State and Economic Development in Africa

The Case of Ethiopia

verfasst von: Aaron Tesfaye

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book critically assesses the impact of Ethiopia’s policy of Agriculture Development Led Industrialization. Employing qualitative and quantitative analysis, it presents empirical evidence suggesting persistent economic growth. The research highlights improvements in infrastructure, health care, education, poverty alleviation as well reductions in infant mortality rate. The impact of this economic growth has however had led to only slight improvements in the plight of the poor. The author argues that, while significant steps have been achieved with measurable economic gains, there are still undeniable obstacles within the federal system: prevailing patron-client relationships, constraints on state capacity to efficiently and effectively implement policy, and bureaucratic rent-seeking in the provision of public goods. The author concludes that these problems will have to be resolved before Ethiopia’s political economy can achieve the stage of sustainable development

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

Ethiopia is undergoing rapid economic transformation, which has not been without some challenges in implementing it political and economic agenda. The ruling party, the Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Revolutionary Front (EPDRF), a coalition of ethnic-based organizations, following the overthrow of the military regime in 1991 and assumption of political power created a federal political system.

Aaron Tesfaye

Chapter 2. State and Development in Ethiopia

Abstract

Late industrializers in the twentieth century usually adopted specific ideologies, or guiding principles, designed to mobilize their citizens toward industrial transformation. Depending on the state’s strategic policy, some ideologies specifically targeted the business sector and disciplined other areas such as agricultural interests and labor, and others appealed to the popular masses—the working class and the peasantry. Thus, the preferences of the state and the strategic policies of the developmental elite differ from nation to nation depending on the states’ histories, political systems, cultures, geographic location, and specific domestic and international conditions as well as their period of insertion into the global economy, which might favor or disfavor an industrial undertaking.

Aaron Tesfaye

Chapter 3. State Structures and Development

Abstract

It is now common knowledge that a prerequisite for transforming a moribund economy to that of a functioning market is a complex set of underlying institutional arrangements in which the state plays a central role in national goal setting.

Aaron Tesfaye

Chapter 4. Economic Policy and Performance

Abstract

In the transition from centralized military rule to federalism in Ethiopia, an economy ruined by war had to be reformed extensively if it was to be viable at all. While environmental related shocks in the agricultural sector explained part of the dismal growth, the disappointing economic performance of the period was largely a reflection of poor economic management, a hostile business environment, and prolonged civil war. After the collapse of the military regime in 1991, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia embarked on the Stabilization and Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), adopting a new economic policy geared toward transforming the command economy to one based on the market and calling for an increase in private sector activity and a significant decrease in the role of the state in the economy. This policy was linked to donor demands for liberalization, making the state dependent on outside resources for economic reconstruction and territorial decentralization. The state’s role was to be confined to regulation and mapping out strategies for overall national economic development.

Aaron Tesfaye

Chapter 5. Development Policy and Globalization

Abstract

Ethiopia’s development strategy gives center stage to private capital as the engine of transformation of the manufacturing sector. ¹ Thus, the state is actively engaged in removing any obstacles to accommodate the needs of both private capital and direct foreign investment. This policy emanates from a fundamental understanding that contemporary global economies are interdependent and highly competitive at the same time. In a globalized economy, the only option for Ethiopia to get out of its current situation is to transform itself industrially, providing value-added manufactured goods to domestic and international markets and becoming competitive.

Aaron Tesfaye

Chapter 6. Conclusion

Abstract

This study began with an inquiry into the role of the state in economic development in Ethiopia. It argued that in the past, Ethiopia did not develop its economy because predatory elite disdained economic activity and were preoccupied with war-making and religious piety. Subsequent modernizing elites were not successful in achieving economic development because they were preoccupied in nation-building and the project of integration as evidenced by many secessionist, irredentist wars. Second, it argued that whether nations were first or late industrializers, those that successfully transformed their economies had some important common elements.

Aaron Tesfaye

Backmatter

Titel: State and Economic Development in Africa
verfasst von: Aaron Tesfaye
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-57825-5
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57824-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57825-5