Local government, economic growth and human development: Chinese lessons for Kenya and Uganda?

Many African states are weak and unstable, prone to military coups or civil unrest. Poor governance and a lack of the civil society necessary to underpin reform are often cited as key reasons why investors are reluctant to engage with Africa and why livelihoods are diminished. The socio-political system in China is also woefully lacking by the standards of liberal democracy, but nonetheless has proved capable of sustained economic reform and remarkable success in development.
During the process of a nation's development, local governments can be important actors in adopting and implementing policies which would assist national economic growth and promote local benefits. For much of China's economic reform period, local governments played a key part in driving GDP growth although there are now doubts about whether this role is sustainable. In Africa, decentralization is a common element of reform but often the focus is on fostering political settlements and improved service delivery, rather than promoting economic reform. This project will consider whether China's experiences provide insights into how local government in Africa may successfully contribute to development, although differences in political structures mean that not all lessons may be transferable. The project will conduct rigorous analysis, based on evidence from original data collection using tailor-made surveys, to explore the impacts of local governance on the economic and human development of China and two selected African countries, Kenya and Uganda.
The research covers four interlinked topic areas. First, it starts with research on a stratified random sample of local governments in the three countries, identifying and comparing their policy environments, structures, inter-government relationships, and key officials' self-motivation for pro-poor growth, and evaluating their performance and policy outcomes. Second, it extends from the analysis of local governments to investigate their impacts on local economic growth and on production of tradable goods, whether in agriculture or manufacturing. Third, the project explores the effectiveness and efficiency of local government in providing health and education services. Fourth, it will consider the impact of local government on poverty reduction.
The project addresses questions which would have impact on policy-making in international development. Differences in the roles of local government between and within countries will be identified, with comparisons being made to explain the challenges facing local governments in the three selected countries. Any lessons, positive or negative, from China's development process will be identified and consideration given to how these might be adapted or avoided in order to enable local governments in Kenya, Uganda and other low income African states to be proactive in economic development.
Intellectually, the project will address some of the big questions and puzzles in development economics: why did China benefit from export oriented industrial growth but not Africa? How has China achieved economic liberalisation and growth without political liberalisation and while still denying the formation of a civil society? Could Africa adopt economic elements from this development model while having a fundamentally different political-social structure? While the industrialised world suffers economic stagnation, can Africa's recent renaissance continue and possibly become the world's next growth miracle? By shifting dogma and policy, could Africa accelerate its growth? When tackling such questions, could we turn to the 'Chinese model' for possible solutions?
The research team comprises well-regarded development economists from Kenya, Uganda, China and the UK. The findings of this project will be likely generate high impacts through the team's networks of international policy makers in the World Bank, DfID, UNDP and the governments of Kenya, Uganda and China.

The direct and immediate beneficiaries of this proposal would be the national and international organisations concerned with development policies in China and Africa. Among international development agencies, the proposed research is targeted at the World Bank, UNDP, ILO, Africa Development Bank, Britain's Department for International Development and the European Union.
The project has formed its team with a record of policy impact. Team members are all publishing academic papers with high policy impacts; and most regularly serve as consultants for the international policy makers listed above. Justin Lin, the former World Bank Vice President, will play the key role in disseminating the project findings among such organisations. Xiaobo Zhang has worked for decades in the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in the USA, a key research institute for international development; he will bring in renowned development economists to join the dissemination events organised by the project. Song, Appleton, Mwabu and Kasirye have good contacts with ministries, NGOs, and other stakeholders in China, Kenya and Uganda. They have the standing to attract national policymakers to attend the dissemination events and to engage with project policy briefs.
Users from China will benefit from this project. For example, China Enterprise Association (CEA), which advises large Chinese State firms on investment and corporate social responsibility programmes in Africa, would be actively involved. The China Development Bank is the major vehicle for the Chinese government to invest in Africa. Its former Chairman of the Board, Mr Yuan Chen, would be involved in dialogue with the team. Key members of the two organisations will be invited to attend project events.
The project would engage users in Africa through the team's wide range of networks in the region. Germano Mwabu is a leading member of the African Economic Research Consortium and Ibrahim Kasiyre is Head of the Micro Department of the Economic Policy Research Centre, the main economic policy think tank in Uganda. NGOs and practitioners actively working on improvement of health, education and women's rights in Africa would be invited to participate in project activities and engage with the research findings produced.
The business communities globally could benefit from the project. Improved understanding of Africa would help them to increase business performance and competitiveness when doing business in the region.
Last and, most important, people in low income African countries would benefit from the project's research targets and outputs. The overarching goal of this project is to increase the general level of welfare in Africa by improving policy making and implementation in the sub-continent, especially at the local government level. The project would seek, and test, which governance models would accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty and enhance human development. If the project does uncover lessons from China for Africa, this could be transformative - facilitating manufacturing, agricultural innovation and FDI. The project's focus on effective public service delivery could improve the quality of life for Africans, with improved education and health care.
The project would create a web-site, issue regular policy briefs, encourage its team members to attend international workshops and conferences, and mostly importantly to discuss its research findings with policy makers. In the first year of the project, stakeholder workshops would be run in both Africa and China. Two international conferences for disseminating the project findings will be organised. In 2017 (third year of the project), a high-level conference will be held either in Kenya or Uganda to convene findings with invitees from the World Bank, IFPRI and government officials from China and African countries. Towards the end of the project (2018), a final conference will be organised in China