Institutional reforms a must for growth

Prof Lant Pritchett of Harvard University gives a public lecture, “Folk and the Formula-Pathways to Capable State”, at Brac Centre Inn in the capital yesterday. The programme was organised by Effective States and Inclusive Development, a research programme of Brac Development Institute under Brac University, in association with The Daily Star and South Asian Network on Economic Modeling.Photo: STAR

Miracle growth can take place in a country without properly functioning institutions, including effective courts, but to maintain a sustainable growth institutional reforms are a must, said Prof Kunal Sen of University of Manchester, UK yesterday.
Prof Lant Pritchett of Harvard University, USA said 80 percent of states in the world were still at low, stagnating or failing levels of capabilities.
The two were addressing a public lecture, “Evolution of State Capacity in a Challenging Governance Environment”, at Brac Centre Inn in the capital.
Effective States and Inclusive Development, a research programme of Brac Development Institute under Brac University, in association with The Daily Star and South Asian Network on Economic Modeling jointly organised the lecture.
In his lecture, “Politics of Economic Growth”, Prof Kunal said countries in growth stagnation would be characterised by a deals environment -- personalised relationships between individuals.
“Growth acceleration can take place when deals between political and economic elites move from being disordered to ordered,” he added.
Prof Lant Pritchett, in his lecture, “Folk and the Formula-Pathways to Capable State”, said development needs a state that can carry out its responsibilities -- formulating effective policies, delivering the mail, educating children, enforcing law and collecting taxes.
“But most developing countries are still failing or stagnating…the reality is that success in building state capability typically comes from a struggle to replace bad institutions with good, based on learning from experience-and not from imposing a rigid formula unsuited to local conditions,” he added.
The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam moderated the programme.
Brac University Registrar Air Commodore (retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury delivered inaugural address while eminent personalities including Prof Rehman Sobhan, Dr Akbar Ali Khan, and Prof Rawnak Jahan were present.