Noteworthy Case Studies
The following examples of PEA have been grouped by level of analysis:
- Studies of the political economy of global issues. A good example is Tanner and Alouche’s (2011) study of the political economy of climate change.
- Studies of the political economy of regional integration. See the recent series of studies on the political economy of regional economic communities in Africa including Vanheukelom and Bertelsmann-Scott’s (2016) study of the Southern African Development Community.
- Country level political economy studies. Many of DFID’s original drivers of change study can be found on the GSDRC website. Notable examples include Ghana (Booth et al. 2005) and Malawi (Booth et al. 2006). For a review of how political economy analysis has been used at country level in Nigeria and Bangladesh see Duncan and Williams (2010). The political economy of economic reforms in Nigeria is further analysis in see Utomi et al. (2007)
- Sectoral political economy anaylsis. Examples include studies of the roads sector in Uganda (Booth and Golooba-Mutebi 2009 and Booth and Golooba-Mutebi 2015), public sector reform in Uganda (Andrews and Bategeka 2013), African agriculture (Booth, 2014), infrastructure sectors in Zambia (Beuran et al. 2011), urban bus transport in Bangladesh (World Bank, 2008) and the water sector in Kenya (Rampa 2011).
- Political economy analysis focused on problems within sectors. There are an increasing number of studies in this category, for example Wild and Cammack’s (2013) study of the supply and distribution of medicine in Malawi, and Cummings and Tahirou’s (2016) study on teacher deployment in Niger (2016).
Recent case studies have also described how PEA ideas have been used to enable development actors to engage in processes of promoting policy change. These approaches have been variously described as ‘thinking and working politically’, ‘doing development differently’ and ‘policy entrepreneurship’. Notable examples include a recent ODI review of donor programmes supporting reform processes in Nepal and Nigeria (Booth, 2016) and the Asia Foundation’s (2011) volume of case studies on economic policy reform in the Philippines. A further example from Nigeria is provided by Derbyshire and Mwamba’s (2013) case study on the DFID funded State Accountability and Voice Initiative.
This report presents the findings of a political economy analysis of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
This paper, an analysis of the drivers of change and development in Malawi, addresses three large questions.
Politics often explains where development assistance has been effective and where it has not. Yet, until the 2000s there has been little focus by development agencies on political issues.
Growth and competitiveness in Nigeria have been held back by poor policy choices and weak government.
An ODI/DFID study of the political economy of the roads sector in Uganda considered the impact of reforms that took place in 2008, including the establishment of a semi-autonomous National Roads Authority (UNRA) and the creation of a ring fenced road fund.
This paper seeks to evaluate reforms of the institutional framework governing the national road network in Uganda following an earlier study of the ‘CrossRoads’.
This paper begins by noting that Uganda has been a public sector reform leader in Africa.
Booth observes that political economy provides a rich source of understanding of the difficulties African countries face in getting the agricultural policies they need to help turn economic growth into economic transformation.
In recent years, the number of studies looking at the effect of politics on economic outcomes has flourished.
This paper highlights some of the most important issues that hamper progress in improving water sector governance in Kenya.
This paper summarises the findings of a brief political economy analysis of the procurement, supply and distribution of essential medicines in Malawi.
The deployment of teachers in Niger is not based on teachers' preferred location, so it is very common for teachers to request a transfer to a different school. Most teachers prefer to work in urban schools, where the facilities are better, it is easier to study whilst working and there are more opportunities for extra work in private schools.
This paper starts with a recognition change initiatives need to be targeted and politically smart.
This volume of case studies on Philippine economic policy reform contributes to the discourse on institutional change a better understanding of how human actors engender change.
This paper has been written to share some of the working methods, lessons and insights emerging from the State Accountability...