Measuring Efficiency in the Practice of the Developmental State

The financial crisis that followed the turn of the millennium in 2008, and subsequently the global pandemic in 2020, once again highlighted the significance of efficiency in governmental and municipal operations. Contrary to the predictions of neoliberal opinion leaders – who envisioned the rise of international organizations in place of the state, and simultaneously the decline of state autonomy and a process of de-statization – opposite tendencies have emerged in many parts of the world since the beginning of the twenty-first century. It has become increasingly evident that without an effective state and without governments and municipalities capable of embodying such effectiveness, stability cannot be sustained. In their absence, uncertainty, social dissatisfaction, and vulnerability grow, and the likelihood of asymmetric interdependencies increases. In this study, following a review of the literature concerning the efficiency of governance and municipal work and the measurability of such efficiency, we seek to answer the question of under what conditions and in what ways performance measurement methods applied in the competitive sector can be transferred to the practice of the new developmental state and public administration.