Turning government failure into success: How Korea learned from MERS to succeed in COVID-19

South Korea has been showcased as an exemplar in the global fight against COVID-19. The country’s testing capacity, combined with its ability to trace people who may have been exposed to the virus and treat patients, has been highlighted as the key to its success. What I find more interesting about Korea is not so much what they are doing but why they are doing it. Korea’s current success builds on previous failures, on the government’s ability to learn from past mistakes and to institutionalise those lessons.

Continue ReadingTurning government failure into success: How Korea learned from MERS to succeed in COVID-19

Designing good policies is one thing, implementing them is another

Forging and adopting technically sound policies is necessary for successful development, but it is not enough: any policy is only as good as its implementation. In this blog Michael Woolcock and Norman Loayza argue that policy implementation can fail for two broad reasons: (1) the absence of complementary measures needed to make the chosen policy effective; and (2) the inadequate capability of prevailing institutions and administrative systems.

Continue ReadingDesigning good policies is one thing, implementing them is another