Daniel Rogger

World Bank Development Impact Evaluation Research Group
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About me

Teaching

Bureaucracy Lab
Bureaucracy Frontiers
For Public Servants
Bureaucracy Reading List
Mini-documentary
Careers in Development
Water Get Enemy
Policy making practice
Teaching philosophy

Teaching

I hope to engender a better understanding of economics, economic development, and the developing world. In particular, I hope to stimulate public understanding of the challenges that face developing countries and developing country governments in stimulating development. I am also keen to support the coming generations of development economists in entering the profession.

 

Teaching the Principles of Bureaucracy Lab

My work aims to innovate bureaucracy based on micro-level data and analysis. Here are clips describing that approach:

 

Clockwise from top left: The Bureaucracy Lab's `Five Principles of Public Administration Reform'; My Econothon interview; The Lab's `Big Data Revolution' mini documentary; and, a session at Oxford University on `Harnessing Data to Improve Government Effectiveness Across the World'

 

The Frontiers of the Personnel Economics of the State

In 2019 and 2023 I gave descriptions of the frontier of the personnel economics of the state, presented as World Bank `Policy Research Talks', which are respectively the top left and top right videos below. For the latter, I created a trailer that is the closest I will ever get to being James Bond (bottom left) and shorter video highlighting the points I made about influencing public policy (bottom right)..

 

For Public Servants in the Developing World

For me, public servants who work in the constraints of a developing world government, and still get done what needs to be done are the unsung heroes of development. Contact me if I can be of any assistance to you in that task.

Training public servants to strengthen their own institutions is a key mission of the Bureaucracy Lab, which I co-lead.  Here is an example of our training from an opening lecture I gave at the start of our 2022 training for the Ghanaian Office of the Head of the Civil Service.

I am available to support public servants across the world in a flexible way in their learning and research. I can connect you to the training and resources the Bureaucracy Lab has made available for public officials, but I can also support you on any ad hoc needs you have. I want to help the heroes in the way that they need it most!

Whilst working in the civil service in Nigeria as a junior economist, I compiled the following 'Tips for Civil Servants'. It gives my 'top ten' ways to perform better within the service and within life in general!

 

A Reading List on Issues Related to Public Administration That is Personal, Non-Academic and Always Evolving

Here is a reading list on the subject of public administration. It is personal in the sense that it is not meant to be a reflection of the breadth of material on the subject, which is truly vast, but rather highlights of my own reading and experience in the area. It is non-academic, in that I shy away from references to the academic literature I aim to contribute to, since this list aims to be a complement to the papers that make up the personnel economics of the state. And it is constantly evolving, since I am always on the look out to better appreciate the art of government administration from multiple angles, so feel free to send me reading suggestions.

Here's a start ... videos that remind us why we should be interested in and care about the administration of the state.
 

Clockwise from top left: Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede argues for why `Africa needs to invest in capacity development in the public sector'; Susan Thomas on why she is committed to service in the Indian Government and how such work is misunderstood

General

  • Claire Foster-Gilbert (2018) "The Power of Civil Servants": The text of a discussion between David Normington and Peter Hennessy regarding practical considerations in the running of a modern public administration
  • T.R. Raghunandan (2019) "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Bureaucracy But Were Afraid to Ask": A personal take on what the author thinks we know about the world of public administration
  • Herbert Kaufman (1960/1967) "The Forest Ranger: A Study in Administrative Behavior": A delightful study of key considerations in building and sustaining a public administration from a sector that I have come to love in the US and beyond
  • Michael Lewis (2018) "The Fifth Risk": An elegant reminder of how important the work of the Federal Government of the United States is to life across the world

History

  • Neil MacGregor (2010) A History of the World In 100 Objects: This series of podcasts and accompanying book spans world history, but frequently cites public administration as one of the central elements of that story. Though I can point to many corresponding references, let me highlight the 15th object discussed - an early writing tablet found in southern Iraq; 3100-3000BC - as it is said to be about "beer and the birth of bureaucracy"
  • Samuel Finer (1997) "The History of Government from the Earliest Times": A sweeping history of government and administration that frames more micro-studies in a macro-lens of the varieties of government that have risen in history
  • Peter Hennessy (1989) "Whitehall": A history and commentary on the origins and development of the heart of the British Civil Service
  • The bureaucracy, bureaucratic politics, and broader politics of US urban development:
    • Robert Caro (1974) "The Power Broker": The story of the most powerful bureaucrat in New York when New York was the most powerful city in the world (see also videos of Robert Moses in 1959 and 1977)
    • Hilary Ballon and Kenneth T. Jackson (Editors; 2008) "Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York": A `response' to Caro's work decades on that also powerfully documents the breadth of Moses building achievements
    • Kevin Starr (1985) "Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era": The second in a series narrating the history of California, this volume outlines the creation of the foundations for the Southern California we know today
  • Richard D. White Jr (2003) "Roosevelt the Reformer: Theodore Roosevelt as Civil Service Commissioner, 1889-1895": Highlighting the significant role Roosevelt played early in his career in the reform of the US Federal Civil Service and the practical implementation of the ending the spoils system (video of the author discussing the book)

Literature

Lithub has a description of recent books which touch on public administration and the Guardian newspaper has an article on their journalist's favourite examples of bureaucracy in fiction, but here are some of mine:

  • Franz Kafka (1925) "The Trial": A book that allows the reader to experience the madness and corrosion of will that bureaucracy can inflict at its worst
  • C.S. Lewis (1942) "The Screwtape Letters": A fantasy administration that runs hell is the setting for this exploration of bureaucracy and the human heart
  • Chinua Achebe (1966) "A Man of the People": The reader finds the anti-hero corrupted by his work in the public service
  • Upamanyu Chatterjee (1988) "English, August: An Indian Story": Follows the fictional and comic tale of a reluctant new recruit to the Indian Administrative Service
  • George Orwell (1949) "Nineteen Eighty-Four": A book famously set in a state dominated by a totalitarian state and accompanying public administration [the Ministry of Truth was modelled on Senate House, where I spent much time as a student]

Poetry

  • Rudyard Kipling (1886) "Departmental Ditties": Kipling's first published work was a set of `bureaucracy-themed' poems, ending with my favourite, `The Last Department'

Photos

  • Jan Banning's "Bureaucratics" is a comparative photographic study of the culture, rituals and symbols of state civil administrations and its servants in eight countries on five continents.
  • Jan Banning's "Red Utopia" records the interiors of Communist Party offices in five countries across the world.
  • Dayanita Singh's "File Roompresents photos of government archives and their custodians across India.

Film

Wikipedia curates a listing of films related to bureaucracy and Apolitical have a blog on 10 TV shows & movies for public servants but here are some I came to organically:

  • Though focussed on the dangers of populism, The Simpsons' 200th episode, `Trash of the Titans', showcases how we undervalue the work of experienced public servants (To summarize, the highly competent sanitation commissioner Ray Patterson states, "If you want an experienced public servant, vote for me.  But if you want to believe a bunch of crazy promises about garbagemen cleaning your gutters and waxing your car, then by all means, vote for this sleazy lunatic."  Homer wins by a landslide, bankrupts the sanitation department within a month, and makes Springfield uninhabitable soon after.)
  • In The 12 Tasks of Asterix, Obelix and Asterix must fulfill "nothing but a simple administrative formality" in `The Place that Sends You Mad' (i.e. the administration)
  • I have also always loved this short film simply titled `bureaucracy' and this one titled `Office Kingdom'
  • My favourite series on bureaucracy come out of the satirical wing of British culture, from `Yes, Minister' and `Yes, Prime Minister' to `The Thick of It' and `In the Loop'.
 

Who's got the goods? Public goods in California and Nigeria

My own contribution to the better understanding of the developing world focuses on my topic of research interest, public goods. There are wide disparities in the availability of public goods (like good quality roads, electricity, and healthcare) across the globe. This video compares the public goods available on an average street in California with those available on an average street in Nigeria.

In other videos, you can see more of John's family, explore John's household, or learn how the rich in Nigeria fare with public goods.

 

So You Want to be a Development Economist, 'ey?

For those interested in becoming a development economist, here are some tips. I give an occasional seminar on preparing for, entering into, and developing a career in development economics. A recording of one of these seminars is available below and you can also access the associated handout with my top tips for development economics careers. (The video has had to be split into a number of parts due to its length. Find the other parts in the associated videos.)

Complementing these thoughts, I provide some general steers:

  • Get skilled: Be an economist first and a development economist second. The more skilled an economist you are, the better, as this is what differentiates you from other development workers. Of course, you must then be ready to shape your understanding to the institutional context in which you find yourself.
  • Get informed I (basics): If you are new to development economics, as an economist, or non-economist, the following are good introductions to the subject: Debray Ray's 'Development Economics' (theory), Martin Ravallion's 'The Mystery of the Vanishing Benefits: Ms. Speedy Analyst's Introduction to Evaluation' (evaluation), the World Development Reports and Paul Collier's 'The Bottom Billion' (policy). And I have to plug my own introduction to the internal challenges facing governments in the developing world, 'Water Get Enemy: The Story of Delivering Public Services in the Developing World'. For the younger economist, bized resources are good.
  • Get informed II (news sites): Know the context of your work extremely well. BBC News Africa, BBC News South Asia, Al Jazeera, and globalvoices.org are good sites to find news from the developing world. Follow news sites for countries you are interested in (for example, I check This Day for Nigerian news and The Hindu for Indian news).
  • Get informed III (e-news): Sign up to receive e-mail news alerts from IRIN, the African Research Bulletin, the World Bank, and the IMF, and let the news come to you!
  • Watch TV: Try to catch films on television about development, or see the IRIN film database for a range of fascinating short films on all aspects of development.
  • Undertake relevant study: Whilst at university, take course options that focus on development issues. Choose a dissertation topic related to development (although don't forget the economics). If you're not at university, many universities do summer or part time courses, which may be a useful signal of the breadth of your skills, as well as providing you with new knowledge.
  • Get experienced: Spend time working, studying, or travelling in the developing world. Start early; World Challenge provides educational expeditions for secondary school students in the developing world. Idealist.org is a good site to start looking for voluntary work. I volunteered with Dakshinayan (India) and Convive (Mexico). You can also express an interest in development closer to home by working for an NGO you are interested in. I worked for Jubilee (in its various forms) and Action for Southern Africa. Consultancy work in international development (such as that done by Oxford Policy Management or Mokoro - there are many others) is one way for more advanced economists to get experience. Of course, working in a firm or organisation of any kind that has dealings with the developing world provides experience (for example the bank Standard Chartered, or the British Government's Department for International Development). An excellent entry point to becoming a development economist is the Overseas Development Institute fellowship programme.
  • And of course, let everyone know about your interest. You never know where an opportunity may arise!

Having done the above, what jobs can get you on the career ladder of development economics? Here is a list of some of the roles friends and colleagues have taken on their entry into development economics (the list may be a useful inspiration for your own route):

  • Study/Work in the developing world*
    • Student/Researcher, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
    • Intern, regional trade organisation, China
    • Voluntary advisor to a panchayat in rural India
  • Bilateral institutions
    • Department for International Development Graduate Scheme
    • Parliamentary Assistant to/Researcher for Member of Parliament
    • Intern/Desk Officer, Bureau of African Affairs, US Department of State
  • Multilateral institutions
  • Research organisations
    • Researcher, Overseas Development Institute
    • Researcher, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex
    • Researcher, Centre for Democracy and Development
    • Intern, World Agroforestry Centre
  • Private sector organisations
  • Non-governmental organisations ***
    • Founder/Organiser/Trustee of development-related NGO or organisation
    • Program intern, Women's Campaign International
    • Intern, Action for Southern Africa
    • Regional representative, Pressureworks, Christian Aid
    • Assistant to Secretary General, Alliance for Rural Electrification

Notes: * Citizens of the developing world have a clear advantage here. Try to gain high level experience in private and public organisations in your country of birth, and combined with a strong academic record, this will give you a unique selling point; ** With large multilateral organisations, always check the possibility of work at regional or country offices that may have less competitive entry requirements than central institutions; *** Many NGOs do not have a specific entry point for interns or researchers. Try to contact members of the organisation to enquire about whether they could use assistance and potentially suggest ways in which you might be useful to the organisation.

Once you are an experienced development economist, all I can offer are some development career web sites: BOND, Devnetjobs, Idealist.org, Indevjobs

 

Water Get Enemy: The Story of Delivering Public Services in the Developing World

Ever wondered what goes on inside the bureaucracy of a developing country government? Ever pondered why it is so difficult to implement government projects in the developing world?

We'll, in 'Water Get Enemy: A Graphic Novel on Governance in the Developing World' I've tried to hint at a few answers to those questions. The story, set in the fictional country Zanzarim, sketches the passage of a public project through a developing country government. The piece brings together the experiences of myself and many others who have worked in and studied governments in the developing world.

 

What's it Like to be in Government in the Developing World? (Policy Workshop)

In collaboration with UCL Union's Global Development Initiatives, I have organised a number of workshops on policy making in the developing world. The aim is to give students an understanding of what it's like to have to make policy in a typical developing country government. Here's the introduction:

Participants are tasked to come up with five strategic recommendations on how to reduce rates of child and maternal mortality in Nigeria and build on recent successes in the sector.

If you are a student or professional interested in the process of policy making in the developing world, you may find holding a similar workshop useful. As a policy maker for the evening, you must assess what the priorities are for development in Nigeria, identify the key constraints to overcoming these challenges, and provide recommendations for achieving the goals. Some resources prospective participants may be interested in are provided below:

Worksheet for the event is available here (a broader worksheet focussing on the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals is available here)

Profile of Nigeria: section of the MDG Report 2004 (full text available from UNDP Nigeria)
Introduction to the Millennium Development Goals: At the United Nations MDG web site
Nigeria's progress towards the MDGs: table taken from the 2010 Nigeria MDG Report (full text available from Nigeria's MDG web site)
Nigeria's institutional context: see the documents linked to at my Nigeria page

 

My Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is summarised in my teaching statement. As part of the 2013 University College London Provost Teaching Awards, UCL made a video about the teaching philosophies of the winners. As a winner of the student choice outstanding teacher award, here are clips from my interview that describe my teaching style and philosophy: