This codebook explains the coding of the variables in the data set produced by the Bureaucratic Structure and Economic Performance project. After the country name and country abbreviation, the next 29 variables (q101-sq20) are derived from the questionnaires filled out by the 126 country experts who participated in this project. (The original questionnaire is reproduced as the Appendix to "Bureaucratic Structure and Bureaucratic Performance in Less Developed Countries," by James E. Rauch and Peter B. Evans.) For convenience we have also included in the data set on this web site variables (sq2_rc-inv6570) used in "Bureaucracy and Growth: A Cross-National Analysis of the Effects of 'Weberian' State Structures on Economic Growth," by Peter B. Evans and James E. Rauch, and variables (corrupt1-ethfrac) used in the Rauch and Evans paper already cited. For descriptions of these variables see the respective papers.
Narrative and Standard Answers: In order to make comparisons across countries more feasible we have provided some standard alternative answers to each question, but we are well aware that these standard answers can't capture the full complexities of real bureaucratic structures. Therefore, we hope that in addition to indicating which standard alternative comes closest to describing your case, you will offer a separate, complementary narrative discussion of how the state bureaucracies you are describing look with regard to these issues. Time Period: We are interested primarily in what these bureaucracies looked like in the recent past roughly 1970 - 1990. If there have been important changes within this period, or between this period and the present please indicate the sub-period to which your answers apply. We would also appreciate any commentary you could add on changes over time in your narrative responses.
1. List the four most important agencies in the central state bureaucracy order of their power to shape overall economic policy. (e.g. Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and/or Trade and/or Commerce, Planning Board, agency or Ministry)?
To aggregate these responses for the country-level data, nine variables were created:
Variable Names:
Q101 = President's office, Prime Minister's
office (or Royal Palace)
Q102 = Ministry of Finance
Q103 = Central Bank
Q104 = Ministry of Economics (Economics and Finance, Economic Affairs,
National Economy, etc.)
Q105 = Planning Ministry, Secretariat, Commission or Board (Development
Board or Council or Development Bank)
Q106 = Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry (Trade
and Industry, Industry and Commerce, etc.)
Q107 = Ministry of Defense, Military
Q108 = Monetary Authority
Q109 = Other (Ministries of Public Works, Mines and Energy, Agriculture,
Privatization, Communication, Social Development, Foreign Investment Committee,
etc.)
Codes:
0 = Not mentioned
1 = Listed as 2, 3, or 4 by less than half of the respondents
2 = Listed as 2, 3, or 4 by at least half of the respondents, OR, ranked
first by at least one respondent but listed as 2, 3, or 4 by less than
half of the others
3 = Ranked first at least once and listed as 2, 3, or 4 by at least half
of other respondents
4 = Ranked first by at least half of the respondents
2. Which of the following descriptions best fits the role of these agencies in the formulation of economic policy.
Codes:
1 = many new economic policies originate
inside them.
2 = some new policies originate inside them and they are important "filters"
for policy ideas that come from political parties, private elites and the
chief executive, often reshaping these ideas in the process.
3 = they rarely originate new policies, but are important in turning policies
that originate in the political arena into programs that can be implemented.
Variable Name: SQ2 - Country Average on Q2
3. How likely are
ideas and policies initiated by these agencies to prevail?
Codes:
1 = no more likely than ideas coming out
of other parts of the state bureaucracy.
2 = quite likely, even in the face of opposition from other parts of the
bureaucracy, as long as the chief executive is neutral or supportive.
3 = under the circumstances above and also sometimes even in the face of
opposition from the chief executive.
Variable Name: SQ3 - Country Average on Q3
[In answering the following questions, assume that "higher officials", refers to those who hold roughly the top 500 positions in the core economic agencies you have discussed above.]
4. Approximately what proportion of the higher officials in these agencies enter the civil service via a formal examination system?
Codes:
1 = less than 30%
2 = 30 - 60%
3 = 60% -90%
4 = more than 90%
Variable Name: SQ4 - Country Average on Q4
5. Of those that do not enter via examinations, what proportion have university or post-graduate degrees.
Codes:
1 = less than 30%
2 = 30 - 60%
3 = 60% -90%
4 = more than 90%
Variable Name: SQ5 - Country Average on Q5
6. Roughly how many of the top levels in these agencies are political appointees (e.g. appointed by the President or Chief Executive)
Codes:
1 = none.
2 = just agency chiefs.
3 = agency chiefs and vice-chiefs.
4 = all of top 2 or 3 levels.
Variable Name: SQ6 - Country Average on Q6
7. Of political appointees to these positions, what proportion are likely to already be members of the higher civil service?
Codes:
1 = less than 30%
2 = 30 - 70%
3 = more than 70%
Variable Name: SQ7 - Country Average on Q7
8. Of those promoted to the top 2 or 3 levels in these agencies (whether or not they are political appointees), what proportion come from within the agency itself or (its associated ministry(ies) if the agency is not itself a ministry)?
Codes:
1 = less than 50%
2 = 50 - 70%
3 = 70% - 90%
4 = over 90%
Variable Name: SQ8 - Country Average on Q8
9. Are the incumbents of these top positions likely to be moved to positions of lesser importance when political leadership changes?
Codes:
1 = almost always
2 = usually
3 = sometimes
4 = rarely
Variable Name: SQ9 - Country Average on Q9
10. What is roughly the modal number of years spent by a typical higher level official in one of these agencies during his career?
Codes:
1 = 1-5 years
2 = 5-10 years
3 = 10 -20 years
4 = entire career
Variable Name: SQ10 - Country Average on Q10
11. What prospects for promotion can someone who enters one of these agencies through a higher civil service examination early in his/her career reasonably expect? Assuming that there are at least a half dozen steps or levels between and entry-level position and the head of the agency, how would you characterize the possibilities for moving up in the agency? [ NB. more than one may apply.]
Codes:
=2, if 3 and/or 4 are circled, but not 1
and not 2
=1, otherwise
Variable Name: SQ11d - Country Average on Q11d
12. How common is it for higher officials in these agencies to spend substantial proportions of their careers in the private sector, interspersing private and public sector activity?
Codes:
1 = normal
2 = frequent but not modal
3 = unusual
4 = almost never
Variable Name: SQ12 - Country Average on Q12
13. How common is it for higher officials in these agencies to have significant post-retirement careers in the private sector?
Codes:
1 = normal
2 = frequent but not modal
3 = unusual
4 = almost never
Variable Name: SQ13 - Country Average on Q13
14. How would you estimate the salaries (and perquisites, not including bribes or other extra-legal sources of income) of higher officials in these agencies relative to those of private sector managers with roughly comparable training and responsibilities?
Codes:
1 = less than 50%
2 = 50 - 80%
3 = 80% - 90%
4 = Comparable
5 = Higher
Variable Name: SQ14 - Country Average on Q14
15. If bribes and other extra-legal perquisites are included what would the proportion be?
Codes:
1 = less than 50%
2 = 50 - 80%
3 = 80% - 90%
4 = Comparable
5 = Higher
Variable Name: SQ15 - Country Average on Q15
16. Over the period in question (roughly 1970-1990) what was the movement of legal income in these agencies relative to salaries in the private sector?
Codes:
1 = declined dramatically.
2 = declined slightly.
3 = maintained the same position.
4 = improved their position.
Variable Name: SQ16 - Country Average on Q16
[NB: These questions refer to the higher Civil Service more broadly, not just to the top 500 officials in the core agencies.]
17. Since roughly what date have civil service examinations been in place?______
Codes:
1 = Pre-1900
2 = 1900-1949
3 = 1950-1969
4 = 1970-1979
5 = 1980-1989
6 = 1990-
Variable Name: SQ17a - Country Average on Q17A
In the aggregated country-level data set, an additional variable was added, based on experts' answers to Q17 and Q18:
Variable Name: Q17B
Codes: 0 = No civil service exams, or exams are of trivial importance
1 = Ambiguous based on experts' responses
2 = Civil service exams are an important component of entry to the bureaucracy
18. Roughly what proportion of those who take the higher civil service exam pass?
Codes:
1 = less than 2%
2 = 2-5%
3 = 6 - 10%
4 = 10% -30%
5 = 30-50%
6 = more than 50%
Variable Name: SQ18 - Country average on Q18
19. Among graduates of the country's most elite university(ies), is a public sector career considered:
Codes:
1 = the best possible career option.
2 = the best possible option for those whose families are not already owners
of substantial private enterprises.
3 = the best option for those who are risk averse.
4 = definitely a second best option relative to a private sector career.
Variable Name: SQ19 - Country Average on Q19
20. Among members of the educated middle class who are not in a position to attend the most elite universities is a public sector career considered:
Codes:
1 = the best possible career option.
2 = the best possible option for those whose families are not already owners
of substantial private enterprises.
3 = the best option for those who are risk averse.
4 = definitely a second best option relative to a private sector career.
Variable Name: SQ20 - Country Average on Q20
The individual responses to the above questions were aggregated to create a country-level data set, in which each country received a score equal to the average of the responses of all experts answering each question for that country.