On January 30-31, the conference will be livestreamed to this website.
This conference will feature academics, development organizations and policymakers to share research findings, best practices, and innovative approaches to improve public institutions, with a thematic focus on enabling the private sector.
The keynote speakers will be Rema Hanna, the Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South-East Asia Studies and Chair of the International Development Area at the Harvard Kennedy School and Karthik Muralidharan, the Tata Chancellor's Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego.
We define public institutions as “public sector organizations mandated with policy implementation, as well as the rules and processes that govern these organizations”. The primary examples of public institutions are ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) – public sector organizations responsible for implementing specific policy mandates. These are the meso-level government bodies tasked with the day-to-day work of policy implementation, from collecting taxes and building roads to educating children and promoting public health. As such, the effectiveness of public institutions is critical for effective policy implementation and, by extension, for development outcomes.
The private sector is a major driver of economic growth and development, but it needs a functioning public sector to thrive. The private sector creates jobs, generates income, and contributes to the overall expansion of the economy. Through entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment, it stimulates productivity and competitiveness and contributes to climate-friendly investments. Public institutions provide the public goods and services that allow households and firms to succeed, and they set and enforce the rules that enable inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economic development. Yet they often fall short and fail to meet people’s needs, demands, and expectations. As such, understanding what helps public institutions succeed – and how organizations like the World Bank can best support them – is critical for enabling private sector-led growth and development.