EVALUATION CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT- Comparative Insights from Colombia, China, and Indonesia

Abstract

The reasons that led to the establishment of evaluation as a tool of governance and to evaluation capacity building in industrial countries are also at the root of initiatives in developing countries. The rationale underlying the role of evaluation in public sector reform in developing countries is well articulated by Wiesner (1993, 1997) Wiesner has observed that in many developing countries, including his native Colombia, in spite of sound macroeconomic management the growth rate of the economy has stagnated. A main cause has been the constraining influence of a large and inefficient public sector. He attributes this in great measure to lack of competition in the delivery of public services. Government agencies behave as monopolies, not subject to real market tests, to a large extent unaccountable, and captured by rent-seeking special interests. While in the private sector, competition and prices largely determine whether a business thrives or fails, public sector service delivery by government agencies has not been contested. Wiesner argues that transparent public sector evaluations provide the "market" signals which would effectively show taxpayers and civil society at-large whether the public sector is delivering services efficiently and effectively.