Civil service reform in developing countries

Civil service reform is a deliberate action to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, professionalism, representativity and democratic character of a civil service, with a view to promoting better delivery of public goods and services, with increased accountability. Such actions can include data gathering and analysis, organizational restructuring, improving human resource management and training, enhancing pay and benefits while assuring sustainability under overall fiscal constraints, and strengthening measures for performance management, public participation, transparency, and combating corruption.

The academic literature on civil service reform has provided arguments and counterarguments clarifying how several approaches to reform affect the overall performance of the civil service. The increasing availability of empirical data allows to test the effectiveness of specific reforms in a given context. While designing effective civil service reforms is a tremendously complex task considering that the right mix of corruption control and performance improvements may vary greatly across and within countries, empirical as well as qualitative research can contribute to the body of evidence-based knowledge on civil service reforms in developing countries.

Max Weber's model of the ideal type of public administration has been an influential approach to civil service reforms in the 20th century. The bureaucratic type of administration contrasts with the patrimonial type in its underlying organizing principles. Weber's organization of the public administration relies on a clearly defined hierarchical structure with a system of subordination and supervision, a division of labor and specified positions with assigned responsibilities. Contrary to the patrimonial system in which there is no distinction between private and public domains, the Weberian bureaucracy is defined by its impersonal and impartial character. Civil servants operate according to a set of rules and procedures they must observe. Impartiality is in part attained through the professionalization of the civil service and meritocratic recruitment through competitive examinations. For full-time and professionalized civil servants, public office-holding becomes a 'vocation'.

Weberian ideal-typical principles have served as foundations for civil service reforms in developing countries. Scholars and policymakers have been interested in identifying the specific features that determine bureaucratic efficiency and corruption and the mechanisms through which these features increase effectiveness and restrict corrupt behaviour in the civil service.

Empirical studies found that meritocratic recruitment of public officials in particular is associated with lower corruption levels. There are several ways in which meritocratic recruitment and promotion can restrict corrupt behaviour. To begin with, administering entry examinations and educational attainment requirements enable the selection of competent civil servants. A study by the International Monetary Fund shows that better-educated civil servants are related to lower levels of corruption, better performance including better public finance management and higher tax revenue mobilization, as well as higher economic growth.

Furthermore, the internal promotion and career stability of merit-recruited civil servants create a sense of shared commitment to the 'vocation' of office-holding that establishes 'esprit de corps', making it harder for corruption to occur.

Other evidence suggests that a professional merit-based civil service preempts corruption not necessarily through the selection of capable officials but rather through the appointment of civil servants whose interests differ from politicians'. Misaligned interests create a coordination problem which prevents corrupt practices and instead introduces a system of mutual monitoring.

During the 1980s, developing countries subject to structural adjustment programs (SAPs) experienced fiscal austerity notably manifested through pressures to reduce the public wage bill. R. Klitgaard raised concerns that falling civil service wages could exacerbate bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption. Low public sector wages have been associated with lower performance and motivation. Salaries below opportunity cost can induce civil servants to opt for potentially harmful adaptive strategies and seek opportunities for own-account activities. Public officials may ask for compensation through informal or illegal means and these coping strategies compromise the efficiency and honesty of civil service organizations.