The synergies in development: from plans to strategies

The more one reads about development, the more one realises about the complementarities existing among different policies and initiatives. We could even talk about "the economies of scale of development".

For example... how are we gonna reduce maternal mortality if we don't have appropriate roads that can make women arrive to hospital in due time? How will we be able to attract new teachers to schools in isolated rural areas if facilities are not appropriately set up? How are we gonna have adequate teachers if they die of AIDS before being adequately trained? How can we develop an adequate industrial policy if we don't have an appropriate judicial system capable of pursuing corruption?

If we accept these preliminary facts, then we can understand why underdevelopment can be "understood" as "being trapped in a vicious cycle" (see this World Bank report for this same case in LATAM), but also, why international cooperation agents and donors should agree and talk about consensuated strategies and not about isolated plans when defining their development assistance initiatives in LDCs. Bilateral and multilateral donors should look for the economies of scale existing in ODA, something which is currently not happening!

Unfortunately, we live in a world of limited resources (and political interests, of course!), and it is impossible to face all the symptoms associated to underdevelopment (lack of human capital, lack of access to sanitation facilities, to water, pervasive corruption, unpaved roads, and many many more...). The solution lies then in an appropriate sequencing, and prioritising the interventions under the umbrella of an adequate strategy taking into account the peculiarities (be they social, institutional and economical) of the country considered.

An example adapted to the study of the constraints of economic growth can be found in "Growth Diagnostics" by Hausmann, Rodrik and Velasco. A good summary here.