Countries in the developing world are often disadvantaged by indifference, negligence, corruption and general waywardness in their public sectors. The so-called “new public management” attempts to transform unproductive bureaucracies by adopting policies and practices used by the private-sector. The methods included in the new public management include shifting managerial emphasis from policy issues to quantification and efficiency; dismembering massive bureaucratic structures into limited-purpose agencies; financing agencies through payments from their public-sector “customers”; creating surrogate markets; introducing cost-cutting and labor discipline (such as more contract appointments and fewer jobs for life); incentivizing workers through financial rewards; increasing the information easily available to the users of publicly-provided services; and rewarding responsiveness through star ratings and league tables.

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