May 2010 to March 2018
The Budget Strengthening Initiative draws on expertise from across ODI and beyond to support fragile and conflict-affected states to build more effective, accountable and transparent budgets.
Outputs
The new deal in Somalia: an independent review of the Somali Compact, 2014-2016
Research reports and studies | April 2017 | Marcus Manuel, Alastair McKechnie, Gregory Wilson and Rima das Pradhan-Blach
This report reviews the successes and failures of the Somali Compact and identifies four other key areas for any new Partnership Agreement.
Downloads Organising a strategic phase in the budget process
Toolkits | November 2016 | Cathal Long and Bryn Welham
This public financial management (PFM) introductory guide offers governments in low-capacity contexts a list of tools to improve the strategic phase of the budget process.
Downloads Public investment management
Toolkits | November 2016 | Mark Miller and Shakira Mustapha
This public financial management (PFM) introductory guide offers finance or planning ministries in low-capacity contexts insight into improving public investment management.
Downloads Fiscal decentralisation
Toolkits | November 2016 | Tom Hart and Bryn Welham
This public financial management (PFM) introductory guide defines fiscal decentralisation and discusses the role of central government in a decentralised system.
Downloads Cash management in cash-constrained environments
Toolkits | November 2016 | Mark Miller and Sierd Hadley
This public financial management (PFM) introductory guide summarises the literature on cash management reforms for developing countries.
Downloads The ministry of finance ‘challenge function’
Toolkits | November 2016 | Sierd Hadley and Bryn Welham
This public finance management introductory guide summaries existing literature on the challenge function, how it works in different countries as well as options for reform.
Downloads Change in challenging contexts - how does it happen?
Research reports and studies | September 2015 | Tim Williamson
This report explores how genuine institutional change takes place in fragile and conflict-affected states reforms can be supported.
Downloads Why Uganda is more transparent than Norway
Comment | 3 September 2015 | Simon Gill
Uganda keeps better records on public spending than Norway. Improvements in other unlikely places gripped by war and conflict prove that this is far from being an isolated success story.
Read and comment Political science welcomes William Easterly
Articles and blogs | 8 May 2014 | Philipp Krause
'Easterly is not arguing for a massive all-or-nothing rights and democracy agenda to replace the current state of affairs. He is explicitly calling for tinkering and experimentation to replace grandiose development plans and goals'.
Read and comment Randomized control trials (RCTs): interesting, but a marginal tool for governments
Opinion | 24 March 2014 | Philipp Krause
Are Randomized Control Trials all they're cracked up to be for informing government policy in developing countries?
Read and comment If you think conflict prevention is expensive, try conflict
Comment | 14 February 2014 | Marcus Manuel
'Last week, amid the continued turmoil in the Central African Republic, the OECD launched their annual global report on fragile states... one fact stood out from the report: development aid to the most conflict-prone countries has declined for two years running....
Read and comment Giving institutional reforms a chance to succeed
Articles and blogs | 12 February 2014 | Ahmed Ali
'It’s now common dogma among development experts that institutions are central to improving the welfare of the poor. However, after decades of reforms and billions spent in aid, success stories of institutional development are few and failures all too common.'
Read and comment The service delivery agenda: beware, there be doughnuts!
Articles and blogs | 27 January 2014 | Philipp Krause
'Public services don’t work in all sorts of ways. Many service delivery problems are knowable and understandable; more knowledge enables those who care to come up with better solutions. But there can always be too much of a good thing.'
Read and comment What can help Central African Republic? Lessons from Sierra Leone
Comment | 9 December 2013 | Marcus Manuel
'Successful intervention in Sierra Leone is precisely the reason the UK must take its place at the table when it comes to resolving the situation in Bangui.'
Read and comment European launch: Public financial management and its emerging architecture
Public event | 4 September 2013 12:30 - 14:00 GMT+01 (BST)
The last two decades have seen a wave of global innovations and reforms that have fundamentally altered the way public finances are managed. This event will launch a new book from the...
Watch Budget transparency in Uganda
Comment | 28 August 2013 | Ryan Flynn interviews Tim Williamson
The Ugandan government has recently launched a new website that puts an unprecendented amount of information on the country's finances into the public domain. ODI's Tim Williamson, who worked closely with the Ministry of Finance on the site, talks to Ryan...
Read and comment Unblocking results in Tanzanian rural water supply
Comment | 14 August 2013 | Helen Tilley
Research Fellow Helen Tilley interviews Rinus Van Klinken, acting Director of SNV Tanzania, to talk about the governance constraints he has encountered in his work on improving rural water supply in Tanzania, and the approaches he has adopted to overcome them.
Read and comment Matt Andrews on the limits of institutional reform
Comment | 9 August 2013 | Ryan Flynn interviews Matt Andrews
Matt Andrews, governance expert and Associate Professor at Harvard's Kennedy School, sat down with ODI's Ryan Flynn to talk about his new book - 'The Limits of Institutional Reform in Development'.
Read and comment Telling countries they're the worst in the world doesn't really help them
Comment | 16 July 2013 | Claire Leigh
'Ranking fragile states is pointless: citizens in countries like South Sudan are better placed to address weakness than outsiders.'
Read and comment The flip side of the coin: accountability as a precondition for meaningful budget transparency
Articles and blogs | 28 June 2013 | Rebecca Simson
'The transparency debate has taken a wrong-turn in the assumption that published budget information is a precondition for state accountability to citizens.'
Read and comment Does technical assistance need a makeover?
Comment | 28 June 2013 | Rebecca Simson
'Inserting foreign advisers into governments is more about facilitating a donor project than resolving broader problems within the public sector. Is it time for a change?'
Read and comment Unblocking results: can aid get public services flowing?
Public event | 3 June 2013 12:30 - 14:00 GMT+01 (BST)
This event will explore the findings and policy implications of the latest ODI research on how aid can be best packaged to support governance and institutional development. The research draws on case studies in Sierra Leone, Tanzania...
What do discussions about aid modalities and institutional change have in common?
Comment | 30 May 2013 | Heidi Tavakoli
'We need to start defining the way we deliver ODA differently; in a way that is meaningful for work on institutional change.'
Read and comment Unblocking results: using aid to address governance constraints in public service delivery
Research reports and studies | May 2013 | Heidi Tavakoli, Rebecca Simson and Helen Tilley with David Booth
How can aid better support developing country governments to delivery public services? This report proposes a new way to deliver aid that strengthens incentives for performance in the public sector.
Downloads The limits of institutional reform in development
Event | 21 May 2013 17:00 - 19:00 GMT+01 (BST)
This event discusses Matt Andrews' new book ...
Special fiscal institutions for resource-rich developing economies
Research reports and studies | May 2013 | Natasha Sharma and Tove Strauss
This paper considers the options available for resource-rich developing countries when deciding whether to implement special fiscal institutions to address some of the challenges of managing natural resource wealth.
Download Linking public financial management dimensions to development priorities
Working and discussion papers | May 2013 | Bryn Welham, Philipp Krause and Edward Hedger
This paper outlines theoretical and empirical links between public financial management (PFM) functions and development objectives in the context of very low capacity environments. It outlines a list of possible capacity substitution and supplementation options that...
Download Of institutions and butterflies: is isomorphism in developing countries necessarily a bad thing?
Working and discussion papers | April 2013 | Philipp Krause
Building on the term 'isomorphic mimicry’, this Background Note explores different types of institutional imitation, in relation to public financial management reform and institutional change in international development.
Download Managing natural resource revenues: the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund
Research reports and studies | April 2013 | Alastair McKechnie
This note looks at the Timor-Lest Petroleum Fund, a sovereign wealth fund for managing natural resources. This research draws lessons from the Timor-Leste experience useful for governments facing similar natural resource management challenges.
Download What does debt mean for governance?
Articles and blogs | 25 January 2013 | Philipp Krause
'More effective governments are able to borrow more, and many do. Some that could, don’t. But hardly any governments that lack the corresponding level of effectiveness get away with high levels of debt.'
Read and comment Following the money: examining the evidence on pro-poor budgeting
Comment | 20 December 2012 | Rebecca Simson
'If the development community is serious about measuring development results, it is time to move beyond the theory and begin to examine broader trends in public spending over time and across countries.'
Read and comment Of institutions and butterflies
Articles and blogs | 3 December 2012 | Philipp Krause
'Institutional ventriloquism worsens capability traps because it keeps states from developing the autonomous capability to adapt and change. For states that are able to adapt and change on their own, isomorphic mimicry isn’t a problem.'
Read and comment Measuring good pooled funds in fragile states
Research reports and studies | November 2012 | Erin Coppin
This paper introduces an experimental methodology for an index that captures the performance of pooled funds in fragile states across the Paris Declaration principles: ownership, alignment, harmonisation, delivery of results, and mutual accountability.
Download Innovative aid instruments and flexible financing: providing better support to fragile states
Research reports and studies | November 2012 | Marcus Manuel, Alastair McKechnie, Maia King, Erin Coppin and Lisa Denney
Prepared in the first half of 2011 for the OECD International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding, this paper looks at how to improve the delivery of aid to fragile and conflict-affected states.
Download It's politics, we’re not stupid: in defence of a division of labour between technocrats and politicians
Articles and blogs | 8 November 2012 | Rebecca Simson
'In order to improve the political acumen of development organisations operating in developing countries, it seems highly inefficient to train technocrats to think and act more like politicians.'
Read and comment Public financial management reforms in fragile states: the case of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Research reports and studies | October 2012 | Geraldine Baudienville
This Research Report analyses public financial management (PFM) reforms in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Download Public financial management reforms in fragile states: the case of West Bank and Gaza
Research reports and studies | October 2012 | Philipp Krause
This Research Report analyses public financial management (PFM) reforms in West Bank and Gaza.
Download Public financial management reforms in fragile states: the case of Sierra Leone
Research reports and studies | October 2012 | Heidi Tavakoli
This Research Report analyses public financial management (PFM) reforms in Sierra Leone.
Download Public financial management reforms in fragile states: the case of Kosovo
Research reports and studies | October 2012 | Heidi Tavakoli and Shkumbin Saneja
This Research Report analyses public financial management (PFM) reforms in Kosovo.
Download Interview with Economic Advisor to the President of South Sudan
Podcasts and audio | 17 October 2012 | Ryan Flynn
‘Before the shutdown in oil production the [Government of South Sudan] was already very disturbed about the pattern of expenditure related to the implementation of government programmes…the shutdown fast-tracked measures to [implement] proper fiscal discipline.’
Read and comment Public finance reform in fragile states: grounds for cautious optimism?
Conference | 16 - 17 October 2012
The event brought together politicians and government officials from several countries with senior researchers and policy makers to examine the progress of public financial management reforms and the challenges that remain.
Public financial management reform in fragile states: grounds for cautious optimism?
Briefing papers | October 2012 | Edward Hedger, Philipp Krause and Heidi Tavakoli
This Briefing Paper looks at public financial management reforms across eight different fragile states over a ten-year period. A key finding is that substantial progress is possible, even in countries with very low income and capacity.
Downloads Can aid address key governance constraints in public service delivery?
Working and discussion papers | September 2012 | Heidi Tavakoli with David Booth, Rebecca Simson and Helen Tilley
This Working Paper frames a branch of research by the Budget Strengthening Initiative (BSI) and the Center for Aid and Public Expenditure (CAPE) looking into how aid can best contribute to improving the delivery of public services in developing countries.
Download Common constraints and incentive problems in service delivery
Working and discussion papers | August 2012 | Leni Wild, Vikki Chambers, Maia King and Daniel Harris
There is growing recognition that, despite significant increases in resourcing, public service delivery is still failing in many developing countries. This review explores the existing evidence base in three sectors (education, health, water and sanitation) across...
Download The sequencing debate is over… or is it?
Comment | 17 August 2012 | Philipp Krause
'There seems to be an emerging consensus that advanced budget reforms should not be attempted in developing countries before budgetary basics have been soundly established. In many countries, this may well mean a focus on budgetary basics for the foreseeable...
Read and comment Laws, what are they good for?
Articles and blogs | 14 August 2012 | Philipp Krause
'The purpose of comprehensive legal reform in a fragile state actually begins to look a lot like it would in any other country. It is a means to consolidate and lock in a lengthy reform process, once everyone involved is reasonably secure about the new rules.'
Read and comment Why most publications about public financial management sequencing are missing the point
Articles and blogs | 19 July 2012 | Philipp Krause
'The unfortunate fact is that a discussion about sequencing makes little sense if it does not include non-technical sequencing as well. Unless we prioritise getting a better understanding of how public financial management interacts with the wider political...
Read and comment Failed States Index belongs in the policy dustbin
Comment | 2 July 2012 | Claire Leigh
'The annual Failed States Index, which ranks countries according to their failings, is illogical and may worsen the instability it seeks to describe.'
Read and comment Examining the evidence of pro-poor budgeting: new research agendas on public expenditure policy in developing countries
Round-table | 27 June 2012 14:00 - 17:00 GMT+00
This round-table brought brought together researchers and policy advisors to examine the evidence on pro-poor budgeting in developing countries.
Developments in public finance: evidence, theory and practice
Event Series | 20 June 2012 - 1 February 2013
This event series delivered by the Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure (CAPE) explored pertinent issues in public finance in developing countries and fragile states. By convening a range of...
Public financial management reforms in post-conflict countries: synthesis report
Research reports and studies | June 2012 | Edward Hedger, Philipp Krause and Heidi Tavakoli
This report addresses the existing knowledge gap through a systematic review of Public Financial Management (PFM) reform experiences in post-conflict environments.
Download A guide to public financial management literature for practitioners in developing countries
Toolkits | December 2011 | Rebecca Simson, Natasha Sharma and Imran Aziz
This guide provides handbooks, guidance notes and articles that are useful for people implementing public financial management (PFM) systems.
Download Time for a new deal for 'fragile states'
Comment | 29 November 2011 | Alastair McKechnie
'Building effective institutions can take decades, and each country must blend local culture with national identity and traditions to build institutions seen as legitimate by all citizens. In this way, fragile states...require a fundamentally different approach...
Read and comment Getting better results from assistance to fragile states
Briefing papers | November 2011 | Marcus Manuel, Maia King, Alastair McKechnie
This ODI Briefing Paper looks at the step-change required to improve financial flexibility, accountability and predictability in fragile states.
Download A new aid deal for fragile states?
Public event | 10 October 2011 12:30 - 14:00 GMT+01 (BST)
This event will consider whether a new aid deal is needed for fragile states and what this deal might look like, bringing together a range of views from civil society, the research community and fragile states themselves.
Scaling up what works: managing risks in fragile states
Comment | 7 October 2011 | Marcus Manuel, Alastair McKechnie and Maia King
This ODI Opinion argues for a new approach to how donors manage risk when delivering development assistance in fragile states.
Read and comment Coordinating post-conflict aid in Southern Sudan
Working and discussion papers | September 2011 | Fiona Davies, Gregory Smith and Tim Williamson
This Background Note from ODI’s Budget Strengthening Initiative reviews the background to aid effectiveness in Southern Sudan.
Download Post-war programme implementation and procurement: some lessons from the experience of Afghanistan
Research reports and studies | August 2011 | Alastair J. McKechnie
This paper describes the experience of programme implementation and procurement in Afghanistan and sets out lessons for other countries coming out of prolonged fragility and conflict.
Download Fragile states: measuring what makes a good pooled fund
Briefing papers | August 2011 | Erin Coppin, Marcus Manuel, Alastair McKechnie
This Project Briefing presents a potential tool for scoring and comparing the effectiveness of pooled funds, and applies the tool to funds in Afghanistan, South Sudan and Liberia.
Downloads Pooled funds scoring tool
Toolkits | August 2011 | Erin Coppin, Marcus Manuel, Alastair McKechnie
A tool for scoring pooled funds based on several indicators, including: ownership, alignment, harmonisation, delivery of results and mutual accountability.
Download The use of innovative aid instruments in support of peacebuilding and statebuilding
Working and discussion papers | May 2011 | Marcus Manuel, Alastair McKechnie, Maia Stead, Erin Coppin and Lisa Denney
Within this compilation, Working Paper 4 was prepared on behalf of the OECD International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Working Group on Aid Instruments to explore and provide recommendations for addressing challenges to effective cooperation in conflict...
Downloads Ten steps to improve IMF performance in fragile states
Comment | 9 March 2011 | Marcus Manuel
As the IMF considers further changes to how it operates in fragile states, Marcus Manuel sets out ten priorities in this ODI Blog.
Read and comment Accelerating the transition out of fragility: The role of finance and public financial management reform
Research reports and studies | January 2011 | Marcus Manuel, Sanjeev Gupta and Paul Ackroyd
This conference focused on the practical and policy aspects of how to use finance to support fragile states in their transition out of fragility and the associated implications for public financial management.
Download Accelerating the transition out of fragility - the role of finance and public financial management reform
Conference | 15 - 16 November 2010
This is the sixth in a series of annual conferences on development finance and public financial management reform organised by the Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure at ODI. The conference will focus on the practical and policy aspects of how to use...
Planning and budgeting in Southern Sudan: starting from scratch
Briefing papers | October 2010 | Fiona Davies and Gregory Smith
This Briefing Paper considers lessons learned from Southern Sudan for planning and budgeting systems in post-conflict settings.