-Tallo, Fernando, 2020. "Human Capital, Economic Growth, and Public Expenditure," ADBI Working Papers 1066, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    18. Ahmet Faruk AYSAN & Mustapha Kamel NABLI & Marie‐Ange VÉGANZONÈS‐VAROUDAKIS, 2007. "Governance Institutions And Private Investment: An Application To The Middle East And North Africa," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 45(3), pages 339-377, September.
    19. Busby, Joshua & Smith, Todd G. & Krishnan, Nisha & Wight, Charles & Vallejo-Gutierrez, Santiago, 2018. "In harm's way: Climate security vulnerability in Asia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 88-118.
    20. Ye-Feng Chen & Shu-Guang Jiang & Marie Claire Villeval, 2015. "The Tragedy of Corruption. Corruption as a social dilemma," Working Papers 1531, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.

    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:wly:reggov:v:13:y:2019:i:3:p:321-339. 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: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    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.