9 - Politics and Change in Development Regimes

Summary

POLITICS, INSTITUTIONS, AND REGIME CHANGE

Under what conditions does a DNS emerge? The analysis in this book has emphasized the link between the development strategies of the state and the organizational practices and structures through which they are developed, negotiated, and implemented. Any explanation of the emergence of the DNS, therefore, requires an explanation of both the content of its development strategies and its institutional forms. Linking these two is a critical part of the DNS story because it proves to be the case that the organizational politics of the state exerts a critical influence on its strategies.

This raises the complicated issue of the origins of organizational strategies and structures. A brief review of this thorny set of issues is necessary before turning to the empirical analysis of the Irish case. Perhaps the most widespread answer to this question, and the heart of economic theories of organizations, is that organizational strategies and structures emerge to solve problems in the most efficient manner. The dilemma for such explanations is why we find such a variety of organizational forms – even, as we have seen, in types of developmental states. Williamson (1975, 1985) emphasizes the conditions under which different organizational forms minimize transaction costs – with hierarchical forms emerging primarily when specific assets exist that tie actors to more long-term relationships. If a level of trust exists that can sustain relationships over the long term without internalization through hierarchy, then we see the emergence of the network forms of organization (Jarillo, 1988).