GOVERNANCE

This paper addresses the determinants of public expenditure policies, by reviewing theories and empirical investigations of what features explain the budget process and how the various attributes of actors—including politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups, and donors—and of institutions and political and economic governance environments affect the prioritization of public investments. It draws conclusions with regard to the determinants of agricultural public investments.

This report is a joint Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and World Bank initiative aimed at facilitating informed policy-making in public service management. As in other post-conflict situations, the Southern Sudanese state faces two sets of challenges--the provision of security and establishing legitimacy, and making the state function effectively and efficiently. These issues have a renewed significance in the face of the fiscal management challenges due to extreme commodity dependence on oil, coupled with the referendum due in 2011.