Civil service pay in Africa. Derek Robinson. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1990, 220 pp.
| Author | David Potter |
| Date | 01 February 1993 |
| Published date | 01 February 1993 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230130110 |
Book
Reviews
83
and Systems Modelling; Enterprise Budgets; Mathematical Programming; Project Analysis;
Natural Resource Projects; International Trade; Macroeconomic Linkages to Agriculture;
and Index Numbers. The list of topics is not comprehensive. Among the topics notably missing
are: time series, price and market analysis survey methods and data sources, and more than
limited discussion of macro-economic issues.
The chapters have a large number of authors, and are written at different levels, varying
between those that are self-explanatory and ones that require some fairly advanced background
understanding. The chapters are not well integrated. There is no linking narrative explaining
the order of subjects or their role in policy analysis. This no doubt reflects the type of short
course to which the book owes its origin. There are no examples of policy analysis in practice
to provide a guide to the use of the different ‘tools’ that are explicated. There is brief and
mainly theoretical analysis of recurrent policy problems in the chapter on Classical Welfare
Analysis, but nothing on structural policies such as land reform, irrigation policy or agricultural
research.
While most of the chapters are useful in one context or another they are an extraordinary
mixture of elementary introductions, ‘how to’ expositions of basic tools at elementary levels
(which need augmenting with workshop materials if the tools are to be properly learnt),
and fairly advanced exposition of economic theory used in policy analysis. Those who need
the use of microcomputers described will be unable to cope with most of the rest, while
those who can grasp what is being offered in Demand Theory will be bored by almost all
the rest. Those who tackle the chapter
on
simulation models will be frustrated by the lack
of the GESSA template file to operationalize the example used.
A major problem with the book as a whole is its failure to engage with the ‘political economy’
of agricultural policy. It takes a naively ‘unilinear’ view of policy analysis (Clay and Schaffer,
1984). It neglects the political (and other) influences on policy in reality, and hence provides
little insight into the limitations of treating policy analysis as a primarily technical issue of
choosing and correctly applying tools to the problems
of
agriculture and rural society.
The lack of integration and variability in the level of materials is a pity because there
are needs for much of what is offered here. In particular, fairly detailed material on operationa-
lizing economic theory for policy analysis would be very valuable. Nevertheless, some of
the chapters provide supplementary reading for an integrated and coherent course on agricul-
tural policy analysis for 2nd or 3rd year undergraduates, or Masters students, or short courses
for graduates in agricultural economics. But at this price it is quite expensive to recommend
to students for this purpose. It may be useful to those designing such courses and as a partial
refresher to practising agricultural economists.
REFERENCES
Clay,
E.
J. and B. Schaffer (eds)
(1984).
Room for Manoeuvre:
an
Exploration
of
Public Policy
R. W. PALMER-JONES
School
of
Development Studies
University
of
Eust
Angliu
in Agricultural and Rural Development.
Heinemann, London.
CIVIL SERVICE PAY
IN
AFRICA
Derek
Robinson
International Labour Office, Geneva, 1990,220 pp.
There was a time when the ‘public sector’ was regarded benignly as the driving force for
economic development in Africa. Economic crises in the
1980s,
particularly in countries south
of the Sahara, have contributed to a very different view orchestrated by structural adjustment
policies, supported in particular by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Whatever one’s view on structural adjustment, there is no doubt that public administration
reforms need to be given serious consideration now in Africa. A major problem confronting
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