Bureaucratic Innovation and Economic Development in the Middle East:
General Material Designation
[Article]
Other Title Information
A Study of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Sudan
First Statement of Responsibility
Monte Palmer, Abdelrahman Al-Hegelan, Mohammed Bushara Abdelrahman, et al.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Leiden
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Brill
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Economic policy in the Arab world is dominated by the bureaucracy which plans, coordinates, and implements development plans; controls the allocation of the state's natural resources; and is increasingly used by Arab states to regulate the economic activities of their citizens. This paper provides an empirical assessment of bureaucratic innovation and its relationship to economic development in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Sudan. The data are derived from parallel surveys of senior public officials in Sudan and Saudi Arabia, as well as from a general survey of the Egyptian bureaucracy. It concludes that public servants in those countries are not innovative on the job, nor inclined to try new ideas and take risks. Their apathy, which was empirically confirmed by their superiors, does not augur well for economic development in the countries which serve as a focus for this study.