Suchergebnisse

Economic policy in the Arab world is dominated by the bureaucracy which plans, coordinates, and implements development plans; controls the allocation of the state's natural resources; and is increasingly used by Arab states to regulate the economic activities of their citizens. This paper provides an empirical assessment of bureaucratic innovation and its relationship to economic development in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Sudan. The data are derived from parallel surveys of senior public officials in Sudan and Saudi Arabia, as well as from a general survey of the Egyptian bureaucracy. It concludes that public servants in those countries are not innovative on the job, nor inclined to try new ideas and take risks. Their apathy, which was empirically confirmed by their superiors, does not augur well for economic development in the countries which serve as a focus for this study.

The objective of the paper is to assess the major behavioral problems restricting the developmental capacity of the Saudi bureaucracy; the assessment is based upon a survey of 123 senior Saudi officials and addresses six areas of bureaucratic behavior that would appear to be essential if the bureaucracy is to play an effective role in shaping the future of development: psychological drive, flexibility, communications, client relations, impartiality, and job satisfaction